How do you book your travel?

[GlobalT]

I don't travel as many people here but have averaged between 10-15 long haul international trips a year for the past 7 years and I don't think I have ever used a TA to book flights or accomodation, I just do it all myself online. For some reason I was recently wondering whether there might be a better way. For my flights I just book direct via the relevant airline website (mostly SQ) and for accommodation I typically book via booking.com (or in some cases through the hotel website directly) after researching options on tripadvisor. I have no loyalty to any particular hotel chain because I typically stay based on convenience to where my meetings are or alternatively try to find a local or boutique hotel.

I have often found limited flight options by going direct through the SQ website but I keep going back for my next booking, - I am a sucker for punishment and I also really enjoy booking my own flights

I also have complete control over my travel so am not bound by any corporate policies or requirement to use a particular travel booking service.

I am really interested to know what everyone else does, is there a more efficient way of doing it to ensure you get the best outcomes in terms of pricing, seating, hotels etc without having to go and visit a TA or without having to spend hours in front of a computer researching options?

 

[OATEK]

I generally book all my travel online, although that is only 1-2 international trips and 4-6 domestic trips per year these days now that I am retired from work.

A typical International itinerary will involve 6-10 flights, usually 2-4 rail journeys and car hire, and 8-10 hotels/other stays.The 2017 trip to the Baltic had 6 flights, 3 rail legs, car hire for 11 days, and 9 Hotels/Gites etc.

I try to book all direct with Airline or Hotel. I sometimes use booking.com for Hotels as they have bulk inventory and you can reserve a room that is not yet loaded in the Hotels current inventory - usually when I need a room at specific location and on a certain date related to important connections for air/rail travel. But overall 85+% of accommodation bookings are direct.

I book air travel direct wherever possible as I have been the meat in the sandwich between an airline and online travel agent in the past.

 

[andye]

I like to book both direct when I can
For hotels:
If in a chain I will nearly always book direct to maximise status benefits
If you don't stick to a particular chain, hotels.com can be a reasonable option as you effectively get 10% back as a future discount.
If not staying with a chain I will also look at kaligo, pointshound or rocketmiles for bonus airline miles though you need to watch that they are not more expensive
Occasionally there will be an Amex discount offer that makes me go with expedia etc
If using booking.com or wotif I will go via cashrewards (Cashrewards - Australia's No 1 Savings and Cashback Website) or if hilton/IHG via ebates (Cash Back at Stores You) for a little cashback

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I am really interested to know what everyone else does, is there a more efficient way of doing it to ensure you get the best outcomes in terms of pricing, seating, hotels etc without having to go and visit a TA or without having to spend hours in front of a computer researching options?

I always book, as far as possible, direct through the airline. In the event of changes you don't have the whole 'go through your travel agent' issues. Also makes it very easy for seat selection and anything else you need from the airline.

There are times when you have to use an on-line agent... either for the fare or the routing, but usually the airlines these days will be the same price as an agent, so I don't see much value. (Exceptions might include things such as error fares, or complex domestic routings in the USA)

Hotels... book direct for benefits such as free wi-fi (Hilton) at chain hotels, but otherwise hotelscombined to identify the cheapest price and compare with cheaptickets who usually have a 16% discount for non-chain hotels (with significant savings over booking.com at times)

I keep an eye out for special promos such as the recent 2000 BA avios per stay at Hilton. Easy 10K points which gives a return AU domestic on QF or a couple of intra-asia flights on CX.

 

[GlobalT]

I always book, as far as possible, direct through the airline. In the event of changes you don't have the whole 'go through your travel agent' issues. Also makes it very easy for seat selection and anything else you need from the airline.

There are times when you have to use an on-line agent... either for the fare or the routing, but usually the airlines these days will be the same price as an agent, so I don't see much value. (Exceptions might include things such as error fares, or complex domestic routings in the USA)

Hotels... book direct for benefits such as free wi-fi (Hilton) at chain hotels, but otherwise hotelscombined to identify the cheapest price and compare with cheaptickets who usually have a 16% discount for non-chain hotels (with significant savings over booking.com at times)

I keep an eye out for special promos such as the recent 2000 BA avios per stay at Hilton. Easy 10K points which gives a return AU domestic on QF or a couple of intra-asia flights on CX.

