booking hotels/villas/airfares online.....

Being Canadian, I always booked through www.sunholidays.ca, which has now merged and become www.selloffvacations.ca . I don't book through them because of easy navigation or anything else, I book through this one because it always has the best price. I don't think I've seen an exception thus far, but it could be luck - ie maybe other websites sometimes beat their price - I haven't seen it happen yet.

I dislike any travel booking site that has popups.

When I book through one of these sites, I would like them to show:
(a) hidden costs, such as over-allowance of baggage
(b) alternate dates and rates
(c) hotel ratings and reviews
(d) distances to the nearest town if the hotel is not in town, and whether or not there is a shuttle available
(e) airport transfer included in price?

That's off the top of my head, anyways.

I like also to check with Hume Travel.........
if it's air only you are looking for they most often have the best rates on commercial and sometimes charter flights. You can book yourself online or call their tol free number in Canada and an agent will take VERY good care of you....
BTW- they are located in Vancouver,British Columbia and I have used their services for many flights. My only beef with them is their $20.booking fee which is more than worth paying if you have any problems or need to make changes during your trip!

you can always check on line sites and if your not sure or feel "iffy" tehn just call your travel agent and see if they will match the price.My agent always matches the online fare.Another site which sometimes is cheaper than selloff is www.yourtraveltickets.com or www.bookitforless.ca good luck in whatever you decide.

Always try to book thru the services direct site (ie: AA.com for american airlines - etc) almost always cheaper than thru a service like expedia or travelocity. Use the booking sites for info and then go to the services direct site. More money left in your pocket for presidentes and rum.

Larry said:

Thanks for your responses.

Aside from price, what is it that you want to see on a booking site?

Have any of you been online booking a hotel room, etc. and gone through several sites and had one that you found easier or simply liked more than the others for any specific reason?

Or, have you found yourself saying that you wished the sites had a different layout or a different navigating tool or were different in any other way?

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I think you're going to find that most of us don't care about layout or features. The most important thing for most of us is price.

Like some of the posters have said, they use online services like travelocity to find the cheapest rates and then go directly to the carriers site to make the reservation.

I have a pet peave about booking online. Many times your flight isnt available, and so you have to go back and reselect. Many of the sites, the info has changed and you must start completely over again. I understand that during that time of your indecision others could have booked some seats and thus there may not be any seats left. But what i really hate is if you have to change the departure date the return automatically adjust to the next day from the departure... that drives me nuts! So it can take a huge amount of time if you are trying to figure a good rate as well as a flight that leaves and returns when you like the most. But the resets of the prompts makes you start from scratch, really prolongs the search.

Orbitz and travelocity were similar. The airlines themselves are the worst. I went to several web sites for booking and the hotels make you go through 3 or 4 screens to select the hotels they have in the DR, when your search started with the DR. Then they ask what town you want, and they say they dont have any hotels there, when you KNOW they do. I went through that with Occidental Gran Bahia on Samana....try to find that hotel ( that I actually stayed at) on their web site or anyone elses for that matter?

I wish I could provide more detail Larry. Now that I know youd like the info. I will write down my likes and dislikes the next time I surf through some of those sites


good luck...bob

rellosk said:

I think you're going to find that most of us don't care about layout or features. The most important thing for most of us is price.

Like some of the posters have said, they use online services like travelocity to find the cheapest rates and then go directly to the carriers site to make the reservation.

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Ditto. I think I've only booked on-line once, but I always use the sites to check prices so I know what price I should be paying. It also saves the hassel of going through a travel agent and waiting on hold just to be told they'll call you back with their best price. I book through Angel's cousin-in-law at tpi.

laurapasinifan said:

I have a pet peave about booking online. Many times your flight isnt available, and so you have to go back and reselect. Many of the sites, the info has changed and you must start completely over again. I understand that during that time of your indecision others could have booked some seats and thus there may not be any seats left. But what i really hate is if you have to change the departure date the return automatically adjust to the next day from the departure... that drives me nuts! So it can take a huge amount of time if you are trying to figure a good rate as well as a flight that leaves and returns when you like the most. But the resets of the prompts makes you start from scratch, really prolongs the search.

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Yes, I hate that, too. If the flight isn't available, and you simply want to change the dates, you need to reset all parameters. If the flight isn't available for that date, I think few people would say, "okay, I'll go to Mexico then". If you want to go to the DR, you're going to the DR, and shouldn't have to start from scratch, as Bob says, it wastes a lot of time.

I've only booked online once and I like it. It was with selloffvacations.

Trina if you click on the name of the Hotel it will tell you all about the hotel and how far it is to the "town of". I often get alternative dates than I typed in which is great because they are normally lower.

Once I knew what airline the package was going with, I looked up that airline's rules and regulations about packing, weight and what they allow in a carry on etc.You can also buy insurance at the time of booking.

After booking I emailed the hotel and discussed my special needs and I received an answer right away but since I was staying at PPV Melissa from this board was nice enough to call and make arrangements for me.


PS
I hate sites where you put in a date and they come up with nothing and tell you to try again.

Anna Coniglio said:

Trina if you click on the name of the Hotel it will tell you all about the hotel and how far it is to the "town of". I often get alternative dates than I typed in which is great because they are normally lower.

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Good morning, my dear Anna. Even though I don't know how to navigate DR1 very well :classic:, I know this about selloffvacations. I think Larry was asking for what we liked about sites in general, and I was giving a list of things I liked, pretty much basing it on selloffvacations.com.

trina said:

Good morning, my dear Anna. Even though I don't know how to navigate DR1 very well :classic:, I know this about selloffvacations. I think Larry was asking for what we liked about sites in general, and I was giving a list of things I liked, pretty much basing it on selloffvacations.com.

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I think I'll go have more coffee. I shouldn't try to do 10 things and read at the same time It's hard enough just to read.

Anna Coniglio said:

I think I'll go have more coffee. I shouldn't try to do 10 things and read at the same time It's hard enough just to read.

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Nahhhh, you're just always so helpful. That is not a bad thing!