Has anyone had any problems with booking a vacation online?

Question

I am looking into booking a vacation and want to do it online but have always gone through travel agents, any issues with doing it online?

Answer 1

Yes, there are possible issues. I formerly worked for a travel website. Most customers booked vacations with no problems. However, some clearly should have used a travel agent. These are some of the problems that I regularly encountered:

a. Failure to read cancellation and change polices and then getting mad when they found out that there were charges for changing and canceling

b. Failing to do any research on a trip to a less developed country , drinking the local water, and spending their vacation at a doctors office or in the hospital.

c. Booking the cheapest hotel that they could find and then being astounded that it hadn't been refurbished in thirty years and that it was two miles from the beach.

d. Failing to read the requirements for passports and visas, showing up at the airport without them, and being livid that the airline refused to transport them.

Booking online works fine if you know what you are doing or you are willing to put the time into researching your trip properly. If neither of those is true, then you're much better off going to a travel agent. An agent can answer your questions, give advice, and make sure that you don't make any amateur mistakes.

Also, don't use debit cards if you book online. Only use credit cards. Most websites will accept debit cards but they come with built-in potential problems. If the website goes down during your purchase, your computer crashes, or you accidentally hit the purchase button twice, then you could get charged multiple times. That's no big deal with a credit card because you can dispute the charges while you are having them removed. With a debit card, the money gets deducted immediately. I've seen people overdraw their accounts this way.

Answer 2

i would say booking through a site that is legit is the best way. Some sites that i know for sure are legit is EF College Break, Expedia, Orbitz, and Kayak. Although before you book anything, you should check out if any affliates have discounts or if there are any promo codes floating arround out there (ie, I have a promo code for EF College Break, its hesseln1188, and Ive heard you can find promo codes for llike alaska airlines and such)