Until what month are tours considered early bookings? Early booking of tours - what are the advantages

Known for their pragmatism, Europeans have long appreciated all the benefits of organizing their upcoming vacation in advance. Is early booking of tours profitable in domestic realities?

IN modern world time to organize the upcoming summer holiday can start anytime. Some people are already on New Year's holidays, armed with a map, looking through the names of hotels and reading reviews about them. This approach allows you to carefully plan your trip and reduce the risk of an unsuccessful choice of vacation destination to a minimum. If your life is measured and stable, if you know exactly the date of your upcoming vacation in six months, then you can also use the early booking service, which really has some advantages. In fact, early booking is the exact opposite of the so-called, when a ticket is purchased a few days before departure. Here, on the contrary, the tour is sold long before it starts. Moreover, from year to year the beginning of the action shifts by more and more early dates. Now many hotels open early bookings in January, and some even earlier. It usually ends in April.

First of all, this is, of course, saving on the cost of the trip. When purchasing in advance, the tour operator usually provides a discount of ten to forty percent from full price tour. As the tourist season approaches, the cost of trips to popular hotels inexorably creeps up, and the cost of plane tickets also increases. And you have already fixed your price, and now you, as the happy owner of a ticket purchased back in February, can only count the savings and catch the envious glances of your not so far-sighted colleagues...

The next advantage of early booking is the ability to choose a hotel that suits you or your family in all respects. Indeed, in February, for example, almost any hotel offered by operators is still available for reservation. When purchasing travel packages closer to the departure date, in most cases you have to “take what you can get,” and it would be very naive to expect to get a suitable room in a hotel with positive reviews.

After all, walking one and a half kilometers in the heat to a dirty city beach, and, leaving the hotel, immediately finding yourself on clean sand are two big differences, as they say in Odessa. Families who are going on holiday choose hotels especially pickily. It is important for them that all meals are included, that entry into the sea is convenient, that the hotel is clean, that cultural and entertainment events are held...

If you want to go during the "high season", i.e. in July, August or the first half, or you are interested in one of the particularly popular destinations, such as Turkey, Greece, Spain or Cyprus, then you, like no one else, can experience the advantages of early booking.

What's the catch?

He's gone. In fact, everything is explained quite simply. In the “low season”, when hotels are half empty, it is most convenient for their owners to modernize the infrastructure, renovation work, expand, etc. And for this all you need working capital, which hotels receive by reducing prices. Thus, they also benefit from opening early bookings.

But to be honest?

Well, okay, there is one minus, and quite a significant one. It consists in the risk of losing invested funds if it is impossible to complete the planned trip. In this case, you may receive only part of the cost of the trip back (usually from 50% to 90%), or sometimes nothing at all. Therefore, if you are often plagued by force majeure, then you are unlikely to experience the benefits of early booking. If you really want it, then it’s better to issue the so-called ““. In any case, you need to very thoroughly ask the travel agent about the possibility of changing the departure date, names on the vouchers and the duration of the vacation.

Overall, this is a convenient method of buying a trip, which has more advantages than disadvantages. You get a discount, choose the best hotel, think through all the details of your vacation in advance... But whether early booking of tours is beneficial for you personally depends only on the circumstances. Risky, you say? Of course, there is a certain amount of adventurism in this, but those who don’t take risks don’t drink cocktails on the sea sand...

How does a travel agency work? Last minute tours, early booking and discounts. October 14th, 2015

In I told, albeit very approximately, how tour operators set prices for tours. Today, although later than promised, I will continue the topic and tell you what the concepts often used in conversations about tourism mean: “last minute tours,” “early booking,” “Fortuna system.”

Early booking.

I have already said that tour operators buy out blocks in hotels long before the start of the season. For example, already now, in October, programs for next summer are slowly being formed. At the same time, the tourism business is very susceptible to seasonality. Despite the fact that most operators operate in both summer and winter destinations, sales in winter are significantly lower than in summer. In order to smooth out seasonality, block numbers are almost always put on sale at a reduced price. This is called an early booking promotion. At the same time, discounts of 30 - 50 - 70% are declared. In principle, this is how it is, everything is fair, but what we mean is a discount on the price of the hotel, and on the entire tour. As a result, the price difference is smaller. However, saving 20 percent on the total price of the tour is quite possible.

