On Booking Your Travel Online

The proliferation of online commerce and transactions has made possible various services to be made available online. This also includes booking cruise vacations which has become one of the most popular trends in the field of 'dream vacations.' However, there are obvious pitfalls for booking your cruise vacation so if you want to protect yourself against any potential problems, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does the price that is posted online the actual or total cost that you will pay? A lot of travel agencies, or any other establishments for that matter, that post very cheap and affordable prices online only to find out that there are hidden fees like port charges, service fees and some charges for your documents to be mailed. It is important that you know the actual fees before you sign up for any cruise so that you will not be flabbergasted when your credit card bill arrives.

2. Will you pay a bigger deposit with the online company than what is actually required by the cruise line? Some cruise/travel agencies co-mingle their funds and they put additional charges on top of the deposit that is required by the cruise lines. Some sees this as an acceptable practice, however, there should be some fixed limit on how much these agencies can charge for the deposit.

3. Will the agency or cruise liner provide a specialist that will answer all of my questions? A lot of online travel agencies do not provide a live person who will be personally answering all of your questions. Most agencies only provide email addresses and a phone number to call. Some does not even have any contact details! Emails may not be immediately answered which may eventually result to you boarding the cruise ship with still a lot of questions in your mind.

4. Are you aware that when you book your cruise online, you are practically renouncing your legal rights, if in any case, something goes wrong? A lot of people do not read the fine print but if you are among the elite few that does, you will realize that the prints are not as attractive as it is. These documents are practically disclaimers that tell you that the travel company or agency will not be responsible or liable for any problems or difficulties that you will encounter with your cruise or booking. Here's how it is easily understood: if the cruise does not push through, then the company is not liable and you are to sort the problem on your own. If the travel/cruise agency, for some strange reason, books you on the wrong ship or cruise, then you are also entirely on your own to settle the problem.

5. Do you trust the company or agency that you are transacting with? It is important that the company that you will choose is one that is reliable and trustworthy enough that they will not compromise your personal information and sell these to identity theft criminals. There are even instances when employees of these online establishments uses their client's personal data like credit card numbers for their own advantage and to perpetrate their identity theft activities.

Booking Travel Online Vs Travel Agents

This topic is a hot one. My previous job was as a travel consultant for one of the largest travel consulting agencies in the world and I have traveled to over 22 countries in the past 8 years, and have booked travel using every method possible.

The truth is, it really depends on how much time and effort you are willing to put into planning your trip. Planning and purchasing something as simple as a round trip flight online could not be easier and I highly recommend it to save money and time. It requires very little information and thought. Travel agencies charge for their service, and that charge could be between $20.00 - $200.00, depending on the flight and destination. As well, there is nothing that the travel agent can provide for you that the internet cannot.

If you are planning a larger trip, with multiple destinations, internal flights or tourist attractions, booking online could be a bit more work. Having said that, it is still not that hard. It is just a matter of doing your research. If you are planning a trip to Spain and are planning to travel on to Italy by boat afterwards you would simply have to search the information on busses or trains for your overland travel in Spain, and the ferry information for your boat to Italy. Sometimes you are able to pre-purchase your internal travel or tourist attraction tickets online, sometimes you can take care of it when you arrive at the location.

However, if the research is something that you do not have time for, or you feel a bit more secure having your trip planned by someone who does this as a profession, a travel agent may be the answer for you. They have the ability use a plethora of travel resources and their experienced co-workers, but this will come at an extra cost for their service.

Here is an example of a fairly large trip I planned as a travel agent. Two clients of mine wanted to travel to the UK for 3 weeks. They asked me to plan everything from international and domestic flights to the hotels and travel insurance. By the time that this entire trip was booked and paid for, the clients ended up paying roughly $500.00 more than they would have online. As a travel agent in this particular company, as with many companies, you are expected to mark your products up, and are penalized for not doing so. The clients did not see this mark up as it was hidden in the grand total.

Everything that I planned and booked for these clients could have been booked online. As a travel agent I had access to a few cheaper hotels than they would have found online, but as a travel agent, I was expected to mark them up! The security of having them reserved and paid for when they arrived was worth it to these senior citizen travelers. Travel agents are not rip off artists, but it is part of their job to "mark it up".