Are there any lost vacation packages? When is the best time to buy summer tours?

For those who like to travel during their holidays, there is often such a dilemma: it is better to buy a ticket in advance or still wait and buy a last-minute ticket almost before departure. After all, then you can save a lot. As a person who has worked in tourism for more than one year, I dare to give advice in this matter.

To begin with, we will define what a tour package is and what its cost consists of. And why this cost can be subject to a discount.

So, the cost of a tour package is formed from the following components: accommodation in a hotel of the selected category, meals, air tickets, insurance, transfer on certain dates, in some cases visa support and excursions (if included in the tour program).

The cost of a standard room in the same hotel may vary on different dates depending on the season: rise in the high season and fall in the low. The same situation occurs in the air ticket market.

Tours to popular foreign destinations (Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus), as a rule, are sold in ready-made packages. Well-known tour operators for foreign destinations are Anex Tour, Pegas Touristik, Coral Travel. As a rule, their offers differ in the proposed hotels, airlines, departure cities and a little cost.

Therefore, as soon as the possibility of booking tours to popular destinations opens up, the most economical tours are bought up first, and then all the rest. In this regard, of course, it is better to book a ticket in advance. So there is a chance that you can still buy a place in your chosen hotel on the desired dates.

In addition, just during this period, the notorious early booking promotions begin to operate. Many consider this a trick on the part of travel companies. And the meaning of such actions is very easy to explain. Everyone knows that tourism is a seasonal business. And in order for travel agencies not to be at a loss during the off-season, an early booking campaign was created. Its meaning lies in the fact that sales open a few months before the start of the season of the direction being sold. At the end of winter / beginning of spring - to summer destinations and at the end of summer / beginning of autumn - to winter destinations.

According to the terms of the promotion, tour operators offer discounts up to 45%. The only negative is that after the expiration of the promotion, any changes in the purchased tour are impossible. The positive moment for the traveler is that at this time the booking of tours in the direction is just beginning. Therefore, all places are available and it is still possible to choose any option and with a good discount. Such a booking is suitable for those who are sure in advance about the planned vacation.

If you have doubts about compliance with the conditions of the "early booking" promotion, you can purchase a ticket on a general basis. In any case, it is better to do it in advance, at least 1.5 months before the expected date of departure. Since the closer to departure, the less opportunity to choose the right hotel.

Imagine, for example, that Turkey becomes a popular summer destination just as the holiday season begins in Russia. And from almost every major city in the country, planes fly to Turkey 2-3 times a week. And in some cities - every day by several airlines. All planes are usually full. And the offers of tour operators are the same for all residents of Russia. And that's not counting tourists from other countries. So think about the speed with which hotel rooms are sold out.

There are situations when there are places in the hotel, and plane tickets for the selected dates are already sold out. Or vice versa: there are seats on the plane, but the hotel is at the STOP. So you will either have to shift the dates of the holiday, or change the hotel. And this is not always convenient.

What about hot tours? A hot tour is a tour whose sale period is already expiring, so the tour operator reduces the price for it, sometimes below the cost price, so as not to lose the entire cost of the tour. But recently, almost all places are sold out in advance, so sometimes last-minute tours are not offered in some areas during the high season. Such tours, as a rule, are not booked, but are redeemed immediately. Not returned and not transferred by date. In addition, it may be a departure the next day and not on the most convenient dates for you. This must be taken into account.

It is very difficult for a client to catch such tours. Only if he constantly monitors the special offers of companies and is able to instantly pay for the tour and bring the necessary documents. Such offers will be relevant for unpopular destinations that are not sold out at the beginning of the season.

Here, another factor plays a role - the exchange rate of the euro or the dollar. You pay for the tour at today's rate, and after a month, for example, it falls, and then it turns out that you overpaid. But such cases are difficult to predict, especially when you consider that it often happens the other way around - the exchange rate is only growing.

All of the above applies to individual tourism services. For example, if you only need to buy an air ticket, train ticket or book a hotel room. Closer to the high holiday season, there may no longer be places in hotels. So, for example, in the season of white nights in St. Petersburg there is no place to stay. But if you book in advance, for example, in April, you can still take the desired seats. In this case, "in advance" will not mean "cheaper", but will guarantee availability.

