How to relax with early booking. Early booking is how many months in advance?

21.06.2020

The whole truth about early booking! Early booking vs last minute tours - what to choose?

The websites of almost all tour operators are full of offers for early booking tours, but at the same time, reviews posted on the Internet about early booking promotions are contradictory and ambiguous. Someone thinks that they overpaid because they were vacationing in a hotel with tourists who bought the same thing at half the price on last-minute packages; others buy only by early booking, save up to 40% and are satisfied. Who to believe?

Let's talk with Nadezhda Mikhailovna Burmak, director of PROtravel, about who needs early booking and who needs last-minute tours.

Question: Is it true that with the early booking promotion you can save up to 50-70%?
Answer: No it is not true. Moreover, if in the last few years offers of 30-40% discounts on hotels for early booking promotions have been quite common, then the trend this season is a reduction in discounts. Nowadays discounts of up to 30% are mostly offered. Moreover, hotels provide the highest early booking discounts in December-January for the next summer season - up to 30%. In February - March, discounts are reduced to 20-25%, in April - to 10-15%. That is, the closer to the season, the smaller the discount.

Question: Is it true that early booking means payment in installments for a tour without interest?
Answer: Not certainly in that way. It all depends on the tour operator from whom you buy the tour. It happens that under an early booking promotion, a tourist is required to redeem the tour 100% within 3 days after confirmation of the hotel. There are other conditions according to which you can pay for the tour in installments according to a certain scheme before the end of the promotion, for example, until April 30. You need to read the contract with the tour operator very carefully.

Question: It turns out that it’s better to wait for last-minute travel packages?
Answer: Last minute trips go on sale when tour operators cannot sell out seats on the plane and significantly reduce the cost in order to earn at least some money and reduce losses. In the 2013-2014 season. there was an oversupply of charter flights that did not pay off, which led to bankruptcy and the departure of many tour operators from the market. In 2015 the situation is completely different. There are very few charter flights - rather, there is even a shortage; seats on the plane are sold out very quickly. For example, in December 2014, everyone said “oh, expensive, we’ll wait for the last ones.” As a result, there were no seats left on the planes, and there were simply no last-minute tickets for flights from December 25 to January 6. Now the cost of tours a couple of days before departure is almost the same as a month. All this suggests that this season and next it is unlikely that many last-minute trips will be released onto the market.

Question: What are the pros and cons of early booking?
Answer: The main advantages are the opportunity to save money and quite wide choose hotels that will then not be available for sale closer to the season. For example, hotels such as Sani Asteria Suite in Chalkidiki, Apollo Beach in Rhodes, Tsilivi Beach in Zakynthos, the Greek chain Grecotel, Utopia in Alanya, etc. are sold out by early booking. The main disadvantages of early booking are the inability to cancel the tour or change the names of tourists. Fines sometimes reach 100%. At the same time, travel insurance will not save the situation, since it is valid only in strictly defined and rather severe cases.

Question: Who benefits from early booking?
Answer: If you are planning a vacation with children and you have rather strict requirements for the hotel, for example, a non-standard room, or two rooms next to each other, you need to book in advance, as such options are sold out immediately. If you want a specific hotel, you also need to make reservations in advance. In cases where your holiday falls during peak demand seasons - i.e. May holidays, August, school holidays, New Year holidays, it is also better to book places several months in advance. If you don't want to fly charter flights, then early booking - the best choice, since tickets for regular flights, the earlier you buy, the cheaper they cost, and the discount from the hotel will increase. You need to book Croatia and Montenegro in advance, because the hotel supply in these countries is meager compared to Turkey, so in order to have plenty to choose from, you need to think about your vacation in advance. We should also not forget about European tourists, who are used to booking hotels not just four months in advance, but two years in advance!

Question: Is it true that early booking is valid mainly on European routes?
Answer: No. By early booking you can get a discount of up to 30% on hotel accommodation in the Dominican Republic, up to 15% in Cuba, and up to 50% in Mauritius. In general, on expensive destinations You can save a lot if you combine early booking with various special offers. For example, if you can adjust the dates of your vacation to various promotions, then by purchasing a tour in February for the May holidays in the UAE, you can get a room upgrade, for example, to a suite at the price of a standard, and a meal upgrade - breakfast + dinner at the price breakfast and other very profitable options.

30 words about early booking:

If you don't have time to read. Using a specific example. Early booking is when you buy a September one in February for 149,000 rubles, in May – 170,000 rubles, and in August – 195,000 rubles. The price of a tour increases closer to the departure date in approximately the same proportions.

And now let’s learn more about what early booking is, what subtleties a tourist needs to know, how to understand whether it’s worth buying a tour in advance, or leaving the purchase until the last hour.

What is an early booking promotion?

Early booking promotions are seasonal offers tour operators. This is when it makes sense to buy the same tours that you can buy in the summer in advance, but (!) at a better price.

Who sets the prices and rules of the game? - Travel agency?

Tour operators themselves determine prices and time limits. For example, a special offer is valid from February to March, or from January to April. What the price will be is also decided by the tour operator.

The practice is this: such early booking promotions are held 2 times a year: in spring and autumn. In the spring you can buy a tour with an early booking promotion for the summer, and at the end of the summer the winter offers begin to apply.

Which countries are the most popular and what are the benefits of early booking promotions?

The most popular early booking promotions for summer are Spain, Turkey, and southern Europe, where tourists are accustomed to a good and comfortable annual holiday.

Using our example, which we described at the beginning of the article, you can clearly see what the price for the Canary Islands was in the spring (according to the early booking promotion), and what it became towards the end of summer.

