To Book Online or Not to Book on Line?

Why would you want to book online?

1) The fare is often cheaper. (This may not always be the case because some travel agencies might have a special deal with an airline.)

2) You can look things up at your own pace. If you are busy during the day, you can look up and book flights in the middle of the night.


Why wouldn't you want to book online?

1) If something goes wrong when you are in the middle of the booking process after you have typed in your credit card information, you are in for a long, long journey to have it rectified. Most airlines, including all the major US airlines, have their call centres in India to deal with online bookings. Most call centre agents in India are very polite, in comparison to their North American counterparts. Unfortunately, they are also poorly trained and many of them have language difficulties. I can't tell you what the average time is to have a reservation problem resolved, but my personal experience was one hour. It took one hour to have my credit card properly added to the online booking to complete the booking because the website crashed after I submitted the credit card information.

2) If your flight is cancelled or you want to change your flight, you are on your own. You will be calling a call centre agent, likely in India, trying to change your flight or get your money back. And, as mentioned earlier, it is a very time consuming and frustrating process.

3) If your airline or tour operator goes bankrupt, you are on your own. If you are lucky, your credit card company might cover the cost of the plane tickets. Trying to get a paper receipt, needed by the credit card companies, from an online travel website is a challenge. If you get impatient and try calling their call centre, you'll get India again. If your credit card doesn't cover the cost, you are officially screwed. If you booked with a travel agency, you may get your money back depending on where you live. For example, in Ontario, Canada, if you purchase a tour package from a travel agency and the tour operator goes bankrupt, your loss will be covered by the Travel Industry Council of Ontario; and you will get your money back.

4) If you are calling/emailing to complain, you will get to speak to a polite person, but nothing will be done about it. Call centre agents have no incentive to resolve a complain. In fact, a call centre gets paid more if the call volume is higher. The more complaints and repeat calls, the better.

5) If you are booking a hotel/tour, you are better off booking with a travel agency because they would have the real feedback from other travellers. The last thing they want to deal with is an angry customer returning from his/her trip. If you are researching online, you will notice two types of reviews:

• Complaints - More often than not, they are exaggerated.


• Advertising - Some online websites pay someone full-time to write fabulous reviews about the tour/hotel.

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Travel Tips

Here are a few helpful tips when you're traveling:

• Travel light. It is a pain in the butt to lug your gear around. You shouldn't have to bring more than a backpack or a suitcase unless you have to bring some specialized equipment with you.
  
• Avoid the US. Unless you're traveling to or from the United States. Try your best to change your flight in any other country. It is a lot of hassle for international travellers with the current security procedure in place. If you cannot avoid it, give yourself at least two hours, or you'll likely miss your connecting flight. Fortunately, if you miss your connecting flight due to the lineup at the re-checkin gate, most airlines will allow you to change your flight to a later time.
  
• Bring US dollar. US dollar is still the most widely accepted currency of the world. Although Euro is gaining popularity, it is still completely useless in quite a few developing countries.
  
• Be cautious on your first day of arrival. The chance of you meeting a really friendly local who invites you home on your day of arrival into a major city is remote. You're taking a huge risk by accepting the invitation.
  
• Take overnight buses. An easy way to save money is to take long distance overnight buses. If you have to travel for eight to twelve hours anyway, why not take an overnight bus to save on accommodation cost.
  
• If a hotel has its own website or email address, you can usually make a reservation with no deposit directly with them. Otherwise if you are using a booking website like hotel.com, you will have to pay a deposit, which is actually just the commission to the website, in advance.
  
• If you want to stay in a hostel, you would usually have the choice to stay in a Hosteling International (HI) or an independent hostel. HI hostels are usually the most expensive hostels you will find in town. The only good things about them are that they are clean and email reservations are not forgotten.
  
• If you are staying in a hostel, bring a sleeping bag. Some hostels charge their guests for the use of bed linens.

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Are you a hardcore Traveller?

Planning your first trip? Don’t know whether to go for an all-inclusive resort or just wing it? Here’s how to tell if you’re made for traveller rather than resort-ing:

- You’d rather use your money for 2 extra weeks of hostels/B&B and food than 1 week in a resort
- You can only stand to lie on a beach for maximum 2 days
- You have the urge to explore the whole country, not just a few square kilometers of it
- You want to meet the locals, not more tourists
- You want to eat local food, not American food
- You want to discover the real culture of a place, not Americanized resort-ness
- You don’t like set schedules or activities
- You’re not afraid to speak the local language, bargain for a room, or take the local bus
- You crave the adventure of exploring the open country

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How long should I stay in a country?

Here is a good question. How long should a traveller stay in a country? The answer would be: as long as he or she can without being sent to jail or deported. That would be the ideal answer. However, given the fact that we are living in a capitalist world, money plays a huge part as well.

A traveller wants to experience the language, the people, the culture. Zooming in and out of a country doesn't really do much, unless you really hate that place. Most first time travellers complete their trips in a month or two. The most experienced travellers never finish their trip until they die. Those are two extremes. Most people fit somewhere in between.

I once met a forty year old traveller once in Scotland. He had just finished travelling in Southeast Asia and Africa. He was just on his way back to his native country, Holland, to attend a wedding. I asked him, "How much time did you spend in the two regions?" "Eight years." he answered, "And I'll be heading back there as soon as my brother's wedding is over." That was the most hardcore traveller I have ever met. You are probably wondering how he survived that many years on the road. Well, he worked in different places (cash in hand), hitch-hiked, camped, and maade friends along the way who would give him a place to stay.

There is a different answer for everyone. The eagerness to travel, resources, and time obviously play a role in the decision, but the experience will be more rewarding the longer you stay in a place. I'm sure most travellers would agree with me on that one.

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