Hello All, Just a query. Are Travel Agents cheaper deals that what can be booked on the net. Can anyone give me some good sites to go on and get prices for next years Phuket holiday.Only been back 1 week and we are planning the next holiday already. Thanks for your help. Jane

Try www.sanmichele.com.au for a good deal, I have booked through them twice, nothing too much trouble to them. Found them to be very competetive.

At the end of the day someone is clipping the ticket somewhere. Because of their bulk buying capabilities some travel agents can offer a better deal than on the net. It is generally cheaper to book accomodation and travel as a package than buying separately. Travel agents especially travel wholesalers who do a lot of international bookings have more clout with the airlines over fares than you and I making our one or two trips a year.

Hi JaneTravel,

I in the past would have said the exact same thing as beanb41 did, about it being cheaper to book a package, but after my very recent experience, I am not too convinced that that is still the case.

I have just booked for our family holiday to phuket for 14 nights (2 adults& 2 children) & I booked it all my self over the net and I have saved my family $1800 and that is based on the quote that the agent gave me which was based on 2006 prices. She did warn me that prices would increase slightly. So that saving of $1800 would no doubt be the min. that I have saved.

I booked my airfares through Harvey world travels web site and the made contact via e-mail to the hotel we were wanting & they gave me a fantastic deal with daily buffet b/fast included. You do have to bear in maind that doing it yourself as in booking directly with the hotel does eliminate the middle man, so to speak. If we booked through a hotel booking place like wotif, asiarooms etc, that in essence is still 'middleman' and that might increase the price.

The only thing that I went into a travel agent for, was last week to buy our travel insurance, that is it.

Having said this, I would do an internet search and get quotes from agents and compare. I always do it this way and I put all my costings and the agents in a excel spreadsheet ( I am a highly organised person ) Then go for what is cheapest and convenient for you.

I also found that agents did not have costing for July 07 whereas I could find all the costings my self on the web.

In the end you have to find what worls best for you. There is no harm in comparing.

Hope this helps & all the best booking your holiday.

Cheers

Nati

Hi Nati

Can't understand why you would bother going into travel agent for insurance when they usually add 40% to 50% onto the premiums, a good deal on insurance can be found at www.webjet.com[essential travel cover]
Al

Janetravel,

I agree with Nati - have found it much cheaper to just go through the net direct with airlines and direct to the hotels. I don't go through third parties on the net - these often come up the same price as traditional agents.

I also buy my travel insurance on the net at http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/ they seem to be heaps cheaper. They are underwritten by Allianz have 24 medical phone number etc. When the Bali bomb II went we had a trip booked to Bali and they were quite happy to refund the travel insurance money very quickly. They also cover my two daughters who have Coeliac Disease without any Dr's letters. I seem to get the impression that they are a subsidury (wrong spelling) of another larger insurance company.

Nati - I would be interested to see what the prices compared with what you paid at the travel agent.

Louize

Thanks Nati, We want to go to Phuket next year in about October after school holidays, so I think I will start checking web sites after Christmas. Thanks for your thoughts. Jane

I have to agree with Nati, yes there are often great 'package deals' through travel agents, however often the hotels included are not necessarily the best or where you would really choose to stay (generally travel agents promote the hotels they get the best kickbacks from). We often book our flights directly through the Singapore airlines website as when they have website only specials they are cheaper than the price available from travel agents. We generally always book our accomodation off the net, I usually search around, get a quote and than take it to a travel agent to see if they can beat it, 99% of the time they cant. I was going to use Qantas holidays to book hotels in Bangkok in January as their advertised price was comparable to the net and I would have got frequent flyer bonus points through them. However, even though their brochures clearly stated that prices were valid through to March 2007 and showed no exclusion dates, they would not honour the price in January as it was peak season, false advertising as far as I'm concerned. So I went home and booked the same thing on the net with Sawadee.com for a cheaper price.
As far as travel insurance goes we book that online too, generally much cheaper too and often better inclusions.
http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/.
Fortunately consumers are now armed with much more information than was previously available in the past and are now in a much better postion to command a better deal.

Hi Aw043,

The only reason that I did not get the insurance from webjet.com, (which I did find) was that unfortunately it was actually dearer and did not give a full breakdown of everything, like the brochures do...............I like to read the fine print.

