Prima facie, there are lot of advantages of booking holidays through travel agents/tour operators or travel portals. It is convenient, itinerary is fixed, budget is known, visa’s are taken care of except when personal interviews are required and so on. Despite all these conveniences, there are 2 key shortcomings:
- lack of flexibility(though tailored holidays are now available but they cost lot more than a group package)
- lack of transparency in pricing with numerous exclusions
When I started travelling overseas for vacations over 20 years ago, I too chose to go through tour operators like Cox & Kings and SOTC. But couple of bad experiences upended my view of the tour operators. I understand they are all running a business and need to make profits but surely not on the sly or by misleading travellers.
My first unpleasant experience with one of the India’s leading tour operators in 2001
In the year 2000, one of the leading tour operators came up a very innovative idea-book a tour to Europe and be eligible for a free holiday of 2N, 3D every year for 5 years. The two major cost items on a foreign holiday namely airfare and hotel stay were included in the free holiday offer provided a payment of INR 10k per person per year was made. I was quite naïve at that time, found the headline very attractive, booked an 18 day tour to Europe and became eligible for free holidays.
The so called free holiday had lot of riders
The following year, in July 2001, I opted for the free holiday in South Africa. Quite obviously, I did not wish to fly all the way to South Africa for only 3 nights and extended my stay. Amongst others, one important terms and conditions of booking was that any increase in airfare as of the date of travel, computed from the base air-fare as of a specified date(January 1, 1999) would be chargeable. An amount of Rs 44k per person was indicated as the base cost of air travel. A week before departure, I was told the airfare had increased and I had to pay Rs 7k extra. I duly paid up but imagine my surprise when I received ticket jacket. In those days , there were no electronic copies and I received a manual ticket jacket. The fare mentioned there was Rs 39k!
The operator declined to make a refund
Upon my return, I took up the matter with the tour operator thinking they has made a mistake and would make an immediate refund. But no, they declined to make a refund, with every person I met lamely parroting fares had increased. I thought it was an open and shut case, but I was wrong.
I won the case in Consumer Court
So I filed a case with the Consumer Court, argued the case myself and got a judgement in my favour after about a year. So why did the operator not graciously refund the excess amount collected in the beginning itself? Did they believe that most of us would not normally take the legal route, and instead suffer losses silently? Would you expect this kind of a treatment from a very reputed tour operator? Your guess is as good as mine.
Since the actual air fare was lower than what they had budgeted(INR 39k vs INR 44k, did they consider refunding the difference? Of course not.
Lesson learnt – don’t ignore Terms and Conditions, Exclusions
The key lesson that I learnt – examine the terms and conditions, inclusions and exclusions very closely and understand how it impacts the overall cost. They are all by and large designed to help the tour operator while keeping the headline cost low. Some examples from the above holiday:
1. Change fee of INR 3,000 per person if the return journey was extended. The tour operator had smartly judged that almost all travellers availing the free holiday would extend the stay. What a simple way to make extra money. Does any airlines charge more if the return journey is booked after 10 days instead of 3 days? Great idea no doubt but ethical?
2. Only courts in Mumbai have jurisdiction to entertain any dispute. When I filed the case in Bangalore, the tour operator first argued on the lack of jurisdiction. Thankfully, the Court rejected this argument of the tour operator as they had an office in Bangalore through which I had made the booking. If I had to file the case in Mumbai, would I have done it? Highly unlikely.
3. Increase in exchange rates for foreign currency. Any depreciation in INR from the base date is required to be made good. I travelled in July 2002 but the base rate was as of January 1, 1999! And remember, appreciation in INR will not entitle you to a refund.
My second unpleasant experience on a vacation to USA
My father was very keen to visit USA and hence we planned to visit USA in 2008. Since I was extremely busy with my career and there were 5 of us, I chose a well known travel agent in Bangalore who was strongly recommended to me. We agreed that the agent would charge a commission of 15% over actual cost. I booked the air tickets myself(thankfully in hindsight) and the agent booked hotels, local tours and the train from New York to Washington.