I agree, I booked once through a TA and when I had to change one of my flights it was a real pain, so much easier to do it myself which is what I have done ever since.

Also good points about the extra benefits you now get by booking direct with the hotel and this is the only time I go direct, if I can't get free wifi through booking.com etc.

I will check out cheaptickets, 16% is a decent saving worth exploring further.

 

[Mattg]

Generally I book all my own travel. If I'm booking a domestic trip (and not using points), I generally go straight to the Qantas & Virgin websites and will book QF unless there's a compelling reason not to.

When planning international trips, ITA Matrix is my go-to search engine. A very powerful search tool, and you can search for flights across multiple airlines (and even to multiple destinations) simultaneously.

I've only ever used a travel agent twice - both for complex itineraries originating overseas that I was able to price on ITA Matrix but couldn't find a way to book myself.

For hotels I generally use an aggregator website like Agoda Points Max to compare options, but always check the price on the hotel's own website before booking. If it's cheaper to book through the hotel website, I do that. If not, I'll pick a frequent flyer program that could use a points top-up and book through Agoda.

 

[JohnK]

I book most of my travel direct with airline websites but occasionally find a routing on Zuji/Expedia that is not available on airline website.

Haven't used a travel agent in Australia in a long time but have booked some flights via Thai travel agent to get specific booking classes.

 

[GlobalT]

Generally I book all my own travel. If I'm booking a domestic trip (and not using points), I generally go straight to the Qantas & Virgin websites and will book QF unless there's a compelling reason not to.

When planning international trips, ITA Matrix is my go-to search engine. A very powerful search tool, and you can search for flights across multiple airlines (and even to multiple destinations) simultaneously.

I've only ever used a travel agent twice - both for complex itineraries originating overseas that I was able to price on ITA Matrix but couldn't find a way to book myself.

For hotels I generally use an aggregator website like Agoda Points Max to compare options, but always check the price on the hotel's own website before booking. If it's cheaper to book through the hotel website, I do that. If not, I'll pick a frequent flyer program that could use a points top-up and book through Agoda.

Thanks, I just had a look at ITA Matrix and it looks pretty good, I am going to give it a shot before I book my next flight as it just turned up a lot of options when I ran my already booked itinerary for next week into the search.

 

[TomVexille]

...

for complex itineraries originating overseas that I was able to price on ITA Matrix but couldn't find a way to book myself.

This.

A good TA can book stuff I can't. That being said most of our travel is basic and I can do it online or over the phone with the airline directly.

 

[LadyC]

I tend to book all my travel myself except for where I can get additional hotel benefits from booking with a travel agent. I also have a Citi Prestige through which I can access their 4 nights for 3 offer so I often book with them also. Most of my flights are award flights so obviously book direct with an airline. Where I have been paying, I have booked both direct or with on line portals, depending upon where I can get best price and potential cash back rebate.

 

[SL21]

I book direct with airline. Hotels always direct, having a hotel background I would never book through a third party if I didn’t absolutely have to.

 

[GlobalT]

I book direct with airline. Hotels always direct, having a hotel background I would never book through a third party if I didn’t absolutely have to.

Can I ask why this is? What advantage/benefit do you always get by booking direct as opposed to booking through an aggregator?

 

[SL21]

Can I ask why this is? What advantage/benefit do you always get by booking direct as opposed to booking through an aggregator?

If by some chance the hotel is overbooked (and it happens more than you think) as a third party guest you will often be the first to be walked (sent to another hotel) rather than a guest that’s booked directly through the hotel. If your room type is overbooked say you rqst a king but hotel is overbooked on kings 3rd party guests will be moved to doubles before a direct guest. They are paying less to the actual hotel so front desk staff have less guilt in doing this. If the hotel is fully booked 3rd party may be assigned to the least desirable areas or rooms in hotels. A lot of it is things you wouldn’t even know on the surface and don’t even become an issue at slow times etc.

