Archive for December, 2011
5 Discount Travel Secrets Orbitz Travelocity And Expedia Dont Want You To Know
Don’t make any travel plans until you read this!
Especially when we’re experiencing one of the worst global recessions that we’ve seen in decades every dollar counts. And because travel is so expensive many of us turn to wellknown discount travel Web sites like Orbitz Travelocity and Expedia.
When you book on these sites you think you’re getting the lowest prices available right?
Wrong!
Why You Might Not Get the Best Deal When Booking Your Trip with Most Discount Travel Websites
In reality you may actually be getting higher priced offers from airlines and hotels that are affiliated with the discount travel website you use to book your trip. Additionally you’re doing all the work to research flights and hotels yet the travel sites are still earning their full agency commissions.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Here Are 5 Travel Secrets Orbitz Travelocity amp; Expedia Don’t Want You to Know
1. They charge service fees on every booking. Sometimes that fee is disclosed in the “final price” listed online. Sometimes it’s buried in the Terms amp; Conditions. Need to change your plans? Be prepared to pay service fees of up to 30 on every phone call for a change or reissue. This does NOT count the 75 150 airline penalty. These travel websites actually hope for bad weather because bad weather means altered plans which means extra revenue for them.
2. The rate you see may not be the lowest rate available. That’s because large travel websites deal in bulk volume. As a result they concentrate on “national” and “public” rates. They don’t publish “private” fares consolidator fares or belowmarket fares because it’s not in their interest to do so. You can only get those fares from an experienced travel professional who knows the system and where to find them.
3. Their definition of lowest price may not match yours. Have you ever entered the exact same search on 3 different travel websites and gotten wideranging results? That’s because travel websites have special arrangements with certain “partners” and may give these partners preferential treatment or placement bias. That’s how they make money. Consumers however are catching on. According to Travel Weekly bookings on the “Big 3″ have fallen over 10 this year. People are turning to airline and hotel websites directly because that’s where they’re finding the lowest fares.
4. A confused customer is their best customer. In the last 12 months we’ve seen a spate of new surcharges assessed by airlines to offset rising costsfrom 5 for some aisle seats to 15 for the first piece of checked luggage. Unfortunately these costs are not reflected in the search results of most airfare comparison sites. Consumers are left to do the research and the math on their own. As a result they’re confused. What looks to be the lowest price may not actually be the lowest “total” price when all applicable fees are factored in.
5. Once you hit that SEND button you’re on your own. What happens when you book online and your flight is delayed or cancelled or if you miss a connection? Ever tried to get a human being on the phone? You may be on hold for a long long time. Or when you do finally get someone on the line you find out he’s in Bangalore and English isn’t his first language. Meanwhile the last seat on the last flight out has just taken off. Travel has become more unpredictable than ever. Sadly it’s not a question of if something will go wrong but when. And when it does do you want your fate to rest in the hands of the guy whose job it is to get you off the phone as fast as possible?
This article may seem harsh. But Travelocity Orbitz and Expedia are keeping these secrets from you. And you have to know these dirty little travel secrets if you want to hold onto more of your cash.
About the writer: Discount Travel Expert Don Buynack has seen the industry evolve toward tricking travelers into thinking that they’re saving money instead of actually giving them the best travel deals. That’s why he started his new online travel agency FreeSpendingMoney.com which guarantees you the lowest online fares PLUS gives you 200 300 500 or more in spending money. To learn how get his free newsletter Best Travel Bargains at: http://www.freespendingmoney.com
How To Find The Ideal Hotel On The Internet
So you know you’re going on holiday. You know you need to explore an ideal hotel that isn’t going to break the bank. You figure that you can use the internet to find that ideal hotel choice but what’s the most excellent way to go about finding it online? Read on for some tips for making your online explore most costeffective.
