Holiday / Apartment Websites

[BensGrandad]

I do not like any that you pay on arrival I prefer to pay the flights, apartment and transfer all up before we go so all we need is our spending money. Used to hire a car to pick up at airport but that stops wife or her sister in law having a drink so now use a transfer company and buses or taxis in the resort. With 4 of us it is often cheaper for a taxi than 4 bus fares. If going to Limassol we buy a weekly bus pass but unfortunately many places do not do them as we would use them everywhere.

 

[pasty]

Owners direct has always been good for me

As a family we have used "Owners direct" website for villas in Spain several times , each without complications.

Another vote for Owners Direct always good and no problems.

Question for you Owners Direct users. I made an enquiry about an apartment and got an email bac from the owner saying it wasn't available but they had an alternative. The alternative was an apartment in the same block and looks great, but their email has directed me to another website - a2zrental.eu to make a booking. Is this normal for a query through Owners Direct?

This is exactly the sort of thing making me nervous as I said in the OP

 

[dazzer6666]

Question for you Owners Direct users. I made an enquiry about an apartment and got an email bac from the owner saying it wasn't available but they had an alternative. The alternative was an apartment in the same block and looks great, but their email has directed me to another website - a2zrental.eu to make a booking. Is this normal for a query through Owners Direct?

This is exactly the sort of thing making me nervous as I said in the OP

I had exactly that in Florida last year - owner owned 2 apartments in the same block but advertised each on different sites, one was aimed more at UK bookers and one at the US. The US-advertised apartment was much bigger. Had no issues at all, communication direct with the owner (who has several years history on the site) was good prior to booking etc.

 

[pasty]

I've used https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/ a few times. Not had any problems.

I always book flights and car hire direct too.

Got exactly what I wanted for the exact dates I wanted. Cheers [MENTION=13947]happypig[/MENTION]

 

[Balders]

Before I get into my reply, I will state I have a vested interest - bet you can't guess my business!

Firstly, I really do understand and accept that people like the flexibility of using websites as per those mentioned above, in fact some of the fun is finding your own "bargain".

However, lots of people don't fully understand what protection they have, if any, or some of the tricks online sites use to give you the best price.

Financial Protection - yes if you pay by credit card you have financial protection, but this means that you have to make a claim to the credit card company - what happens if your airline fails while abroad? Buying a fully ATOL protected holiday means that your agent has to get you home without any further financial outlay by the customer. We too as agents, have to recover the money from ATOL but we buy Supplier Failure Insurance which pays out immediately, hence giving us the money to get you home. Funnily enough people are happy to pay a circa 2% fee to purchase there travel by credit card, when actually the extra cost for an ATOL protected holiday is significantly cheaper!!

Companies like Owners Direct and AirBNB are merely introducers - if the owner of the property decides to sell up or not fulfil any more bookings, you are left up a certain creek, without a certain paddle!

An interesting recent piece from the Daily Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/holidaymakers-face-hike-in-booking-rental-homes/

As for Online Sites hiding pricing elements, most will not include or tell you about City/Resort Fees that are prevalent across cities in Europe (even Majorca has just introduced same) but are rife and can be expensive in the USA, particularly Vegas. I was talking to a couple who told me they had found a cracking deal online for a 14nt stay in Vegas, they hadn't got a clue about Resort Fees and their faces dropped when I told them they average out at $30 per night, which meant they needed to find another £350!!

I hear loads of horror stories - my favourite recent one involved a well known accommodation website. He reserved 4 rooms and secured it with a Credit Card 9 months before travel (pay on arrival) When he got to resort, their rooms had been sold and the hotel was full as his Credit Card had expired and nobody from the well known website advised him!

What I will say is us agents do struggle to compete with the low cost airlines short haul (long haul we get great fares from scheduled airlines - will BA let you pay a £50 deposit on their website?) but we are only another £5/£10 per ticket extra short haul (including financial protection, if applicable) so what I say to people is what value do they put on financial protection and somebody that is always there on the end of the phone/email/text to help them when they have a problem, rather than being on hold to a call centre for half a day to sort a small problem.

Whichever way you choose to book, understand the relevant value of doing it DIY or using an agent.

Just thought I'd bump this in light of Low Cost Holidays going into administration and highlights the issues with building yourself a DIY holiday and/or using a Supplier/Agent that doesn't offer ATOL Protection.

I know of many people who have potentially lost thousands, but still have to shell out more money to go on holiday to rebook predominately their accommodation as no Hotels were paid and a small number of flights weren't even booked, as they won't have enough time to recover monies from their card provider (if paid by Credit, Debit is more tenuous) or the Spanish, as that's where Low cost holidays were domiciled (good luck with that!)

 

[Igzilla]

We've used Owners Direct and Holiday Lettings a lot and always had great value for money. Book direct with easyjet as well - we always book the day the flights come out, then we find somewhere to stay and book car hire. We generally get two weeks in Italy or Greece for the three of us for around £1500 (£800 villa + £450 flights + £250 car hire), but we do tend to go at Easter (we always reckon as it's the start of the season, everyone is happy to see tourists, whereas if it's high season, they well be fed up...)

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Low cost holidays wont let you down
regards
DR

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

We've used Owners Direct and Holiday Lettings a lot and always had great value for money. Book direct with easyjet as well - we always book the day the flights come out, then we find somewhere to stay and book car hire. We generally get two weeks in Italy or Greece for the three of us for around £1500 (£800 villa + £450 flights + £250 car hire), but we do tend to go at Easter (we always reckon as it's the start of the season, everyone is happy to see tourists, whereas if it's high season, they well be fed up...)

Yep ,no one wants to see a tourist on holiday
regards
DR

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Just thought I'd bump this in light of Low Cost Holidays going into administration and highlights the issues with building yourself a DIY holiday and/or using a Supplier/Agent that doesn't offer ATOL Protection.

I know of many people who have potentially lost thousands, but still have to shell out more money to go on holiday to rebook predominately their accommodation as no Hotels were paid and a small number of flights weren't even booked, as they won't have enough time to recover monies from their card provider (if paid by Credit, Debit is more tenuous) or the Spanish, as that's where Low cost holidays were domiciled (good luck with that!)

My nephew has lost £1100
regards
DR

 

[Igzilla]

Yep ,no one wants to see a tourist on holiday
regards
DR

That's from experience, mate. Surly service in restaurants, grumpy people in ticket offices etc etc. Go early, and you get lots of smiles and little extra touches that really make you feel like you're not a cash cow to be milked. Tbf, it's mainly in the UK that we've had the worst service consistently.