There is a tangible benefit to this. You pay less, just in advance. Usually 20-30 percent. And 3-4 months before departure.

The same thing happens with New Year's tours.

Buy a tour for the New Year in August, and you will see that in October-November (provided that by this time they have not yet been sold out - yes!) it will cost at least 1.5 times more. Those. no longer 60,000, but 90,000 rubles (the numbers are given as an example). As we can see, the benefit of up to 20-30% when purchasing a tour with the early booking promotion is obvious!

The favorable price of the tour for the early booking promotion is the first advantage

Let's talk about something else. It often happens that you are looking for a tour shortly before departure, but the necessary offers, hotels, rooms are no longer available. Has it happened? So what remains for the tourist? Choose from what is available, what is left on this moment. But this choice is not always pleasing, don’t you agree? If you wanted to go to 4, you go to 3. I dreamed of a sea view, but got a city view. So, lo and behold! When purchasing a tour with an early booking promotion, you have a completely blank slate - almost all hotels and dates are available. And the earlier you deal with the issue of booking, the wider your choice.

A wide range of offers is the second advantage

So, everything is clear on the pluses. Convenient, profitable, in advance, profit! Now about the cons. But they exist. Welcome, now we’ll find out what subtleties a tourist needs to know when purchasing such a tour.

What does a tourist need to know about the features of early booking?

The most important feature of early booking (!) is the payment procedure for the tour. For some tour operators, it can be installed even within 3 days after the tour is confirmed. For many offers, the payment deadline ends on the last date of the month. For example, April 30. Those. it may look like this: the tour for September must be 100% paid before April 30.

How can I find out the payment procedure?

When you contact a travel agency, the travel agent selects an early booking tour for you. Then he clarifies the payment procedure for the special offer that you liked. Then he tells you this payment procedure. And you already decide whether it’s convenient for you to pay like that or not. Will you be able to deposit 50% in a couple of days, and another 50% (let’s say) in two weeks, or won’t you be able to?

Payment procedure is important

Who sets the payment procedure?

The payment procedure, as we already know, is established by the tour operator. Each offer may have its own procedure, and it is better for you to clarify this issue with a travel agency employee at the time of purchasing the tour. In this case, you will be able to plan your payments and pay for the tour on time.

You need to know the procedure for paying for a tour under the early booking promotion

What else is important? And this is not a plus...

Be sure to remember and write it down in your notebook, if you don’t remember... It’s not so easy to cancel a tour purchased through an early booking promotion. And it happens! I made a reservation, but I can’t go. But what to do if you bought a tour but can’t go? If you cancel the tour (most likely), you will need to pay a fine that the tour operator will impose for canceling the tour, or find other tourists (replacement) and change the tourists’ data.

Difficulties in canceling a tour purchased through an early booking promotion

These 2 features of buying a tour with early booking promotions that you just learned about are perhaps the most important. It's better to think about this in advance. You never know - your vacation will have to be canceled or unforeseen matters will appear...

Perhaps you would like to know about current promotions, countries, resorts and prices. Our staff will be happy to help you in this matter. All you need to do is just call our office or leave a request.

How popular are early booking promotions among tourists?

Popular. Quite. Those who know exactly the dates of their vacation, those who have planned a budget, those who have calculated that it is convenient and profitable, buy in advance. There are more and more such people. Which means that favorable prices- this is not deception. And people really felt and saw real benefits from such a purchase. Unfortunately, not every person will be able to buy such a tour. Why? This primarily applies to those whose vacation (vacation dates) are determined shortly before departure.

If you do not know the specific dates of your vacation, then it is unlikely that you will be able to buy a tour with an early booking promotion.

What's the result?

There are early booking promotions that make it convenient to buy a tour.
There are pros and cons. Pros: price and choice; cons: payment and cancellation
In winter we buy for summer, in summer for winter
To buy or not to buy – the choice is yours

To buy or not to buy – that is the question?

Whether to buy a tour with the early booking promotion or not to buy is your decision! Weigh the pros and cons. Evaluate the profitability of the offers. Right now you can find out from our employees what early booking promotions are currently in effect. Just leave a request for a specific country, dates, time period, and we will definitely find you a great offer at a competitive price.

Find a great deal at a great price?

+ Free Bonus for our clients: reference materials

Tell us about it now

Now is the time to think about a vacation in the summer of 2017. In this regard, the question of the “Early Booking” promotion, which has been on everyone’s lips for several years now, has become more relevant than ever, but not everyone fully understands what it is . We will dispel the most common misconceptions and speculations about the Early Booking promotion.
And the head of the sales department of the tourist operator “Muzenidis Travel”, Evgeniy Kiselev, will help us with this.

What is “Early Booking” really?

This promotion has existed on the Russian tourism market for several years, and more and more tourists prefer to book tours in this way - in 2016, every fourth tourist from Russia vacationed in Greece using “Early Booking”.

Without going into details and saying in simple words, then the essence of the “Early Booking” promotion is that you simply book your vacation in advance, and for this you receive incredible discounts, which can even reach 55% of the full cost of the tour.

How it works?

This is a completely mutually beneficial promotion for all participants in the “tourism process” - travel agents, operators, hoteliers, and most importantly - for tourists. By taking advantage of this promotion and booking a tour in winter, a tourist is guaranteed to receive a huge discount that he cannot get with any other promotion, and can also choose any holiday dates he needs for the next summer, hotel, room category and even type of food.

Big discounts are not the main thing!

