Package Holidays?

Stacksey

Do people actually still book package holidays? I cant understand why, with all the resources available on the net for finding flight deals, hotel deals, websites like tripadvisor for reading reviews on hotels and restaurants i find it strange people still book packages and added to the fact that the company will more than likely go bust before your holidays actually begins

Dodge

Why do you care? Plenty of services exist for convenience and you don't have to use any of them

Others don't mind paying a premium to have others do the work for them

And the established Travel Agents in Ireland are all pretty long standing with good reputations. It's only those internet based companies you love so much that go bust regularly.

naughtysmurf

Not for years but would consider it if the price, destination & accommodation suited, you can get good value if it's just two of you & a studio or one bed apartment will do but if you have kids in tow DIY is usually a much better option, cost & quality wise, to us anyway, having said that, we are off in a couple of weeks, just the two of us, all DIY, just prefer doing it myself

The Bishop Basher

Stacksey wrote: »

Do people actually still book package holidays? I cant understand why, with all the resources available on the net for finding flight deals, hotel deals, websites like tripadvisor for reading reviews on hotels and restaurants i find it strange people still book packages and added to the fact that the company will more than likely go bust before your holidays actually begins

Because it's not always about getting the best price..

Walk into travel agent, pick resort, pick hotel, pay, go on holiday.

It's that easy and you're covered if anything goes wrong..

Different strokes and all that..

coylemj

Stacksey wrote: »

... and added to the fact that the company will more than likely go bust before your holidays actually begins

The collapse of Low Cost Holidays doesn't mean that the whole industry is rotten as you're trying to suggest.

Eponymous

Some folks like the safety net of not having to worry about delays/cancellations etc. as they're nervous travellers and maybe only take one trip per year so prefer to let someone else take the strain.

My parents always booked package holidays, but a few years ago I booked flights and hotel directly for them and saved them a packet. That said, I then had to field calls from them for the duration of the holiday for stuff they could have asked at reception (or their rep if they'd done a package). So booking direct doesn't suit everyone!

Miaireland

Some people like the reassurance of having a rep to call if something goes wrong. They also like not having to worry about transfers etc.

I normally price online myself and the package deal with my travel agent. Last time the Travel Agent came back with the same price but a suite rather than a standard room.

Rowley Birkin QC

Just back from a package holiday to Portugal. The day I booked it, I had 32 tabs open of various flights, AirBnB listings, booking.com and tripadvisor. Got totally fed up with trying to decide so went to a package holiday site and had a holiday booked 10 mins later.

Have done the DIY trip in the past and will do it again but for a week in the sun a package deal worked out just fine.

Xcellor

I've booked my own holidays and done package holidays with rep etc.

I prefer package holidays because you are normally guaranteed a certain "level of quality" when it comes to hotel. Hotels idea of what a 4 star is can differ massively. But if the likes of sunway mark it as 3 star it's going to be an Irish standard 3 star.

Also I like convenience of having a rep to ask about things like buses / places to go and see / what to avoid. If you only have a week it can be tough to get up to speed. Not all hotel receptionists are willing to provide idiot proof instructions to inexperienced travelers!

You might pay a bit more but sure the amount of time you potentially save and having a rep is well worth it in my opinion.

Stacksey

Dodge wrote: »

Why do you care? Plenty of services exist for convenience and you don't have to use any of them

Others don't mind paying a premium to have others do the work for them

And the established Travel Agents in Ireland are all pretty long standing with good reputations. It's only those internet based companies you love so much that go bust regularly.

I dont really care, i was just throwing it out there but the responses have made sense, its all down to convenience and reassurance, I was just booking a holiday a few days ago and topic sprung to mind

adocholiday

I used to be of the same mindset as the OP; but we booked our recent honeymoon to the far east with a very reputable travel agency in Dublin because we just didn't want the hassle. It was brilliant, we had no idea where exactly we wanted to go or what to do there. We told the agent our general requirements and she suggested a country, holiday locations within that country, and activity ideas to do there etc. The multiple flights were booked there and then, and all of our transfers to and from airports sorted.

The best part - I went home and thought I'd be clever and price it all up myself to see if I could get a better deal but the travel agent was pretty much on par, except if we booked ourselves we'd have had our own transfers to worry about. Travel agencies have moved with the times for the most part and adapted to the changing market. If they hadn't, then none of them would be here now.

Stacksey

adocholiday wrote: »

I used to be of the same mindset as the OP; but we booked our recent honeymoon to the far east with a very reputable travel agency in Dublin because we just didn't want the hassle. It was brilliant, we had no idea where exactly we wanted to go or what to do there. We told the agent our general requirements and she suggested a country, holiday locations within that country, and activity ideas to do there etc. The multiple flights were booked there and then, and all of our transfers to and from airports sorted.

The best part - I went home and thought I'd be clever and price it all up myself to see if I could get a better deal but the travel agent was pretty much on par, except if we booked ourselves we'd have had our own transfers to worry about. Travel agencies have moved with the times for the most part and adapted to the changing market. If they hadn't, then none of them would be here now.

Ah yeah I can see why you'd use a travel agency for this, especially with flight transfers etc etc,