Most often, there is no deception; prices rise closer to the departure date, although anything can happen. Tourists are very offended when they see that their hotel, bought six months ago, has become cheaper before departure. Operators also don’t need negativity at all, and literally last season a kind of “low price guarantee” began to appear. If for some reason a tour to an already purchased hotel is cheaper, the operator can recalculate it downward and refund the difference.
I repeat that such price reductions are still the exception. In my memory, only in a couple of cases was it possible to take advantage of the “guarantee”; in the vast majority of cases, the price went up.

In any case, you can always refuse and return the money from the operator, although it is not a fact that the hotel will re-confirm the same tourists for new price. True, if the price has dropped significantly, then nothing prevents you from booking a neighboring one. The return process is not always simple and deserves a separate post, which I will definitely write. For now, just believe that the agency’s statements that “the money cannot be returned,” or, moreover, the words “operator fine” are nothing more than horror stories. What fine can a commercial organization impose on to an individual? Rave.

Summary: early booking is a beneficial promotion for tourists. In any case, you can cancel the tour and get your money back if something more interesting appears closer to the trip.

Last minute tours.

A favorite topic for tourists. Particularly pleasing are the questions, for example, at the beginning of autumn: “pick us something on fire at New Year"or similar.

Let's start with the fact that tourists and travel industry employees most often put completely different meanings into the concept of a “last minute” tour. Tourists mean a tour for pennies, although in fact, a “last minute” tour is not the cheapest, but the cheapest tour. About the reasons for this decline, for example, many tourists left at once, or something else. The main thing is that it cannot be predicted in advance. Perhaps there will be a failure in sales, perhaps not. On peak dates, such as the New Year or May holidays, nothing will definitely burn.

I will illustrate this with an example. We have a section on our website Tour calendar. The cheapest prices in all directions are collected there. Let's take Egypt from Moscow for the upcoming dates:


The minimum price is 15,584 rubles per person.

Now let's look Last minute tours.


What do we see? The Regina Aqua Park hotel has fallen in price the most, the price of which has decreased by 8.5 thousand rubles. This is a very good reduction, but still, the regular, non-hot-fire price turns out to be lower than the last-minute price. Expensive hotels can also be on fire, sometimes it’s possible to find a hotel with a price tag of 300 thousand for 180 thousand or something else, this will also be a “last minute” ticket. But tourists, most often, when asking for a last minute tour, have in mind the lowest possible price.

However, it is quite possible to fly on a last minute ticket if you take into account the following:

• “last minute” tours do not exist in advance; they can only appear on upcoming dates;


• There may not be “last minute” tours for the required dates; on dates of high demand they most likely will not be available at all;


• the more restrictions there are, the less likely it is that suitable option I'll be able to find it. For example, catching a last minute tour to a specific hotel on a strictly specified date is much more difficult than “next week to Hurghada for 5-7 days for no more than 30,000 rubles”;


• The speed of decision making is extremely important. There are never too many last-minute trips, so if you think about a purchase for a long time, someone more nimble will buy it.

Fortuna system.
Often, and not entirely deservedly, tourists treat Fortune with disdain, but in vain, this is a very interesting and profitable scheme for selling tours, which combines the advantages of early booking and last-minute tours. Often, and not entirely deservedly, tourists treat Fortune with disdain, but in vain.
When purchasing a “fortune” tour, a tourist buys a vacation not in a specific hotel, but in one of the hotels of a given category. For example, 4* in Sharm el-Sheikh with all-inclusive meals. The price is usually very attractive.

How and why is this done?

To begin with, you need to understand that the sale of last-minute tours for the operator is not income, but minimization of losses. And if the share of last-minute ones becomes too large, then the operator’s entire business will become unprofitable. But tourists quickly get used to last minute deals and begin to wait until the last minute for the price to drop, which does not contribute to sales at all. On the other hand, some of the hotel rooms purchased by operators are not sold, and 100% occupancy is unattainable. Leaving them completely empty is somehow completely stupid. To combine the incompatible, selling “by fortune” was invented.

