Book a better holiday online

When times are tough, holidays become an even more precious luxury.

And thanks to the internet it’s now much less of a chore to find great travel bargains, and many people are now used to booking many aspects of their holidays online without a second thought.

But the internet offers much more than just a fast booking service. It is a vast store of information and services, covering every conceivable aspect of domestic or foreign travel by road, rail, sea or air.

Whether you are still in the holiday planning stage or just want to take a last-minute break, with our help you can get some great ideas, ensure everything goes to plan and increase the odds that your holiday will be one you remember for a long time – and for all the right reasons.

Long-gone are the days when booking a holiday meant days trudging around high street travel agents, or wading through endless Teletext pages in the hope of spotting a last-minute bargain.

When it comes to travel, the internet has caused a genuine revolution. Pioneering sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, Ebookers and Lastminute have been joined by dozens of competitors, including mega-comparison services such as Travel Supermarket. All this competition benefits travellers as each company scrabbles to offer more exclusive benefits and attractions to potential customers.

But what do they offer and how do they operate? Each varies in the services offered but all have at least flight bookings. These sites work by tapping into the global reservation systems used by airlines, hotels, car hire firms and other holiday services.

These systems (also used by travel agents) are a sort of clearing house to let the world know what travel deals and schedules are available on any particular day. In effect you are cutting out one of the middle men and getting direct access to availability and pricing information.

The travel sites get their cut on sales, of course, but as with traditional agents, they often negotiate special rates and pass these savings on. Thus you might find different results from different sites but be aware that many of them own lots of different brands.

Lastminute.com is owned by Travelocity, for example, and Expedia owns www.hotels.com and Trip Advisor. Check the ‘Information’ or ‘About us’ section of a company’s website to find these affiliations.

Browse these sites and you will come across special offers, late-booking discounts and more. But websites such as www.fly.com let you compare the fares from hundreds of comparison sites, making it easier to grab a bargain. Booking Buddy is a similar idea, but comparing only a handful of well-known sites.

Sites such as Travel Supermarket also have cruise and ferry sections, but for European rail travel you need a specialist site such as www.raileurope.co.uk (for UK destinations, www.raileasy.co.uk has a booking system and a handy gazetteer of attractions).

For booking international rail tickets, www.railchoice.co.uk is good, but serious rail travellers should also visit the The Man In Seat 61, a site full of useful links and tips about worldwide rail travel.

Online inspiration
If you know where you are heading, booking becomes the easy part but choosing a destination can be a challenging part of planning a holiday. However, the internet enables you to draw on the knowledge and experiences of millions of fellow travellers.

There is always the option of opening Google Earth, giving the globe a spin and seeing where it stops, but for less adventurous souls Joobili is a novel way to get some ideas. Drag the slider to your preferred holiday date and it will suggest European destinations based on local events at that time. It’s a bit hit and miss but it could give you some ideas.

For destinations further afield, Virtual Tourist and Trip Advisor give practical insights into what potential destinations are like, written by people who have been there or live there. It also has a Trip Ideas page to help inspire you. If you want to see what places look like before you go, World Is Round has photo collections and Geobeats has free video guides for many locations. These sites are also useful if you have decided on your destination, as you can preview what is on offer and pick up tips about what to do, what to see and what to avoid.