Local or local travel agency?

There is a topic I have been thinking and wanting to write about for a while now. A common thing in todays travel industry is to go to your local travel agency, pick a destination and book your trip with them. No, this is not another thought on why a personalized travel adventure is the way to go… I’ll try show you something in another way than you probably ever thought of it.

80 percent of spending by travellers and vacationers on package tours go to international businesses. This means that when you go to your local travel agency and buy a package tour, most of your money goes to airlines, hotels and other services. The money doesn’t go to local businesses and workers. Now, this may sound as a sustainable tourism topic, but I’m not writing this for travel writers or to tell you who should get your money. I’m not interested in that, either. My point is that you can get a package tour in most of the cases by the local travel agency in the place you are going to. That is only an indicator that it doesn’t matter much where you book your tour. Online services, guides, companies… The only thing you have to count in is what kind of vacation you want.

If you put yourself in a position to think that way, you can find all kinds of benefits; better service, lower prices, different dates, maybe get suggestions that your local agency wouldn’t give you…because they didn’t know or couldn’t arrange something like it. And just to make something clear…everything can be arranged, just not in the same price range. That is why a different point of view for time to time is a good way to find out what you didn’t know before.

To put all of this into perspective, let me give you an example…if I were to go on a cruise in Finland, I would probably want to contact a Finnish company that organizes cruises on their ships and book with them. No big deal, you can do it all online. Then I would book a return flight. And that’s it. You’ve cut your costs twice: you didn’t have to pay for travel agency’ service and you could choose a low cost airlines if you wanted to, book in advance to get the lower price on your ticket, use your flyer credits… you’ve also benefited by choosing the ship and the company you want to go with. There is never one option.

There are many reasons why do one over the other. The point was to give you an idea, a direction in which you will be able to think while planning your trips and decide which option is, in that case, a better one.

Stella – European Travelling Advisor

My London itinerary in detail & explanation – Part 2

Getting into more detailed parts of organizing a good trip, let’s discuss public transportation, tickets, benefits that you can use…

How to get from the airport to hotel and back not using a taxi? Big European cities have connected their airports and cities with tube/metro/train. To the city center also almost as a rule. It’s quick and cheap. You can use the services of airport buses that drive on a regular basis or other public transport. Or, most of the cities have private companies that provide you with that service. In our itinerary, I booked easyBus. They drive regularly, even in the early morning and late at night, they have stations and the ticket is affordable. Great thing, you book it online.

More and more cities have tourist cards for public transportation. You buy it online and pick it up upon your arrival (usually it’s done at the airport). They are priced by the number of days and valid for all types of transportation. Don’t forget to touch your card every time on the reader because they are electronic. Remember this tip; it’s a time saver and a money saver for sure! As an example, here is Oyster card used in London.

Tickets! Same as cards for transportation, you can order cards that include large number of places you can visit. That means that you don’t have to stand on line everywhere to buy a ticket. you just show this one at the entrance and you’re in! They can be priced by the number of places they include, but more common are universal ones. Have in mind that it maybe isn’t the best solution for you. Plan what you want to visit and see if it matches the places on the card. I personally found that London pass didn’t suit me. More and more you can find museums and other attractions providing online booking to avoid rush and have certain hour for everybody to get to see what they want.

Stella – European Travelling Advisor

My London itinerary in detail & explanation – Part 1

Let’s get more technical about planning your own itinerary. The yesterday’s post was fine, but you might think “I can’t do that, I don’t know how to find all that…” Yes, there is a lot to take in, the resources, bookings, tickets, all that transportation, making it all fit your interests…and are we talking all around Europe?!

We will take it step by step. Anyone can organize a simple vacation in any city in Europe with simple demands. That’s why I’m going to show you exactly how I organized a trip to London with my friend.

Itinerary

Low cost airline tickets were from WizzAir since that was the company than flies from Zagreb (where I live) to  London. It’s 1 hour and 25 minutes long flight. When you’re searching for low cost airline tickets, find your country’s airline company or search for an airline that operates from/to your country. To make it a lost easier for you, here is a list of countries with all the airlines that operate from them. Just google the airline company’s website and book your flight. You might be thinking why not use other websites where you can search your flight no matter where you are going and which airline you need. First of all, some of the airline companies have banned some websites to use their information. So, you sometimes can’t find them all. If you don’t know how to do this searches well, finding the right provider, exact airline company is a better choice. Also, for this kind of short flights when you don’t exchange airplanes, you don’t need to do any complicated research. Adjust your days and find the best price combination.

