👩‍💻Booking

Do you really need travel agents when you have the internet? Can ChatGPT help? What good are comparison sites when all costs are hidden?

Does anyone remember a different time before the emergence of the internet and abundant budget airlines? Glamour and exclusivity? Great service? Maybe, I’m still just about too young to really know. But the combination made air travel easy and cheap and the emergence of websites such as Expedia , comparison tools such as Skyscanner and everything people like Google do made it all very easy. For a while.

I found searching for trips a thrill on its own to see what might be possible and to expand my horizons and even once had a daring trip to the airport to see what was on a late special, not much it seemed so we returned to eat, drink and consider our options for another day, but the world was at your feet for many in a way it wasn’t before.

Unfortunately I can’t say it is enjoyable in any way now. While you can easily see which dates and locations might be affordable this is rendered pretty useful if a vast number of unmentioned extras are required or if the flights returned require you to return before you have arrived, approach hotels in strange towns at times of the day when transport is limited, or expect you to chose between wearing the same pants for two weeks and doubling your budget as your luggage apparently needs to go first class.

I’ll do a feature on points and loyalty at some point in the not too distant future. Undoubtedly money can be saved under airline and website schemes, or more generic Avios (think Air Miles for those who remember) and all have their own rules and qualifiers. Always check you are getting good value.

Another area to talk carefully about is credit, You genuinely can’t or at least shouldn’t make recommendations without being qualified and I may have some bias based on employment and travel history so let’s tread carefully, but you will notice all manner of options available at the point of sale, through your own chosen credit and banking providers and via travel companies offering their own or third party options. Always make sure you are aware of the charge schedule coming down the line and that you can afford it is all I will say at this point.

There are helpful tools and travel websites that are a little more niche flagging bargains. Shout out to the ITA matrix website https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search which doesn’t actually sell flights but allows great comparison like searching for similar destinations and being really prescriptive or flexible on a range of factors. In reality if I’m not going to a football match or a wedding a day or two either side is often immaterial.

What is the most outrageous value or the most devilish hidden detail you have seen?

Free flights back in the day were amazing, even if they had a catch or two.

Lots of new ways of booking travel are emerging. Journee do all the work for you, you don’t need to book anything or even chose where you go, they will curate for a fee and handle all the detail based simply on the answers to a few questions. On the list to try at some point. Journee.Com

Extreme day trips are a recent trend, not wonderfully green but affordable with no need for accommodation, simply get up very early and get a pretty full day sightseeing or sunning yourself and get home (fairly late) to sleep off excesses in your own bed

https://extremedaytrips.com/ is another new one on me promising regular trips and student discounts seemingly after a subscription, If you try it let me know how it goes.

Lots of insider guides and clubs have sprung up in recent years. Jack’s Flight Club will search for unusually low bargains and even potentially fares offered by mistake. They have a free tier and a premium offering. More at https://jacksflightclub.com/

As for ChatGPT , Gemini , Claude or other AI tools they can both reduce the time taken to search and give you hints and tips via talking through your needs in natural language chat, It’s not you, It doesn’t know what you like unless you tell it and it often regurgitates info from elsewhere rightly or wrongly but these sort of tools will only grow in number and capacity. Give it a go. Just apply some common sense to the suggestions.