It's the same with air tickets. Very often, airlines hold various promotions during the off-season. To keep track of them, it is better to subscribe to the news of the leading airlines and then you will certainly find out about such sales. So, for example, in February you can buy an air ticket for flights in the summer months at an affordable price under certain conditions. And closer to departure, if there are places left, then their cost will already jump several times. Two passengers can fly on an airplane in adjacent seats, but the cost of their tickets will be noticeably different. And all because in tourism there is a principle: “The sleigh is ready in the summer, and the cart in the winter”

When is the best time to buy tickets to Turkey? What is an early booking of tours to Turkey, how does it differ from buying last-minute tours, when to order tours. What is the cheapest way to fly to Turkey?

It is profitable to buy tickets to Turkey for the summer in two ways:

resort to early booking;
wait for last minute tickets.

Tours to Turkey are best taken in May - June. European schoolchildren are still studying, so there are fewer tourists and prices are lower. The most inexpensive, but comfortable in terms of weather and sea temperature months: May and September. In July and August, tours to Turkey become more expensive.

Price statistics for tours to Turkey by months

When is the best time to book trips to Turkey?

In January - March, travel agencies really make tangible discounts when buying a tour for the summer, but in most cases this is a “discount on a cape”. Those. the tour operator artificially inflates the price and makes a "discount" on it. Closer to May-June, prices begin to fall to adequate values.

It makes sense to book early if:

you know exactly the vacation dates for summer or autumn 2018, and you will not be able to move them;
you want to check into a certain hotel and are afraid that closer to the season all the rooms will be sold out. This is how it usually happens. And prices for a particular popular hotel, as a rule, grow in season.

As a result, early booking is always a lottery. You don't know if you can go on vacation in six months. Will tour prices really go up? And they can become 1.5 times cheaper for your hotel, and it will be a shame.

Usually, early booking starts in January and ends in April, with some tour operators at the end of February or in March.

Last minute tours are for you if:

you are not tied to a strict schedule - it does not make much difference to you when to fly to rest;
you are not going to spend a lot of time on the territory of the hotel and will return to the room only to spend the night;
Price is the deciding factor for you.

Conclusion: when is it more profitable to buy tours to Turkey?

If you are going on vacation with your family and young children, it is important for you to get into a good hotel with a proven service, then catch discounts on tours to Turkey with early bookings in January - April.

If the hotel is not important to you, then wait for the moment when last-minute tours appear. The closer to the day of departure, the more prices fall.

Intro image source: © the_gonz / flickr.com / CC BY 2.0

It seems to some that package tours are more expensive than independent travel. There is an opinion that tour operators include a lot of unnecessary services in the package price. Others consider exclusively ready-made travel packages and do not agree to look for anything on their own. Whatever type of traveler you are, our helpful tips will definitely come in handy. So, how to choose and buy a cheap tour?

Secrets of Travelata

According to long-term observations, with dynamic pricing, tour operators exhibit low prices for tours on Wednesdays. On Friday and Saturday for the same tour the price may be higher.
A great way to save money abroad is to open a foreign currency account on a bank card, in euros or dollars. When withdrawing cash, the account in rubles is converted first into dollars, and then into the currency of your location. With a currency card of the first step, and, accordingly, commissions can be avoided.
Often such a seemingly trifle as transfer, may persuade you to buy a package tour. For example, if you are traveling on your own to Krasnaya Polyana, you will get from the airport by train or bus only to Sochi, and then with transfers. A taxi costs more than 2000 rubles. Therefore, it is much more convenient to buy a tour and get to the hotel on a fast and free group transfer.
To save on mobile communications, you can buy a local SIM card. About where and how to issue it, the application for the iPhone called Local SIM will inform. If you are traveling on a tourist package, your hotel guide will definitely inform you of such nuances.

Back in August, Muscovites began to "prepare the sleigh": book hotels in ski resorts and buy tours to exotic islands. We talked with experts and found out when it is most profitable to buy a ticket, what is cheaper: last-minute tours or early booking, and whether it is worth rushing to buy air tickets to hot countries.