Of course, it’s nice to book a tour at half the price, but there are other reasons to use Early Booking. Considering the huge demand in the 2016 season for the main destinations of the tour operator Mouzenidis Travel - Greece and Cyprus - it is simply necessary to book a tour for the summer of 2017 in advance, since in the midst of summer season Rooms in all the best hotels simply won't be available.
They will not be more expensive, they simply will not be available in principle, and you will have to choose from the rest. And few people want to risk their long-awaited vacation, so it’s best to book an “Early Booking” tour and gain peace of mind that this summer you will definitely be able to enjoy a quality vacation.
Also, the “Early Booking” promotion has very flexible payment rules, namely: 50% of the cost must be paid within 5 days after confirmation, and the remaining 50% at any time convenient for the tourist, but no later than 2 weeks before arrival. Essentially, this is a tour in installments, but without any risks.

Why do tour operators, travel agents and hoteliers offer such discounts?

As has already been said, “Early Booking” is beneficial for everyone, and now we will tell you something that few people talk about - what is the benefit of this for tour operators, travel agents and hoteliers.
It will be no secret that winter is not the most profitable season for tourism, so travel agencies are happy to take advantage of the additional opportunity to ensure financial stability and well-being in the winter, which is the “Early Booking” promotion.
Also, for travel agencies this is an opportunity to lay the foundation for the future summer season, and in order to encourage agencies to take advantage of this (and now, not all agencies understand the real prospects that Early Booking opens up), the tour operator Mouzenidis Travel has launched an additional promotion “Minus - 10% when paying for the tour within 5 days after confirmation of the tour”, that is, tourists will be able to receive another -10% in addition to -55% for “Early Booking”, and relax for only a third of the real cost of the tour.
For tourism operators, this is an opportunity to start making a profit from the future summer season long before it begins, which allows them to provide better service for tourists, more accurately plan flight programs and pay for guaranteed hotel room quotas, taking a more confident position in the tourism market and offering the most competitive prices.
For hoteliers this good way sell rooms in advance for next summer already in the winter and renovate the number of rooms, improve food, expand the entertainment infrastructure before the onset of the season, so that in the summer you can already welcome your guests by offering them the most quality rest and get regular customers, who will come to them next summer, and maybe even in the fall, during the velvet season.

Myths about Early Booking

Despite all the advantages of the promotion, sometimes controversial situations arise that need to be sorted out and finally dispelled all the myths that “Early Booking” has acquired.

Myth No. 1: “The discount will be even greater in summer”

8 years ago, when the “Early Booking” promotion first appeared, situations often arose when hoteliers and tour operators, having incorrectly calculated their capabilities, were forced to take big discounts at the height of the season. But after eight years, everyone has already learned from their mistakes and tourist market changed a lot.
In the 2016 season, we did not observe such cases that in the summer prices were lower than for “Early Booking”, and given the great popularity of the main destinations of the tour operator “Mouzenidis Travel”, the demand for which already exceeds supply, in the Summer 2017 season this situation is completely excluded, that is, by booking a tour in advance you are guaranteed to win. In any case, loyal cancellation conditions allow you to rebook an already paid tour for another at the current price.

Myth No. 2: “The flight on which the tour is booked may be cancelled”

In principle, of course they can, but only due to some force majeure situations from which no one is immune. But in this case, the tourist will be offered worthy alternatives and many bonuses during his vacation (“upgrade” rooms, bonus excursions, individual transfers and much more). Responsible and experienced tour operators, like Mouzenidis Travel, realistically calculate their capabilities and the potential of flight departure cities in the summer, thus eliminating the possibility of flights being canceled for reasons that not enough tours are sold.

Myth No. 3: “I’ll book a tour in advance and won’t be able to fly”

For the tour operator Mouzenidis Travel, there is absolutely no difference in the cancellation rules for a regular tour and an Early Booking tour. That is, if you cancel your tour 2-3 weeks before departure, you will receive a full refund. If you have serious circumstances that do not allow you to go on vacation, then all tours from Mouzenidis Travel include a “No Travel Guarantee”, which, for really serious reasons, allows you to avoid fines from canceling the tour.

Myth No. 4: “I’ll book for some dates, but they’ll give me vacation for others, and I won’t be able to go.”

If you want to change the dates, change the room category or change the number of tourists in the room, you can do this at the same discount with which you originally booked the tour. This is really useful if, for example, you are not given vacation on the dates you originally expected.

Myth No. 5: “In the summer, the exchange rate will decrease and I will lose money if I pay for the tour in advance”

Half of the tours under the “Early Booking” promotion are paid in full immediately (this is stimulated by the “Minus 10%” promotion for full payment within 5 days after confirmation of the tour). But if you want to delay payment, and initially pay only half of the cost, and the rest 2-3 weeks before arrival, then even if by this time the course national currency Russia in relation to the euro at the time of payment will decrease by 50% (which is unlikely), then you will still not lose anything, since initially you already received a 55% discount on the cost of the tour.

Myth No. 6: “I’ll book the promotion when it ends, but now I’ll wait”

One of the principles of “Early Booking” is that the earlier you book, the greater the discount. The promotion takes place in several stages, each of which has smaller discounts. The last stage of the promotion may end at the end of March - beginning of April, but the discount will no longer be 40-55%, but 15-25%.

Myth No. 7: “The tour operator will go bankrupt and I will lose money”

Russian tourist market in Lately experienced many shocks that may be repeated. Therefore, I recommend that tourists and agents pay attention not only to the cost of the tour, but also to its quality, as well as the reputation of the tour operator. Choose only experienced and trusted tour operators who have major financial funds behind them - airlines, hotel chains, bus fleets.

Known for their pragmatism, Europeans have long appreciated all the benefits of organizing their upcoming vacation in advance. Is early booking of tours profitable in domestic realities?

