ebookers.com is a leading pan-European online travel agency specialising in worldwide travel. ebookers.com offers a wide range of travel products including a choice of over 250 airlines, more than 86,000 hotels, holidays, car hire and insurance. ebookers.com is part of Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW), a leading global online travel company. ebookers.com prides itself in its passion for travel and in strong customer experience. The company offers a full range of travel products online and over the telephone. It operates local online travel agencies across 13 countries in Europe and its headquarters are in Central London.

Company background
ebookers.com, was established in 1998, and its company’s origins go back almost 20 years under the name of Flightbookers Ltd. Flightbookers was founded in Earls Court, London in 1983 by Dinesh Dhamija and in 1996 was the first travel agent to launch an interactive travel website in the UK. This was so successful that in 1999 the internet arm was separated to form ebookers.com and the new company taken public with a flotation on Nasdaq in New York and Germany’s Neuer Markt. The m raised at flotation was used for a Pan-European roll-out and November 2000 saw ebookers.com buy Flightbookers for m and reunite the two companies.

Part of the world’s largest travel conglomerate
ebookers.com was acquired by Cendant in February 2005. On October 23, 2005, Cendant Corporation announced its decision to split into four separate companies, citing a necessity to diversify in appealing to stockholders and in an attempt to increase the value of the post-split up company. These four categories include “Real Estate, Travel Distribution, Hospitality and Vehicle Rental Companies.” Cendant originally decided to spin off its Travel Distribution division as a separate company called Travelport, but on June 30, 2006, Cendant announced the sale of Travelport to affiliates of the Blackstone Group, a private equity company. ebookers.com became the European brand for one of Travelport’s three main divisions: Orbitz Worldwide. In July 2007, Orbitz Worldwide was spun off from Travelport and went public on the New York Stock Exchange, listing under the ticker symbol: OWW.

Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) is a leading global online travel company that uses innovative technology to enable leisure and business travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products. Orbitz Worldwide owns and operates a portfolio of consumer brands that includes Orbitz, CheapTickets, ebookers.com, HotelClub, RatesToGo, the Away Networkand corporate travel brand Orbitz for Business. For more information, visit the Orbitz Worldwide Investor Relations website atwww.orbitz-ir.com.

Why do customers shop with ebookers ?
Customers visit ebookers.com for its travel expertise, range and value. ebookers.com is a travel company that has embraced the internet, not the other way round. The call centre and website teams have a passion, expertise and knowledge of travel which is reflected in the way they do business. Plus the company is able to offer travel products at a discount of up to 75% off standard prices and it continues to grow in popularity because of its close relationships with leading travel suppliers which enable ebookers to offer discounts, known as “negotiated” or “merchant” fares, to its customers. ebookers.com sells to destinations around the world and has a particular speciality in long and mid haul destinations including Australasia, the Far East and the Americas.

The ebookers.com customer promise

Access to the best worldwide travel deals -
ebookers.com offers some of the best value flights, holidays, hotels, car hire and specialist travel products in the market. All deals are sourced by a team of travel experts and cover an extensive range of destinations and all prices are covered by our Price Promise.

We are renowned for cheap long haul flights and our flight team are in constant contact with the world’s most trusted airlines to negotiate the best value for customers

Honest and straightforward advice -
ebookers’ customers are travel savvy and value impartial advice and insider travel information. Our new travel blog and customer hotel reviews are 2 examples of honest travel information and we also strive to ensure that our pricing is up to date so that the price you see is the price you get.

Multi-channel booking -
ebookers.com doesn’t just operate on the Internet. You can also call 0203 320 3320, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you’d prefer to discuss your travel requirements with a consultant:

If you’d like to make a booking, our sales line is open from 07:30 hrs to 23:45 hrs (7 days a week) on 0871 223 5000 .

Passion for travel -
ebookers.com employs staff with extensive travel backgrounds no matter what role they do in the company. Everyone enthuses about travel and we hope that comes across in the information we provide online and via our call centre.

Extensive range of great value holidays -
If you’re looking for an entire holiday package, ebookers can offer unrivalled value and quality, whether you’re looking for a European city break, a sunshine getaway in the tropics or a sporting holiday on the Algarve. All holidays are sourced by a dedicated team of travel experts.

Accommodation at 65,000 hotels -
Booking your holiday accommodation through ebookers.com can save you valuable time and money. The travel team is in contact with 65,000 hotels across the globe. Our accommodation covers a wide spectrum from good value basic hotels to independent boutique Riyads in Morrocco and 5-star luxury resorts in the Far East.