When to buy tours for the New Year and winter

According to experts, it is worth thinking about a paradise holiday in a 30-degree frost until the end of October. “The decision must be made during September-October, and the tour should be bought at the end of November. Then there will be few offers, and the most popular hotels will be sold out,” emphasizes Anna Podgornaya, general director of the Pegas Touristik tour operator.

Other experts believe that the tour for the winter and the New Year should be decided before the end of October.

Last minute trips or early booking

According to Podgornaya, early booking promotions are cheaper than last-minute deals. The fact is that the price of air tickets for charter flights as part of tour packages is unchanged. But the hotel can save a lot of money. "When you buy a tour with an early booking promotion, you can save up to 50% on a hotel. This is significant, since the cost of living is sometimes 60-70% of the price of the tour," she explained.

Last-minute tours with a price below the average are not so often and there are few of them, the expert added. In addition, even during early booking promotions, tourists try to book the best hotels.

Alexei Zaretsky, CEO of Travelata, warns that there are practically no last-minute tours on New Year's Eve or May holidays. “On such dates of peak demand, it is advisable to book early, because the best options in terms of price and quality are sold out in advance. If you buy a tour at the last moment, you will have to take for a lot of money or what is left,” he explained.

Last-minute tours in winter will still be: from about January 10 to 15. These days everyone returns home and the tour operators are underloaded. In January, after the holidays, Russians rarely take vacations, as this is unprofitable due to the small number of working days.

"After the holidays, it is very profitable to rest - at this time, prices fall by 30-40%," advises Zaretsky.

Where to go

According to transport adviser, head of the Federal Tourism Agency Dmitry Gorin, the UAE will be the new leader in the winter season. The increase in the number of flights and the abolition of visas play into the hands of tour operators.

Next in priority for Russian tourists is the traditional trio - "Thailand, Vietnam and Goa". Israel, Cuba and the Dominican Republic are also popular. The latter of all Latin American countries is now in the greatest demand when buying winter tours. In the Dominican Republic, a lot of hotels operate on an all-inclusive basis, and more charters have begun to fly there, Gorin noted.

According to him, a hurricane in the United States on vacation in the Dominican Republic will not be affected in any way, because he actually passed by. Cuba has suffered more, and the infrastructure will be restored there for some time.

A ticket to Thailand for the winter now costs about 100 thousand rubles for two, India is in second place (about 70 thousand for a ticket). Next come the United Arab Emirates with an average cost of a tour for two of 80 thousand rubles.

On New Year's Eve, some Russians fly to Turkey, even though it's cold there. In the cold season, our compatriots are invariably attracted by all inclusive and even lower prices - three times lower than in summer. According to early booking promotions, prices for winter holidays in Turkey are 20–30% lower.

According to experts, countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile are also in demand, but mainly among individual tourists.

When to buy tickets

As the flight is loaded, the price of air tickets increases and can change significantly. It is unlikely that seats will become available closer to departure, but it also happens that the flight is not loaded and the airlines arrange sales.

Step-by-step guide to making a burning tour

To get started, you need to apply for a passport.

First you need to apply for a passport, if it is not there yet, and check if the passport is expiring, if it already exists. For trips to some, interesting from a catcher's point of view last minute tours countries, the validity of the passport must be at least six months.

Where do hot tours come from? In certain situations, it can be more profitable for tour operators to make a good discount on a tour than to bear the cost of already paid hotel rooms and seats on flights. Most often this happens when tour operators have not redeemed tours for the next dates, and the closer the start date of the tour, the greater the discount. If the tour is burning, this does not mean that something is wrong. It's just that tour operators did not have time to sell the required number of seats before the trip and make a discount.

To get a good discount

That is, in order to get a good discount when buying a ticket, you need to be ready for the trip. Professional catchers of last-minute tours have this expression: "A suitcase with swimsuits is always ready." This, of course, does not mean that the suitcase must be packed and placed in front of the front door. But it is desirable that the suitcase is available and one must be ready to settle all urgent matters as soon as possible before departure, so as not to look for friends or neighbors in the last hours before the plane who will agree to feed the cat, walk the dog, look after the children, water the flowers.

