Our Blog
HOLIDAY 2007: How not to get burned when booking for the summer
It’s the busiest time of the year for brochure browsers. But look before you book! Eoghan Corry lists the travel hotspots — and the pitfalls for consumers — this year
Booking a family holiday is a complicated business, and becoming more complicated by the day with the enhanced range of options and the different ways of selecting a family holiday.
We picked out ten things to watch as you make your €2,000 decision for 2007:
WHEN
It is not much fun if you arrive in your dream holiday location when most of the hotels and restaurants have closed, the ski lifts have stopped or the snow hasn’t fallen yet. This is a real danger in lake and mountain destinations and the more northerly beach resorts.
Seasons are shorter in Scandinavia, on the Black Sea (remember Romania’s season is about two weeks shorter than Bulgaria’s) or places like Italy’s Lake Garda and the Austrian mountains. Even if the resort is open all the facilities may not be.
Check the small print on your brochure to see if kids clubs are open when you are travelling. Prices in April and May can be lower for a reason.
CHARGES
Lots of them from tour operator and scheduled services alike, government and airport taxes, fuel surcharges, single supplements and under-occupancy charges by hotels, charges for late ticketing, group or family pre-seating and legroom. Not everyone charges the same, so shop around. Make your decision on the final price, not the figure they use in the ad.
CHILDREN
Watch for the two-child clause. Most apartments are built for two parents and two children and when brochures tell you an apartment can sleep five, they sometimes mean under the breakfast table. The reality is that two and three bed apartments are expensive and hard to find, and many are already booked for next year while you are still in the resort. Watch out for countries where price structures are kinder to large families — like Austria.
INSURANCE
There have been rapid changes in the market, so shop around. Even traditionally difficult areas like heart attack patients, HIV positive and over-80s are now enjoying freedom of choice. You can get single trip insurance for €5 and multi-trip annual policies (usually the best value) from €40.
LUGGAGE
Keep that luggage receipt they give you at check with your passport or somewhere you will find it easily. It enables lost baggage to be traced. Compensation levels for lost or delayed baggage were renegotiated last year but are still very low. Security-wise, most people realise liquids are no longer allowed in hold luggage but not everyone realises mascara counts as a liquid. The Americans are opening cases for security reasons, and confiscating duty free from people who are transferring planes in the States, so use Travel Sentry certified locks and buy your duty free on the last leg of your flight.
REFUNDS
Most air tickets bought online are non refundable and not changeable, in other words “use it or lose it” tickets. Ignorance of the terms and conditions is no defence, so ask before handing over your credit card details.
CANCELLATIONS
The EU’s attempts to get airlines to compensate passengers for cancelled or delayed flights have not led to any serious improvement on flight delays and cancellations. Under EU law you are entitled to fixed compensation and hotel bills, if you are delayed for more than five hours, but there are a lot of get-out clauses for airlines such as weather, safety, security and industrial action.
CRUSH
Some tour operators enable you to buy extra legroom. Legroom varies outrageously between airlines, and airlinequality.com is a good place to check standards. Ask for a bulkhead and you will get a few extra inches.
VACCINATIONS
Get your shots six weeks in advance and check with your GP before you go. Most developing countries require Hep A, typhoid, diphtheria and polio. Not all GPs do yellow fever, which is one of the more complicated shots you might need for Asia and Africa. People have been turned back at inter-state borders because they do not have up to date yellow fever shots, even if they were told they didn’t need them before they left Ireland.
AIRPORT
This week two people arrived at Sidney in Montano thinking they had booked a flight online to Sydney Australia. The “which airport” question is an important one. There are clusters of airports in southern Spain, around Barcelona in Spain and Milan and Venice in Italy, a little knowledge about distances can serve passengers well. Few people have an idea where Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Heathrow and City stand in relation to London. And is Barcelona, Girona or Reus most suitable to your needs? With the opening of small under-used airports throughout Europe, check the map before flying. Beware Ryanair’s penchant for calling airports after cities up to 90 kilometres away.
TRANSFERS
The business of finding your way to a beach resort can be more complicated than you expect. Airport transfers can be expensive, so the €40 you saved on a low cost flight could turn into €160 in airport transfers. Watch out for good cheap options in the brochures, it can be worth a small extra charge to get a private transfer and not have to sit on the coach. The 45 minutes to the resort can turn in to an hour and 45 minutes if yours is the last hotel to be dropped off.
Bon voyage!
Evening Herald
Thursday January 4th 2007 Eoghan Corry Travel Extra