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Amazing Egypt - More than Just the Wonders of Antiquity
Egypt is one of the most fascinating destinations on the world tourist map. This extra ordinary country is today the favourite vacation spot for many, just like it was in the days of the early Greeks and Romans. The thoroughly cultured Greeks, in...
Eurail travel - a way to extend a holiday to Europe
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Luxury Hotel Breaks – Avoiding the hotel horror stories
When looking for hotel accommodation most people are very price driven in terms of making their choices. Finding out where you want to go and how cheaply you can stay there are very often the only factors that are taken into consideration. Couple...
Riding In The Lap Of Luxury Travel With A Virgin Island Yacht Charters
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Themeparks around Benidorm Spain
Benidorm, which is located just 20 minutes north of the city of Alicanteon the Costa Blanca coast Spain, is such as action-packed city. Even thoughit has a beautiful stretch of soft sandy beaches, we should leave this leisureactivity for the end...
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Booking holiday accommodation online
With the introduction of low cost airlines, and the rapid growth of internet users, booking the perfect holiday has become easier for the inexperienced internet user. Gone are the days, where the only people surfing the net are techie's - welcome to the internet age, where people of all ages are now using the internet to go about their normal life.
“You look forward to your holiday all year and you want to book it easily, and save money,” says Darren, a holiday rental specialist who runs, Worldwide Holiday Homes. “If you automatically think ‘travel agent,’ you’re missing out on the internet world. Just ask the thousands of people who reserve villas, apartments and cottages through our companies website. Booking your holiday online means you can look for the best deals, and search in the comfort of your own home.”
Darren says the rise of the Internet has made it easier and more convenient to seek out and reserve a holiday home, why stay in an overcrowded hotel, when you get have the privacy that a villa holiday brings. No more shared swimming pools, instead relax in privacy within your own pool. If you’re nervous about dealing one-on-one with a holiday home owner, don’t be. Darren says that some of the nervousness is brought on by the travel agents, who advise against booking a private holiday rental, as the companies offering rentals are not ABTA bonded. Providing you get adequate travel insurance, and are cautious and follow some simple booking instructions, you can minimize the risk:
- Speak to the owner of the property, you can learn a lot about a person, and you'll probably feel much comfortable than communicating through email - which can be impersonal.
- Each property owner will have their own way of processing a booking but, as a guideline, you should expect to pay a deposit to secure the booking of between 10% - 50% of the total rental. This is normally paid either by cheque or by bank transfer and the owner should confirm the booking and receipt of your payment by letter or by e-mail.
- Check the cancellation terms with the owner at the time of booking - deposits are often non-refundable and they may have a sliding scale of charges for last minute cancellations after the balance has been paid. We recommend that you ask for any terms and conditions in writing. Make sure that you have the address and directions to the
property. These are normally sent to you on payment of the balance. Some owners will send you a key in advance, some may live on site and be there to welcome you, whilst others may have a local representative or neighbour who will meet you.
- Make sure that you have the telephone number of the owner or their representative so that you can call to let them know if your arrival time is delayed. If you encounter an owner who is unwilling to talk to you on the phone, beware. You simply cannot send money to someone you’ve never spoken to. Go with your gut feeling. Take out adequate travel insurance, we would recommend that you speak to a travel insurance specialist, and explain the type of holiday you are going to book - that way your going to get the right advice, and the right level of insurance - remember that you'll pay a deposit, if for any reason your ill, or your flight is cancelled or delayed, you'll need insurance to be able to claim the deposit back.
- Don't be embarrassed to ask for testimonials from other holidaymakers, or email address / telephone number of other holidaymakers who have book the accommodation. Have a search on the internet, and see if you can "dig" up any bad feedback or reviews about the owners or property rental.
“To many this may sound time consuming,” says Darren, “Most owners, respond within 24 hours, once you have confirmation of the booking and paid the deposit, then you book your flight, and travel insurance - by leaving the travel agent out of the process, you will save money, and you have the opportunity to research the location and accommodation, before booking, compared to booking with an agent who, let's be honest is trying to get you to book quickly, for commission.”
Darren says that many travel agents are now realising the potential of the internet, our website alone, is a complete booking portal, you search for accommodation, contact the owner, and then through our travel shop you can book your flights, car hire and travel insurance. Next time your looking to book your holiday - have a search on the internet, you'll be surprised what you can find.
