Has the volcano made you rethink how you book your holiday?

[Julia Ann]

I've always been a "Package Holiday" type of gal but for our next trip i was going to consider booking separately (flight/accommodation/car hire) but with recent events (but not really looking into all the compensation facts) from what i have heard in the media you are more protected and less likely to lose as much money if it's a package holiday (when delays happen). Therefore i think i will be sticking to the package holiday in future for piece of mind. Does anybody else think it (the volcano effect) has changed the way they will book in the future?

 

[JACKIE153]

No, I am still planning on booking DIY for the first time for next Oct but I will make sure I have extra cash and bullet proof insurance.

 

[disneyholic family]

I've always been a "Package Holiday" type of gal but for our next trip i was going to consider booking separately (flight/accommodation/car hire) but with recent events (but not really looking into all the compensation facts) from what i have heard in the media you are more protected and less likely to lose as much money if it's a package holiday (when delays happen). Therefore i think i will be sticking to the package holiday in future for piece of mind. Does anybody else think it (the volcano effect) has changed the way they will book in the future?

i think you're right about being more protected with a package, although i wonder how having trip insurance works out in cases like this..

as for me, i always book every piece separately and i don't see changing that in the future...however i'm not on a tight budget, so that's not an issue for me..

if i were on a limited budget, i would very seriously look into it now..
not that the ash fiasco will necessarily repeat itself, but you never know what might happen...
so it's good to know in advance how the different package companies handled this situation as well as whether people were reimbursed at a later date by insurance etc...

 

[disney_princess_85]

Not really. You can't live your life in fear as anything could happen at any time. The only thing this whole fiasco has taught me is to apply for a credit card to be used for emergencies.

 

[fairytale]

As kinda suggested I think it all depends on your personal circumstances.

I always carry a credit card with me, which has a rather large credit limit on it. It is kept in my "travel" wallet, and I will only ever use this in an emergency. Touch wood to this day I am yet to need it

As a family of 6, it is so much easier for me book everything myself, from the car to the accomodation, to the flights etc.

 

[PaulaSB12]

But then again with a package holiday I would be in a worse state than I am. I had to cancel my New York holiday because my mother is unwell. I was able to get all but £20 from the room reservataion and I am waiting to see if virgin gives me the flight money back (though its only £200) if I had booked with a package holiday i would be trying to claim from my insurance as this close you loose all the money.

 

[torsie24]

No, it's not changed my mind at all.

If I ever saw a package that was a better deal I'd book that, but as yet I've not seen one so I'll continue to do DIY.

In the 8 years I've been planning my own holidays I'm yet to be stopped by an act of nature, sure it could happen, but so could anything so it's not something worth worrying about in advance IMHO.

I worry about a lot of stuff, but luckily this is one of the few things I don't.

 

[Neoshoegal]

I love going DIY. For a lot of our vacations, we just have too many different things going on and doing that all through a package would just mean spending too much time with a TA.
For example: in August we need to go to a convention in Orlando. We need to stay at the convention hotel which has a special rate for people attending the convention which is considerably cheaper than any other rate for that hotel. Direct and even indirect flights are extremely expensive even for economy. So I decided to make it into a two part trip: fly to NY and take an internal JetBlue flight to Orlando. Then after the convention fly to Boston, spend a few days with friends on Cape Cod (no hotel required) and fly back to London from there. How would that be possible as a package holiday?
Or our upcoming trip in October. We're taking the QM2 to New York. I saved about 60% of the price by booking through a US agent. Then we have 2 nights in NY for which I'm using hotel points, so staying for free. Then internal cheap flight with JetBlue to Orlando. Stay in WDW for 15 nights, then a 3 night Disney cruise and 1 more night afterwards. Then flying home from Miami in UC using airmiles we collected with Virgin over the years. If I would book this trip with an agent it would cost me several times what I'm paying now.
That amount of difference can cover being stuck for a while!

 

[wideeyes]

I usually book fly drive which is abta covered. I book accommodation direct with Disney. My mum will only book through using travel agent. She has just booked us a package for New York as she was worried if we got stuck.

 

[fav_is_tink]

No, whatevers to be is to be, can't plan for these kind of things, I'll just make sure I've always got a credit card & good travel insurance, which is kinda what I do anyway.

 

[2Tiggies]

I've always been a "Package Holiday" type of gal but for our next trip i was going to consider booking separately (flight/accommodation/car hire) but with recent events (but not really looking into all the compensation facts) from what i have heard in the media you are more protected and less likely to lose as much money if it's a package holiday (when delays happen). Therefore i think i will be sticking to the package holiday in future for piece of mind. Does anybody else think it (the volcano effect) has changed the way they will book in the future?

Yes, I have always chickened out of DIY booking and decided next year for certain will be DIY. It has made me look carefully at the insurance aspect, however what will change is that prior to booking I will check out how insurance policies can cover my DIY vs the package. I don't skimp on insurance on an expensive holiday so I am willing to pay if the cover is right for me. As Disney Princess says:

Not really. You can't live your life in fear as anything could happen at any time.

NThe only thing this whole fiasco has taught me is to apply for a credit card to be used for emergencies.

What you may well find after all this is that the operators offering packages/insurance will re-jig their policies to cover themselves OR make them even better and use that as marketing tool to persuade people to consider using packages. YOu never know. The world is constantly changing in every way. As the saying goes: Flexible branches don't break. Sometimes you just have to find the balance of being sensible without being obsessive in taking your precautions.

 

[Annabell]

No, I am still planning on booking DIY for the first time for next Oct but I will make sure I have extra cash and bullet proof insurance.