IN modern world The time for organizing the upcoming summer holiday can begin at any time. Someone is already on New Year holidays, armed with a map, goes through the names of hotels and reads reviews about them. This approach allows you to carefully plan your trip and reduce the risk of an unsuccessful choice of holiday destination to a minimum. If your life is measured and stable, if you know exactly the date of your upcoming vacation in six months, then you can also use the early booking service, which really has some advantages. In fact, early booking is the exact opposite of the so-called, when a ticket is purchased a few days before departure. Here, on the contrary, the tour is sold long before it starts. Moreover, from year to year the start of the action is shifted to earlier and earlier dates. Now many hotels open early bookings in January, and some even earlier. It usually ends in April.

First of all, this is, of course, saving on the cost of the trip. When purchasing in advance, the tour operator usually provides a discount of ten to forty percent of the full tour price. As we get closer tourist season, the cost of trips to popular hotels is inexorably creeping up, and the cost of plane tickets is also rising. And you have already fixed your price, and now you, as the happy owner of a ticket purchased back in February, can only count the savings and catch the envious glances of your not so far-sighted colleagues...

The next advantage of early booking is the ability to choose a hotel that suits you or your family in all respects. Indeed, in February, for example, almost any hotel offered by operators is still available for reservation. When purchasing travel packages closer to the departure date, in most cases you have to “take what you can get,” and it would be very naive to expect to get a suitable room in a hotel with positive reviews.

After all, walking one and a half kilometers in the heat to a dirty city beach, and, leaving the hotel, immediately finding yourself on clean sand is two big differences, as they say in Odessa. Families who are going on holiday choose hotels especially pickily. It is important for them that all meals are included, that entry into the sea is convenient, that the hotel is clean, that cultural and entertainment events are held...

If you want to go to " high season", i.e. in July, August or the first half, or you are interested in one of the particularly popular destinations, such as Turkey, Greece, Spain or Cyprus, then you, like no one else, can experience the advantages of early booking.

What's the catch?

He's gone. In fact, everything is explained quite simply. In the “low season,” when hotels are half empty, it is most convenient for their owners to modernize infrastructure, repair work, expand, etc. And for all this we need working capital, which hotels receive by reducing prices. Thus, they also benefit from opening early bookings.

But to be honest?

Well, okay, there is one minus, and quite a significant one. It consists in the risk of losing invested funds if it is impossible to complete the planned trip. In this case, you may receive only part of the cost of the trip back (usually from 50% to 90%), or sometimes nothing at all. Therefore, if you are often plagued by force majeure, then you are unlikely to experience the benefits of early booking. If you really want it, then it’s better to issue the so-called ““. In any case, you need to very thoroughly ask the travel agent about the possibility of changing the departure date, names on the vouchers and the duration of the vacation.

Current last minute tours

Overall, this is a convenient method of buying a trip, which has more advantages than disadvantages. You get a discount, choose best hotel, you think through all the details of your vacation in advance... Whether early booking of tours is beneficial for you personally depends only on the circumstances. Risky, you say? Of course, there is a certain amount of adventurism in this, but those who don’t take risks don’t drink cocktails on the sea sand...

30 words about early booking:

If you don't have time to read. Using a specific example. Early booking is when you buy a September tour to the Canary Islands in February for 149,000 rubles, in May – 170,000 rubles, and in August – 195,000 rubles. The price of a tour increases closer to the departure date in approximately the same proportions.

What is an early booking promotion?

Early booking promotions are seasonal offers from tour operators. This is when it makes sense to buy the same tours that you can buy in the summer in advance, but (!) at a better price.

Who sets the prices and rules of the game? Travel agency?

Tour operators themselves determine prices and time limits. For example, a special offer is valid from February to March, or from January to April. The tour operator also decides what the price will be.

The practice is that such early booking promotions are held 2 times a year: in spring and autumn. In the spring you can buy a tour with an early booking promotion for the summer, and at the end of the summer the winter offers begin to apply.

Which countries are the most popular and what are the benefits of early booking promotions?

The most popular early booking promotions for summer are Canary Islands and Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, as well as other countries of southern Europe, where tourists are accustomed to a good and comfortable annual holiday.

There is a tangible benefit to this. You pay less, just in advance. Usually 20-30 percent. And 3-4 months before departure.

The same thing happens with New Year's tours.

Buy a tour for the New Year in August, and you will see that in October-November (provided that by this time they are not sold out yet!) it will cost at least 1.5 times more.

What is early booking? And how profitable is it?

Those. no longer 60,000, but 90,000 rubles (the numbers are given as an example). As we can see, the benefit of up to 20-30% when purchasing a tour with the early booking promotion is obvious!

Favorable tour price for early booking promotion is the first advantage

Let's talk about something else. It often happens that you are looking for a tour shortly before departure, but the necessary offers, hotels, rooms are no longer available. Has it happened? So what remains for the tourist? Choose from what is available and what is left at the moment. But this choice is not always pleasing, don’t you agree? If you wanted to go to 4, you go to 3. I dreamed of a sea view, but got a city view. So, lo and behold! When purchasing a tour with an early booking promotion, you have a completely blank slate - almost all hotels and dates are available. And the earlier you deal with the issue of booking, the wider your choice.

A wide range of offers is the second advantage

What does a tourist need to know about the features of early booking?

How can I find out the payment procedure?

When you contact a travel agency, the travel agent selects an early booking tour for you. Then he clarifies the payment procedure for the special offer that you liked. Then he tells you this payment procedure. And you decide whether it’s convenient for you to pay this way or not. Will you be able to deposit 50% in a couple of days, and another 50% (let’s say) in two weeks, or won’t you be able to?

The payment procedure is important

Who sets the payment procedure?