About the Author
Darren Cronian is the writer of various articles for holiday home owners and renters. Darren also runs and owns a UK-based holiday company called Worldwide Holiday Homes
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| Holidays on the Net - Welcome |
| Includes music, graphics, historical information, suggested activities, kids pages, links, and other features for most holidays. |
| www.holidays.net |
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| Kids Domain - Holidays |
| HOLIDAY FUN with crafts, recipes, printables, games and activity suggestions for your family to enjoy. |
| www.kidsdomain.com |
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| Earth Calendar |
| Every day is a celebration! The Earth Calendar is an online calendar of holidays and observances around the world. |
| www.earthcalendar.net |
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| Federal Holidays Calendars from 1997 to 2010 |
| Offers a list of federally-recognized holidays celebrated in the United States. |
| www.opm.gov |
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| TELETEXT HOLIDAYS : Cheap Flights, Last Minute Deals, Ski Holidays ... |
| Search for package holidays from over 250 tour operators, find last minute charter flights, ski holidays, snow reports, cruises, destination guides and ... |
| www.teletextholidays.co.uk |
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| Thomson.co.uk - Great Value Holidays from the UK's no.1 Tour Operator |
| Thomson Holidays Online offer cheap package holidays, flights, sun holidays, faraway holidays to exotic destinations, late deals, city breaks, hotel booking ... |
| www.thomson.co.uk |
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| Holiday - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| 4.1 Holidays traditionally in the winter holiday season ... Public holidays can be either religious, in which case they reflect the dominant religion in a ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Bargain holidays and cheap flights from Bargainholidays.com |
| Choose from 2 million+ late availability cheap flights and last minute bargain holiday packages departing from the UK. Order online from an ABTA bonded and ... |
| www.bargainholidays.com |
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| First Choice - Book your dream holiday online - Great value ... |
| Find great value package holidays online with First Choice. Book last-minute holidays, all inclusive holidays, family holidays and villa holidays. |
| www.firstchoice.co.uk |
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| Holidays Around the World for K-12 |
| Holiday Internet links for US and international holidays, religious holidays, and a holiday calendar for K-12. |
| falcon.jmu.edu |
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| Holidays - cheap holidays, bargain holidays and bank holiday deals ... |
| Book your cheap holidays and bargain bank holidays at lastminute.com. |
| www.lastminute.com |
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| Cheap holidays and package holiday discounts - Holiday.co.uk |
| Cheap Holidays and package deals from all the major UK tour operators including Airtours, Argo, Avro, Balkan, Club 18-30, Cosmos, Crystal, First Choice, ... |
| www.holiday.co.uk |
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| Virgin Holidays |
| Tour operator offering holidays to mainland USA, the Caribbean, the Far East, South Africa and Mauritius as well as a ski programme in California and New ... |
| www.virginholidays.co.uk |
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| Saga Holidays, Travel Insurance, Short Breaks, Vacations, cruises |
| Specialists in providing travel services to people over 50. Details of river and sea cruises, resort holidays, tours, short breaks, special interest and ... |
| holidays.saga.co.uk |
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| Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Holiday Information |
| A categorized, annotated list of over 2500 sites to help educators, teachers, and parents enhance instruction and support the curriculum. |
| school.discovery.com |
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| Queensland Holidays - Queensland Holidays |
| Queensland Tourism & Travel Advice - Find accommodation, events & activities as well as special packages & deals - Queensland Holidays. |
| www.queenslandholidays.com.au |
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| BBC - Holiday |
| Information on worldwide destinations as covered in the series, plus advice and travel information, presenters, message boards and postcards. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
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| COSMOS - Package Holidays, All Inclusive Holidays, Self Catering ... |
| Looking for cheap holidays online? COSMOS offer great value deals on package holidays, all inclusive holidays self catering holidays, villa holidays ... |
| www.cosmos.co.uk |
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| Late Holiday Deals and Discount Holidays at DirectHolidays.co.uk |
| Book late holiday deals online at Direct Holidays - discount breaks to destinations around the world. |
| www.directholidays.co.uk |
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| Contiki Holidays - Holiday packages for 18 to 35 Year Olds |
| Contiki Holidays offers holiday packages and budget travel tours for 18 - 35 year olds including destinations to Europe and the UK, Asia, Latin America, ... |
| www.contiki.com |
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