Dissecting an itinerary

Anubhav Jain
Aug 26, 2017 · 3 min read
Individual travel blocks

Hi folks. Today, let’s dissect a well prepared itinerary to understand how individual travel blocks are priced. A lot of you are seasoned travellers but a whole lot of you are not. So for the sake of simplicity, let’s assume your girlfriend Marine is in Hong Kong, and she wants to shop in Central, drink away the evening in Lan Kwai Fung, and see the sun rise from Victoria Peak( well girls for you Mark is waiting). Let’s turn the situation into reality. For that we need the following:

1) A round trip air ticket from Tokyo-Hong Kong- Tokyo

2) Two way transfers to the airport

3) 3 nights stay in a posh hotel

4) Sightseeing

5) Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Now, follow your instincts and go online. You got the airfare ready, hotel tariff ready, but rest of the other things are not so easy to find. For ground transportation most likely you will uber it or take a bus or maybe a metro ride. Sightseeing you will once again buy once you reach the destination. Meals are the last thing to get worries about as food is omnipresent, especially for non-vegetarians.

Let me know address the problematic areas. It is almost essential to plan out the activities you want to indulge into when you travel. This not only saves a lot of money but also helps you in avoiding those long queues at the ticket counter. The whole charm of Eiffel Tower disappears in the fresh French air when you need to stand for hours before you make your way into it. World’s largest sightseeing products can be accessed from this website called VIATOR. It will easily give you an estimate of the sightseeing product that will be included in your itinerary by a travel expert. The second problematic area is transfers. Believe you me, bookings transfers at the airport will always be much more expensive than doing it with a ground transportation company at the planning stage.

For meals, breakfast almost always is included in your stay( specifically for Indian travellers), lunch and dinner should be opted only for resort destinations. If you are travelling in a city with lot of hustle bustle, you might as well try different cuisines, local markets, and soak into the local flavours city has to offer. For resorts destinations such as Krabi, Bali, Maldives, Mauritius, and others it makes more sense to live that king sized life. No need to step out of those iconic resorts that exemplify luxury, and opulence. Soak yourself in it completely with all meals inclusive pricing. Now these resorts offer all inclusive pricing online as well. It is either called a board base( all inclusive), or a half board( breakfast and/or lunch, dinner). So look for that price online or ask your travel agent to give the individual break up.

Once you have an estimate of all the travel products, combine the pricing and compare it with the quote given by your local travel agent. Remember, the local travel agent has access to better hotel pricing, works on commissionable airfare, and buys transfers and sightseeing in bulk. Typically, there should be a difference of about 7–20% between online and offline prices. It really depends upon the destination but you should look for a bargain of at least 8–10% off the retail or online prices.

So do your maths right now. Remember, Marine, and Mark are still waiting :)

)
Anubhav Jain

Loves travel industry. Always ready to help people travel :)

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