Final costing provided 2 weeks before departure
The itinerary was finalised one and half months prior to departure with indicative rates. The agent smartly disclosed the final rates just a couple of weeks before departure. In hindsight, this was should have raised an alarm in my mind. I only cross checked couple of hotel rates and since it was just 2-3 weeks prior to arrival, they were broadly in range. I should have realised that hotels offer early bird discounts. So all good until departure. The trouble started when I reached New York.
Every item was marked up
I was unhappy about one of the allotted rooms in the hotel at Times Square in New York. I went to the reception to request for a change but unfortunately, the hotel was running full and they could not provide any alternate room. Just out of curiosity, I enquired about the rates if booked a month or two in advance. What they indicated took me by surprise. The agent had marked up each room by USD 75. For 3 nights, the total mark up for 2 rooms was USD 450!
The following 2 days, we went for 3 separate tours, all pre-booked. I specifically checked the rates again – I was charged a total mark up of USD 25-40 per person, per individual tour. For 3 tours, this was a total mark up of over USD 400. The limousine ride from JFK Airport to the hotel in Times Square was marked by USD 125.
I was plain furious. After all, who wants this kind of unpleasantness on a holiday? I called the agent in Bangalore but he pacified me by saying he had booked through his contact in USA and he will recheck the rates. He also promised a refund if excess had been charged.
I could cancel few of the tours to lower losses
But the story repeated itself in Washington. The train ticket from New York to Washington had been marked up by USD 25 each. So I one afternoon, I sat in front of an internet terminal in the hotel at Washington DC. I was astonished to note that the helicopter ride from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon was marked up by USD 400! The boat ride in Niagara had been marked up by USD 50 per person. The hotel rates on the internet were just about the same or more which was to be expected as it was close to dates of arrival.
Luckily, I had agreed that I could cancel local tours with a 3 days notice. After speaking to the agent again, I immediately cancelled all the subsequent tour bookings in Las Vegas and San Francisco. I did not cancel hotel bookings as I was unlikely to get cheaper rooms at short notice.
Overall hit was INR 1.5 lakhs
To rub salt to the wounds, I was paying a 15% commission over inflated costs! Overall, my estimate of excess cost paid to the agent, net of refunds, was ~INR 1.5 lakhs, and this was a sizeable percentage of overall cost. For this amount, a couple could comfortably enjoy a 10 day vacation in Europe in 2008. And if I had not canceled few bookings, I would have paid another ~INR 40k extra.
On my return, I provided a detailed statement to the agent and he promised to refund excess amounts collected. But eventually he did not though he refunded the amounts related to cancelled bookings plus a small portion of excess charged.
I did file a case before the Consumer Court but deep inside, I knew I would not win. This is because excess collections would have to be backed by supporting documents from the hotels and local service providers in USA. I did not have that.
Lesson learnt – Trust but Verify
Thankfully, I had booked the air tickets myself, both to and fro and within USA. But I too need to take the blame for allowing myself to be taken for a ride. I wish I had followed what the late President of US, Ronald Reagan, said – ‘Trust but Verify’.
After this US trip, I decided to take care of all aspects of travel arrangements myself. And thoroughly enjoying it.
Does this mean DIY model is best for everyone?
Not at all. There are 3 very important pre-requisites to DIY.
- You must enjoy researching the destination
- You must be able to devote sufficient time
- Understand that there is no guarantee you will save money. But whether you spend more or less, you will have full transparency, full flexibility and freedom of choice.
If you cannot, go with tour operators/agents but examine carefully, the terms and conditions, inclusions and exclusions. Don’t fall for gimmicks such as your companion travels free or your kids travel free or second person pays only 50%. Why would a commercial tour operator give you free lunch? Always consider these deals with skepticism. And always do the overall costing, capturing all hidden costs and then you will realise only your perception has travelled free!