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There are a lot of discount travel sites online these days, and it’s hard to figure out which ones are good and which ones aren’t going to give you what you need to not only make a good choice, but to make sure you’re protected later on.   Here are 5 things to look for when deciding on a site. 1.   You want to be able to book at least hotel, airline, and rental car at one site.   If you can’t get at least all 3 of these at once, don’t even bother using the site.   Even if you don’t need one of these, you know that if all 3 are offered you have a great opportunity at getting a great discount if you did. 2.   Are you getting any kind of deal to begin with?  The best way to make sure is to pull up the site for either a hotel or airline, see what their rate is for at least a 3 day stay, and compare it to the discount you should be getting on a discount site.   If you’re not really getting a discount, then don’t bother with the site.   Hopefully, you’re getting a discount of at least 20%, and if that’s the case, then you’re on your way. 3.   A discount travel site should make sure everything you do is easy to understand.   If you have to spend 10 minutes reading through something because it’s confusing, move to another site. 4.   Any good discount site has vacation packages that will offer you even greater savings than usual travel packages will.   You shouldn’t have to search too hard to find them, as they should be displayed somewhere very prominently. 5.   They should have an easy way to contact them directly, either by email, phone, or online chat service.   If you have to search all over the place for contact information, stay away because that means you’ll have problems reaching them if something bad happens as well. If you’re careful, you will have a positive experience in booking your trip through a discount travel site, which means you’ll also have a good time while on your vacation.

The Internet gives you easy access to so much information that you can become overloaded. When traveling this is definitely the case. Friends and fellow travelers tell you to book your trip on line yourself – you’ll save hundreds of dollars. But is that really the case? Will you be able to access the best and lowest deals? Isn’t it quicker and cheaper to do it all yourself? Maybe – maybe not.

Beware the discount web site. Don’t book on the first deal you see. It may claim to be the lowest fare, but you won’t know until you look around and surfing the web for the best price may take quite a while and time is money.

Research of web sites stating they will give you best deal shows up many times as an incorrect claim. Many big travel web sites pay homage to their sponsors and advertisers, by showing their ‘deals’ only. In the airline industry, a number of small carriers are ignored and they may well offer the best deal for you, but you won’t know if their information isn’t displayed.

Prices of air flights differ wildly on the Internet. Try it and see. Go to a number of travel sites and look for fares to Sydney, Australia. See what you get. And this is what you need to do when booking your travel through the web. It might then be worthwhile to see what a travel agent can get for you. Yes they do have a booking fee imposed on your tickets but, did you know that many of the best budget deals are not available on the web? Specific web sites are only accessible to travel agents.  UNTIL NOW!  STUART S. TRAVEL is a full service on-line travel agency.

Remember that air fare prices change many, many times a day. It is going to be impossible to find the best deal. You need to be smart and organized and willing to spend a bit of time researching the best deal for you. Once you think you’ve found a great travel deal, remember to read the details to see if there are any restrictions. Will you be able to change your flight details? If so will it cost you? And how much? Those kinds of details. Things can change and your travel plans sometimes need to be flexible so make sure you know what it‘s going to cost you if you have to alter anything.

So if you are going to book your travel through the Internet remember these points: shop around and compare prices; be prepared to be flexible; ask questions; don’t believe everything you read on the websites; read the fine print; give yourself plenty of time to find the best deal and; if in doubt, don’t book it. 

If it all seems too confusing (which many web sites aim to be), go to your local on-line travel agent and see what deals they can do for you.

This article was provided by:

Stuart S. Travel / Your All World Travel Guru

http://www.stuartstravel.com sherry.hardsey@aol.com