Where do you book holidays? Packaged or otherwise.
There are several disruptors in FinTech but is there anything similar in the travel industry? I’d really like a new easy, and fair way to book holidays over searching thousands of websites all with equally poor offers.
I’m intrigued by what you mean. Travel was one of the first industries to be completely disrupted by technology. Travel agents were long ago disintermediated by the likes of Expedia.
Fintechs are disrupting old school retail banks, not the first wave of internet banks, so I don’t quite get the comparison.
Also. What do you mean by fair? There’s near limitless choice online and almost complete transparency in pricing.
I guess I mean some sort of startup that simplifies and makes the whole process a lot easier for bookings. AIRBNB has certainly disrupted the hotel industry but what about holidays in general.
I think you get good deals by shopping around but it’s such a mess and chore.
I get what you mean. We only go on packages now we have kids and within any given budget there are literally 1000s of options and they’re all much of a muchness. It takes a lot of work to find the ideal choice.
That said, by putting in the work you can come out with an absolute bargain holiday. It sounds like you’re asking for someone to curate the choices for you, which is fair enough but most likely means you’ll pay more.
I feel like Monzo is similar. It offers a fabulous experience without ever offering the best value in anything.
One interesting new app is lucky trip. You set your budget and it comes up with choices for you. There are actually some really good deals that come up if you’re feeling spontaneous. It seems to compare quite a few sites to do so:
This is very interesting. On their results page has the ‘powered by Skyscanner’ label and logo. I like that you can do a first search to get a feel of the app without having to create an account.
We usually go for packaged deals - why? My wife works for one of the large companies. We do book the occasional trip as separate but find for family holidays the package offers a better financial & protective option.
Last few holidays I have visited Asia.
Booked flights by searching sky scanner and then booking direct with airline.
As for accomodation it’s a mix of WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, Airbnb, booking.com.
Use booking.com to find places then talk to them direct. I get a cheaper rate and they don’t pay commission. 
I find Google Flights is a good competitor to Sky Scanner — bought a return flight to Lima from Heathrow for £500 a few weeks ago. Usual price is nearer to the £800-1000 mark.
Such a chore, having a holiday 
I use Airbnb and then arrange the travel myself. I always put everything on a credit card as well, purely for the Section 75 protection. I’d probably have more/easier luck getting a refund out of HSBC than some hotel/airline in a far away land.
Always book directly with hotels or via Amex. Long haul flights via a friend who is a travel consultant with 35+ years experience. Short haul book direct.
For flight bargains, I hear good things about Jack’s Flight Club which is a free newsletter.
You look for accommodation on WhatsApp and Facebook messenger?
About 3 weeks ago, I booked a week hotel accommodation in Florida directly with the hotel on their website for quite a bit cheaper than some of the very well known advertisers here in the UK. Booked it using my Starling card, deposit only, and the conversion rate was the near perfect banking rate.
I often book longhaul flights directly with the major airlines but learned long ago that it’s much cheaper to fly to some countries indirectly, it can quite literally save hundreds of pounds.
In any case, if you have one, always book holidays or flights on a credit card for the additional protection.
Oh dear god no… I thought her car website was bad but this 
No I find it via the internet, guides, hooking websites. Then book direct where I can. Easiest contact method seems to be messaging them.
I recently got recommended this to use for trip planning, but at the moment it is iOS only:
