Travel agents v online bargains
In a world of flight price aggregators and online discounts, can traditional package holidays still provide value?
The term ‘‘package holiday’’ is a swear word in some circles. A one-stop shop where you book your flights, hotel, transfers and tours seems dated, now that customers want to feel unique.
They’re convenient, but can travel agents still compete on price now that the internet provides easily bookable accommodation and flight alerts? I did a not-so-scientific comparison.
House of Travel had flights, transfers and five nights at the Westin hotel on Denarau for $1505 per person (leaving March 22) or at the nearby Hilton for $1549 per person. Online I found flights for $1326 return for two (a rival airline was cheaper), while Booking.com had a comparable stay at the Westin Denarau for $1301 or the Hilton (on sale) for $1184.
So the Westin DIY stay was $2626 versus $3010 with the travel agent. The Booking.com deal for the Hilton meant the DIY option wins again, $2510 versus $3098. Even if you have to shell out for transfers, it’s safe to say they won’t be $400-$500.
For families, agents may have the upper hand getting great deals. Flight Centre had Fiji’s First Landing Beach resort and villas for five nights and flights from $725 per person from March 13, far better than booking flights for two adults and two children on the same dates ($1984 total) and booking the same room separately (starting at $1838). In this instance, booking the package with the highstreet agent saves around $1000.
A Gold Coast family theme park holiday at SeaWorld Resort for four using Flight Centre’s package in May (outside school holidays) was $3780 for flights to Brisbane, car hire, a fivenight stay and passes to theme parks. The DIY price for the same trip with theme park passes but without car rental was $3694. So the package tour edges it. However, if you choose to buy flights separately and instead fly to closer Coolangatta with Air Asia (baggage included), then the DIY price shrinks to $3293 for five nights.
Trawling through travel websites revealed some bargains for both sides. The travel agents don’t need too much prompting to sing the virtues of allinclusive bookings – with them, of course.
Both Flight Centre and House of Travel said the old theory that travel agents had access to flight and room deals not available to individual punters was true, because they are frequent repeat customers. It’s economies of scale.
Sue Matson, Flight Centre NZ’s general manager for retail said: ‘‘We are privy to special flight prices, hotels and cruise cabin rates that consumers will never find online themselves. We will also often try get our customers special extras.’’ This was true when considering the company’s family deals to SeaWorld Resort, which chucked in unlimited entry to a string of theme parks and also free drinks at the hotel. However, Booking.com also offered the theme park passes as an add-on, so these bricks-and-mortar chains don’t have a monopoly on added extras.
But they can give you one point of contact when things go wrong – and it’s usually ‘‘when’’, not ‘‘if’’.
Assembling the separate elements of a holiday may save you hundreds if you find the cheapest, best-suited option for each part – but it can take time. I unashamedly admit spending hours trawling through Airbnb, Booking.com and SkyScanner.
Those with ‘‘better things to do’’ help keep the travel agents afloat.
Package holiday hints
❚ If you DIY, take out sufficient travel insurance as you’ll be doing all the legwork if something goes wrong
❚ Arrive at the travel agents after researching approximate flight prices and your preferred hotels and see if they can beat it.
❚ How necessary is a free transfer? Taxis would be very expensive in Helsinki but cheap in Hong Kong – likewise the free breakfasts.
❚ Package holidays might let you pay off the cost over time, but DIY endeavours let you book cheap flights (early) and hotel rooms (closer to departure) to get better deals. Email if you have a travel issue you’d like Josh Martin, a London-based travel journalist, to write about.