Also I got a $20 voucher from the flight centre for my birthday, so I used that & it became cheaper still. $20 in Phuket is a nice lunch and drink

Cheers

Nati

Hi Janetravel,

No problem, I am glad I could help. I found that webjet & Harvey World Travel (HWT) had the same base rate for the airfares, but it was once you click on "continue" that you find the taxes and fees vary and the end price differs.

After christmas the prices on the net should be out for Oct 07, I am not sure that the agents will have those costing though.

I did a costing on my spreadsheet based on advertised rates that the hotel had, then I e-mailed them and asked if they had a special rates, which I did.

There is nothing to lose by asking

Also print all e-mails and take t hem with you, if you do it this way as proof of the price offered.

As for the travel insurance, like I said above, I have used Cover more from the flight centre for years, & I know what they have to offer, plus I had the gift voucher. I am sure that the other insurance agencies on line are quite reputable also. Again that is something that you should compare, along the lines of what they cover, limits & price. Sometimes, the cheaper ones don't pay out as much if the need arises, or might be difficult to deal with when it comes down to the crunch.

I have young children, so I am not prepared to take the risk with them.

Best of luck & I hope you find a fantastic deal.

Cheers

Nati

Hi Louize,

I would love to get a 2007 price based quote too! But I feel bad going into a TA and ask for a quote knowing full well that I am not going ahead with it.

I was shocked at the price the TA gaves us though on 2006 July prices..........over $7500 AUD!

I was a little hesitant at first when I saw the e-mail in my inbox. We had booked the holiday ourselves before the agent replied, so I was a bit worried that I had stuffed up. I thought that I might have made a mistake & that the agent would be cheaper. I let out a huge sigh of relief followed by an OMG!!!!

I was wanting to book the holiday ourselves, if only for a change & after our last TA booking wiht the Flight Centre to Bali was stuffed up, we were looking elsewhere.

Cheers

Nati

This is a hard one, everyone has their favourite ways of booking holidays. We travel to Asia every year and as of yet have not found anything on the net that has beaten our travel agents quotes (we dont have a favourite, I get quotes from about 15)

An example is our 31 night holiday a few months ago cost us $2010 per person.
This was all airfares from Adelaide to KL, Cambodia, Phuket return, all taxes, transfers, hotels for 20 nights.

So I still think it really pays to check with travel agents as well, except for travel insurance, they are the most expensive.
Cathy

Forgot to mention, we go prepared to travel agents, we say who we want to fly with and what hotel we want to stay in eg, Andaman Beach Suites this year and Club Andaman last year.

The moral of the story is to take time, do your homework and shop around.
Travel insurance: I am probably right in assuming that most of us book our holiday by credit card. I have a gold credit card in NZ and providing I pay for at least 51% of my travel and accomodation costs on my credit card I get free travel insurance for myself. spouse and any kids under 12 travelling with me. It is probably worth checking with your credit card supplier for their best ravel insurance rates and if not a gold card or higher upgrading to a gold card.
OUt off peak brochures for Asia arent due out until around Feb / Mar as off peak season doesnt start until end of April early May in a lot of places
Good hunting
Best of luck

Hi Nati
I too like to get numerous quotes for trips and insurance. Had 9 quotes this time for insurance and found webjet the cheapest and comparable , if not better than most in the "fine print department". The fine print is there in the form of a downloadable brochure, 35 pages of it.
Regards
Al

Hi Aw043,

That is great that you too get numerous quotes, that is the way to go in the end. Get various quotes to compare.

I am glad that webjet worked well for you, it did not work for us, & we were not comfortable using them, besides we had the voucher which seemed such a pity to let it go to waste...............and that is in the end what it's all about..........what works for you as an individual/family.

Happy travels

Nati

If anyone wants to know about a good travel insurance company in Australia, we're with Covermore Insurance which we can't praise highly enough. I had an accident on our last visit to Phuket. The service we received from Covermore was unbelievable! They rang my partner to see how I was, whether we needed anything, whether they could contact anyone for us etc, then also rang the doctor to check on how I was before and after the operation. We were incredibly impressed.

http://www.covermore.com.au/

Hi TinaPerth,

I agree with you, I think Cover-more are great. I have heard similar stories about the cheaper insurance co. not coming to the "party" when something does occur. Not something that I am prepared to risk with young children. That is why since I started travelling seriously Internationally at 16yrs of age I have always used cover-more.

It is good to hear that they looked after you, that sort of thing puts my mind at ease even more.

I did not know that they had a webpage that you can purchase their policies on

That is why I have always purchased their insurance at the flight centre. I thought that Flight Centre (& their sister co.) were the only ones to sell it.

