Price & Value

Meet William and Nicola

A young couple from London, William and Nicola were hoping for the honeymoon of a lifetime. William loved planning things himself while Nicola was in the ‘leave it to the experts’ camp. Here’s what happened when we asked them to record every step of the two different approaches.

What they wanted to book

A ten-day honeymoon of a lifetime in Brazil
Return flights in economy
Accommodation at three different lodges
All in-country transfers and local guides

The Results

How their booking experiences compared

Before confirming, we ensured that the honeymoons they had come up with were like for like, star for star.
Not recorded: Time spent day dreaming.

D.I.Y With William

Nicola with Us

Planning	William	Nicola
Hours spent planning	16	2
Websites visited	27	4
Calls made	10	1
Calls received	0	6
Emails written	13	5
Points of contact	7	1

How easy was it to get impartial, first hand advice?

'The information I read as I researched online seemed biased in places but cross referencing on forums was helpful to get a more balanced view.'

'Original Travel’s advice felt completely honest. Saskia knew Brazil well and was very frank about what she thought we wouldn't like as well as giving us lots of inspiring options'

Booking	William	Nicola
Confirmation emails received	12	2
Payments required	11	4
Hidden extra costs	On the ground payments	0
Printouts required for travelling	14	0

Did you receive a personalised itinerary printed & posted to you, complete with tips and advice?

”Erm“

”Yes“

On the ground	William	Nicola
Dedicated support for duration of trip	No	Yes
24/7 emergency helpline	No	Yes
Protected by UK travel regulations	No	Yes
Exposure to exchange rate movements	No	Yes
Financial protection	No	Yes

Booking complete, how much management will you have to do while you’re away?

'I’ve printed everything but a couple of the day trips still need confirming so I’ll have to do a spot of WiFi hunting in location.'

'None! Saskia confirmed everything with me and provided all the documentation beautifully packaged and in my hand.'

Total Cost & Time	William	Nicola
Cost	£6,346	£6,485
Total planning time	58 hours	8 hours

The Verdict

Cost difference just £139

Going it alone took William an extra 50 hours (that’s equivalent to £2.78 an hour)

'Choosing Original Travel seems like a no brainer now. The support, experience, guidance and honest advice we received from them was incredible and we still felt totally in control. Saskia has not only made us excited about the trip but well prepared and relaxed!'

William and Nicola

Don't risk exposing yourself to exchange rate movements

You might be booking your holiday as much as a year in advance. You come to pay your bill at the end of your holiday and because your home currency has weakened by 15% you're suddenly paying much more than you expected plus all sorts of nasty bank charges. OK, the currency might just as easily strengthen and it could end up being cheaper for you. But do you really want to take that risk? It's worth also being aware that some travel companies may sting you for a currency moving the wrong way between booking and travel. Amazingly they are legally allowed to do this. We never surcharge because of foreign currency movements. We manage our foreign currency requirements very closely and always aim to protect our clients from the horrors of surcharging.

If you still want to go it alone

NO HARD FEELINGS
We're passionate about our destinations and want to make sure you have a wonderful time irrespective of whether or not you decide to book with us, so we're happy to send you our destination dossier to help you enjoy your holiday more. Request a free destination dossier.

And finally, even if you don't book with us we'd love to know how it went. No, we're not joking - we'd like to hear if you had a nice time, what worked, what didn't, and yes, maybe we'd like to know whether or not we can help with your next trip!