The operator knows with good accuracy what percentage of prepaid rooms he statistically does not have time to sell at normal prices, but it is very unlikely to guess in which hotels they will remain empty. It is this percentage that is put on sale at last minute prices, but without specifying the hotel. Several goals are achieved at once: you don’t have to overcharge before departure, you get guaranteed occupancy of some of the seats on planes, the occupancy of hotels improves and becomes more uniform, and for tourists it’s a good price.

Again, let's look at an example:

In mid-February, Coral Discount 5* (that's what Coral Travel calls Fortuna) costs 15 thousand cheaper than a hotel of the same category. A similar picture for 4*. In addition to Egypt, Fortuna operates in Thailand, India and Vietnam, and is also found, albeit less frequently, in European destinations.

Summary: in my opinion, for those tourists who want to save money on their vacation and are counting on buying a last-minute tour, it makes sense to pay attention to Fortuna. It will definitely be no worse than last minute and you won’t have to check prices on the eve of your vacation, wondering whether you’ll be able to fly or not.

Lastly about discounts.
It makes no sense to choose an agency to purchase a tour solely based on the size of the discount, without reference to the price of the tour. The agency can give a discount within the limits of its commission (which is about 10% of the tour cost), while a competent search among operators’ offers can provide much greater benefits. For such a search, our

Publication date:

There is bad weather and cold outside, but our thoughts are already in the coming summer, planning how and where we will spend our vacation. Down with dreams! It's time to take action, because WELL announces the start of the campaign " Early booking" Just now early booking for summer 2019 gives you the opportunity to purchase a tour to one of the most popular destinations with maximum benefit for you.

Early bookings for summer 2019 are now open!

Promotion " Early booking» is held in conjunction with hotels offering discounts if you purchase a tour for a limited period before the start of the summer season (late winter - early spring). Today flexible terms payment and tempting low prices waiting for tourists early booking tours 2019 to Greece and Turkey, Austria, Andorra, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Italy, Cyprus, Cuba, Mauritius, Maldives, Mexico, UAE, Thailand, Vietnam!

Conditions of the Early Booking promotion:

• Direct discounts from hotels up to 35%.
• There is a 99.9% probability of confirming scarce hotels that are in demand during the season.
• When booking, the cost of the entire package is fixed in advance, without additional overpayments.

It turns out that early booking is an opportunity to book a trip to popular hotels in advance. favorable price. The cost of the tour on our website is already indicated taking into account the discount. A confirmed application cannot be changed. Full payment must be made before the end of the Early Booking 2019 promotion for the hotel of your choice. As part of the promotion, early booking of tours 2019 for groups of 15 people or more is not allowed.

If, after the end of the early booking promotion for summer 2019, changes are made to the tour, then its cost is recalculated at the price current on the date of the changes.

What are the advantages of the Early Booking promotion?

Organizing a successful vacation has its own nuances. When planning a vacation, each of us thinks about every little detail, because even a trifle can derail an ideal trip. That is why we carefully study tourist reviews of tour operators, hotels and air carriers. We select only those who have earned a high rating from vacationers and positive reviews. And we treat the cultural and entertainment program during a trip with the same responsibility as packing a suitcase, buying sunscreen and the medications needed on the road. Each of us wants our holiday to be at the highest level.

As part of the “RB” promotion, a tourist has the opportunity to purchase a tour even before the start of the tourist season, several months before the planned trip. Why do tour operators and hotels do this? Early booking for 2019 allows them to protect themselves from unforeseen situations and economic unrest, and ensure occupancy before the start of the season.

By making a small discount, hotels gain confidence that they will not lack guests during the season. And this is in tourism business important. Without relying on unexpected tourists who spontaneously gathered on vacation, tour operators also reduce prices for prepared tours. Together – hotel and tour operator discounts range from 5% to 50%. However, the final benefit depends on the time of booking, the chosen destination and the hotel.

