Going Solo Travel Agent

[davebarnes]

I just went online to compare: Hotels.com, Bookings.com, and AirBnB for September 25-30 in Piran, Slovenia.
1. Hotels - shows only 1 hotel available, the Barbara Piran Beach Hotel & Spa for $126/night. Hotel Piran is sold out.
2. Bookings - the Barbara Piran Beach Hotel & Spa for $100/night and the Hotel Piran for $108/night.
3. AirBnB - 4 places that meet my criteria. I can see the locations to within 10 meters. From $60-$100/night (inc all fees). Washer in unit/building.

Your experience may be different.

 

[Scuba]

We used a combination of Airbnb, VRBO, and Bookings.com when we went to Greece. Airbnb had the cheapest places and they were well-located and as represented. In Santorini we wanted a cliffside cave house in Oia and found the best option for us on VRBO. Booking.com seemed to have better options than Airbnb on some of the islands, but Airbnb was awesome in Athens.

My friend just became a travel agent a year ago. It has amazed me how many clients she’s acquired in a short period of time. Many people don’t like the process of researching options and would rather just call an agent, give them dates and a budget, and be done with it. Truly surprising to me as we have typically booked our own trips. If we do use an agent, we use one who specializes in the particular destination and activities we have in mind. The last time we used an agent was booking a SCUBA trip to Palau. It was a long trip to a remote area so we wanted advice.

 

[brett]

We do a fair amount of our bookings spontaneously while we are traveling. Sometimes as little as a a few hours or a day ahead, more often two or three days in advance. This is a huge change from how we used to travel prior to retirement. We seldom book ferries ahead of time. Basic air is usually booked anywhere from two weeks to three months in advance. In country air can be much less, often just a few days. It is really a function of where and what time of year we are traveling.

 

[athena53]

I've been doing my own planning and research for years, even before the Internet although that's made it much easier. The exceptions have been a few small-ship cruises and an organized tour to India and Nepal, and even then I'm perfectly happy filling in the gaps- travel to/from the embarkation site, any necessary hotels before and after, side trips before and after, etc.

Not only do I enjoy it but I'm a bit of a control freak- I'd rather schedule a long layover in some airports than risk a missed connection and sometimes I even schedule an overnight to make SURE I get to the connecting flight if it's mission-critical. I belong to most of the loyalty programs and may have opinions on which airlines and hotels to use. If Airbnb is an option I want to see the details of each place- there are always trade-offs.

 

[NoiseBoy]

I have never had an issue seeing the location of the property with Airbnb. In fact, I always use their map feature to search for my apartment. I've even done Google Streetview to checkout the neighborhood prior to reserving. Proximity to a metro station is my #1 "location" factor. I prefer to be near the city center, but I will stay further out to save money if there is a large spread like there was for apartments for Paris in September. I have never tried to book an apartment through Hotels.com or Bookings.com, but I will check them out. With Airbnb lately I get the option to pay 1/2 in advance, and the balance a day or two before the trip. I'm still working, so my vacations are typically one week and for one place, so once I've purchased my non-refundable airline tickets, I don't have an issue with paying up front for my rooms.

Regarding Barcelona in May, I tried to go there last year and the rates on Airbnb were really high. Even hotel rooms were scarce and expensive. We ended up going in late November when the rates were much more reasonable and we had great luck with the weather. If your reason(s) for visiting Barcelona don't include the beach, consider going out of season to improve your rooming options and to save some money. I only purchased Sagrada Familia tickets in advance, and even then by just one day. We walked right into the Picasso Museum, Park Guell, etc.

 

[deserat]

I am like Athena53 - have been planning my travel itineraries for years - if I go to Europe, I *always* plan my own itinerary as I lived there for 7 years - same with USA.

I am looking at some Gate1 Travel deals as well as a few other sites mentioned here, but these are to areas I have not been or that are PITA planning sites: Nepal, Patagonia, etc. My Havasupai hiking trip this last year was through an agent and I found out later people have tried for years to book their own trips to the lodge there - glad I did it through the agent - same with my Alaskan ski trip - Alyeska ski in-ski out with dog sledding and snow mobiling (machining) side trips - worth it to me not to have to deal with the details on those. Also flew first class for a few bucks more due to group rates.

YMMV - if I know what I want and am comfortable with the area, then I do it myself. If there is hassle factor I don't want to deal with, I will pay for someone else to do that.

I've used all of the room finder options - when traveling on business to Europe, hotels.com and booking.com are good - however, I tend to like to book directly with the hotel in question. My friend got us AirBnB in Iceland which worked fairly well. Have not done VRBO. I am fortunate that I have friends all over the world and they let me stay with them if I am visiting and of course, they have access to my house and location if they so desire.

