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How to save and savour your holiday trip

With a neck-to-neck competition between travel agents and online travel booking companies, Khaleej Times asks tour operators and travellers which is a better option and why

Holidays are always exciting, especially when visiting a new place. With easy access to the Internet nowadays, travellers can effortlessly search for places with the best deal. However, does online booking really guarantee you the “best deal”? Are travel agents now only a thing of the past or only for those who have yet to enter the 21st century?

Not quite, according to travel agents and frequent travellers in the Capital.

Biju Nair, sales and marketing manager at LuLu International Travel and Tourism, admitted that with the advancement of technology, more “transparency” about airline fares and increased credit card security, many travellers, nowadays, prefer to book their trips online. Gone is the reliance on travel agents to give them the “best and cheapest options”.

However, not many are aware of some “restrictions” that often accompany special promotions.

“When an airline puts special promo fares, they will put restrictions on it (such as) you cannot change the date, cancel the ticket and they are not refundable. It’s all on the website, but I don’t think people take the time to check and only realise the problem when they face any such issue,” Nair said.

Ali Akhbar, ticketing agent at Al Raheeb Travel and Tours, said working with a travel agent makes it easier to make changes in your travel plan. “Online, you don’t have anyone to deal with. If there are changes like re-issue or refund, you cannot do it online and sometimes airlines don’t entertain you. With an agency, they can tell you the restriction of the tickets (beforehand), luggage limit, timings, seat and food request. And sometimes the difference (in airfare) is only Dh20 to Dh50,” Akhbar stated.

“We always give more options, convenient options for any additional services required like travelling with children and babies. Travel agents have a relationship with the airline; they can influence and get things approved. We can do lots of things and face-to-face interaction is very important. We give 24/7 service with emergency mobile numbers and two to three staff are accessible and can always assist,” added Nair.

Ahmed Bassoun, manager of Golden Gate Travel and Holidays, said that booking online is not always a smart move. He cited a client who booked online but was not happy with the accommodation. “They cannot change because they already paid a fixed price,” he noted.

Another advantage of working with an agency is its ability to issue ticket for last-minute travel.

“The website has a blocking of 24 hours before the flight. They cannot issue the ticket straight away (whereas) we can, even three hours before (departure). We have handled emergency cases like that,” said Nair, whose agency handles the corporate and employee bookings for the Emke Group and its subsidiaries.

Ammar Al Thuwaini, a communication consultant, said he is more comfortable booking his airline ticket with an agency but does his own hotel booking.

“I go to an agency because the person there can give me different options. They could advise me more about flight availability and timings. But for hotels, I prefer to read the reviews from other people; this to me is an added value. Based on the traveller’s reviews I read online, I booked one of the hotels in Lebanon sometime back and it turned out very good. It was exactly like the reviews I had read about it,” he related.

Easier to book with agencies

But the experience was different for Athra Al Zaabi, who once booked a trip online with her mum to Korea. The hotel she had chosen was not up to her expectations.

“It not that it wasn’t nice, it just did not meet my expectations … I also had a tough time commuting from there because most of them don’t speak English. The thing with the agency is that when you ask for a certain criteria, they pick exactly what you ask for,” she explained.

“They (agency) understands the culture of the people here and they have a good experience in knowing exactly what type of hotel people from this country go to, while online you are gambling a little bit and taking a risk. It’s okay when you are travelling with friends but with family it’s risky, you might be deceived and what you see on the Internet is not the same.

“It is easier for me to do it with an agency. A lot of male friend travellers love to do this by booking online.”

“Both kinds of bookings work, but the thing is that (with an agency), it is very organised, I don’t have to worry even about the transport,” added the Emirati government employee.

Deane Wurster’s family gets their holiday booked through her husband’s company, which employs an agency to handle everything.

“Booking with an agency is hassle-free; all we have to do is give them the dates when we want to travel. Plus, they usually have offers where we can get a good deal on the hotel,” she said.

Their recent trip to Hawaii, however, was not that smooth while they were coming back. “We missed our connecting flight in Beijing because we only had two hours to get to our flight to Dubai and we still had to check-in our luggage. It is a bit difficult when you have kids and the luggage is not automatically checked-in for the next flight.”

Research before planning a trip

But whenever the family goes home to either the Philippines or Germany, the couple usually book their tickets and hotel online. “It’s much cheaper when you go online sometimes. You can see what’s available and you can select,” Deane said.

Being a smart traveller is doing online research and using a trusted travel agent at the same time, according to Athra who goes abroad two to three times a year, and who usually takes care of the holiday booking for her family.

“In all these travelling, I use half and half. I don’t take the whole package from an agency. I cancel the things I don’t want and only take the ticket and hotels. I don’t take everything from them… I don’t take tours (package). I search the Internet and ask some friends and people who travelled to these places … that’s why the budget is less. Also, I research more about the country / place that I want to visit and then go to a travel agent. I control the travel agency by making my own choices and telling them the places I want to visit,” she related.

Travel agents admit that online business is going up, so it’s wise to up their game if they want to stay in business.

There are currently over 400 travel agencies in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain but only around 170 are licensed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

olivia@khaleejtimes.com

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