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, that's 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- is this an installment plan for paying for a tour without interest?
Answer: Not really. 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 both this season and the next one can hardly expect a lot of last-minute travel packages to 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 a fairly wide selection of hotels, which then will 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 - that is, May holidays, August, school holidays, New Year holidays, it is also better to book your places several months in advance. If you do not want to fly on charter flights, then early booking is best choice, since tickets for regular flights, the earlier you buy, the cheaper they are, and the discount from the hotel will be added. 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. On 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 from tour operators. This is when the same tours that can be bought in the summer, it makes sense to buy in advance, but (!) for more favorable 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?

According to early booking promotions for the summer, the most popular are Spain, Turkey, as well as 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 at New Year in August, and you will see that in October-November (assuming they are not sold out by this time - 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 like this - you look for a tour shortly before departure, but necessary proposals, hotels, rooms are no longer available. Has it happened? So what remains for the tourist? Choose from what is available, what is left on 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 are absolutely 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 Early booking (!) is the procedure for paying 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 last date month. For example, April 30. Those. it might look like this: the tour for September must be 100% paid by 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. 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. 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

When is the best time to buy trips to Turkey? What is early booking of tours to Turkey, how does it differ from buying last minute tours, when to order tours. How to fly to Turkey cheaper.

There are two ways to buy holiday packages to Turkey for the summer:

• resort to early booking;
• wait for last minute deals.

It is better to take trips to Turkey for May – June. European schoolchildren are still studying, so there are fewer tourists and prices are lower. The most inexpensive, but comfortable months in terms of weather and sea temperature: May and September. In July and August, tours to Turkey become more expensive.

Price statistics for tours to Turkey by month

© aymeric_san / flickr.com / CC BY 2.0

When is the best time to book trips to Turkey:

In January - March, travel agencies do offer significant discounts when purchasing a summer tour, but in most cases this is a “discount on a cape”. Those. the tour operator artificially inflates the price and makes a “discount” on it. Closer to May-June, prices begin to fall to adequate levels.

It makes sense to make early bookings if:

• you know exactly your vacation dates for the summer or fall of 2018, and you will not have the opportunity to move them;
• you want to check into a certain hotel and are afraid that all the rooms will be sold out closer to the season. This is how it usually happens. And prices for a particular popular hotel tend to rise during the season.

As a result, early booking is always a lottery. You don’t know whether you will be able to go on vacation in six months. Will tour prices really go up? But they can become 1.5 times cheaper for your hotel, and it will be a shame.

Usually, early booking starts in January and ends in April, with some tour operators at the end of February or March.

Last minute tours are suitable for you if:

• you are not tied to a strict schedule - it doesn’t make much difference to you when to fly on vacation;
• you are not going to spend a lot of time on the hotel premises and will only return to your room to spend the night;
• price is the deciding factor for you.

© the_gonz / flickr.com / CC BY 2.0

Conclusion: when is it more profitable to buy tours to Turkey?

If you are going on vacation with your family and small children, it is important for you to get to good hotel with proven service, then catch discounts on tours to Turkey if you book early in January - April.

If the hotel is not important to you, then wait for the moment when last-minute tours appear. The closer to the departure day, the more prices fall.

Introductory image source: © the_gonz / flickr.com / CC BY 2.0

Early booking traditionally begins in February-March, and sometimes already in January you can book a hotel for the summer at a profit. Save up to 35% of the tour cost! If you like to plan your vacation in advance down to the smallest detail, including the beach, hotel and room with all amenities, then early booking is a service ideal for you.

In today's article you will find out which resorts are better to buy a tour to now, what are the advantages of early booking, where is it better to go on a last-minute tour and all the pitfalls of this system.

Which destinations will become more expensive by summer?

Read also:

Don't know what to choose? In a nutshell, Mexico is the most expensive, but the service here is excellent, Cuba and the Dominican Republic are about the same level. You can see the price of visas and fees here. Also, if you had a US visa, you can get an electronic entry permit to Mexico, which is issued free of charge instead of a visa. All resorts are year-round, but the sea is a little warmer on the shores of the Caribbean Sea.

What will happen to Asia?

There is no need to book Asian destinations in advance. In addition, the “off season” begins in May - there will not be many people willing to relax in Thailand or Goa, and accordingly prices will drop. However, this cannot be guaranteed either. Sometimes it is better to overpay, but book your holiday in Asia in advance.