Another plus of early booking tours 2019 – wide choose hotels. In winter, almost all of them are free. It is no secret that the best hotel rooms are booked and sold out first. So the “Early Booking” promotion gives you a chance to affordable price during the high season, relax in the best hotel in the resort. Without prejudice to family budget You can choose more high level, star rating or hotel category, increase the duration of your stay.

The choice is yours:

A 14-night tour as part of the Early Booking promotion or a 10-night tour, but without additional discounts. A hotel that you heard about from friends, read about in a magazine, saw in a movie, or a hotel that is offered to you only because there are still rooms available...

But early booking 2019 means more than just nice discounts and a wide selection of hotels. Airlines are also making every effort to popularize this promotion. Thus, early booking of tours in 2019 allows tourists to choose a flight with their favorite air carrier, flights departing at a time convenient for them. It is early departure for vacation and late return home that are available for booking as part of the “RB” promotion.

In addition, if you intend to cancel a charter flight, then early booking 2019 will allow you to choose tickets for a regular flight. It is to “choose”, and not to agree to the remaining options available, as happens when buying “last minute tours”.

“RB” is suitable for those who take decisions seriously. The ability to plan a trip in advance gives you the chance to prepare for it comprehensively. Thus, early booking of tours in 2019 gives you time to get to know tour operators and their offers, choose a hotel and draw up a cultural and entertainment program, get to know your holiday destination and the routes of the excursions offered.

The confidence that vacationers gain with Early Booking tours is especially important for those traveling on vacation with children. For those who cannot make a mistake in a hotel, airline or tour operator, for whom every day spent by children by the sea, and every ruble saved for the family budget is important.

Early booking for summer 2019 frees you from the need to adjust holiday and vacation dates to each other, and browse “hot offers” around the clock in the hope of finding the best deal.

Are you interested in early booking 2019, but your vacation does not fall in the summer months? Don't get upset and turn over this page. Belarus gives you the opportunity to travel with discounts all the time. So, in February, early booking for summer 2019 means a holiday at Turkish resorts in July, and in August, early booking 2019 presents an opportunity to see December Thailand or New Year’s Andorra.

When does early booking start for summer 2019?

Often, in one form or another, by phone, by mail, or in personal communication, tourists ask us similar questions:

1. When does early booking start?
2. When does early booking for tours begin?
3. when does early booking start for summer 2019;

Or they even ask managers at travel agencies and tour sales offices :)

• when does early booking of tours for summer 2019 begin;
• early booking of tours for summer 2019 when it starts;
• when does early booking of summer tours begin?;
• early booking of tours for summer when it starts;

As they say: the options are endless. We'd be happy to explain. Each of us strives to purchase goods or services not only of decent quality, but also at the best possible price. In tourism, this can be done if you try to plan your vacation in advance and book a tour not in last days and weeks before departure during peak season, when hotels have a shortage of good rooms and a poor choice of options, and chip flights Air carriers simply, in principle, have not had them for a long time! Advance planning and RB tours for the SUMMER 2019 season will help you save up to 50% of your trip budget.

RB traditionally begins in November-December. You can save at least 35% of the tour cost! If you want to plan your vacation in advance down to the smallest detail, including the beach, hotel and room with all amenities, then early booking of tours for summer 2019 is a service that is ideal for you.

Early bookings for next summer start in the fall

For example, in the travel agencies of our network, from November 1, 2018, the early booking season for the summer of 2019 was opened. The earliest and most advantageous offers in your favorite hotels, on popular, famous, rare and exotic destinations are already available on the website and in the offices of our travel agencies. to the whole world! Tours for Summer 2019 can be booked profitably in advance with savings now! Hotels on the mainland resorts of Greece and on the islands of Rhodes, Zakynthos, Crete, Kos and Corfu, the best 4* and 5* star hotels on the All Inclusive system in Turkey in Antalya and in Marmaris, Bodrum, Side and Alanya, as well as luxury hotels in Tunisia in Hammamet, Djerba, Sousse and Monastir are waiting for you!

The “Early Booking 2019” promotion is open, start searching for tours, offers from all leading tour operators are presented on the website and are waiting for you..

When does early booking end 2019?

