I thought I’d heard all there was to hear on travel until this week when the phenomenon of holiday haggling cropped up.
It appears that up to a quarter of holidaymakers in a survey admitted to always haggling with their holiday company in order to get a better deal.
I knew things were bad in some quarters of the travel trade, but I wasn’t quite prepared for this.
Prices are already rock-bottom on the back of the state of the economy, so I’m not entirely sure how much room for manoeuvre there still is.
However, what the ‘holiday haggling’ poll from Visa Europe also uncovered was that peoples’ desire to go on holiday remains undiminished, irrespective of the economic climate.
They are more likely to cut back on day to day items rather than miss out on their annual get-away.
I say this as package holiday companies jumped on the Met Office’s admission that its long term forecast back in April for a ‘barbecue summer’ for the UK had gone seriously pear shaped – hitting all those hoping to save money by taking so-called staycations in Britain this summer.
Operators immediately started promoting a range of late booking deals for the August peak to the likes of Spain, Turkey, the Canary Islands and Egypt, where sun is pretty much guaranteed at this time of year.
This activity led to an immediate response from people sick with Britain’s unpredictable climate, with many travel agents reporting a 10 per cent rise in last minute bookings to the sun.
What is abundantly clear is that, as Dan Hanrahan, the chief executive of Celebrity Cruises told me just a few days ago at the launch of new ship Celebrity Equinox, it has never been a better time to book a cruise holiday as prices are unlikely to be this low again.
The reason is that travel companies across the board have been cutting rates as they come to terms with slack demand as consumers reign in their spending.
And that has meant that we now have the ability to experience premium cruises such as those offered by Celebrity at a price never previously imagined.
Other cruise lines appear to be in the same boat (excuse the pun) with a range of offers, even for departures in August and September.
Virgin Holidays Cruises has some of the most competitive deals available for those flexible enough to travel at the last minute.
So if a cruise is something you’ve only previously dreamt of, now’s the time to start packing.
If you’re looking for a cruise to New England, the Caribbean, Far East, the Med or Hawaii we’ve got plenty of last minute cruise deals to choose from. Prices start from £499pp.
Related posts:
- Making your great escape – a cruiser’s perspective If you’re looking for escape, you might try a...
- Escape to Puerto Rico We Brits love Majorca for its year-round Mediterrean sun,...
Leave a Comment