Tag Archives: Booking Tips

Looking for a holiday suggestion?

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Here at Booking Business Travel we focus on helping you to book business travel online.

But we all like to holiday too, and I am frequently asked for inspirational holiday ideas.

And what used to take hours of search can now be offered immediately.

For example;

You want to fly no more than 6 hours, to a destination with a temperature of between 21-25 degrees, are content to fly out on Christmas Day and to stay for 6 nights.
And you prefer a 4* hotel.

Enter this information on the new British Airways Holiday Finder and you’ll be surprised by the last-minute options available.

You can also tailor the results by your budget range.

There are two ways to search:

British Airways Holiday Finder provides concise details

And British Airways Trip Seeker offers a more graphical view with a world map

Reduce your UK train fare by splitting tickets

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If you require travel today or tomorrow, the rail companies will quote you exorbitant fares.

Their assumption is that you will either be a business traveller attending meetings or making a multi-million pound sales pitch, or as a member of the general public, that you have to travel, perhaps in an emergency.

And they assume that in these scenarios, you’ll pay whatever they charge.

They take no account for leisure travel taken on impulse.

For some time now, it has been possible to undercut fares by booking separate tickets to intermediate destinations but that used to require an intimate knowledge of the routes taken.

A new tool from MoneySavingExpert.com provides the intermediate fares for same day or next day journeys, also known as walk-up fares.

Try the tool for yourself here

http://splitticket.moneysavingexpert.com/

To book these tickets, you can request them individually at the station ticket office. If you prefer to book online, be warned that some companies e.g. TheTrainline.com may charge a booking fee per ticket thus cancelling any saving achieved!

Our recommended company charges no booking fees or credit card fees – see our UK Rail link above, or book direct with the train operators

 

 

British Airways Go After The Games Sale

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We highlight the main conditions:

The sale is for flight only and BA holidays
Bookings must be made by midnight Tuesday 25th September
All Long Haul travel requires a Saturday night stay (targeting “leisure” travellers”)
Euro Traveller bookings from LHR must be booked at least 14 days in advance
World Traveller bookings (except to Mauritius) must be booked at least 7 days in advance
World Traveller Plus (except the Americas and Mauritius, 21 days) also at least 7 days in advance
Club World and First Class from LGW must be booked minimum of  14 days in advance

Please select your flight dates from our British Airways Page, and see our booking tips.

If you require a hotel, do compare the BA Flight+Hotel with flight only and hotel separately using our hotel comparison site.

 

How far in advance can I book flights?

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Travel Agents, both online and offline tend to use one of the four major computer reservation systems: Galileo, Amadeus, Sabre and Worldspan.

The Amadeus reservation system can book up to 360 days in advance, almost a whole calendar year, whilst the other major system, Galileo will only offer bookings up to 332 days – a difference of 4 weeks.

Amadeus powers the online agency OPODO so you can book 12 months in advance using their website here.

But other well known companies such as Expedia cannot book this far in advance.

As different travel agencies use different systems, one agent may say that you have to wait before accepting bookings, any travel agent using Amadeus, for example Capable Travel, Telephone 020 7489 8787, will be able to help you.

 

 

Booking Tips for booking travel online

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Impartial Booking Tips saving time and money when booking travel online

As a former travel agent with 30 years experience, I offer booking tips for the following, and more:

Booking tips for flight search using Skyscanner – the best flight search and comparison tool

Booking Tips for UK Rail – How to avoid booking fees

Eurostar Booking Tips – How to achieve the lowest fares and where best to book Eurostar

Ryanair Booking Tips – Save money on baggage and avoid those extra fees

Booking Tips when booking British Airways – where are the best fares, how booking just one seat even though you need two, can save you money

Please visit my blog category Booking Tips for more information or use the search function.

Sign up to my blog if you book travel online and wish to be kept informed

 

Top Tips for Booking Ryanair Flights

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5 top tips to save money on your next Ryanair trip!

Always search for just one seat

There may be just one seat left at a lower fare and then others at a higher price. See a full explanation here

Always use our flight search comparison engine

You may be surprised by an option or airline that you hadn’t considered.

Book check-in baggage after you’ve booked your flights

If you require a check-in bag in one direction only, you can do this in the Manage My Booking facility after you’ve completed your booking.
One direction booking of baggage is not offered when you make your booking – so you can save up to £35 by arranging baggage afterwards.

Use a FairFX prepaid MasterCard to pay for your tickets

On a return booking for two people you’ll save as much as £21.48. See my article here

Book Stansted Express Tickets via the Ryanair site

And you’ll save £8.10 per person