 

[GlobalT]

If by some chance the hotel is overbooked (and it happens more than you think) as a third party guest you will often be the first to be walked (sent to another hotel) rather than a guest that’s booked directly through the hotel. If your room type is overbooked say you rqst a king but hotel is overbooked on kings 3rd party guests will be moved to doubles before a direct guest. They are paying less to the actual hotel so front desk staff have less guilt in doing this. If the hotel is fully booked 3rd party may be assigned to the least desirable areas or rooms in hotels. A lot of it is things you wouldn’t even know on the surface and don’t even become an issue at slow times etc.

Fair enough, I have had the room type issue before where I was told in no uncertain terms by the front desk staff that even though I had booked a king room they were putting me in a double because I had booked through booking.com and priority was being given to guests that had booked direct. It has only happened once but it was still a very annoying experience when it did happen.

 

[dajop]

For air travel, often through the airline website, sometimes through third party websites depending on the trip. I usually check kayak or skyscanner and then will book through airline website unless they can link to an online site that is substantially cheaper (and the likelihood of needing to change the first flight is low). For example I booked SQ tickets through BYOjet last week, because it was $70 cheaper, and the outbound flight was only 24 hours away ... so I knew I wouldn't need to change that sector. I have also booked Jetstar once through a spanish website because oddly it was $20 cheaper (on a $60 fare) , just to try it out, and it worked just fine. Sometimes, odd combinations come up through third party sites that the airline sites don't have either.

As for hotels, always direct with the big chains, sometimes direct with smaller hotels or expedia, booking.com etc if and when needed. I don't understand sometimes why hotels will be selling a room through their own website for 50% more than through online agencies, due to commissions that need to be bad. Perhaps this is a sign of lagging inventory management, or perhaps to get to volume targets to achieve lower commissions .... who knows.

 

[juddles]

I always book, as far as possible, direct through the airline. In the event of changes you don't have the whole 'go through your travel agent' issues. ....

Completely agree. It used to be a harder choice, with direct bookings usually much more expensive, but now I can get pretty much the same price direct with Qantas or whoever.

The only times I book through a third party is when, as JohnK advised, there are routes or connections not available on the airline's online site.

 

[brown891]

Being a student, I do most of my bookings through a travel agent. Having said that my situations might be different to you (Travel in groups of friends, bouncing from places so internal flights etc)

BUT, I love searching flights and if I’m going on holiday, I will usually find the cheapest flight anyways through a combination of STA travel matrix, google flights and sky scanner and then send off to TA who matches or beats it and then book through them just for peace of mind and I trust them in case something goes wrong.

The only time I’ve recently not booked through TA is booking separate o/s flights. As TA have contracts with o/s carriers that don’t touch Australia (eg LHR-AMS) they are sold the flights in AUD and therefore are generally more expensive + can’t be matched. Booking directly through airline is best in this instance.

Hotels however I generally do myself through booking.com

EDIT: this is for international flights. Domestic flights I book myself through airline.

 

[ellen10]

I book all my travel myself. I love the researching part and being in control of my travels.
Flights mainly direct with airlines, keeping an eye out for sales etc.

Accommodation I book through a mix of sites such as Expedia, Booking.com but I always look at direct with the hotels. European trains I book myself as advance tickets, some great deals. Cars is a mix and I often find I can get very good deals tied in with my flights. We often stay in a mix of hotels, B&Bs, apartments and I do enjoy selecting these.

My travel is all for leisure. The planning part of a trip is a very big part of my holiday enjoyment.

 

[Spongbob]

When the air travel segments are pretty simple (e.g. 1 or 2 direct flights) I like to book direct with the airline.
When the land segments are complicated (e.g. 3 or more locations) I prefer my TA make those hotel and travel bookings.
If it is for work, all flights must be booked via the corporate TA, though they will try to book any flights or accommodation you request.

 

[Denali]

8yrs ago, everything was booked by a travel agent, even hotel bookings and transfers. These days, I book everything myself.

I do use online agencies to search for routes, airlines and plan B scenarios for delays/cancellations and then I do myself, mostly direct with the airline.

Spending time on AFFer has also prepared me to handle cancellations/delays ect better as well.