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Photo credit: Danny Choo / Flickr
As more and more people turn to online travel portals for vacation and business travel, the conventional travel agents are quickly becoming a dying breed. Convenience and rock-bottom prices through volume and automation make booking travel needs online an attractive alternative.
According to the J.D. Power 2014 Online Travel Agency Satisfaction Report, 58 percent of those visiting online travel agencies book hotels, 52 percent make flight reservations, 33 percent purchase vacation packages and 31 percent book rental cars. This agency also reports that about 18 percent of those booking online travel arrangements experience some sort of problem. The bottom line is that booking travel needs online can come at a cost.
Dropped Bookings and Bad Rooms
If the online portal travel agency isn’t properly synchronized with the hotel, they may book customers rooms that aren’t available. Arriving with luggage in hand only to find out the rooms are booked is definitely an unexpected inconvenience. To avoid this possible situation, it’s best to call the hotel directly to confirm after booking a room online.
In addition, hotels do not like paying commission to online portals and are more likely to provide the worst rooms, such as ones near noise or ones that are too small. An effective way to circumvent this issue is to check the online sites for the best rooms at that hotel.
Room Requirements Listed as Preferences
Often, online portals will list the hotel room choices, such as smoking rooms and bed types. However, these choices are listed as preference and don’t come with a guarantee. It’s best to read the fine print when booking a room. If there are no right guarantees, call the hotel manager and request the specific type of room to meet individual needs. Most hotels will honor the request when speaking to a live person.
Different Cancellation Policies with Multi-Itinerary Bookings
Customers who book an air-and-hotel package may face some frustration if a cancellation is needed. According to CNN, one traveler flying from New York City to Las Vegas faced some problems when her flight was cancelled. She was on hold for over two hours and was finally told by the online agency that they could refund the hotel charges, but she’d need to deal directly with the airline for a refund on the flight costs.
In addition, she had to rebook an airline ticket with the airline directly. Some online portals also only allow the cancellation of an entire package, but not separate components, and a cancellation fee may be charged.
Prepaid Rates Come with Strict Restrictions
Most online travel sites will offer a reduced rate when prepaid. However, if you cancel outside of the cancellation window, it’s likely that a penalty fee will be imposed that’s typically equal to the first night’s room fee plus tax. It’s always best to only prepay when the reduced rate is significant and review the regulations carefully.
Even though booking travel plans may pose some problems, J.D.
Power reports an overall customer satisfaction with online travel portals 788 on a 1,000 point scale. Most online travel agencies provide easy navigation of site, promotions and contact with a rep via live chat. Many realize that they must meet customer’s expectations and provide the needed information along with a user-friendly website, or the customer will move on to a competitor.
Online travel sites are making efforts to improve overall customer care. Some promise to act as an advocate with bookings and waive cancellation fees in extreme circumstances, such as a hurricane. The bottom line is that customers must realize that they agree to the restrictions in exchange for reduced prices when booking online. Be sure to always read the rules that apply to the booking.
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