Insider Advice: Booking Sun Packages Online

A lot of my friends are just like me - we are comfortable with the Internet, we do all our research there and we occasionally buy stuff on it. However when faced with a big purchase like a sun holiday, we get a little nervous about booking.

I took a chance about three years ago and paid for my sun package online. I admit it made me nervous and I saw that there was an opportunity to do this better. So I contacted a travel agency client of mine and suggested that he take his agency online. Well one thing led to another and the next thing I knew I was working in the travel business and we launched our site www.travelmyway.ca two years ago.

I certainly got a crash course on the travel world and how it all works. And it might surprise you to know about how sun packages are priced and sold. The underlying thing is that buying online is not scary and prices are really very transparent.

Okay, here's the scoop. The Internet has been the great leveler for everyone in the business - tour operators and travel agents. In an online environment, we are all created equal. Meaning that all travel professionals and consumers online get their information from the same source - the tour operators themselves. The price you pay is dependant on two things: when you buy and from whom.

Let's look at "when" first. The sun package world is big business and the GTA is one of the most competitive markets in the world. Tour Operators for the most part carry similar or the same properties. So the only thing that differentiates them is usually price. Don't be fooled. A tour operator can change their prices on a daily or even hourly basis all in a bid to compete against other tour operators and to sell off as much space as they can. So, for the consumer it is a bit of a guessing game as to when to buy. This explains why prices can go up or down from week to week, day to day or even hour to hour.

What I tell my friends is that they need to make a decision based on their own comfort level. If they have a particular property chosen, then I say book it as soon as you decide. The difference of a hundred dollars or so may seem like a lot now, but when you are on vacation and you love where you are staying, you'll be happy that you invested in your hard earned holiday.

If you don't really care where you stay and you have maximum flexibility, then waiting can save you some extra dollars. Sometimes you will find a great deal on a nice property. However, sometimes all that is left is the bottom of the barrel if you know what I mean. There are some properties that really are "last resort."

Okay, now the "who." Buying on the Internet is really quite secure. If you are banking online then you can purchase online. So can you drop three thousand on a website? Absolutely. But there is more to buying online than credit card security, you have to feel confident that there is a credible company behind the scenes making sure your transaction is completed.

In the end, no one is really making that much money off of these products anymore. We call it the commodification of travel. Most online websites simply markup the price from a tour operator with a small service fee. That's all we do. We have leveled the playing surface. If you do any research at all, you'll see that online prices are practically identical with variations of only around $10 at most.

So if our prices are practically identical, then how do you make a decision? I say to my friends that they should book with us because we are a small office that cares about every transaction on our site. We have a group of agents monitoring the bookings at all times and they follow up on every online booking with the tour operator as well as the customer. And if you have any questions after you book, you are calling into an office not a call centre. Real agents with lots of experience.

As I tell my friends, it just makes sense to buy sun packages online. You can research and find the right product, and you will get the best price for it. Booking online with an experienced agency makes sense because when you have more complicated travel plans you have an experienced agent that can help you out. An issue comes up when you are on holiday? A call to the office puts an experienced advocate in your corner. This way you get the best of both worlds.