Regarding the weather in summer, we do not recommend going to Sri Lanka - strong waves, similar in Vietnam, except Nha Trang. And stories about summer rains in Thailand, India and the island of Bali are greatly exaggerated - the climate is changing, now the showers are less frequent and not so heavy. And from the beginning of March, direct flights to Hainan Island in China, where you can relax, begin all year round.

Advantages of early booking:

• You are guaranteed to book a place in a hotel that is in short supply - for example, with amenities for children, good animation, and excellent value for money.
• You save up to 35% of the tour cost, and up to 80% on the best hotels on the most popular dates!
• You will not be affected by overbooking and relocation to the nearest available hotel.

For those whose life is unpredictable and plans change with lightning speed, early booking will not work. It will be impossible to change the departure date, nor can you cancel an already paid tour without penalties. Before purchasing a tour, check whether the hotel is suitable for children.

Where are our clients already booking tours?

CONVENIENT PAYMENT INSTALLMENTS

Early booking usually lasts until the end of April-May, depending on the tour operator. You can now pay 50% of the tour cost, and the rest until the end of the booking. The balance is recalculated at the exchange rate at the time of additional payment. If you notice a sharp drop in the dollar, you can immediately pay for the tour and win a small difference.

Early booking is bargain tours with discounts from 10 to 50 percent. As well as the opportunity to plan your budget and vacation in advance.

Why should you book your tour in advance? 5 reasons.

1. The opportunity to save money and gain mutual benefits.

If you book a tour using the early booking system, this means that the tour must be purchased before the start of the tourist season, for example, several months before your trip. All tour operators and hotels are very interested in selling as many tours as possible by the beginning of the season, thereby providing themselves with clients and preventing themselves from economic worries and various situations. Hotels want to have a large number of tourists, so they give good discounts. Likewise, tour operators have their own interest in planning tours in advance. By providing discounts on ready-made tours, tour operators thereby reduce the risks of not selling tours. As a result, the discount under the early booking system is obtained from the discount of the hotel and a specific tour operator. The discount greatly depends on the hotel and destination. Typically it ranges from 10 to 50 percent. Early booking means buying a tour at a profit!

2. Large selection of tours.

If you are thinking about a summer vacation in winter, or a winter vacation in summer, then you have an amazing opportunity to choose any hotel that is presented by the tour operator from whom you are going on vacation. Before you start summer season Almost all hotels are available and bookings are confirmed quickly. As everyone knows, the best deals are sold out first. Don't miss the chance to be among those lucky ones who relax in the best hotels during the peak season, paying a low price for the tour!

3. Tour planning.

Early booking gives you a great opportunity to plan your trip! You will be able to choose a hotel and airline in advance, purchase the necessary things and pack your suitcase, make an excursion and entertainment program, read the information about the country you are going to. In general, you will have a lot of time to plan your vacation in the way that seems ideal to you.

4. Flight.

If you book a tour in advance, then you have the right to choose a flight from your favorite airline, as well as on the desired dates and convenient departure times. For example, this could be an early flight (morning) to the planned country, and a late flight (evening or night) back. Convenient isn't it? Thus, with the early booking promotion, you can choose any flights that will be accessible and convenient for you and your family!

5. When does the early booking promotion take place?

Typically, tour operators conduct early booking promotions 2 times a year - before the start of the summer and winter seasons. Thus, you can buy tours with discounts all year round! For example, book a holiday in Turkey in February for June, and in July book a trip to Thailand for January or Austria for New Year's dates. So plan your vacation in advance, save money and bask in the pleasant thoughts that in a few months you will go on a long-awaited trip that will bring a lot of emotions and pleasure!

Where to buy a tour with early booking promotion?

It is best to buy a tour with an early booking promotion from a reliable and proven tour search engine. For example, from the site tour-poisk.com - where you can choose a tour of best price and compare prices by a large number reliable tour operators in Russia.

Which hotel should you choose?

Of course you want to choose only the best hotel to spend unforgettable vacation. On the page: the best hotels - a selection of hotels that you will want to return to again and again! Why guess, read a bunch of reviews, and so on, when there is already a formed database of the best hotels, selected by professionals!