The travel booking is always comfortable on the Internet – and very often it is also cheaper than in the travel agency next door. As soon as the supposed dream trip is booked with one click, however, the travel room also turns out to be a nightmare.
Case 1 - The web is patient: catalog language and its meaning
In one, the Internet does not differ from its printed relatives: Whether you visit the website of a tour operator or browse the catalog in paper form: all the hotels are presented with the most praiseworthy words, there are no problems. Or is it? In fact, travel catalogs, as well as, for example, the authors of workbooks use a so-called language code, which one should know.
Trap 2 - New hotel: What sounds good, it often brings problems with it
If a hotel is "centrally located" this might mean that the hotel is located on a busy street or discotheques in the neighborhood disturb the night rest. In an "up-and-coming holiday resort" one should count on building sites and usual secondary noises, while a "tourist-well-developed holiday resort" usually bursts in front of bedsburges. A "traffic-favorable location" allows a location close to the highway.
Case 3 - Before Booking: The valuation portals are mandatory!
A "functionally furnished room" is certainly no luxuries, but has to offer besides bed, wardrobe and possibly a chair hardly more amenities. A "heated pool" is heatable, but not necessarily heated, and in a holiday destination with an "international atmosphere" one can look forward to guests from Great Britain or Russia.
Case 4 - In case of problems money back! But how do you set this up correctly?
An "unobtrusive service" sometimes takes longer to come, and finally the "room to the sea" is mentioned, which is only about the direction of the sky, but not about the real sea, let alone the view of the sea
Probably you would rather live in a nice, new hotel than in an old, worn out. However, a holiday in a brand new, just finished hotel may be with some problems. So maybe not all construction work has been completed and possibly not all facilities can be used. You may be in the dining room of the construction worker's way over the path and the compressed air hammer drowns the noise.
The service team is perhaps not yet fully integrated and the kitchen still a little chaotic. All this does not have to be, but can happen. For this reason, it is important to check out the most recent reviews of the various travel portals, and if there are no reviews yet, do not hesitate to play the test rabbit.
There used to be a lot of things, but not everything. If you booked an unknown hotel, you were dependent in the past on the statements of the specialist salesman in the travel agency or on the testimony of an acquaintance who has perhaps already lived in the house in question. Through websites like holidaycheck.de or tripadvisor.de, much easier, because here you can find reviews on almost every hotel on the globe.
Nevertheless, caution is also appropriate, because not all evaluations are actually genuine and really neutral. So it can happen that the owner of a hotel wants to wipe out his competitor next door and badly evaluates him. Of course, it is also possible to have your own hotel praised in the sky.
Therefore you should read the reviews exactly and only hotels with far predominantly very good and a number of at least 20 or more reviews book. The more good or very good reviews are available, the more reliable the judgment is usually.
Suppose you booked a hotel that sounded absolutely fantastic in the description on the internet. On the spot, the Nobelherberge emerges as a better descent with clogged toilets, worn out furniture and high noise level. First of all you should print out the travel offer as proof before the trip and keep it. If there is talk of a "quiet house", you do not have to accept noise. In short: Only if there is a discrepancy between the offer and the reality is there a chance to reduce!
In case of any problems you should not only report to the reception, but to the tour guide, as this is your contract and thus contact person for package tours. The tour organizer thus only has the opportunity to remedy the defect. If you only complain after the return, he does not have this possibility and there is therefore no prospect of reduction. If your travel agent is not your contact person, call his office in the United States instead.
A trip to Thailand with a direct flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok, that sounds good. Direct means surely: In Frankfurt purely in the plane and without intermediate landings or change to the Thai capital, right? No it does not. A direct flight is not a non-stop flight, which guarantees no intermediate landings. In the case of a direct flight, on the other hand, one should start from at least one intermediate landing, possibly even several, which can be connected to an aircraft interchange
Trap 5 - The flying problem or: How direct is actually directly?