This question is also a big one" headache"for most tourists. And we receive questions like these in dozens of variations from clients every day:

1. When does early booking end?
2. When does early booking for tours 2019 end?
3. When does early booking of tours for 2019 end?
4. early booking of tours for 2019 when does it end

Is there some more whole group questions from tourists on this topic, where seasons are mentioned, for example, summer or hotels and tour operators:

• When does early booking end in 2019?
• When does early hotel booking end?
• When does early booking of summer tours end?
• When does early booking of tours for summer 2019 end?
• When does the promotion for early booking with tour operators end?

Here it is important to decide which RB the client is interested in. For example, there is RB in winter or autumn next summer season, next summer. Such early bookings usually last until the end of March, depending on the tour operator. As a rule, you must pay 50% of the tour cost immediately, and the balance - a month before the start of the tour. The balance is recalculated at the exchange rate at the time of additional payment. Detailed description You can find this promotion on the websites of the largest tour operators.

DISCOUNTS up to 50% are not a marketing gimmick, but real opportunity Save big when choosing from a wide variety of hotels and rooms in Spain, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, Montenegro, Turkey, Greece.

The “Early Booking” promotion gives you the opportunity to choose any holiday dates. When booking early, you also have access to the best hotels in those countries and resorts where it is not as common among Russians to go on vacation in the summer months as to the countries mentioned above. But if you wish, in the summer of 2019 you can also visit the resorts of Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam by booking them in advance now, in the fall of 2018.

When organizing a holiday under the early booking scheme 2019, it is possible flexible system payment: an advance payment of 50% will be the initial cost, which must be paid within 5 days after confirmation of the application and fifty percent - paid according to the terms of the contract, 21 days before departure on the tour.

Tell your friends, relatives and acquaintances about the benefits of the Early Booking promotion from travel agencies in our network! Experienced tourists have long known about this regular promotion and appreciate the opportunity to select a tour in advance on the most attractive conditions!

I would find it difficult to answer this question unambiguously. There are several aspects to consider here.

Firstly, if you have already decided on a vacation spot and are absolutely determined to spend it in a pre-selected hotel, which for some reason is especially pleasant and nice to you, then in this case it is better to book a tour in advance, preferably three or four months in advance. Then you will definitely spend your vacation exactly where you planned it, and no annoying extras will spoil it. If you book tours several months before the start of your trip, then, as a rule, in this case, many tour operators offer them with an early booking promotion, which implies a discount from regular price by 20-30 percent. This is how we flew to the Dominican Republic, having bought a tour four months before departure and saving at least 30 thousand for two.

Secondly, if you don’t care where you go on vacation, you don’t have any special preferences for any place or hotel, and your employer has nothing against spontaneously letting you go on vacation, then you can safely take a trip a week in advance or even for 2-3 days before departure (unless, of course, your stay in the country of your choice does not require a visa or you already have a visa ready). But there can also be pitfalls: there are more than enough hotel rooms, but there are no flights. We didn’t have a good vacation a couple of times: once there was no free seats for flights to Tunisia, another time we waited until the last minute for last-minute tickets to Turkey, and when they appeared, it turned out that all the seats on the return flights were taken, and we did not have time to return to work on time. When buying a ticket almost right next to your vacation date, you need to be prepared that the choice of hotels will be very limited; hotels are usually “burning”, where tourists find many shortcomings in food, service, and location. If you are willing to endure some inconvenience in order to save your budget, then last minute tours will be a good option for you.

And one more point why it is impossible to say unambiguously which tour (purchased in advance or literally a few days before departure) will be cheaper: the price of tours from many tour operators is directly dependent on the dollar or euro to ruble exchange rate. And since the currency market is extremely unstable, and the ruble creeps up and down, and it is almost impossible to predict its growth or fall with one hundred percent probability, it will be very difficult to predict which tour you will be able to save more on. Therefore, the well-known statement that last-minute trips are definitely more profitable is not always true. Sometimes a tour purchased as an early booking actually turns out to be cheaper than the same tour purchased on the eve of departure.

The whole truth about early booking! Early booking vs last minute tours - what to choose?

