Discount Travel Secrets Without Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity

I saw this article recently, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it since Don Buynack (the guy who wrote it) has made his website to help you book travel. It’s called www.freespendingmoney.com, which just sounds spammy to me, plus it’s under construction. You should never link to your site if it’s not up. He also says he’ll give you free money up to $500 or more. Yeah, right.

Basically the idea is that the big three booking websites are ripping you off. Between fees for booking, airline fees that are not added in, and prices that are not the lowest, he says you could do better without them, of course he says that you should go to an actual travel agent.

I think that if you are willing to work and do the research, you are better off to book your vacations yourself. Anyway, here are his five secrets.

1. They charge service fees on every booking. Sometimes that fee is disclosed in the “final price” listed online. Sometimes it’s buried in the Terms & Conditions. Need to change your plans? Be prepared to pay service fees of up to $30 on every phone call for a change or re-issue. This does NOT count the $75 – $150 airline penalty. These travel websites actually hope for bad weather, because bad weather means altered plans, which means extra revenue for them.

[You should check everything you book for hidden fees. Hotel, and airline. There is always fine print, and if you don't read it, you could get stuck paying a lot of money.]

2. The rate you see may not be the lowest rate available. That’s because large travel websites deal in bulk volume. As a result they concentrate on “national” and “public” rates. They don’t publish “private” fares, consolidator fares, or below-market fares because it’s not in their interest to do so. You can only get those fares from an experienced travel professional, who knows the system and where to find them.

[I do know that if you see a hotel for $100 a night on Travelocity, and see it for $100 on the hotel website, then the hotel is giving a discount to Travelocity, and you are giving that extra money to Travelocity. The hotel would most likely give the discounted price to you, it's worth asking.]

3. Their definition of lowest price may not match yours. Have you ever entered the exact same search on 3 different travel websites and gotten wide-ranging results? That’s because travel websites have special arrangements with certain “partners” and may give these partners preferential treatment or placement bias. That’s how they make money. Consumers, however, are catching on. According to Travel Weekly, bookings on the “Big 3″ have fallen over 10% this year. People are turning to airline and hotel websites directly because that’s where they’re finding the lowest fares.

[Half of the time I can't find the same packages on different sites, so they really can't be compared.]

4. A confused customer is their best customer. In the last 12 months we’ve seen a spate of new surcharges assessed by airlines to offset rising costs—from $5 for some aisle seats to $15 for the first piece of checked luggage. Unfortunately, these costs are not reflected in the search results of most airfare comparison sites. Consumers are left to do the research and the math on their own. As a result, they’re confused. What looks to be the lowest price may not actually be the lowest “total” price when all applicable fees are factored in.

[Again, this is why researching yourself is so important. I have found that a cheaper ticket from Northwest is the same amount of money as a more expensive flight from AA after the fees have been added in. Cheaper flights aren't always cheaper.]

5. Once you hit that SEND button, you’re on your own. What happens when you book online and your flight is delayed or cancelled, or if you miss a connection? Ever tried to get a human being on the phone? You may be on hold for a long, long time. Or when you do finally get someone on the line, you find out he’s in Bangalore (and English isn’t his first language). [Not my words, I'm just quoting.] Meanwhile, the last seat on the last flight out has just taken off. Travel has become more unpredictable than ever. Sadly, it’s not a question of if something will go wrong, but when. And when it does, do you want your fate to rest in the hands of the guy whose job it is to get you off the phone as fast as possible?

[I have never had problems with travel, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. However, are you in any better shape if you've booked it yourself? This is probably one area where having a real travel agent will help.]

So, those are his five secrets to discounted travel. Do you have any more tips? Let me know in the comments.

Posted on April 10, 2009 - Filed Under Beach and Vacation Travel Tips and Help

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