Hi everyone, I have had something come up in regards to booking a hotel room through Insight for 1 day before our tour starts. I thought it might be good advise for those considering doing the same thing. We booked a room at the Victoria Park Plaza (our tour hotel) in London through Insight, in May for our September tour of Europe. The other day I went onto the hotel site to check on what the rooms were like. The cost of our room was a lot cheaper than what we paid through Insight. I remember a discussion on the Bulletin Board about this before. I Emailed Insight and their reasons were 1. They book the hotels early in the season and although the hotel might change their rates , Insight does not and 2. they include a hotel transfer. It would have been cheaper for us to skip the transfer and pay the hotel ourselves. Insight should charge only what the current hotel rate is when the room is booked not at a premium rate and also the transfer cost is included in your tour price in London anyways, whether you come a day early or not. Lesson learned: Next time book my own hotel and not through Insight. Although I am disappointed in how Insight has handled my problem, I am still looking forward with lots of excitment for our trip in September (European Explorer).

This is pretty standard. When booking through the tour company, you are quoted a price "per person". The hotel may charge the same rate "per room".

Maggie May,

quote:

It would have been cheaper for us to skip the transfer and pay the hotel ourselves. Insight should charge only what the current hotel rate is when the room is booked not at a premium rate and also the transfer cost is included in your tour price in London anyways, whether you come a day early or not.

If you check Insights Terms & Conditions, I believe that you will find that the airport transfers in London are ONLY covered when you book the hotel through Insight. As an example, the Dot2Dot transfer service from Heathrow costs about £21.50 per person (each way).

phil

I always check rates on the internet and with my travel agent and Insight before I book. I did have a similar issue in Oslo many years ago and since then I've looked everywhere I can to find rates. At the moment the rates are all over the place which I guess would make it difficult for companies who have to book a long time in advance.

With tourism taking a hit the last couple of years I wouldn't hesitate to asking for the "best" price available. Working through your travel agent might get you an additional discount.

Happy Travels.