question: would you book more online or on the phone

[phpesenti]

I am wondering if clients prefer to book directly online or would rather talk to somone, specially if you have to give your CC number.
thanks for your help

[AshleyGreene]

I am the marketing specialist at ETS International, a transportation company in MA and are wondering the same thing. If people are more apt to make a reservation over the phone, why is that? We currently have a 10% promo code if you book on line. Would that encourage you to book in line? Thanks in advance for the info!

[briggl]

For our last trip to Italy, (2007) I booked everything online with no problem.
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[phpesenti]

Well, I think they mostly book over the phone for security reasons. in general , people believe that it is safe to give a credit card number over the phone than online.

[mhg0213]

phpesenti is right. The majority of it comes down to what you're comfortable doing. Since most people have been using the phone for years to make reservations it's easier for them. Plus, they don't have to worry about identity theft as much.

However, these days it's almost more secure to purchase things online as opposed to passing around your bank or credit card information.

[Kate_2011]

I prefer to book online. Prices are cheaper and it is easy. I have booked several times with online hotel booking websites and I had no problems with bookings.

[phpesenti]

that is good to know, I guess it is also important to be a recognized website
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[TBH Bookings]

Giving your credit card number to someone by phone these days are not the best of ideas. Sure enough, if someone wanted to use your card number to do fraudulent transactions they would still need the CVV number, but even so, I would be hesitant to just hand out my credit card number. Some people are probably still more comfortable with booking by phone, because they still need to catch on fully to purchasing online. The internet and online transactions are maybe not yet as well understood and trusted by many compared to people who do regularly purchase online. In my opinion, purchasing online, given you make use of a secure payment portal is much safer than purchasing with your credit card by phone. Maybe more should be done to inform people what to look for to make sure a site is safe when they purchase online. When people are informed, the feel more comfortable at doing something.

[phpesenti]

this is true. and this is why I use paypal
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[Personal Travel Agent]

As a homeworking Travel Agent I would never take payment details from a customer by email as requested by some of my customers when asking to pay their deposit/balance online (at that stage I normally phone them and take the payment over the phone), although at Travel Counsellors we do have a payment facility on the website which is secure so I would guide them to do that if they preferred.

For a general purchase If you are using a secure website with the padlock showing in the top right hand corner of a page then I generally trust the site.

However I had a customer book his last holiday online and paid online, and because he didn't 'actually' talk to anyone at any time prior to booking he lost all of his money when the firm went bankrupt last year.
The shock for me was that he had paid for his holiday using his credit card in the belief he would get his money back if anything went wrong. Not only did ABTA not cover for the company going bust but his CC company used also refused him. They can get around it by asking for proof you tried everything else in your power to find another holiday. It was when a certain Turkish Airline went bust and the problem was it was impossible to find new flights. The customer had no proof he had tried to find something else. That is when he turned to me! I did get him his money back but he was never going to be able to himself.

You really have to be careful and make you are covered and thoroughly know all the small print. It's all fine booking online, until something goes wrong as many discovered in the last couple of years when sizeable travel companies went bust leaving thousands of customers stranded abroad with little support. That is where the personal travel agent kicks in and a phone booking is vital!

I hope this helps
Marisa
Travel Counsellors.
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[beltoprent]

i would book online. The reason is simple. I am tired of my phone using for the last 10 years

[tpsaras]

It is very safe to book on-line these days. This is what I personally do, but I like to have the option to actually talk to somebody.

We specialize in tailor made holidays in Rhodes, so we talk to our clients often, or we build an itinerary through e-mail, but we never ask for credit card details over the phone or over e-mail either. We send an invoice which the client can pay online using Paypal, or we accept bank transfers. Easier and safer for both client and agency.

[trev]

As with anything there's a risk of fraud, but booking online seems safer generally as long as you're reasonably sure the company is legit. At one time, phone transactions were slightly safer with regards the CVV number, but many now ask for that to prevent fraud thus removing any safety barrier there.

Credit cards are by far the safest option regarding fraud as long as they can't show you were negligent in handing over the details or should have been suspicious about the company. As most take a while to send the money to the merchant, they're likely to be pretty safe in terms of losing money themselves.


Regards losing money from bankrupt companies:

ABTA bonded holiday companies are a better bet with regards losing your money, but remember that if it's only a flight you're booking and NOT the holiday then ABTA aren't as likely to refund you going by all the more recent problems.

The CAA might refund flights if the company goes bust but again, it's a little iffy on occasions and doesn't get around fraud.

Credit card companies should also help out here as they most likely don't have to pay the company for a non-transaction, but if there's a chance of ABTA or the CAA paying up they might be a little reluctant.

Trev
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[Orionjoel]

I book online in preference to any other method. There are a few reasons why I do this.

Firstly I am not to concerned if a travel company goes under as I always get travel insurance which covers travel providor insolvency. So while it might disupt my holiday a little it is no biggy.

Second is that I really dislike giving credit card details over the phone. This is an area I believe ideal for people with dishonest intentions to pick up your card number. For many reasons, including. The person taking the card number writes the number on a piece of paper and then takes it to the machine to manually key in (which at least to my understanding in Australia companies with EFTPOS systems are supposed to see the card before processing a transaction). What happens to the paper then in the bin??? Properly destroyed?? you dont know.

Finally it saves time, I spend to much time as it is booking my flights with a TA and waiting while they look them up, and fiddle round getting the right timing and such, then having to go back a second time to pick up the actual e-tickets. If I did this for hotels, and other bookings I would be wasting hours go back and forth (and this is not just if i walk in, even booking by email, It at times takes up to 24 hours to get a response from my travel agent).

Online all the way for me.

Joel

[tanya_summer]

Personally, I prefer booking through websites like High Class Travel. I think it's the visual factor that wins it over phone booking, in my opinion.