Internet Holiday Finder – Online Holiday Booking

A recent announcement by Thomas Cook has said that they are going to close around 200 stores in the country. This has left many people wondering if it is still safe to book a holiday with a travel agent.

It is well known that the company have recently been having some financial difficulties and the Chief Executive of the group, Sam Weihagen has said, “We are addressing issues of underperformance in business and we appreciate how supportive customers have been. We assure them that booking with Thomas Cook is still a safe option and our holidays will not be affected our refinancing.”

Thomas Cook is also covered by the Air Travel Organisers Licensing scheme which means that any holidays that are cancelled because of the companies failure will be protected. This essentially means that if you are trapped abroad because the company goes broke you will still be able to take your flight home. Also, if you have booked a holiday and the company goes insolvent then you will be to get all of your money back.

People who’ve booked a holiday independently will not be covered by the scheme and they will have to pay more in order to get home. Many people have the assumption that their travel insurance policy will cover the loss they incur but the most basic policies, which most people go for, generally do not cover this.

The Association of British Insurers has recently commented, “Most travel policies don’t cover the issue when a company goes insolvent. They mostly focus on giving immediate medical care when you are abroad or getting your home if you have a medical emergency.”

When it comes to planning or booking a holiday, more and more of us are opening our internet browser to see what we can find. Online bookings make holidays far easier to manage, offering consumers a number of benefits – five of which are outlined below.

1. Convenience

To book a holiday in times past you would have had to visit your local tour operator or travel agent in order to discuss the options available to you. Nowadays, a few simple clicks and you can be trawling the internet for the best deals and holidays which are on offer.

The fact that the internet is now available on the move, via mobile phones, means that there are even less restrictions about when you can make your booking. Internet access can be gained at any time of day, meaning you can book your holiday over dinner, before you go to bed or even on your journey home from work.

2. Versatility

Online bookings also provide access to a wider selection of holiday providers, allowing you to make the best possible selection. This not only means that you are able to book your ideal holiday but you will also get it at the best possible price.

Alongside this, online bookings will also enable you to pre-book any additional services for your holiday, such as airport parking. Gatwick Airport Parking and Edinburgh Airport Parking can all be pre-booked online, meaning that you can sit back and relax, knowing that every element of your holiday has been taken care of.

3. Accessibility

Online sites increase their accessibility by offering their services across a number of online platforms. Social media sites are routinely used to deliver information to customers, informing them of the latest deals and offers and even alerting them to situations which could cause travel disruption, such as volcanic ash clouds or delays to flights.

4. Discounts

Online bookings offer a number of great discounts and reduced prices.

These discounts apply to flights and airport accommodation, such as Heathrow Airport Hotels. Making arrangements to stay in these types of hotel will ensure your holiday is stress free from the beginning by eliminating the stressful journey to the airport on your day of departure.

5. Safety

With some airports claiming that as much as 98% of their bookings are made online, safety has become another concern. Online sites operate under strict guidelines to ensure personal data is protected, offering peace of mind.

When booking holidays online you should always consider:

•What price information is provided – does the quoted price include taxes or additional costs? Do they provide a breakdown of the costs? Is your luggage allowance specified?

•What options are available – is there flexibility with the date and times of flights? Can you add additional luggage? Can you check-in online?

• What assurances do you get – does the provider send you email confirmation of your booking? Will you receive any details in the post? What information will you need to take with you when departing?

Online booking offers so many advantages – so save yourself the trouble of a trip to the travel agents and start booking your dream holiday on your PC, laptop or mobile phone today!

Do you sometimes dream of just getting away from it all in beautiful surroundings and with friendly people whose top priority is to see that you are having a wonderful time, well that dream can be a reality.  The dedicated and experienced hoteliers who manage and monitor all of the privately owned resorts and hotels in the Macdonald Hotels Limited portfolio are specialists in making your stay a delight.

With more than 40 luxurious establishments in the U.K. and Spain, Macdonald Resorts and Hotels provide the ultimate in relaxation and refreshment for individuals, couples and families.  All the facilities are four and five-star rated, and have won numerous awards for excellence, including the AA Hotel Group of the Year for 2007-8 and the HRS Hotel Excellence Award for innovations to improve customer service.

From Harrogate to Calahonda, Macdonald Hotels and Resorts offers your perfect getaway.  These establishments are situated in some of the most scenic areas of the U.K. and on Spain’s Mediterranean coast.  Booking is made easier than ever, as Macdonald is the first in the U.K. to incorporate the OPERA solution of a central database that allows instant and continuous communication to each location.

Depending on location, the attractions and activities offered range from championship golf courses to surf and sand.  Just name your preference, you can play tennis, go off road driving in a 4 X 4, ride a horse, walk a forest trail or climb a mountain.  Swim indoors or outdoors, go fly-fishing, shoot clay pigeons, water ski or just relax on the beach.

Wherever you go, you’ll find some of the most delightful cuisine you have ever enjoyed.  The chefs at Macdonald’s top-rated restaurants incorporate local and seasonal products in their scrumptious meals, so quite often your dinner comes directly from the fields to the kitchen, providing the freshest and most delectable appetizers and entrees.  Check out their Options (an extended stay or a series of short ones) for the holiday of a lifetime.