Next trip is two weeks in Breckenridge and that area of CO to ski and staying with a friend at her house. May I will be spending in NL and Scotland - with a friend at her house and then hostels/B&Bs and hiking in Scotland - really looking forward to that as I did our Paris itinerary last April - we laughed so hard as I managed to pack three weeks of fun into three days American style in Paris. (I have a tendency to pack 25 lbs into 5 lb bags, as the saying goes ;-)) Her Dutch friends and family thought she was nuts but at the end she said she had a blast. Now it's her turn on the itinerary - should be interesting

 

[Sunset]

No, never used them, actually never even heard of them before your post....will take a boo.

(We've placed a deposit on a 7 day Med jaunt on one of our favorite ships, which will likely/hopefully be followed by a TA:

https://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=11203)

How many trips have you done on Pullmantur ? , and do you speak Spanish ?

I'm tempted due to the low price of course, but wondering why the price is so low ?

Have you done a review of some of your pullmantur cruise ship experiences ?

 

[Nemo2]

How many trips have you done on Pullmantur ? , and do you speak Spanish ?

Five or six now, (one of which consisted of three back to backs), some when the ships were under CDF Croisières de France, (as with Pullmantur a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean. CDF was subsequently absorbed by the Spanish Pullmantur).

Spanish? Geez, I can barely converse in English!

Actually pretty much everyone speaks English and the onboard announcements are in a variety of languages, so it's not a requirement......unless, perhaps, you go to a show and can't understand the comedian(s).

I'm tempted due to the low price of course, but wondering why the price is so low ?

Older/smaller ships, which we love, and are our first choice........(ships of about 90,000 GT are pushing our outside limit size wise and we have absolutely zero desire to travel on the megaships,.......the Horizon is ~ 47,000 GT), and their vessels are without many of the bells & whistles that attract some people to the larger floating hotels.

We aren't foodies so it's not really a factor for us, but the provisions are more basic, (while being quite edible/nourishing), and the free beer is a welcome addition.

Have you done a review of some of your pullmantur cruise ship experiences ?

Not a 'review' per se, but there may be the occasional reference in cruising/transatlantic cruising threads, and pics in some of the boring slideshows.

We've encountered, and become friendly with, a number of people who are CDF/Pullmantur aficionados and whom we have run into on a few of their trips, so they have a following 'in certain circles'.

 

[explanade]

I’ve not tried to book last minute.

Some hotels give last minute deals but stars would have to align to get flight and hotels to match up.

I can’t imagine traveling to another continent without at least the flights set and the stays.

I have had better luck booking months in advance, paying the non cancelable rates.

I know there are apps for last minute bookings but I don’t want to deal with winging reservations while already in another country. Rather spend time for actually traveling than looking for last minute bargains.

 

[Scuba]

We do a fair amount of our bookings spontaneously while we are traveling. Sometimes as little as a a few hours or a day ahead, more often two or three days in advance. This is a huge change from how we used to travel prior to retirement. We seldom book ferries ahead of time. Basic air is usually booked anywhere from two weeks to three months in advance. In country air can be much less, often just a few days. It is really a function of where and what time of year we are traveling.

I admire this approach and considered doing it for Greece but chickened out. I was finding that the desirable accommodations (at least what we considered desirable) were selling out, and was concerned if we got there and tried to book on the fly that we might not have the experiences we wanted. We did change our plans once and booked a last minute Airbnb in Athens, which turned out fine.

 

[brett]

We have never had a problem in Greece or on the Greek Islands. Nice thing is that if you like or dislike a particular island you can make a decision of stay longer or exit.

We plan to be doing this in Thailand in a few weeks. So glad that we have not committed because the east coast is on our tentative itinerary. Massive typhoon going through the area now. We may have to change our plans. We a have also done this is Costa Rica with good results.

This is a huge departure from how we traveled pre retirement but we are now accustomed to it. Clearly, you have to plan ahead and book ahead for certain time frames. We started retirement with a seven month trip, much of which was booked spontaneously. It does take some getting used to and some flexibility but it works for us. So far at least.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I research and book all our trips. I often use Airbnb and Hotels.com. For Airbnb you pay a deposit in advance but if have to cancel usually get a refund. I always read the owners cancellation policy before booking. We can only go for 2 weeks because of the dogs so everything needs to be planned. I think I would be a nervous wreck if just winging it anyway.

 

[brett]

If we were going for two weeks we would usually have at least one week booked, possibly two depending on where we were going. This fall we spent two weeks in Mexico. Booked the first week in Playa, booked the second week in Puerto Morales while we were in Playa. We were not sure if we wanted two weeks in Playa. We typically do two 8-9 week trips per year. Travelling spontaneously does take some getting used to.