Thinking about and then booking a holiday can be very stressful, as can the process of actually going on holiday. From checking in for your flight and figuring out your baggage allowance to trying to arrange transportation from the airport to the hotel (the stress is exemplified should you not speak the language of the destination), what is meant to be a relaxing and fun holiday can soon become something of a nightmare. With this in mind, it is so much easier to book a holiday through a tour operator.
While some people may think that by doing this you are limiting yourself and perhaps spending a little bit more money, this is not necessarily true at all and the benefits of using a tour operator outweigh the negatives by a long shot. Here we have the top five reasons why you should book through one when arranging your next holiday.
There are no nasty surprises when hotel booking through a tour operator, contrary to some people’s beliefs, you really do know what you are getting as tour operators are actually legally obliged to accurately describe the hotels and villas that they offer. Not only do they have to tell you exactly what the property will be like, but they must also inform you about any building work which may be happening nearby that could potentially cause the slightest bit of trouble for your holiday. This is so much more promising than booking through an individual owner of a property as they have no obligations to you and the photographs that they upload can be as misleading as they want them to be, unlike tour operators who must not show you any images which aren’t 100 per cent truthful.
It saves time for anyone who has booked a holiday without using a tour operator, you will know just how stressful the initial process of actually finding a destination, resort and flights can be. You end up spending hours sat looking at your computer screen, trying to find the most financially reasonable offer before scouring through review sites making sure that the hotel you are hoping to stay in isn’t filled with cockroaches. Why do this when someone can do it for you? Aside from the initial booking of the flights and hotel, there are hotel transfers, local popular sights and excursions and a million other things to take into consideration.
All of these things can be taken off your mind and organised by someone else if you book through a tour operator, giving you more time to worry about important things, such as how many hours should be spent sunbathing expert first-hand knowledge while we all like to think of ourselves as the next Bill Bryson, chances are that if you are wanting to visit a brand new destination, you will not know half as much about it as a tour operator does – after all, it is their job to be knowledgeable and to advise you as best as they can!They are more than likely to have spent a lot of time travelling and aside from guiding you on particular destinations will also be able to offer some tips for travelling in general.
A lot of tour operators also have representatives who work on the resorts that they offer holidays for, which means that you always have a point of contact when you are actually on your vacation. Your money is protected when you book through a tour operator, you can have peace of mind knowing that your money is fully protected, which is a luxury that you don’t have when booking flights and hotels separately yourself.
Should the travel company go out of business you will be protected and entitled to a refund or repatriation. However, by booking it all yourself you are leaving no option other than to either have to forget about going on holiday or paying for another one.
You could even save money yes, it may be a rather popular belief that booking through a tour operator will mean you have to splash the cash. However, this isn’t really true as it can often actually be less expensive to book a holiday this way.The majority of well established and popular tour operators have great relationships with their flight and hotel partners, meaning that they are often the first port of call when any special offers arise and they usually get the best rates possible.
Hotel booking through a tour operator also means you are more likely to get a better room in a hotel than you would just booking as an individual!