For more information click here or use the search form below.

LateRooms specializes in finding available hotel space and rooms that you probably did not even know existed at all the top locations within the UK and globally.  Included in their wide assortment of accommodations are everything from hotels to chalets to bed & breakfasts to castles.  Of course, each of these also comes with unbelievable prices and absolutely never any booking fees.

One of the perks of LateRooms is that the Manchester company has been hard at work offering hotel deals to the general public since 1999, which has allowed them to scout the best locations across the world and reveal them to you.  Their hard work has earned them numerous awards such as the silver British travel award in 2008 for best accommodation booking website, and a listing in the TimesOnline best travel websites of 2009.

Due to the fact that LateRooms is not part of a hotel group or property chain, any hotel is welcome to join their website, which allows them to offer a wide assortment of properties to fit every need.  The service works simply, by allowing hotels around the world to fill vacancies at the last moment to make sure they are at full capacity.

However, the perk for the consumer using LateRooms is that in order to fill their rooms the hotels drop their prices down drastically low, which LateRooms is then able to offer to their customers, which means that you secure only the best deals on the best accommodations.

LateRooms also offers full customer service with the ability to book online or via the phone if you prefer to talk to a representative.  Additionally, found within the website are thousands of Google reviews and actual LateRooms customer reviews so that you can rest assured your final choice is the best match for you.

For more information click here or on the banner below.

There is a reason why the hotel website hotelsviva is so successful, it is because when you book your holiday to Minorca or Mallorca Spain they offer you only the most charming locations that are near the seaside and as heavenly as a holiday can get.

Founded in 1998, Hotelsviva is a chain that offers 12 Viva Hotels and two exclusive Vanity hotels for the pleasure of adults only.  The chain of hotels is also able to offer the best in hospitality offering almost a 1:3 ratio of guests and employees, which means that while staying at a Viva Hotel your needs always come first.

This is evident by the fact that when you arrive, your room comes complete with a bottle of cava, fruit, and of course a welcome drink putting you under the arch of paradise from the moment you arrive.

Each of the hotels that are available on Hotels Viva are not just holiday accommodation, but instead entire activity centres that will provide plenty to do without even stepping foot off the property.  From children’s water slides in the pool to adult cabanas to day spas and hot tubs the point of a Mallorca or Minorca holiday with Hotelsviva is to get spoiled.

Of course, directly behind each accommodation are the vast azure blue coastal lines with plenty of beach space, scuba diving, and other various water sports for the more adventure inclined holidaygoer.

Enhancing the entire experience is the fact that Hotels Viva works hard to make sure that everyone can afford a bit of paradise, which is why they offer discounts and competitive pricing year round on their website, so that when you leave paradise you do so without guilt.  For a worry free perfect holiday getaway, put your family at the hands of a company with 30 years of travel experience, and book your next holiday with Hotels Viva.

For more information visit the website here or click on the banner below.

If you are planning a holiday, the best way to book deals in the current environment is online.  Only twenty years ago the only way to book a holiday package was to head to a travel agency and choose a package option if you wanted to supposedly save money. The original low cost beach holidays were what brought the Spanish mainland resorts to the attention of millions of holidaymakers across Europe. Those resorts are still favoured today, with holidays in Mallorca, Menorca and many other parts of Spain now rank as high quality options for visitors, and it is partly to do with the increasing range of options open to anybody using online holiday booking websites.

Essentially, a travel agent had a system where they would perform a search query into the areas that you were interested in booking a holiday and choose the best package for you that they assembled with their travel contacts.  However, now you can perform your own search query online and receive the same amount of options without paying them a commission so garnering considerable savings.  Thus, the internet is the logical solution to booking a holiday getaway.

There are a few tricks of the trade however as not every internet holiday package is the best price, although the various travel websites would like you to think so.  One of the most basic tips is to wait until about two to three months before your departure date to book travel packages so that you search for holiday packages when they are priced at their lowest.  Although it is possible to find early bird sales and last minute deals, generally these require a high degree of flexibility and you will always be taking a gamble in regards to availability.

Thus, if you want to secure travel plans ahead of time it is best to book holiday trips a few months ahead of time.  For those with flexible dates and work allowances, it is also best to book trips on a Tuesday night as this is the date that travel agencies review their prices and tend to lower prices.

You also will want to make it a point to always try to book a holiday package when possible instead of booking each element of your trip separately, to secure cheap flights, the best hotel deals and the cheapest car hire.  This is because most travel agency websites will lower their prices and offer large savings that is comparable to a night’s stay free or free car hire for the duration of your trip if you agree to purchase all components of your trip through them.  While you may occasionally be able to secure a deal by purchasing components separately, this is not the general result.

Finally when you go online to research or book a travel deal the best option is to not go directly to the official websites for hotels, cruises, airlines and car rental agencies unless they are offering a promotion as they will invariably be more expensive. Official websites will almost always offer you the standard high pricing that you would receive if you checked in at the last minute instead of a discount with the hope that the website features will convince you that you need their service.  Instead, travel agency websites, hotel and flight specialists, and car hire sites generally work with multiple suppliers and  not have a bias and receive breaks in pricing for marketing the travel services so utilise this to your advantage.