Holiday Bargain Websites?

Scooby-DoobyDoo · 12 Dec 2023 at 10:02

Hi I know of a couple of sites to keep an eye out for Holiday Bargains / Offers such as:

TravelZoo
Holiday Pirates
Hotukdeals.

Do you know if there are any others I should keep an eye on?

I fancy some Winter Sun and might try a last minute deal.

Thanks

A2Z · 12 Dec 2023 at 14:11

They all sound like 3rd party sites - I would never use any of them. As always, only book direct with airline for flights. As for accomodation there are plenty of sites for all budgets.

Scooby-DoobyDoo · 12 Dec 2023 at 14:35

A2Z said:
They all sound like 3rd party sites - I would never use any of them. As always, only book direct with airline for flights. As for accomodation there are plenty of sites for all budgets.

Hi they link direct to the sites where you book directly with the travel agent.

A2Z · 12 Dec 2023 at 17:56

Scooby-DoobyDoo said:
Hi they link direct to the sites where you book directly with the travel agent.

Holiday site, travel agent, same thing, avoid all of them.

Advice still stands - always book flights direct with the airline.

If you are looking for deatination ideas just go to Skyscanner, put in your departure airport, date you want and 'everywhere' as your destination and it will show you all the flights. Still only book with airline though, always.

Raymond Lin · 12 Dec 2023 at 18:07

The only 3rd party site i've ever used is Expedia, but generally I book flight first direct with airline, then spend time looking for a hotel. Now and again I would book both Flight and Hotel with the airline as 1 package thing, like BA do with their sales.

Jimbeam3678 · 12 Dec 2023 at 21:43

A2Z said:
They all sound like 3rd party sites - I would never use any of them. As always, only book direct with airline for flights. As for accomodation there are plenty of sites for all budgets.

Why?

tangey · 20 Dec 2023 at 10:57

If you are looking for a bog standard trip away to a popular location travelling in economy, most people will find it hard to beat the pricing that the packaged holiday providers can offer.

For a recent trip, there was 6 couples going to Tenerife. 5 of them travelled with Jet2 and iI couldn't get anywhere close to the package pricing of the Jet2 holiday, by doing the flights/hotels/transfers/luggage myself. As it happens we were travelling on different dates and staying in a different place, so mines was a flight / hotel booked separately.

Reuben klang · 21 Dec 2023 at 12:41

Jimbeam3678 said:
Why?

Must admit I fell into the trap, I've always went direct but then going to Nepal it was I think £100 cheaper to book via this third party site i found via sky scanner. Thought, exact same flights be as well going with them.

You can't do jack **** without paying for it, pick seat, early check in etc etc wasn't too much a big deal though can live with that if it's a £100 in my pocket but then if anything goes wrong. It's a nightmare. I had to change the flights they wanted something ridiculous to change it, it was about cheaper to just purchase a 1 way ticket! Total **** takers these 3rd party people - bare in mind theyre there to make money from you as well.

Done it once, they got me, won't get me again.

dlockers · 21 Dec 2023 at 14:52

A2Z said:
Holiday site, travel agent, same thing, avoid all of them.

Advice still stands - always book flights direct with the airline.

If you are looking for deatination ideas just go to Skyscanner, put in your departure airport, date you want and 'everywhere' as your destination and it will show you all the flights. Still only book with airline though, always.

Poor blanket advice. If you book as a package then the whole holiday is protected.

A2Z · 21 Dec 2023 at 15:21

dlockers said:
Poor blanket advice. If you book as a package then the whole holiday is protected.

It's not poor blanket advice it's great advice. Why add a 3rd party with it's own T&C's into the mix, instead of just dealing directly with the airline?

You only need to look on TA Air Travel Forum, there are literally threads about every single 3rd party site be it Kiwi or Expedia, and how people can't get there refund they are due or couldn't make changes without paying ridiculous fees.

Always book direct with airline.

weringo · 21 Dec 2023 at 19:27

I always book direct with the airline but recently needed some internal flights in Argentina so figured it would be easier booking via Booking.com rather than going to direct to some airline I have never heard of. The airline changed the flight time to one that was inconvenient to me so I have been trying to change the flight via Booking.com, but they have been completely useless.

So just to echo the above advice to always book direct, even if you have never heard of the airline and their website is in a foreign language :cry:

malachi · 26 Dec 2023 at 08:47

I use cheapflights.co.uk just to see the average price. Most of the time I book directly with the airline, if not. Something like Lastminute.com or booking.com has never failed me. But I always book with my credit card for section 75 protection. Which has come in handy twice for refunds.