You need to know the procedure for paying for a tour under the early booking promotion

What else is important? And that's not a plus

Be sure to remember and write it down in your notebook if you don’t remember. It’s not so easy to cancel a tour purchased through an early booking promotion. And it happens! I made a reservation, but I can’t go. But what to do if you bought a tour but can’t go? If you cancel the tour (most likely), you will need to pay a fine that the tour operator will impose for canceling the tour, or find other tourists (replacement) and change the tourists’ data.

Difficulties in canceling a tour purchased through an early booking promotion

These 2 features of buying a tour with early booking promotions that you just learned about are perhaps the most important. It's better to think about this in advance. You never know if your vacation will have to be canceled or unforeseen matters will arise.

How popular are early booking promotions among tourists?

Popular. Quite. Those who know exactly the dates of their vacation, those who have planned a budget, those who have calculated that it is convenient and profitable, buy in advance. There are more and more such people. This means that favorable prices are not a scam. And people really felt and saw real benefits from such a purchase. Unfortunately, not every person will be able to buy such a tour. Why? This primarily applies to those whose vacation (vacation dates) are determined shortly before departure.

If you do not know the specific dates of your vacation, then it is unlikely that you will be able to buy a tour with an early booking promotion.

What's the result?

There are early booking promotions that make it convenient to buy a tour.
There are pros and cons. The advantages are price and choice, the disadvantages are payment and cancellation.
In winter we buy for summer, in summer for winter
The choice to buy or not to buy is yours.

To buy or not to buy – that is the question?

+ Free bonus for our clients: reference materials How long to fly from Yekaterinburg to the most popular resorts

Tell us about it now

How to choose a last minute tour

How to choose a last minute tour | We answer

This article presents the whole truth about last-minute travel packages.

Last minute trips are very popular due to their low cost. Tours to the same country for the same duration can cost half as much. Tour operators often offer discounts that are even more profitable than 50%. You can really get to your favorite country with a good discount! Search best options for yourself, be vigilant and remember that vacation with minimal costs is also possible.

Advantages

There are a lot of last minute trips to countries that are popular for holidays: Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria. Tours to these countries are booked in bulk.

As a rule, it is not possible to sell all the tours and the travel agency begins to lower prices. A person who is “sitting on suitcases” and eager to go to any country just to relax can take advantage of this chance. First of all, you should understand that a last-minute tour is not a gift to you. The company provides a service - it sells the voucher cheaper, and you help the company not to go into the red and not let the voucher burn out.

Underwater rocks

Last minute tours are intended for those who depend only on themselves and are able to quickly make a decision. But there is one cunning marketing ploy used by many companies.

Dispelling 7 myths about “Early Booking”

They lure customers with imaginary last-minute tours. It turns out to be quite effective advertising - a real trick for consumers: they are allegedly selling a last-minute ticket at a full price. To avoid falling into this trap, don’t be lazy to compare prices. Don't go for too low a price. Before signing any contract, study it carefully. The contract must specify return flights, the name of the hotel and the number of stars.

How to find a last minute tour

Finding a last minute trip directly depends on the popularity of the country in a given period of time. Don't forget to resolve your visa issue in advance. If it is not needed to travel to the desired country, this is a double plus. There are many websites on the Internet that offer last-minute tours. What points should you pay attention to when searching for them?

Often travel agencies offer discounts on tours if you ask to book something. This happens due to the fact that you save their time, eliminating the need to select a ticket for you. Certain companies write: “Providing a discount when booking a tour from the website.”
Do not ignore the number of days on the tour. Not infrequently, last-minute tours at low cost are vacations of up to four days. This option is not always suitable for everyone.
Don't forget about seasonality. When the time approaches the peak season, the price of all tours increases.
If you need to get to the departure city, think in advance how you will organize this. This point is important to consider before purchasing a tour. During the season, it is not easy to purchase train tickets to cities facing the sea.

How to look for a last minute ticket

You will need

computer, internet access

Instructions

In order to find out about the availability and cost of last-minute trips to the country you are interested in, contact any travel agency or last-minute tour store.

Let the manager know that you are interested in these types of offers.

To find last-minute tours yourself, make a list of travel operators you trust and use their services. Some of the most popular Russian tour operators are Tez Tour, Pegas Touristik, Coral Travel, Natalie Tours, S7 TOUR, Sunrise Tour, Transaero Tour, Biblio-Globus, Sunmar Tour, Neva Travel Agency, Anex Tour and others. Go to their websites one by one and enter the criteria you need in the standard tour search engine. As a rule, last-minute trips appear 1-3 days before the start of the trip, keep this in mind when choosing your departure date. To see more full list offers, enter only mandatory criteria in the search engine, such as the city of departure, country and number of tourists.

Consider travel options different countries, because There may not be a similar offer to the country you are interested in, but there will be last-minute tours to another, no less interesting one.

There are usually more last-minute offers in the capitals, this is due to the huge number of flights at airports compared to other cities. Consider flying not only from your city, but from all nearby international airports.

Once you find a trip option that suits you, do not delay in paying for it, because... last-minute offers will most likely be of interest not only to you and may quickly disappear. Please note that you may need to depart on the same day.

Pay for your chosen tour on the website using plastic card or your nearest travel agency. Many travel companies give an additional discount on the trip if you find it yourself and do not use the services of managers.

A last minute tour is a good way to relax while saving a significant amount. Any package usually includes air/train tickets, hotel reservations, transfers and insurance. The tour operator creates such a package of tourist services. Sometimes it happens that he bought a block of seats on a plane/hotel in advance and was unable to sell them before the start of the tour. Then, a few days before arrival, the tour operator sharply reduces prices for tours. A last minute trip in this case can cost several times cheaper or even be offered at the price of a flight to a given country.

