You have heard the story of a friend's friend who booked their flight on line and accidentally booked the wrong date and time or your Aunt who booked an amazingly cheap hotel overseas only to turn up and find that it's a hovel that was a wind gust away from being a pile of rubble. As the online consumer becomes more and more (or less) savvy the rate of mistakes and scams has increased.
The days of spending 3 hours in a travel agents arranging a 5 day vacation have become an unnecessary waste of time with the introduction of travel companies doing online bookings. The usual helpful advice of the travel agent who has been to the resort of your dreams is now replaced by opinion driven advice of Blogs.
Booking on line can save you so much time and even a lot of cash but remember the basics so you don't get caught out.
Check and check again
So you have scored a great rate on a flight, you have had several tabs open looking at different dates and times and different airlines and you are now ready to book. Firstly close all other tabs and start from the beginning of the booking making sure you are entering the correct date, time and destination. Be sure that if you will be able to make connecting flights if heading overseas especially if you are flying on different airlines. If you arrive late there is usually no way to refund the ticket so you will have to fork out more money to get on the next available flight and possibly accommodation and not to mention any prepaid accommodation or tours at your destination now you will arrive late.
Also make sure that when booking on an international travel that you check that the destination. As the world becomes a smaller place so travelers have thought that the bargain rate for a flight to their ultimate destination actually turned out to be a domestic flight. That trip to Rome, Italy ended up being to Roma in Queensland.
If it looks or sounds too good to be true...it probably is
Found bargain accommodation on line. Location and price are unbelievable. Not sure about the website you found it on. Do some more research! There are a few websites out there that unfortunately will try to take your hard earned vacation money from you. Also beware when you arrive at your destination of the different tactics that some locals my try on you including where they promise one rate but when you arrive to check in the promised rate doubles. The offer of a guided tour that leaves you either stuck in traffic or an area that is less than safe. The middle of the night phone call from "reception" wanting to clarify details of your credit card these are just some of the things which can happen. My advice is to stick to what you know. Pay a few dollars more and stay with a hotel chain that you know and try and arrange tours before leaving home. It may take some of the spontaneity out of travel but it will keep you safe from any dodgy operators.
Who are you giving your Credit Card details to.
Most people will guard their credit cards details like it's the Holy Grail. There are numerous dodgy people out there that will do anything to get their hands on your hard earned cash. Numerous email scams, phishing websites and hackers are always present on the internet. So how do you avoid this? Stick with what you know, do a bit of research before plugging your credit card details in. One of the benefits of booking your hire car in Australia with VroomVroomVroom is that the site is secure and you don't require your credit card number to be entered to confirm a booking. Not all of your travel arrangements will be this easy and safe as all airlines and a majority of hotels require prepayment at the time of booking. Always looking to the privacy and security statement of the website that you want to book on is recommended. If you can't locate this then be wary.
Not all online operators are out there trying to scam or mislead you, but a bit of research and some diligence is required so that you don't end up turning the trip of a lifetime into the holiday from hell.
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