Solving the issue of leave at work

A separate problem may be the solution to the issue of leave at work. For housewives, students on vacation and pensioners, this problem is not relevant, but it can prevent a working person from buying a last-minute tour. There are few solutions to this problem. It is best to make friends with your superiors to make sure that the leave application will be signed without problems. If the boss is not suitable for friendship, then you can make friends with the district doctor in order to be able to take a sick leave at a convenient time.

Of course, this is not entirely legal, especially since it is indecent when employees, going to work after sick leave, do not have the opportunity to hide their good mood, beautiful tan and healthy complexion.

Book a hot tour

The ability to catch depends on luck, knowledge of tourist destinations, seasonal fluctuations in prices for tours and visa regulations. You can buy a last-minute tour to European countries only if you have an open Schengen multivisa, as it will take up to two weeks to get a visa, and tours start to “burn” only a week before the start of the trip.

Most popular hot destinations

The most popular "burning" destinations are more convenient to consider by season. The high seasons, when the opportunity to buy a last-minute tour is small, include the New Year and Christmas holidays, spring, autumn and summer school holidays. On these dates, vouchers are sold out in advance and at inflated prices, but if you are very lucky, then at the very last moment there is a small chance of buying a last-minute tour, for example, for the New Year to Thailand or Beijing. The main thing is not to tell the hotel neighbors that they paid half as much for the rest as they did. They may cry out of resentment.

The low tourist season is the time of last-minute tours

The low tourist season is the time of last-minute tours. After the New Year holidays and vacations, from January 20 to February 20, prices for tours can be halved. This is the best time to visit Thailand, India. A visa to enter these countries is issued after arrival, you can buy a ticket very profitably 3-4 days before departure.
From February 20, prices for tours begin to gradually increase, and the highest prices for vacations fall on spring break, that is, at the end of March.
From the beginning of April, the season begins in countries focused on summer holidays. Relax at the end of April Cyprus or in China you can not only be cheap, but also good, hotels are just opening after winter repairs, there are still few tourists, the staff is happy with every vacationer, the sun is already warming, oranges and almonds are blooming. But, in order to avoid swimming not only in the pool, but also in the sea during your vacation, it is best to go to the Black Sea resort in Crimea. Due to the warm sea current, the water on the beaches there is warmer than in other resorts.

May holidays rarely please lovers of last-minute tours, hotels are overcrowded, everyone goes on vacation, prices are too high. From the first of May until the first of July, prices for tours grow like mushrooms after the rain, July and August are the hottest and most expensive months for holidays.

From September 15 to October 15 is the best time to extend your summer and relax at any of the resorts in Montenegro and Croatia with a good discount.
The last promising season before the New Year holidays from the point of view of hot tour hunters starts on November 20 and ends on December 20. If there is an opportunity to get a vacation at this time, you can be sure that the probability of having a last-minute vacation is greater than ever.

What is the best way to book a last minute tour?

What is the best way to search and book a last minute tour? The easiest, cheapest and most enjoyable way is to make friends with the travel agency staff. You can choose a reliable travel agency guided by the reviews of friends and acquaintances. Neither the office nor the model appearance of the employees will say anything about the solidity of the travel agency. An office can be opened by taking a loan from a bank, and external data is not an indicator of the professionalism of a tourism manager.

You can trust your vacation only to a travel agency that has been operating for at least ten years and recommended by friends and acquaintances.

Having chosen a good travel agency, you need to take a notebook, a pen and a box of chocolates with you. Candy ensures that the manager will remember a nice potential client, and in a notebook you will need to write down travel agency phone and the name of the employee. With proper negotiation, the tourism manager will write down in his notebook the client's wishes for countries and prices for tours, and most importantly, the tourist's contact phone number. As soon as a good last-minute tour appears on sale, a travel agency employee will definitely call such a nice client.

Desirable from time to time call the travel agency and remind about yourself and about your request to pick up a last-minute tour, the main thing is to do it politely and unobtrusively. And luck itself will come in the form of a surprisingly cheap tour, and if it comes once, then this can happen again and become a good habit.