Everybody knows someone who has been on one and an awful lot of people have been on one themselves. Yes we are talking about the age old Package holiday. The safest, most common holiday. Package holidays have been around for years and I am sure everyone will know someone that has went to a travel agent and booked a holiday through them.
Is the tide turning though? Have people found a better way to enjoy their holidays costing them a fraction of travel agent prices?
Villa Holidays is now becoming the main way to book a holiday. For the first time since villa holidays came on the scene more holidaymakers are booking their holiday direct with the owner or through a website that offer villa holidays than with a Travel Agent.
Let us have a look at the Pros and Cons of both types of holidays. Firstly the Package Holiday. Most people know this as the safest way to book a holiday because travel agents are ABTA approved and feel more secure booking holidays through a travel agent. You do have the added gusrentee that if anything is wrong with the holiday you have some governing body to complain to and for that peace of mind you pay a premium for this. Travel Agents charge customers per person for their holidays. On the other hand if you were to book a villa holiday then you don't have the guarentee of the governing body, you deal directly with the person that owns the property therefore you cut out the middle man. Instead of paying a per person price for your holiday you pay for the villa or apartment as a whole no matter how many people are travelling. Let's say for example you were wanting to go on holiday to Spain. A travel agent could easily charge about £300 per person for an apartment in Cosat Blanca, if 4 people are going on that holiday that would cost £1200 and that is including flights. Okay now lets look at the pricing for a similar apartment in Costa Blanca. 2 weeks at the height of the season in July or August would cost £550 but that is for the apartment, that is £137.5 per person, just for the accommodation. The days of the internet are upon us and even flight companies are offering cheap flights to their customers. An average price of a flight to the Costa Blanca is about £59 so the total price of the holiday booked direct with the villa owner is £196.50 now the total cost of the holiday for 4 people is £786 saving you £414 that is over £100 per person.
Now I hear you cry but you have no guarentees! If you follow a few simple steps you can have the guarentees in writing. We spoke with Peter Hartley the Managing Director of Last Minute Villa Holiday who said " Villa Holidays are a boom at the moment, people are wanting to go on holiday and have more money to spend when they are on holiday. You can save a lot of money by booking a villa or apartment rather than booking with a travel agent but I would advise on following these simple guidelines to make sure you have the guarentees you are looking for. Firstly always speak to the villa owner by telephone,it is better than just talking by email, Before you phone make sure you have a list of questions written down that you want answered. If you do not feel comfortable with the answers then you do not book the villa or apartment. Always make sure you get emailed confirmation of the reservation of the villa or apartment before you send a deposit or the full payment. If you are still feeling unsure about booking with a certain villa owner contact the website you found it on and speak to them directly. Our Company LastMinuteVillaHoliday.co.uk always ensure that our customers are happy before they book the accommodation. We can put them in touch with the villa owner directly or if they would rather deal with a company we would make the booking for them. In Summary if they follow these simple rules then they are assured a great holiday."
So is it a Villa Holiday or a Package Holiday this year. I would always go for the one that saved me the most money and allowed me more money to spend on Holiday.
Peter Hartley
Managing Director Last Minute Villa Holiday
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