In the first place I am assuming you’ve selected a location for your holiday. Unless the price of the hotel will be one of the factors that will help you choose between two vacation alternatives you’ll most likely know where you are going. With this information you’ll want to begin your search at one of the main search engines online. Your choices will be Google Yahoo or MSN.
The most essential hotel search you could do would be to enter your site along with either the keyword hotel or motel. So if you are going to North India you’d enter a search like ‘North India Hotels’. This sort of search will give you a list of web sites that either are hotels or are listing hotels worth checking out.
When making a hunt it is significant to be creative with your keyword selections. Instead of simply typing in something like ‘North India Hotels’ you will want to try other combinations. One fine way to get a quality list of hotels is to type in the name of some of the attractions you plan on visiting in the city you’ve chosen. To persist with our example of North India you could use ‘New Delhi North India Hotels’. This will assist you to find listings that are near or at New Delhi.
Don’t be afraid of using Hotel directories to assist you scope out a good potential match. For our example city using a Delhi hotel directory could yield just the right hotel for your wants. Many of these directories contain either reviews or maps on their location or easy to find links to these kinds of resources.
Finally when doing searches with a search engine try to think of dissimilar ways you can say the same thing. Don’t just search for North India hotel but search for North India motel North India accommodation and North India vacation spot and so on. Substitute your intended city destination for North India in this example.
Using these methods and a little time to explore the hotel web sites there is no reason that you can’t find that perfect hotel at the price you expect.
About the writer: Myself webmaster of www.northindiahotels.com a North India hotel site. Get budget Hotels in North India and other hotel reservations in North India cater to the needs of the tourists with varying budgets.
Hotel Industry Web Sites Are Falling Short Of Their Full Potential
The hotel and event planning industry must begin presenting sales information by traditional sales standards whereby web sites are virtual sales presentation tools to be viewed by the client under the guidance of a sales professional.
Web sites are good marketing tools but they do not provide hotel sales catering sales and the event planning sales professional with the resources and education needed to streamline the sales process to each sales and inquiry call.
Traditional web sites are built for marketing. Web sites should be built to CLOSE THE SALE!
Web Sites should provide your sales staff with virtual sales tools to close the sale faster and more efficiently saving you time and money. Incorporating sales 101 into our virtual sales programs helps you sell above and beyond your competitors while providing you with the tools to streamline your sales process and create a paperless sales environment.
Paper folders business cards cover letter paper brochure information and menus were sent in a presentation to the guest for event facility consideration. The Internet has turned this once great presentation and first impression into web sites that provide unorganized or too little information and offer no personal attention to the guest’s needs for individual attention.
In the age of computers and Internet it’s easy to lose touch with guests. Quick easy and uptodate information is no longer available. In order to find the information they are looking for clients may have to go to a corporate web site or independent web site and access emails attachments word documents links web programs and PDF brochures or resort to faxes phone calls and snailmail.
Web sites are good but the hotel sales and advertising industry has lost track of the fundamentals of selling. Personal attention has been lacking in the sales process through most web sites. Sales 101 tells us the importance of things such as building rapport education client name/information displayed communicating information quickly and providing special personal attention above and beyond everyone else.
Web Sites should provide your sales staff with virtual sales tools to close the sale faster and more efficiently saving you time and money. Incorporating sales 101 into your virtual sales programs helps you sell above and beyond your competitors while providing you with the tools to streamline your sales process and create a paperless sales environment.
Consumers are still looking for personal attention and outstanding customer service in the hospitality sales process. Simply having a web site is not enough to bring attention to event planning services anymore.
Distribution and presentation of your sales material instantly and professionally while providing personal attention to the client can make the difference between the sale and lost business. Web sites should be a tangible sales tool providing sales professionals all the necessary items needed to present and close the sale efficiently in one phone call.
About the writer: HotelEPacket.com provides a common sense approach to Hotel Internet Marketing and Hotel On Line Advertising. Providing the hotel industry with costeffective virtual sales consulting development and training through innovative hotel internet marketing.
