Booking a holiday in the past would mean going to a travel agent where you would get to choose from a number of different holidays from a catalogue. This was all very well, and you would usually get quite an extensive selection, but you could never be too sure of what to expect. The photographs used for the catalogue would often look much better than the real thing and the service was often made to sound much better than it really was.

Even if the travel agents were so inclined to not recommend holidays from their own catalogue, they would usually not know whether or not they should because the individual agents had no direct knowledge of the location. Each and every year people were going on holidays that were not at all what they were expecting. Instead of finding themselves in paradise, they find themselves somewhere that was more like hell.

Get Direct Feedback

When you have a look online for your holidays, you can get access to direct feedback from other people that have been to the resort themselves. Instead of being given a sales blurb by a third party that wants to make some commission from your booking, you can instead get reports from impartial people that just want to give their opinion. Independent sites that encourage reviews of locations and hotels help you to get an accurate depiction of what you should really expect.

More Flexibility

When you book through a travel agent you will nearly always be booking packages that have been put together by the tour companies. Just about everything will be dictated to you such as travel arrangements and length of stay and it can often feel as though you are being herded about on your holiday rather than just doing whatever you like.

When you book a holiday online you have the flexibility to make your own arrangements so you get to decide what you do and when. Instead of being told what to do and where to go by reps wearing name badges, you get to make your own timetable and be spontaneous if you change your mind. If you want to spend your time lazing around the pool all day then that is entirely up to you. If you would like to venture further afield to sample the local culture, you can choose to do so whenever you wish.

Get the Facilities You Want

When booking online you get to decide for yourself which facilities you want and you will find that you have a much wide range available to you. What’s more is that because the travel agents are likely to use only the hotels that offer the best commissions, you could find that you will find much better deals if you find accommodation yourself. You could also try looking for accommodation that is off the beaten track and you could even find some hidden gems that the travel agents have overlooked. While the ‘sheeple’ are being herded around in in overpriced hotel rooms and staying on beaches with barely enough space to lay out a towel you could be staying in the lap of luxury, at a lower cost, with beaches that have very few people on them indeed.

Many people prefer to use the travel agents because they feel more comfortable in having everything done for them. Perhaps they don’t feel confident in finding their way around a foreign country so going it alone could be a bit too daunting for them. With a little willingness to be more adventurous and the ability to find your way around a search engine, you could soon find yourself going on holidays that you thought only the rich and famous could afford.