I have talked a lot about accommodation before but it’s really a matter of choice, which type is the best for you. I would suggest to look for your accommodation in guides, books, official city websites. The reason I don’t recommend other websites that gather a lot of information about different types of stay is because, as a beginner you can’t tell the difference. A lot of them are unorganized, with a bad presentation, small photos, some even haven’t been updated for a long time but are still accessible. What if you booked your stay on a page which didn’t process your data? You don’t get an answer, there is no support so you can’t contact anyone, the hotel didn’t get your info… Stick to the official city websites and websites of certain hotels etc.

Tomorrow, I will give you some tips on searching better priced options for public transportation, airport transfer, and how to save time and money on tickets to all the attractions you want to visit.

Stella – European Travelling Advisor

The benefits of planning your own itinerary

I would like to show you the difference between planning your own itinerary and getting one from the travel agency on a real example. I have planned a trip to London with my friend a while ago.

To show you the difference, I took some itineraries form travel agencies, and all of them, including the ones I did are for the same dates.

Travel agency’s itinerary

includes a return airplane ticket (economy class), 3 nights in a 4 star hotel, bus transportation from airport to hotel and back, guides and travel agency fee for organizing the trip for you. Now, let’s look into it… I’m sure you’ve noticed that they usually take it as a day or two more if you depart late in the evening or if you’re flying back in the morning/noon. The reason why, is that sometimes it includes a work day, and technically it is another day. When you look at the flyers that you picked up in the travel agency, always knock down one day; especially if it’s a longer trip. So, here we had a morning departure and a flight back in the afternoon. That’s ok, 3 and a half days you are spending in London. (I’m not discussing now what you can do with 3 and a half days in London ) It said which 4 star hotel people would be staying in so I posted these pictures below.

The bar area is fine, but the rest just looks flashy and without a common thread. “We just put it all there…” But, you can rate it yourself… Usually, people stick to the fact that it’s a 4 star hotel and what you get is not really that different from a 3 star hotel; it’s not as the jump between 4 and 5 stars. Keep that in mind. And one more thing you should watch out for, when it says “hotel in the city center” you very often get this:

View Larger Map

It’s where this hotel is situated. The city center is Hyde park and on the right Picadilly, Bond Street… Zoom in the map if you can’t see it. No tube stations in sight, if you decide to go out at night, if you have different plans than the group you’re traveling with, you have to take a taxi.

The average price is €657. Additionally you have to pay for all tickets (a lot of it is free in London, but it depends what you want to see), airport fares and taxes and public transportation. 

My itinerary #1

includes a low cost return airplane ticket; and just to make something clear right off, know what you’re flying in. The airplane that was booked by the travel agency was Airbus 320 same as the one I found. Since I’ve flown in both of them, I can tell you that the only difference is the color of the seats (and the price). Further on, it included 5 nights at a fancy bed and breakfast (photos below).

Since both flights were early in the morning, you get 5 days in London. B&B is 5 minutes from Victoria tube station and 5-10 minutes to the heart of the city.

View Larger Map

I arranged transportation, to pick us up at the airport at a certain time and drive us to the b&b neighbourhood and the other way around. Moreover, I included the price of public transportation for 5 days and all the tickets (Tate, London Eye, Madame Tissauds, Design Museum, London Aquarium, Cartoon Museum and Brands Museum). Tickets range from £4-£25. The price of this trip is €537.

My itinerary #2

includes a low cost return airplane ticket, 7 nights at easyHotel Victoria (I already wrote about easyHotels, to see the review go here). Both flights are also early in the morning so you get 7 days in London. The second itinerary included also transportation from the airport to the hotel and vice versa, the price of public transportation for 7 days and all the tickets mentioned before.This hotel is practically as close to the station as b&b. The full price is €558.

View Larger Map

My point is that you can organize a far better trip for yourself, for the same price or lower. And you have all your time to spend how and where you want it.

Stella – European Travelling Advisor