Just don't think that bullet proof insurance exists..... let me know if you can find one

 

[Kath2003]

We got caught up in this volcanic eruption: we were due to fly home a week ago. We will have been here an additional 9 nights by the time we hopefully land back in the UK.

We actually wouldn't do anything differently. Here's what we did well:

1. We brought a laptop. When you are stranded, this is the ULTIMATE resource. We were able to make cheap calls, check flight times, watch the news etc. It has been INVALUABLE.
2. We booked everything separately - it actually doesn't matter as long as you have trip insurance.
3. We brought a mobile phone with us. We've hardly had to use it, but it's reassuring to know it's there.
4. We brought very little luggage and we kept everythign we needed for 72 hours on our person at all times. We've heard lots of stories about lost luggage - I would NEVER fly without chargers, laptop, 2-3 days worth of clothing etc. on my person.

I'll be very interested to find out which insurers aren't covering cancellation/delays as a result of this eruption (AXA I believe are one who are refusing to pay out) and I will avoid them in future.

 

[2Tiggies]

(AXA I believe are one who are refusing to pay out) and I will avoid them in future.

Funny thing is that generally they offer pretty good cover - and they are expensive, compared to your average policy. I won't be using them again either. If I understand correctly though, it's not that the current situation was excluded from the cover - it just didn't officially fall under a category and they chose to classify this as "disruption" which has no clause. Sounds to me like someone writing the rules as they play the game. I have just binned the paperwork I collected from TC for AXA last month. My demonstration of protest.

 

[Becx N Gav]

For Disney trips we'll always to DIY as we're DVC members. We both have credit cards for just in case situations.

For other trips it would depend on the price.

 

[wayneg]

1. We brought a laptop. When you are stranded, this is the ULTIMATE resource. We were able to make cheap calls, check flight times, watch the news etc. It has been INVALUABLE.
2. We booked everything separately - it actually doesn't matter as long as you have trip insurance.
3. We brought a mobile phone with us. We've hardly had to use it, but it's reassuring to know it's there.

Over the years I have been in numerous discussions about taking laptops. People ask "is it worth it?" or I have been told they go away to get away from computers etc. Well after a flight cancellation and info changing hour by hour the past week I would never go again without one. Even if you don't want to use it, in situations like this they are invaluable.

I have saved £,000's doing DIY, Last August alone was approx £6,000 cheaper than a package, this August doing biz class flights DIY for less money than economy package.
This trip if I had been on a package holiday I guess they would have provided accomodation of some kind, extended car hire, maybe food vouchers? not sure how they are dealing with getting people home.
Doing it DIY its cost me £200 for extra 4 nights hotel, £85 car, approx £200 food & drinks, £35 extra parking at Heathrow, gas for car, Mini golf, Cinema. Total around £600. I have no idea about insurance cover, we are with Insure & go who I believe are not paying out. Never claimed in approx 100 trips abroad so doubt I will even bother trying, will look into it.
We also had mobiles but never used them, Hotel phone was free for 800 numbers to Delta. Emailed car parking at Heathrow. Car rental did online with Expedia(got cashback)

I love planning & buying everything myself so its easy, I won't change from DIY unless I see a bargain package deal but thats happens very rarely.

 

[VailaTigger]

Got home on Weds after a 4 day delay... and having a package really helped us and worked in our favour. Yes, they are more expensive, but I'm glad I did it this way this time (have done DIY in the past).

Virgin Atlantic cancelled flights... all they did was give you a list of hotels which were charging a price they would cover, told you to keep all your receipts, and gave you an address to send them to once you were home. It took an hour and a half on hold to speak to someone each time we called, and at one point the soonest flight they could get us on was 2 weeks away. This was before they announced the extra flights.

After speaking to a Virgin Holidays rep, we were moved to a hotel that they were paying for (rather than us paying then claiming back - a big help!), we got discount vouchers to eat in the hotel, they laid on coaches to take people to and from the airport when it looked like our flights were going (several times), there was a rep there every morning with updates and information, and it really really helped that you knew someone was looking after you. We can still claim back all the things we kept receipts for.

Insurance will only give us a payout for the flights being delayed over a certain length of time, nothing more. Every little will help though.

You can't assume that a disaster will happen on every holiday, and DIY is so much cheaper, but this time we were very thankful that we'd paid the extra for a package.

I guess it's a balance... if it was just me and DF we might take the DIY chance and just make sure we had a credit card or some other means of supporting ourselves fully should the worst happen. But if we're going with his 2 boys again like we did this time, then I think I'd have the package, just for the support network should anything go wrong.

 

[Julia Ann]

Thanks for your replies made good reading lets keep our fingers crossed for future happy and safe travelling

 

[london75]

...You can't assume that a disaster will happen on every holiday, and DIY is so much cheaper,...

That's the point for me, we must have saved many thousands going DIY every time over the years so even if we have to break out the credit cards and pay over the odds to stay somewhere or get home ourselves, overall I think we'd still be better off and have enjoyed more luxury to boot.

Yes that one disaster would be horrible but you could approach it from the other perspective and say everything this disaster cost you, you'd save on the next trip going DIY.

 

[Kath2003]

Got home on Weds after a 4 day delay...

I'm glad you got home However this is absolutely GUTTING to read: flying home on Wednesday after a 96 hour delay sounds like heaven to us. We have flights for tomorrow - a nine day delay for us It's not the financial side of it (we'd need to be out here for several more weeks before we'd make up the difference we'd have spent by booking a package), it's just so frustrating that those who haven't been out here as long as able to go home before us. We know why, and we're glad you got home, but it's just gutting.