Arrange car hire online -
You can arrange your car hire with the biggest car hire companies, such as Avis and Alamo, through ebookers.com.

Take care of travel extras online -
ebookers.com offer travel insurance with one of the world’s largest insurance providers, AIG, bureau de change and airport parking facilities, as well as assistance with processing visas for Australia.

Email newsletter updates -
The travel industry is fast paced and the best deals are constantly being updated. The ebookers.com weekly newsletter and specialist newsletters keeps you updated with the hottest deals on the ebookers.com website. Sign up here.

The other day I overheard a conversation between two women discussing their summer holiday plans. One was telling the other that she had gone to her local travel agent and asked for a cheap package holiday in Spain. The agent had quickly managed to find a holiday that suited and the lady booked it immediately.

The other woman said that she wished she could do the same but had been unable to find a travel agent who could help. Apparently, someone she knew recommended Northern Cyprus to her. The description of its climate, fabulous beaches, beautiful scenery and welcoming local people deeply appealed to her but she had been unable to find any travel agent offering package holidays there. The person who recommended Northern Cyprus to her explained how it was possible to book flights and accommodation online but she felt apprehensive about not going through a travel agent.

I was quite taken aback at hearing this admission of total dependency on travel agents and ignorance of Internet travel sites. After all, this was 2008 in the U.K. where traditional travel agents have long since been marginalised by online travel sites. Yet, as the conversation developed it became apparent that neither woman knew anything about what resources the Internet offers in this respect.

It got me thinking about how many other people there were around who need tips on organising travel online and when I got home I decided to write down the following seven steps for them.

Step 1: Finding out about the travel destination

Open Google and type into the search box, the name of whatever country or general area you want to holiday in, followed by the words “travel information” or “travel guide”. For example; “Spain travel information”. Browse several of the sites your search throws up and then decide which ones give you the best travel tips relevant to your holiday needs.

Step 2: Deciding on the actual resort

Use the best sites you find from step 1 to decide which resort or locality offers you most of what you want for your vacation. For example, localities with secluded beaches or beaches with lots of facilities, resorts that have plenty to keep the children occupied or quiet villages in scenic locations, etc.

Having familiarised yourself with all that you want to know about the resort or locality, ascertain the nearest airports (or other relevant transportation centres).

Step 3: Finding suitable accommodation

When you have found some resorts that satisfy your criteria, look for suitable accommodation in them. This may require typing a new search term into Google because the sites you have looked at so far may not have sufficient detailed information about specific accommodation in a given locality. They may however have some links to other sites that do. If so, check the links out before starting a new search. If you do need to do a new search, the best search term to use would be something like; Name of resort or locality followed by the word “accommodation”. For example if after researching southern Spain, you had decided you liked what you had read about Mojacar as a holiday resort, you would type; “Mojacar accommodation”. Here’s a tip worth remembering: you may need to refer back to the other website pages that you have already opened so keep them open by doing your accommodation search in a new tab. In case you don’t know about using tabs, take a look at your browser tools options and learn how to set your browser up so that you can open new pages in new tabs.

Step 4: Checking cheapest flight availability

When you have ascertained that accommodation exists in your chosen locality, the next step is check out what flights (or other transportation) is available to get you to the resort.

Open another tab on your browser and this time type in the search term, “cheapest flights” followed by the name of nearest airport. If there are other, more distant airports that you would be prepared to consider, you might want to run separate searches for each airport.

Spend time on checking for flights because quite considerable variations in ticket prices exits, not only from flight operator to flight operator but also from one airport to another even when they are more or less the same distance from your departure airport and operated by the same company. Very significant price variations will also be found by trying different departure and arrival dates.

Step 5: Provisionally book accommodation

Assuming that you establish the availability of flights (or other transportation) at the time you want and within your budget, you will be in a position to provisionally book accommodation. Return to the browser tab you left open with the websites providing accommodation details and follow the instructions for contacting the person or organisation offering the accommodation. Sometimes this will be an automatic online process and sometimes you will need to send an email. Submit the dates you have decided upon from the flight availability research. You will not normally be asked for a deposit at this stage but if you are, inform the accommodation owner that you want them to provisionally hold the dates until after you have booked your flight.

Step 6: Booking your flight

Having received confirmation that the accommodation is available for you between the selected dates, return to the website where you found the cheapest flight deal and book your outgoing and return flights. Very occasionally you might be unlucky and the flights on the selected dates are no longer available. If so you will need to select new dates and redo step 5.