The websites of almost all tour operators are full of offers for early booking tours, but at the same time, reviews posted on the Internet about early booking promotions are contradictory and ambiguous. Someone thinks that they overpaid because they were vacationing in a hotel with tourists who bought the same thing at half the price on last-minute packages; others buy only by early booking, save up to 40% and are satisfied. Who to believe?

Let's talk with Nadezhda Mikhailovna Burmak, director of PROtravel, about who needs early booking and who needs last-minute tours.

Question: Is it true that with the early booking promotion you can save up to 50-70%?
Answer: No it is not true. Moreover, if in the last few years offers of 30-40% discounts on hotels for early booking promotions have been quite common, then the trend this season is a reduction in discounts. Nowadays discounts of up to 30% are mostly offered. Moreover, hotels provide the highest early booking discounts in December-January for the next summer season - up to 30%. In February - March, discounts are reduced to 20-25%, in April - to 10-15%. That is, the closer to the season, the smaller the discount.

Question: Is it true that early booking means payment in installments for a tour without interest?
Answer: Not certainly in that way. It all depends on the tour operator from whom you buy the tour. It happens that under an early booking promotion, a tourist is required to redeem the tour 100% within 3 days after confirmation of the hotel. There are other conditions according to which you can pay for the tour in installments according to a certain scheme before the end of the promotion, for example, until April 30. You need to read the contract with the tour operator very carefully.

Question: It turns out that it’s better to wait for last-minute travel packages?
Answer: Last minute trips go on sale when tour operators cannot sell out seats on the plane and significantly reduce the cost in order to earn at least some money and reduce losses. In the 2013-2014 season. there was an oversupply of charter flights that did not pay off, which led to bankruptcy and the departure of many tour operators from the market. In 2015 the situation is completely different. There are very few charter flights - rather, there is even a shortage; seats on the plane are sold out very quickly. For example, in December 2014, everyone said “oh, dear, we’ll wait for the last ones.” As a result, there were no seats left on the planes, and there were simply no last-minute tickets for flights from December 25 to January 6. Now the cost of tours a couple of days before departure is almost the same as a month. All this suggests that both this season and the next one can hardly expect a lot of last-minute trips to be released onto the market.

Question: What are the pros and cons of early booking?
Answer: The main advantages are the opportunity to save money and a fairly wide selection of hotels, which will then not be available for sale closer to the season. For example, hotels such as Sani Asteria Suite in Chalkidiki, Apollo Beach in Rhodes, Tsilivi Beach in Zakynthos, the Greek chain Grecotel, Utopia in Alanya, etc. are sold out by early booking. The main disadvantages of early booking are the inability to cancel the tour or change the names of tourists. Fines sometimes reach 100%. At the same time, travel insurance will not save the situation, since it is valid only in strictly defined and rather severe cases.

Question: Who benefits from early booking?
Answer: If you are planning a vacation with children and you have rather strict requirements for the hotel, for example, a non-standard room, or two rooms next to each other, you need to book in advance, as such options are sold out immediately. If you want a specific hotel, you also need to make reservations in advance. In cases where your holiday falls during peak demand seasons - that is, May holidays, August, school holidays, New Year holidays, it is also better to book your places several months in advance. If you do not want to fly on charter flights, then early booking is the best choice, since tickets for regular flights, the earlier you buy, the cheaper they are, and the discount from the hotel will be added. You need to book Croatia and Montenegro in advance, because the hotel supply in these countries is meager compared to Turkey, so in order to have plenty to choose from, you need to think about your vacation in advance. We should also not forget about European tourists, who are used to booking hotels not just four months in advance, but two years in advance!

Question: Is it true that early booking is valid mainly on European routes?
Answer: No. By early booking you can get a discount of up to 30% on hotel accommodation in the Dominican Republic, up to 15% in Cuba, and up to 50% in Mauritius. In general, you can save a lot on expensive destinations if you combine early booking with various special offers. For example, if you can adjust the dates of your vacation to various promotions, then by purchasing a tour in February for the May holidays in the UAE, you can get a room upgrade, for example, to a suite at the price of a standard, and a meal upgrade - breakfast + dinner at the price breakfast and other very profitable options.