The Six Golden Rules of Online Travel AuctionsCategory: Travel & Holidays
Article added by: Paul Collins
Whether you call them reise auktion, encheres de vacances or subasta viajes, online travel auctions are all the rage. But for all those holidaymakers out there who haven’t yet jumped on the bandwagon, here are the six golden rules of online travel auctions.
1. Know Your Market
This is Rule No. 1 in the world of online travel auctions: do your research. There’s absolutely nothing to be gained from bidding blindly on an item if you have no item what its normal retail price would be. Have a look around and see if you can find out the price; if in doubt, it’s even worth contacting the hotel/cruise/flight company directly to see what they’d offer you before you place your bid.
2. Take a second to think it through
Although a travel auction lot can seem cheap, it’s never a bad idea to ask yourself if you really want the full package that’s on offer. If you went into it looking for a simple cruise, but ended up paying just that little bit more than you wanted because of the attractive price-tag, are you really getting a deal?
3. Brush up on your French
While there are plenty of online travel auction sites for English speakers to choose from, those people who can speak a bit of French and Spanish are really well set. French speakers, for example, can save a fortune by using Nouvelles-frontieres.com, while Spanish speakers have the subasta viajes of the ever reliable Logitravel.com to turn to.
4. Check for hidden costs
As with everything else online, some travel auction sites can come with a hidden cost or two. Make sure you’ve thoroughly read through the small print before you start bidding. If you don’t, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself if the final bill comes in higher than imagined.
5. Stick to the reputable companies
As a consequence of the growing popularity of online auctions there are now quite a few sites out there to choose from. Not all sellers will provide you with what you’re looking for, and some will almost certainly rip bidders off.
Be on the safe side, stick with a known company – no matter how attractive that offer sounds. For English language speakers, Skyauction.com, LuxuryLink.com, Cruisecompete.com and Priceline.com are all good, safe websites to be dealing with (while Rule No. 3 covers a couple of non-English sites).
6. Don’t get carried away!
The only real danger with online travel auctions is for those who don’t know the price they’re prepared to pay for an item, and so get carried away. Having done your research, and knowing more or less what an item’s worth, it’s a good idea to create a mental ceiling above which you just won’t go.
Posted By: Paul Collins
Contact: e-mail
| About the Author: |
| Paul Collins is a travel writer from the UK who specializes in money-saving travel trips. As a Spanish-speaker, it wasn’t very long before he discovered Spanish subasta viajes (travel auctions) and has since saved a great deal of money with them. |
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