Booking Procedure
View our terms and conditions
In order to make a booking you will need to know three things :
1) When you will leave the U.K
2) Where you are going.
3) The first and last names of each traveller as they are spelled in
each traveller's passport.
On most round the world tickets it is also necessary to put in dates
for each leg of your journey. These dates are almost always changeable
either for free or for a nominal charge once you are travelling . The
date change conditions that apply to your ticket will be detailed on
the booking confirmation form we send you.
If you are going away for a short time or need to be in particular
places in at particular times, the date you book each flight of your
trip will of course be important. If you are planning a longer trip,
and can't really say how long you'll be in each place, it isn't a problem
to just make up dates and alter these as you are travelling. This is
normally a straightforward procedure, though you will of course need
to bear in mind that seat availability may be limited at certain times
of the year.
The two things that tend to be harder to change once the ticket has
been paid for and issued are the route and the date of your first flight.
Booking a round the world trip can get quite involved. In our experience,
things are much simpler if you deal with the same person throughout.
This is part of the service we offer.
At Travel Nation, not only do we specialise in putting together round
the world trips, but every member of staff has had many years experience
in this sector of the travel industry. See About
Us for more details.
How to Book
By phone : This is the way that most people book. It is better
if you don't attempt to do this on your mobile while you are doing your
weekly shop in Tescos - even if you are a busy person !
The easy way for a travel agent to book a round the world trip is just
to be an 'order taker' but this isn't our style. We think that the correct
way to book a round the world trip is to concentrate on the details
of your route with you, using our experience and knowledge to help you
to hone it and get it exactly right. For us to do this properly, we
will need you to have your full attention for half an hour or so. We
also recommend that you have a world map and a calendar handy.
Come and see us : A decent cup of tea awaits those who pop in.
We get lots of visitors from all over the country - our record so far
is a couple who did a 400 mile round trip from Lincoln because no one
else could help them. Brighton is also of course a fine place to spend
the day celebrating your round the world booking !
By email : When you book with us, you will be able to communicate
directly with your travel consultant by email.
We know that lots of our customers have to plan their trips furtively
at work and that it may not be quite appropriate for you to be overheard
planning your big year off in the middle of the office !
Our advice re this form of communication is however is if possible to
speak to us first. By talking to you we can get a much more accurate
picture of your trip. Where email comes in to its own is in exchange
of information during the course of you booking up to and even after
your departure.
See Contact Us for details
of our opening hours.
Payment
A minimum non-refundable deposit of £100 per person is payable
on flight only bookings. A higher deposit may be required depending
on the type of ticket purchased, your consultant will advise you on
this.
A non refundable deposit of around 10% is normally required for hotels
/ tours / car hire.
Once a deposit has been paid, every booking is double checked by a
manager or supervisor before we send out your confirmation. Among other
things this will give details of each flight, airline, departure and
arrival time and city. We will also give you your own log in code so
you can view your flight booking on line via our website.
Our customers receive responsive and efficient service throughout the
life of their booking . We even offer a date change service via email
once you are travelling if you are having trouble contacting your airline.
Full payment is normally due 10 weeks prior to departure, or sooner
on some ticket types.
Credit Card Surcharges
In order to keep our prices as competitive as possible, the prices
that we quote are based on payments made using debit cards such as Switch,
Delta or Solo, or by cheque.
There is a 2% surcharge when paying with Visa, Mastercard and American
Express.
Tickets
Tickets are issued (i.e. printed ) when final payment has been received.
Tickets are sent to you as soon as all of your travel documents have
been issued.
What is meant by an 'E-ticket' or 'Electronic ticket'?
'E-tickets' or 'Electronic tickets' are a system which securely stores
all airline ticket details in the relevant airlines computer system.
E-tickets eliminate the need issue a paper ticket . If you are booked
on a flight for which you have an e ticket, all you need to check in
is your passport and airline reservation number as the check-in staff
will be able to access your reservation form your name. This information
is provided on your Travel Nation booking form.
E-tickets are easy to use, they are designed to make your journey experience
from booking to boarding as fast and hassle-free as possible.
The benefits:
- No need to wait for paper tickets to arrive in the post.
- E-tickets cannot be lost, damaged, forgotten or stolen
- Save time at selected airports by using a 'Self service check-in kiosk'
and even 'Online check-in' on some routes.
The majority of airlines now see the benefits of E-ticketing and wherever
possible we issue E tickets as opposed to paper ones.
It is planned by airlines that all tickets will be issued as e tickets
by 01 June 2008, though this deadline has already been extended twice.
Ironically, despite the fact that they are able to operate fleets of
aircraft criss-crossing the globe, there are still some carriers who
can't get it together to switch from paper tickets to e tickets !
Do I get new tickets when I change my dates?
On most tickets, once paid for and issued, the date or time of the
first flight from the U.K. can’t be changed, but dates and times
of subsequent flights can be changed. We will tell you of course which
flights on your itinerary are date changeable and advise you of any
fees that apply.
There are 2 stages to changing dates on tickets that have already been
issued. The reservation needs to be changed, and the ticket has to be
revalidated. Once this has been done, you will be issued with a new
confirmation or e ticket (though it is likely that your airline reference
will be unchanged)
For more information on changing
dates on round the world tickets, click here.
Can I leave my dates open?
Sometimes. We will let you know if your ticket allows open dated flights.
Tickets where open dated sectors are not allowed are not necessarily
more restricted though. As you would expect, when you are travelling,
dates can subsequently be changed, usually either for free or for a
small charge of around £5 - £20. There are also some tickets
on which date change costs are higher. We will advise you of the particular
date change conditions are on your ticket.
If you want to travel at a busy time - e.g. Rio for carnival (13 –
16 Feb 2010 ), anywhere in Asia for around the Chinese New year (mid
Feb in 2010) or to Hong Kong during the Hong Kong Sevens (end of March
2009) you will need to book well in advance. Christmas, New Year and
Easter are also of course times when most flights will operate to capacity.
What happens if I lose my tickets?
Paper tickets:
Hooray ! These were finally all but abolished worldwide on 01 June
2008, so these are no extinct. (Losing your paper tickets usually used
to mean spending a few days in the Lewis Caroll world of maddening airline
bureaucracy and sometimes came with replacement costs.
e-tickets:
Airlines rarely ask to see e tickets as they already have information
they need in their systems. As long as you have your passport and check
in for the flight you are booked on, this is all you usually need. Once
your tickets have been issued however we do of course email your airline
e ticket details and are happy to resend them at any stage of your journey
if required.
You can also print off a most of your e tickets from our website here.
What happens if my airline goes bust ?
There have been a number of high profile airline insolvencies recently,
most recently , XL and Alitalia, with stories of stranded passengers
around the world.
When you book flights with Travel Nation, behind the scenes, we take
out ‘scheduled airline failure insurance ‘. This means that
in the event that an airline goes out of business, this scheme would
provide a full refund on an unused airline ticket on which travel has
yet to commence, of a pro rata refund if partly flown.
How far ahead can I book ?
It is possible to book airline seats up to 11 months in advance.
This means that is often not possible to book dates that you want when
tickets are issued. On tickets where open dated flights are not allowed
this may also mean that the dates towards the end of your itinerary
may not necessarily the ones that you intend to travel on. You will
need to change these dates at a later date.
|