Many thanks for that...............I will bookmark that site .

Cheers

Nati

Hello Janetravel, We booked The Holiday Inn, Patong directly over the internet and saved a bundle. Regarding flights - I have found out that the prices vary from £350 to £750 per person, depending on airline. we finally settled with Qatar Airlines due to them being a up and coming airline which has been accredited with 5 star service. Seats cost for a family of 4 £2200.(DialaFlight) We booked the Holiday Inn, family suite in January 06' for £1200. last week in Nov. and first 2 weeks in Dec. We reckon we've saved approx. £2000 by direct booking. we have added up the total holiday costs, airport transfers, holiday insurance etc and the total amount is in the region of £3560. for a 3 week stay.
Hope this helps you out with prices. Good luck and all the best.
Steve.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I will start checking after Christmas. Cheers Jane

Interesting views on travel insurance and where to buy!

I suppose that as we have never had any problems health wise when OS we have become a bit complacent and 'blase' with the insurance. Having said this when checking out the cheaper options I did compare all of the 'covered amounts'.... then went for the one that was cheaper but not too crappy. I suppose like a lot of insurance items you can't really test them out until something goes wrong!!

Due to some currently health problems that I am having I will have to be more careful next trip.

Louize

Insurance for 12 days in Thailand through http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au
Price was $140 for the family plan which I have taken out for my upcoming trip in Dec/Jan
All the bells and whistles included in the policy. Underwritten by Allianz.
As opposed to the Covermore option that flight centres and harvey world try to flog. The covermore plan 1, area 3 for 12 days came in at $120 per adult with less benefits.
Just goes to show how much these travel agents make on insurance sales. I suppose they need make as much as they can from whatever they can because most clever folk are now booking their hotels and tours online.

With Covermore, we pay around $600 for the both of us for 12 months, so it works out pretty well for us.

Just a quick note on travel insurance, for our next trip we have gone with Covermore for the first time - their full price is very expensive compared to other companies with policies just as good. We normally use Vero - booked thru Westpac Bank or Defence Travel.
This trip the travel agent asked for a copy of the policy (from both companies) to send Covermore, Vero was hundreds of dollars cheaper. Surprise, surprise Covermore will match the price and no wonder as the policies issued by Covermore are exactly same and issued from VERO.
So make sure you really check into the Covermore price the travel agents quotes you as you could save lots of money by either buying the same policy direct from Vero or at least having Covermore match the price.

A question for the Aussies - Dont you guys get fee travel insurance if you have a Gold credit card. It is standard in NZ. The insurance is underwritten by top insurance company and the conditions are as good as , sometimes better than purchased travel insurance.The only catch is that at least 50% of travel and accomodation must be paid for with the card. Not a great concern.

Re Travel agents and package deals.
It is comforting to know that an agent is lining up a good deal and you dont have to book a flight and then hope you can get the accomodation where you want it for the correct days.
However from my experience the perceived "buying power" and extra clout the TA may not be as good as we thought.

Fromm here on in I will be booking my flights on the net and then spending a nervous few hours lining up the accomodation. For a family of 5 it means a fair bit of spondooly can be saved.

MH

Heres an example I did recently asa academic exercise. Local travel agent offering return trip Wellington/ Singapore special internet fare $NZ1652 on Singapore Airlines. Could not give me a price for Wgtn / Phuket return. Singapore airlines website $NZ1438 return Wgtn Phuket return. Both fares include taxes etc.
Travel agents these days dont get the commissions they used to from the airlines and travel wholesalers hence they have to get their money elsewhere. Travellers pay.
One can always use the TA price as the datum and if you cant beat it yourself you can always go back to them.

Yes we do get free travel insurance with our Visa card, but it's not as comprehensive as Covermore. The service with Covermore is faultless too, having used them in an emergency, I feel very safe knowing they're there to back us up.

Travel Insurance offered on Australian credit cards can be a bit confusing. DO NOT rely on the credit cards "transit accident insurance" as it is very limited and only pays out if you are wiped out on public transport.

Some GOLD cards do offer reasonably comprehensive travel cover.

My St George Gold card gives me free travel insurance underwritten by Zurich for up to 3 months cover for myself and dependant family members travelling internationally with me provided that 90% of airline tickets are paid for on the card.
Untill I start travelling to a litigous place like USA I am happy with this basic cover.

MH

I guess from the comments above having a NZ Gold Card is another benefit of living in GODZ OWN