Instructions

To find a really good last minute tour, take a few preliminary steps. Before you start looking for a last minute tour, try to clearly define your own vacation requirements. Answer the following questions for yourself:

– in which country do you want to relax;

– what attracts you to this country – beach holiday, ski resorts, sightseeing, historical excursions, shopping, etc.;– what budget do you plan to allocate for your vacation;– which city is preferable for your trip;– what level of hotel and with what infrastructure would suit you;– which tour operators organize tours to the selected country in your city;– what you might neglect when choosing a hotel/city/country. After this, familiarize yourself with the hotel database of the selected country or city - decide which hotels you would like to go to, and, conversely, which one is not suitable for you under any circumstances. Also decide which tour operator you would like to travel with, since its work also largely determines how comfortable your vacation will be. This preparation is necessary so that you can quickly make a decision on purchasing a particular tour. In the decision-making process, you may simply not have time to even briefly familiarize yourself with the infrastructure and location of the hotel, as well as reviews of the hotel or tour operator. So, the country and city of vacation have been determined, the list of your favorite hotels and tour operators is in your hands, start searching for a last-minute tour. Go to the website http://ruspo.ru/ - this is one of the few free tour search systems from all the largest tour operators in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, etc. On the main page, select the “Last Minute Tours” category. Specify the search parameters for tours - departure city, country and city of vacation, departure dates and number of nights of stay, number of guests, hotel category, meals, tour cost. In a few seconds, the system will display possible rest options based on the specified parameters. Choose the one that suits you best and go to the official website of the tour operator who offered this tour. On the tour operator's website, by filling out a similar search form, make sure that such a tour is available. Now all that remains is to purchase the last-minute tour you found at the nearest travel agency.

Helpful advice

If you need to monitor prices for tours, subscribe to free newsletters of last-minute tours on travel sites such as “Vacation Shop” (http://maot.ru) or “Buy a Vacation” (http://kupiotpusk.ru).

Search for a tour from tour operators

note

Be careful with visa information. Find out whether a visa is required for your chosen country and how long it takes.

Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators
where to look for last minute tours

How to choose a last minute tour

Last minute tours always have their own clientele, but before you take advantage of such a trip, you need to have a clear idea of what it is and how to use it. It is important to get answers to other questions as well.

Why "burning"?

Most often, “last minute tours” mean tours that were not sold out due to early booking. The cost of such a tour decreases the closer the departure date. It is important to understand what is still burning: hotel reservations or plane tickets?

If tickets are “burning”, it means that the company has bought seats on a certain flight; if it comes to hotels, therefore, a certain number of seats have been booked. It was not possible to sell these vouchers until a specific date, so they were transferred to the “last minute” category.

For a tourist, the second option is preferable, since a cheap hotel may be included with the ticket, but when it comes to the hotel, it was a four-star hotel and will remain so.

Why such low prices?

You should not think that the reason for the low price of a tour always lies in the unimplementation of the tour.

Not all last-minute tours are packages great hotels and excursions that have lost value as the departure date approaches. This option is possible and occurs quite often, but it is far from the only one.

The low price may be based on the following factors:

Hotels with a small number of stars, inconvenient accommodation, for example, in rooms of small size, without windows or with a bad view of their windows.
The hotel itself may not offer tours or entertainment.
Frequent night travel. This is possible in case bus tour. You will, of course, save money on a hotel, but you won’t have to wait for comfort. It is quite possible that after several such night trips you will lose any interest in the sights at all.
Transfer or other transportation required by the tour package, the level of which is in full agreement with the price of the tour.
Placement at random. You pay first for the cheapest accommodation and right before departure, about a day in advance, you will find out which hotel the Fortuna system sent you. The chances of being in the “two” and “four plus” are approximately the same.

The most favorable option for a traveler is the unsold vouchers due to the short-sightedness of the travel agency. For example, a travel agency may “miss” the assessment of a popular destination for the season and purchase a large number of vouchers to Egypt, and take the people and go to Turkey. In this case, you can count on a high-quality package of services.

As you can see, before “falling” for a tempting price, you should inquire about its reason. You definitely won’t have to count on extreme frankness, since this quality is not popular in sales. So be prepared for the fact that you will have to figure out the details yourself in a roundabout way. To help you, guide questions, reviews of hotels, descriptions of the advantages and disadvantages of various brands of vehicles.

Available and unavailable tours

There is an opinion that it is only possible to purchase a last-minute trip to countries with a simplified visa regime. It is not true.

You can go to both Ukraine and China - the visa regime does not matter. Although not entirely true. It matters in terms of the date of payment to the agency. If you are traveling to visa-free country, you can purchase a ticket even one day before departure.

When purchasing a trip to a country with which Russia has a visa regime, you will need to pay 1-2 days before the last date for submitting documents for a visa. As a rule, this is within 7-10 days before the departure date. Of course, if you already have a visa, then everything becomes simpler.

Possible clientele

Now let's talk about who is most suitable for last minute tours. This tour is for you if:

you have free time, 3-5 day fluctuations in the departure date do not bother you at all;
you are not picky, food and living conditions are not particularly important to you;
you don’t care which air carrier you use;
you are not afraid of the prospect of no last minute tour, and therefore you will spend your vacation in your native land.

The tips below will be useful to those who are still willing to take risks, but travel on a cheap last minute ticket.

