Thinking of venturing abroad?Travel consolidators offer huge savings on overseas excursions Do you want to take a trip abroad but don't think you can spring for the airfare air·fare n. Fare for travel by aircraft. Noun 1. airfare - the fare charged for traveling by airplane fare, transportation - the sum charged for riding in a public conveyance and hotel costs? Discount travel consolidators may be your solution. Consolidators are companies that buy large blocks of seats from airlines at steep discounts. They then sell those tickets to the public at prices below the published fares. Some consolidators also offer discounted hotel rooms and car rentals. Airlines sell discounted tickets to consolidators because they know that they probably won't be able to sell all of their seats at the published fares. Thus, selling to consolidators enhances the airlines' chance of having full flights and enables them to get cash in their hands right away. Consolidators generally beat the prices offered by discount travel agencies--though some consolidators actually have agency status--because many of the discount travel agencies rely on consolidators for tickets. Essentially, the discount travel agency is serving as a middleman mid·dle·man n. 1. A trader who buys from producers and sells to retailers or consumers. 2. An intermediary; a go-between. , selling tickets only to the general public. A consolidator, on the other hand, might sell to the public as well as to travel agencies. Just remember: it's best to use consolidators during the height of the travel season and for last-minute trips when published air fares are at their peak and seat availability is low. "We have consolidated rates with 26 major airlines and offer international rates year-round substantially lower than those published," boasts Amanda Madaglia of Atlanta-based Economy Travel. Recently, the firm offered a flight on United from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to London for nearly 40% off the published fare. So how can you connect with these discounted rates? Most consolidators have Websites that list reduced fares for various destinations on major and smaller airlines and allow you to book reservations. OnlineTravel (www.euro rail.com), a Rosemont, Illinois-based consolidator, recently listed discounts on flights to South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. from several major U.S. airports for as much as 60% off published prices. It also offered savings of up to 67% on business class and first class seats to London from New York. Bargains always come with a price, so before rushing to the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the or the travel section of a major newspaper for the consolidator of your choice, be aware of a few potential drawbacks. For example, many consolidators deal with somewhat obscure foreign airlines. If you prefer to travel only on large domestic or European European emanating from or pertaining to Europe. European bat lyssavirus see lyssavirus. European beech tree fagussylvaticus. European blastomycosis see cryptococcosis. airlines, your choices could be limited and you may have to pay more. The advice here is obviously to only travel with airlines with which you are comfortable. Second, once you buy a ticket on a particular airline through a consolidator, you are typically locked into that airline. Very few consolidator tickets allow you to change airlines. Also, refunds are not always available to the traveler and, if they are, they are usually through the consolidator only. There are remedies to ease your travel fears. Kelly Monaghan, author of Air Travel's Bargain Basement bargain basement sale of old stock at highly discounted prices. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Inexpensiveness (Intrepid Traveler, $9.95), suggests that travelers use a credit card to pay for the ticket to allow for a "stop payment" should problems arise. The author also recommends you find a consolidator close to home and take out travel insurance to cover losses in the event you cannot travel due to some unforeseen circumstance Circumstance or circumstances can refer to:
Not permitted, under the terms of an indenture, to be refundable. . After you've put these safety measures safety measures, n.pl actions (e.g., use of glasses, face masks) taken to protect patients and office personnel from such known hazards as particles and aerosols from high-speed rotary instruments, mercury vapor, radiation exposure, anesthetic and into place, start packing. Travel Consolidators * Air Travel Discounts 800-207-7300 www.airtickets.com * C&H International 800-833-8888 www.cnhintl.com * Cheap Tickets 800-377-1000 www.cheaptickets.com * Economy Travel 888-222-2110 www.economytravel.com * Online Travel 800-660-5300 www.eurorail.com |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion