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Travel preparation (1 Viewer)

A

albatross02

Well-known member
Germany
Hello together,

where is possible to find accomodation, car rentals, flights and local bird guides ?

I only know booking.com, but mostly B&B is not possible to find.
Check24 ( only in German language ) is car rental comparing, where I mark option with full insurance, which means also glas, bottom of car and fully comprehensive insureance.

Which portals or informations sources are recommend to ?


Thank You very much.


Best regards
Dieter
 
idealo, skyscanner, fluege, expedia, ebookers, hotels.com for flights, car and accomodation.

For bird guides, I take one mentioned in a reliable trip report from cloudbirders, or make a search for a website and chat a little to be sure that the guy knows what he is talking about.

best,
 
My process would tend to be:

1) Ask for general advice on the destination on this website, combined with some general google searches for trip reports and read up on the location on wikitravel.

2) If applicable, research for guides directly on google, trying a variety of search terms and following up on mentions in trip reports in stage 1. Ideally, I'd choose someone who is mentioned in at least a few other trip reports. Correspond with them a bit to see what they are offering, and I don't actually confirm the guide until everything else is booked.

3) Look for international flights/first location accommodation through expedia, corroborating reviews of the accomodation through reviews on tripadvisor before confirming the booking.

4) At that point, any internal flights I'd research through skyscanner to fight one which is best compromise between price and not being too dodgy.

5) Booking.com for secondary accommodation, again corroborating against tripadvisor reviews.

6) For books, I'd begin my search on Amazon to locate the titles that I think would be useful, and then compare the prices on ebay to see if I can get it for cheaper. If the trip is assured a long way in advance this may actually be one of the first steps I take as it can inform my plans, if it's more last minute then I take it along just for reference.

7) Confirm booking with the guide.

8) I'm quite research OCD prone so at this point I research a number of other days that I could do depending on different eventualities such as weather, hitting species targets early or late, wanting to go to specific places to try out different food/see different historic stuff etc. Specifically, as I generally have between 1 and 5 core target species every trip, I try to be aware of contingency options I can try out if I miss them when with the guide.
 
For flights I agree on www.skyscanner.com. For car rental in 3rd world countries I would try to get an idea from somebody who lives in the country you intend to visit, as the ones with the best prices often do not appear on the internet, in Ethiopia this saved me about 50% for example.
 
for guides, just ask around here.

for flights, I use a variety of scanners. Just be aware that you better book through a site within your country, for if there is something wrong with your flight and you have to call them on the phone (this occurred when I had to re-book my flight last year after the BXLs attacks, calling to an expensive number in the Netherlands while in France).

For accomodation, it really depends on your exact destination. Sometimes, there is the most preferred option of a not-overly-expensive birding lodge / hotel with birding straight from your room. Other times you only have more expensive lodges, or you have just nice non-birding (i.e. not close to birding sites) accomodation.
In the first case (birding lodge), it is obvious to reserve a room through email or phone. If not, booking.com or just showing up (if a lot of accomodation is concentrated in one area) does the trick.

I do most car rentals through rentalcars.com. In some destinations (e.g. Tenerife), it pays off taking a bus out of the airport and renting a car in the city center (cheaper). Probably, a car+driver for your whole trip can be much cheaper when you arrange it on the spot in certain countries (in e.g. Africa), but arranging it would take a full day.

Most important:
for birds, check cloudbirders for reports and hbw.com for recent taxonomy (splits etc.)
 
T.O. said:
For flights I agree on www.skyscanner.com. For car rental in 3rd world countries I would try to get an idea from somebody who lives in the country you intend to visit, as the ones with the best prices often do not appear on the internet, in Ethiopia this saved me about 50% for example.
Click to expand...

The only issue with skyscanner is that you cannot usually change or cancel flights without a large charge. Booking direct with an airline can be safer in this regard and is often the same price.

I would check Skyscanner then go direct to an airline for a comparion.

The Russian embassy messed up my visa application last year and I had to change a flight, it cost me almost the same as the flight in 'fees'.


A
 
Hello together,

thank You very much for information.

The addition from Andy is very important, often not ever direct booking at airline, can be cheaper.
But comparing "machine" give an good overview, especially into areas where is hard competition like Bangkok.

If booking.com have no information about an area e.g. remote area, one possibility is google areaname. If google maps apear enter accomodation.

For the last vacations, I rent a complete house e.g. in Ireland.
It costs 325 Euro for 7 nights.
For B&B costs often more like complete house.

Booking has also cottage, but in Ireland I booked at company which is located in London.




Best regards
Dieter


Best regards
Dieter
 
njlarsen said:
Do you actually use that list as your birding list??? I would use Clements or IOC!

Niels
Click to expand...

I use IOC for my world list, if that is your question.
IOC is sometimes more progressive in splits (e.g. Inca Jay vs. Green Jay, Sedge Wren vs. Grass Wren), sometimes not (e.g. Maranon Gnatcatcher).

I feel no mercy for any ssp. anymore at the moment, at least not the ones you can ID in the field. They all have to give up one time or another, whether they are full sp. in HBW, IOC, or not. ;)
 
for flights, ITA Matrix (now owned by google) is currently the best - some agents and most flight geeks use this site, but you need to know specific coding - Google Flights is the user friendly version and is good and you don't need to know the coding. However these sites often don't include some ULCCS (Ultra low cost carriers) which apparently often tend to work out to be more expensive than a normal airline anyway. BTW booking through google flights is often cheaper than booking direct with the airline.

For accommodation, the only thing I'll add is that I find trip advisor handy.
 
ITA Marix sounds very interesting.

In booking I do not found accomodation at some top bird areas like Cape Clear Island ( Ireland ) and only very expensive accomodation at Scilly Islands.

Maye there is only good information at special pages.

Even imageireland.com, where I had a very good deal for Dingle peninsula ( ireland ), have no offer for Cape Clear Island.

I found only this
http://www.capeclearisland.ie/Accommodation

Maybe there is no more accomodation on this island ?
 
andyadcock said:
The only issue with skyscanner is that you cannot usually change or cancel flights without a large charge. Booking direct with an airline can be safer in this regard and is often the same price.

I would check Skyscanner then go direct to an airline for a comparion.
Click to expand...

But you do not book via skyscanner, so what you say is just incorrect. You can choose to which site you want to be directed when you click on a fare at skyscanner, and this always includes the link to the actual airline...
 
albatross02 said:
Hello Larry,

did You ever use airbnb ?
I do no know any one, which has used this yet.


Best regards
Dieter
Click to expand...

My wife and I use it regularly for both domestic and oversea travel. The quality of accomodations can vary just like any place of lodging but you can ask questions to determine if the place is right for you and usually get quick responses unlike many commercial establishments. Most of the Airbnb owners like meeting people and can often go the "extra mile" to make sure you have a pleasant stay.

We have used this service in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Dominica, and many of our own states.

I'm not saying that you should always use Airbnb over another location but they do offer alternative possibilities.

Steve
 
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