Take care of your own attitude. Get in the mood that you are going on vacation to another country to change your gray everyday life to the sun and sea (variations are possible). After all, in fact, it’s such a small thing - mold on the shower curtain. If you have the right mindset, this is unlikely to have a significant impact on your mood.
It’s better to leave the idea of using a “last minute ticket” on holidays and at the height of the season. At this time, you definitely can’t count on free cheese.
Call several travel agencies, look for information on the Internet regarding popular and unpopular destinations this season, compare prices. Travel agents are still interested in selling a trip at a higher price, so it is better not to rely on data only from their lips. Always use multiple sources of information.
Give up laziness. You will need unprecedented efficiency, because with a last-minute ticket you can choose today - pay tomorrow - leave the day after tomorrow. You just don't have much time to think.

Early booking or last minute trips?

Positive aspects of the company

Pros:
1.BGT is a large federal chain, tourists follow the name, so even in a crisis there are sales, compared to competitors.
2. As a rule, a pleasant team (depends on the office, but in 90% of cases this is true) and loyal office managers (again, not everywhere).
3. Free training, they hire here with or without experience, they teach you how to sell tours to mass destinations, after leaving here you can easily get a job in another “hot” network.
4.Good organization of the work process, there is its own CRM, a website with various tour options, where clients come from.
5. Offices in the city center.
6. Previously, managers had a real opportunity to grow into office managers, I don’t know how it is now.
7. If you do not work in Yekaterinburg, then an additional plus is the absence of senior management in the office, since the founders of the company moved to Yekaterinburg.

Negative aspects of the company

I worked in the company for almost 3 years, I have a clear understanding of all the problems of this network:
1. “BGT - Large federal network, tourists go by the name” - a plus, also a minus, tourists go by the word “last minute”, everyone will expect discounts from you, ask, beg, beg, you may not give up, but there is a high probability that they won’t buy from you.
The contingent of tourists is also specific, I have heard stories about how a potential client drank vodka in the office while a tour was being arranged for him and about how inadequate tourists ask for a refund just before departure.
2.

7 ways to buy the cheapest tour! How and where to look?

Stupid work schedule, offices are usually open from Monday to Sunday from 10.00 to 22.00, weekends are floating, if your office is in a shopping center, you will work according to the shopping center schedule, even on December 31st and March 8th.
3. Here you will be taught how to sell Turkey 3* and Pattaya 2*, however, in a normal agency with a good clientele, this knowledge is unlikely to be useful to you.
As I already wrote, the average client is not rich, so you are unlikely to calculate individual tour in Fiji with 3 stops, for competitors you will always be a thorn in your side as a “last minute agent”, which means your price on the labor market will not be so high after OSH.
4. I wrote in the pros regarding the organization of the work process, but this is the main disadvantage.
Around 2012, the company changed its marketing concept: they introduced a white top, black bottom uniform, with some kind of pioneer ties, it feels like the management is really looking up to Sberbank))
From that time to the present day, total control of employees has been introduced.
There should certainly be control, as well as the quality of service, but the regulations on regulations on regulations, which are being pushed by the new regulations, are too much...
What is the value of one script for a telephone conversation and the phrase: “We are waiting for you at the bank!”, which should end every conversation, regardless of the question, despite the fact that in the office in front of you there may be a group of tourists who also need advice, but for now you If you don’t ask 15 questions on the form and clarify: “Can I help you with anything else?”, the telephone conversation will not end.
There is still a lot of bureaucracy there, both for employees and for office managers.
5. Probably the most important thing is the salary, with such requirements and workload, an ordinary manager receives a salary of 10 - 15,000 rubles +% of sales, as you understand in the low season and crisis% is not at all high, considering that everyone is waiting for a discount.
And if sales go really badly in winter, you will be offered to work part-time for 5,000 rubles.
In general, I can advise young university graduates without children and families who are ready for overwork and constant monitoring for the sake of experience. I don’t recommend it to others, and an agent with extensive experience won’t go here.

Early booking or last minute tours - the price of the issue.

Early booking

When we plan a vacation, we assume that we can go anywhere we want in any month at any time of the day or night. However, this opinion is erroneous. As a rule, only last-minute trips can be purchased a few days before your vacation. And it is far from a fact that a spontaneous vacation will be successful, since you will not have the opportunity to choose the place and hotel that you have dreamed of going to for so long. The remaining last-minute trips dictate their own rules. When going on a long-awaited vacation, you still want it to be at a decent level. Therefore, the early booking service will give you certain guarantees, relieve you of unnecessary hassle and stress, and besides, this offer will be beneficial for you.

Early booking means purchasing a tour in advance, which allows you to save money. The minimum period for using this service is approximately two months to 25 days. When planning a vacation in advance, a package of services, including choosing a hotel, flight, transfer, has a fixed price, which will not change in the future with an increase in prices for hotel rooms, fuel and, accordingly, the travel itself

Early booking conditions vary from country to country, but the benefits are always clear.
Constantly traveling people already know what is the most profitable thing to think about summer rest in winter to save a lot of money on it.

Advantages of early booking:

– direct discounts from hotels up to 50%

– almost one hundred percent probability of confirmation of hotels in short supply that are in high demand during the season

– with early booking and timely payment, the price of the entire package is fixed and there are no additional payments or recalculations

When you already know exactly where you would like to go on your vacation, the next step is to call travel company. If you go there as soon as possible, then you will not face the risk of missing plane tickets, hotel rooms, or increased prices for tours. Well, of course, by booking your trip in advance, you will pay a lot less money than usual. The reasonable price of the tour can be explained simply: not only the client benefits, but also the tour operator, who receives a stop sale on the main destinations.

Last minute tours.

To reduce costs for upcoming vacation, many prefer another way to save, the so-called “last minute tours”.
Pros and cons of the “quick fix”.