If you have a lot of bad luck, the connecting machine could have already flown during the aircraft change despite the same flight number even if their flight is significantly delayed. In short, direct flights can not always be avoided. Alternatively, a non-stop flight is offered to your destination, which is usually much better and, above all, more relaxing, despite a possibly higher price.
If you are looking for a trip with several tour operators, you will often get identical offers at first glance - at partly significantly different prices. So a week in the hotel XYZ in the Turkish side with offerer "A" for example 399 euros, with offerer "B" however 599 euros. On the surface, the offers are the same: Both offer a flight from your place of residence directly to Antalya, a double room and an all-inclusive supply. The devil, however, is as often in detail.
Case 6 - sounds the same, is different
Provider "A", for example, does not provide specific details on the departure times and the airline at the time of booking. Beware of such offers! You may be flying late and on a detour to the south, and you have to leave for the return flight at 4 am.
So you will not only lose two complete holiday days, but you come back tired and exhausted from the holidays. It is possible that the airman takes other travelers in one or two intermediate destinations on the way, which unnecessarily lengthens the flight. So book only when the travel times are already fixed when booking and you know which airline you are going to be transported to the resort!
If you do not like the food in the hotel, this is primarily your problem. If the buffet looks much different than on the website of the offerer, then you can do something! Photograph the mickrige offer. Shoot the cockroaches that inhabit your hotel room and make sound recordings of the nocturnal noise coming from your disco into your hotel room - despite the balcony door closed. If there are co-travelers who can confirm the lack or who also have unwanted sub-tenants in the room, exchange names and addresses.
Case 7 - On-site evidence: Digicam and smartphone in use
Case 8 - When hidden fees raise the price
Trap 9 - Well hidden: Charges for credit card payment
Case 10 - Price Differences: Book at the right time
Incidentally, according to a judgment of the District Court of Cleves "10 to 20 cockroaches" on Gran Canaria is no reason to reduce, but merely a "inconvenience". On the other hand, in the case of a "considerable cockroach attack", according to a judgment of the District Court of Hamburg, a reduction of the travel price by 40 per cent per day justifies
After returning from the holiday, you should lodge the complaints in writing within one month with the tour operator and request a concrete reduction with a percentage. Count the cockroaches, and write, for example, "more than 50 cockroaches in the room, so I charge 40 percent of the travel costs."
Low-cost airlines have the reputation of bolstering the allegedly low air ticket through additional charges. If you look around at Ryanair, you will be charged a cost of 29,24 euros for a flight from Memmingen to Edinburgh, which will be charged for extras included in other airlines. You want a reserved seat? Makes 10 euros online or 20 euros at the airport. You want to get in front of the pack? Makes 10 euros.
Would you like to take a piece of luggage? Power up to 15 kg weight 30 Euro, up to 20 kg even 50 Euro. So from 29.24 euros quite quickly more than 100 euros. In general, you should pay attention to whether, and if so, which additional options are preselected. This is prohibited by an EU directive, but is still handled by some vendors.
Many airlines charge an additional fee for payment by credit card. This is annoying, because with many cards a travel cancellation insurance is included. If you would like to take advantage of this advantage, you have to pay attention to the "Optional Payment Charge" (OPC) for Lufthansa. In this case, it is necessary to check whether a separately booked insurance is cheaper at the end.
From one day to the next, the identical flight or the same package can become considerably more expensive or cheaper. It is therefore always important to book at the best time. How to do that? First of all, you should not be bothered by blinking banners with statements like "just 5 places available" and "now book now" to spontaneous bookings. Even the popular last minute trips are rarely a real bargain and only worthwhile if you do not want to visit a specific destination or hotel.
Generally the prices are the lowest, the sooner you book. If the favorable quotas are booked, it becomes more expensive. This continues until shortly before the travel date, until eventually remaining places are cheaper. For early bookings, it is highly recommended to take out travel cancellation insurance.
5 bargain-tips: book cheap
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