Travel Myth Busters
When
it comes to travel there are many marketing slogans,
buzzwords, and service guarantees that look good when
taken at face value. But when you look at the fine
print sometimes you see it's all smoke and
mirrors. In this new feature of our newsletter, Travel-On
will examine some of the more common ones and show
the truth behind the fine print.
Price Assurances, Fare Guarantees: Have
you ever taken a look at the fine print of some of
the popular “price assurance” or “fare
guarantee” programs offered by the major
public online booking sites? The idea is that the site
will give you a refund of the difference if a lower
fare is found on your purchased airline ticket, hotel,
etc.
Since you want to get the best fare,
this sounds like a no-brainer. No matter when you book
your reservation, you feel confident that you will
be paying the lowest fare. Right?
Take a look at the fine print. Most
of these programs require that someone else has to
purchase your exact same itinerary on the same site
at a lower cost. In reality, maybe there is another
person taking the 2:15PM United flight from Dulles
to Denver on July 6th , but how many of them are also
returning on the 5:47PM flight on July 9th. And what
are the odds that that person booked on the same site
that you did and booked at a lower fare? And what about
trips from Allentown to Bakersfield or Miami to Boise?
Not much chance the system will ever have to pay out
on those.
Other programs apply minimum and maximum
qualifying fare differences, a wait before the refund
is available, limitations on variations in advance
purchase, and exceptions for multi-carrier itineraries
and changes to fare filing policies. None provide this
assurance if the lower fare is booked on a different
website.
The
truth is these programs sound great on the surface,
and undoubtedly some travelers do benefit. However,
when you read the fine print they aren't usually
as valuable as they first seem.
Are
You Attracted by the Lower Fees of Booking Online?
New
rules: Airline ticket name must match ID exactly