Last minute tours are an offer for people who are ready to get to their desired country as soon as possible. At the same time, each person wants to incur as little costs as possible to purchase a long-awaited voucher. Contacting a travel agency to purchase a last-minute tour is a good choice for a vacation at reasonable prices.

A hot trip is a trip that will expire soon and in order not to lose the cost of the tourist package and expenses (as well as pre-paid air tickets), the tour operator reduces prices.

Since the price of a last-minute tour is much lower than cost, such tours sell out very quickly. And the sales period for such a tour is several hours. In the morning there may be a large number of offers in various directions, and by lunchtime everything is already sold.
Is everything really so rosy in purchasing a “last minute tour”?
As they say, “in every barrel of honey there is a fly in the ointment,” and, unfortunately, this case is no exception.
Hot deals can be compared to sales. Everything seems cheap, but the right size, color and texture are very rare. And, as a rule, quality suffers first. And the case with last-minute tours is no exception. Places in good hotels, extremely rarely, “stay away” until the last moment.

Early booking - pros and cons. How to save and not lose

There remain those options that other tourists, for whatever reason, refused. And this is usually poor service, the location of the hotel and other good reasons that you may also not like. But due to ignorance, you can buy a “last minute tour” and ruin your long-awaited vacation. In any case, only you can decide which way to save money you are interested in: early booking or last minute trips.

Let's summarize everything that has been said.

Early booking:
+ Thoughtfulness of the solution.
+ Large selection of tours with accommodation in good hotels.
+ Interesting “price” offers from tour operators for “Early Booking” or “Special Offers” promotions

Conclusion: early booking is beneficial if you have a desire to go to a certain resort, a certain hotel and a certain room, if you carefully plan your vacation, a set of excursions, a route, and places to stay.

Last minute travel packages.
+ Low price vouchers.

— Gathering things and documents is hectic, so you may forget about something or not have time;
— Before you fly off on a tour, the hotel you plan to stay in must send confirmation about reserving your room. Usually confirmation from the hotel arrives within up to 3 days. A situation may arise that at the time of departure there is no confirmation yet. And it’s not clear where you’re flying or whether you’re flying at all?

— New Year And Christmas, May holidays, children's holidays - these are high dates in tourism, when there are many more people wanting to relax than there are seats on planes. That's why last minute tours from Perm They appear extremely rarely on holiday tours!

— If you are buying a last-minute tour to a visa-seeking country, you will need to collect a package of documents for a visa as soon as possible. If any certificate is completed incorrectly, you will not have time to redo it. Incorrectly completed or incomplete documents may result in a refusal to issue a visa. Since when purchasing a last-minute tour, all documents are submitted at the last minute, there is a high probability that your visa will not be issued on time. In this case, your vacation will be canceled and you will not fly anywhere.

— disappointment from your vacation is possible if the downside of a cheap last-minute tour turns out to be poor or low-quality service at the place of stay (at the hotel).

If you want to buy a last minute tour and are ready to wait for it, then it is better to leave a request in advance. As soon as a last-minute tour appears, the manager will call you immediately. In this case, you need to book it in time - take your passports and money and come to the agency as soon as possible. If you decide to think until tomorrow or until the evening, there may no longer be places available.

So, if you are ready to sit on your suitcases and wait, it will appear last minute tour to Turkey or not, and you don’t care which hotel you end up in, you can leave us a request for a last-minute tour (by email, phone, ICQ or request from the website).

If you want to choose a tour without rushing, weigh all the circumstances, and receive all the accompanying documents in our office, then it is better to book the tour in advance. We can always offer you the best prices by early booking, by various special offers and shares.

Last minute tours

What is hidden under the “Last Minutes” sign?

As you understand, we will talk about travel. According to advertising signs, these are not just trips, but ones on which you can save money. If you have never encountered such a concept, and you are given such an opportunity, then let's look at what exactly tour operators mean when they offer us to go on a trip at a very competitive price.

There are three main reasons for last minute tours:

Refusal tours.
Sale package tours to certain hotels.
Seasonal sale of tours.

Cancelled tours are trips that were ordered for a specific person or group of people, but due to personal reasons, people are forced to cancel the trip. To meet the needs of its clients, the travel agency offers their tours to those who wish, and the cost is reduced.

What is early booking: pros and cons

Among the shortcomings that can be seen in such a proposal are only the timing of departure to the place. The higher the discount, the closer the flight. You may only have a couple of days to get ready.

Pre-registered arrangements will allow you to take advantage of this opportunity, which can significantly save your costs on the trip you were planning to take. foreign passports citizens of Russia. If the country you are going to requires a visa, then your passport must contain visas for a long period. Otherwise, you are unlikely to be able to complete the documents 2 days before departure.

Guide any travel companies tries to be as objective as possible about the situation regarding the quality of provision of paid services in all hotels to which they send their tourists. Sometimes they hear such feedback that they decide to terminate cooperation with one or another hotel and enter into an agreement with another. At the same time, there still remains a small number of vouchers to those hotels with which future cooperation is not planned. They become those “last minute tours” for which the travel agency is ready to make a certain discount.

A seasonal tour sale has much in common with almost any sale of seasonal goods, be it a Christmas tree or summer shoes. It's no secret that there are ups and downs in tourist activity depending on the season. So, by choosing a trip in mid-September, at the height of the school year, you can spend less than what would be required for a trip in mid-July.

On our website, we offer only the most interesting options for “last minute tours” in real time. If you are mobile, have on hand Required documents for a trip to a visa country, we are always ready to resolve current issues within 1-2 days and go on vacation, you can leave security deposit and wait for a good offer.

We wish you to relax not only qualitatively, but also profitably!