What else is missing???

[Jennie4647]

Hello,

October 25th - Villa

Think I have covered everything, but just in case........

Booked flights with Virgin - little question here, have only paid £400 deposit, rest is due middle of August, I think I read somewhere about price increases not being held on deposit only bookings - anyone know anymore?

Villa at Wyndham Palms - can't wait, looks fantastic.

Car Hire - not booked - any suggesions? Family of 4 , 2 adults and 2 kids.

Travel Insurance - not booked - any suggestions? Same as above.

Thanks,

Jennie

 

[bengunn]

For travel insurance try JourneyWise they are cheap and seem to offer good benefits. We have insurance with them.

For car hire you could try Holiday Autos we have not used them ourselves but the Daily Telegraph travel people seem to really rate them.

 

[BevS97]

I got a good price from www.choiceair.co.uk for my car hire. And I've got my travel insurance from http://www.gosure.com/

You should really get travel insurance asap - as it will cover your flights if you should need to cancel.

Bev

 

[Jennie4647]

I have booked travel insurance online with JourneyWise, checked out alot of companies online and they had the best deal for us. I think I will probably book the car direct with Dollar.


Thanks for the info Bev and Bengunn.

Jennie

 

[bengunn]

You are most welcome Jennie.

Oddly enough our car hire is with Dollar as we got a good deal via the company we rented our villa from.

 

[Jennie4647]

Hi Again,

The best deal I can find for car hire (2 weeks) is with floridacarhire.com, 4dr compact with gold option (all insurances, extra driver & tank of fuel) which will cost us £342

What do you people think, is this reasonable? The company is Dollar, I am sure I have seen cheaper dollar cars???

Thanks,

Jennie

 

[bengunn]

That sounds pretty good for all inclusive. Don't ask what we are paying for August with 4 of us needing a big car (my two children are 17 and 20 so we need more room for people and luggage).

 

[Jennie4647]

Just received an email from ChoiceAir (one of Bev's suggesions), I filled in an onlione form yesterday AM. They can give me the same deal on car hire but for £310.00 .

I have asked for confirmation of the rental company - hopefully it will be dollar.

Thanks Guys


Jennie

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Before you book your travel insurance check to see if buying the American Express premium policy works out best for you. Although this is expensive, it does include insurance cover for car hire in North America. This can save you hundreds of dollars, and may make it worthwhile spending the extra to buy the Amex travel insurance.

Regards

Rob

 

[Jennie4647]

Thanks Rob, I'll look into the American Express premium policy.

Update on car hire :- I have an email from ChoiceAir, the rental company is Hertz, for an extra £23 I can have Dollar - anyone know why? Are Hertz OK?

This would bring the price to just under £9 cheaper.



Jennie

 

[Allyk]

Hi all

Flying out on Saturday. Our Car hire is with Dollar, and we went for the interim option, and a minivan (10 of us going), we have already been informed that our car has been upgraded to the full size, here's fingers crossed that we get bumped up to a premium. Can't remeber how much as parents sorted it out.

As for insurance, if you are not going anywhere else this year, we got a single trip family insurance from Egg.com, for £67, but I think that was preferrential to egg card holders.

good luck


AllyK (getting overexcited)

 

[Boo Boo Too]

If you have only paid a deposit for your flights, then the price of your flights is not garanteed (i.e. it can increase).

I am in the same situation: have booked flights (this time with Continental - on a codeshare with VS ;-)), for August, and have only paid the deposit (rest due 6 weeks prior to trip). The Travel Agent I booked with warned me that the price could increase before I pay the full amount and, if it does, then I need to pay the increase. HOWEVER, she also told me that Travel Agents get warned BEFORE the price increases occur. If a price increase is imminent, she will phone me and I can pay the rest of the money there and then (hence avoiding the increase).

Speak to you Travel Agent, check that they get prior warning of any price increase and get them to contact you if they do get such a warning. At that point in time tou will have the choice whether to pay the rest then or to suffer the price increase.

Hope this is helpful. Have a great trip (sounds as though you are well organised ).

Boo

 

[Jennie4647]

Hi Boo,

I spoke to my travel agent this morning and she said that the first time they here of a price increase is via email on the day - so she would be unable to give me any warning. She also said that the flights we have booked are 80% not likely to increase. I guess I will just have to keep my fingers crossed! The problem is, should I pay the balance on my CC and deal with the interest on that, or keep saving as planned and hope that if an increase does come it is not going to be over and above what my cc charges would have been? Anyone out there had a price increase? Anyone know how much we might be talking, 1% 10%?

Thanks for the advise Boo, I am trying to be organised, last year we booked through Travel City and all the 'bitty stuff' was taken care of, doing it ourselves is a lot cheaper, even cheaper than Travel City who are quite competitive, but its not just the money, I get to choose where our villa is, who we fly with, what type of insurance I buy, who we rent the car from. All very exciting but also a bit scary!

Jennie

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Jennie

Sorry, not sure how much your fares are likely to rise. What you have said worries me a little (in case I am not warned in time) because my fares were very expensive: hence any percentage rise weould be quite a lot :-(. Oh well, will be walking around for the next six/seven weeks with my fingers crossed too...

I, like you, book independently: I find that I get exactly what I want, cheaper, flexibility and don't get hassled by holiday reps. This works with a place that you are familiar with (i.e. the US) - don't think that I would book a holiday to Thailand independently (since I don't know how things work there). Okay, you might make a mistake or two, but most holiday companies are known to make mistakes too: you learn from any mistakes and do it better the following year. This will be my fourth independently booked holiday.

Most high street travel agencies frustrate me: they are brochure shops rather than travel agents:
- "We can't do those flights at that price" <look at you as though you are insane> (okay, book them with the online TA who will give me that price).
- "You want that hotel? Where is it in our brochures? Oh, if you can't find it in our brochures we don't do it".
- "The cruise in that package? No we don't do balcony cabins in that package. We can, however, offer you a basic inside cabin for a little more than the price you would pay for a minisuite if you book through an online travel agent".

I also find that if something goes wrong, the highstreet travel agents will not mediate with the vendor for you: so they are very happy to take your money off of you, but not too happy to help if something goes wrong.

Excuse my rant about British High Street Travel Agents (I often use American TAs, which operate online, to book bits of my holiday - i.e. the cruise only).

Booking independently is much more fun: you will have a really great time

Boo

 

[neilybealy]

hi jennie

i have booked my car hire for Sept/Oct 2002 with Holiday Autos.

i have booked 3 cars in total:

2 x 8 seater minivan £1000
1 x full size car £346

this is for 2 weeks and includes full insurance and upto 4 drivers on each vehicle

i have found them really helpful so far with any questions i've had.

the only downside (which i didn't realise til after i had booked) is that it's with alamo and they are offsite but it only means a 10 min bus ride away which is no big deal ( i'm hoping!!! )

i'll look at the journeywise website later - i had planned to book annual travel insurance with nationwide because the level of medical cover etc is much better than most of the other companies that offer a cheaper premium. nationwide charge £78 for a annual worldwide policy for a couple.

have fun

neil