For anyone who's used it in the past, be warned - It's gone absolutely to shit this summer.

Booking details wrong, the same messages over and over again, ballsed up communication with properties they have allegedly 'found' for you, and if you want to connect with their alleged 'Help Desk' good luck with that.

And they've chosen this precise moment to expand into booking flights!

check booking.com first but before you book go to the hotels website or even better phone the hotel, more often than not you will get a better deal speaking to the hotel directly.

twice this week I have saved loads of money phoning the hotel and negotiating

Asolutely agree with the approach of contacting the accommodation directly. Avoid these intermediaries wherever possible since they add absolutely nothing to the arrangements, especially if something goes wrong - such as a virus being released by a dictatorship or a looney starting a war. Also - use a credit card to ensure you get the consumer protection.

Not only do you get ripped off but so does the B&B/Hotel.

I used Booking.Com, whilst going through the the booking procedure I didn’t see a box I should have unticked. It was for Insurance so there would be no charge for name changes etc, I didn’t realise till I got the email with the bill. Give them due there was a link where I could cancel it, the money was refunded the same day.

I'm wary of booking a flight atm never mind the hotel.When are these airlines going to get their act together??? as said best to contact them direct and you have a better chance of wiggling some extras . I think booking.com's share is 15% of the hotel price.

When Covid kicked in the airlines cancelled loads of flights and laid all the staff off, quite a few of the staff have secured other employment and have no wish to return resulting in a staff shortage. It takes several weeks to train new staff, Easy Jet removed seats from some of their flights so they could reduce the number of cabin staff.

And after they're trained up will they be joining the picket lines ?

Why, who is going on strike, all the airline staff ?

Who knows,best check with your airline nearer the date.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news ... mmer-2022/

We avoid going through any third party if we can. Usually save bucket loads by negotiating direct. Another saver is if you can go last minute, which suits if you are retired, flexible and can travel midweek.

Not always the case, if there are only a few seats left the price goes up, I always book mid week flights as travelling Friday to Monday is when people go for short breaks or business people are travelling. If the 13th of the month is available I check the price out as some people are superstitious and won’t fly on the 13th. Long haul flights to my destination have more than doubled some have trebled in price due to lack of available flights and the increase in fuel. I don’t believe the airlines can sustain the prices as tourists won’t pay the inflated prices.

it's never failed with me. If the price can't be negotiated down I walk away. As long as you're not desperate to go to a certain place on a certain day or even week, something is always available. Before I retired or needed school holidays it wasn't easy but nowadays it's a doddle.
Last November we went on a cruise, which we booked the week before the sail date and paid £1300 for it, all inclusive. During the holiday we got chatting to a couple who had booked the trip six months before and paid £3988. They were three cabins away from us.
You can imagine how pissed off they were.

The midweek start to a weeks holiday is a good tip.Flexibility is the key,take the late evening flight and add an extra night onto your arrival night.Short haul flights to my usual tacky destinations can be a 150 cheaper than on your nice early afternoon flight..and everybody's usually fed for the day by then.saving a fortune on them airport meals