Step 7: Confirm Accommodation

Once you have your flight has been booked you are in a safe position to confirm your accommodation booking. Usually, this will require that a deposit is paid, either online or by bank transfer. Either way, the balance is usually paid upon arrival at the accommodation.

A family cruise vacation is a great way to get away and spend time with your children. Almost of the cruise lines offer packages that cater to families. Surf the web for the right family cruise vacation that will cater to all of your needs. Better yet, talk to a cruise travel agent. Make sure they are a member of CLIA (the industries organization) and have taken many cruise vacations on several cruise lines. The cruise travel agent will be able to steer you to the cruise lines that have children’s programs that are age specific, have trained youth counselors and will fulfill your desires on your family cruise vacation.

The great thing about these programs on the cruise lines is that your children will be with qualified people all day, doing all kinds of activities and you are free to do your own thing with no worries.

A family cruise vacation takes you to many destinations without the rigors of packing and unpacking. A cruise vacation will also alleviate the stress of airport security. You might have to fly to your port of embarkation but after that there will be no more checking in and long security lines.

The cruise ship will take you to many ports where you get off the ship and enjoy your day on shore. Before you leave on your family cruise vacation research the ports you will be visiting. Plan what you want to do in each port ahead of time. Since it is a family cruise vacation, discuss this with all your family members. You can find out what the cruise lines offer in the way of tours on their website. In many cases the cruise lines let you book tours online or by fax.

Here are some guidelines to help you choose the perfect family cruise vacation.

First find out if they allow kids in your children’s age group. Cruise lines may limit the amount of children in certain age groups. This applies especially at times like Easter or spring break

Do some digging to find out what kind of children’s facility the cruise line has. You will want to check what the activities will be, are there play areas, and baby sitting available. Find out the rules for placing your children in the child care center. Most times you must sign your child into the play areas and the kids will not be allowed to leave until you sign them out.

It is important to know the ratio of counselors to children. You want to know that there are adequate supervisors for your kids. Know the qualifications of the care giver. For instance, on the Queen Mary II they have licensed nannies.

If you will need a cot or crib find out if they are available and if there is a fee. Sometimes these need to be reserved in advance of the family cruise vacation. The size of the cabin should be noted. If the cabin is too small, you will be cramped. If you are not taking toddlers it is best to book cabins across from each other. You and your spouse take the outside cabin and give the one across the hall from it to your children. This not only affords you privacy but the kids will feel “grown up” with their own cabin.

Check to see if they have a kids menu. A lot of kids don’t eat a variety of foods. If they are particularly picky it is nice to know that the cruise lines offer food for kids, like hamburgers and hot dogs. Almost all cruise lines offer hamburgers and hot dogs at lunch around the pool but what about dinner? Find out in advance of your family cruise vacation so you know everyone will be happy.

If anyone in your family has special needs make sure your cruise travel agent asks the ship if they will provide for them. There may be two or three formal nights. If you do not feel comfortable participating in them with little children, find out what kind of alternative dining the cruise line offers. Many ships have alterative dining rooms for just this purpose. Some of the cruise lines have kid’s dinners where only the children and the caregivers can attend. If this coincides with a formal night it would be nice to know.

Some of the children’s activity that are offered on cruise lines are scavenger hunts, pizza parties, disco parties for teens, arts and crafts and pool parties. The cruise line will bend over backwards to keep your children entertained. They want you to come back.

So call your cruise travel agent and start planning the perfect family cruise vacation. It will be one vacation that you and your kids won’t forget.

Happy Cruising!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

The best travel agents can not only arrange the various modes of transportation, but also be able to save the tourists money with early booking discounts, special fares, accommodation details and travel advisories. The best Travel agents advise travelers about their destinations such as weather conditions, local ordinances, and customs, attractions and exhibitions. Agents also provide information on custom regulations, car rentals, required papers (passports, visas and certificates of vaccination), travel adversaries, restaurants, tourist attractions, and recreation; currency exchange rates and about other essential things. Also, the best travel agents mediate on the traveler’s behalf to make alternate booking arrangements.

Asia travel agent are committed to providing excellent services to their customers. After making tourist’s reservation, Asia travel agents are on standby 24 hours a day 365 days a year to assist their tourist with any questions or problems regarding their reservation. The Asia travel agents also ensure the complete security of their tourist’s personal and credit card details by using high security 128 bit SSL encryption which encrypts all personal information into a unreadable format before being transmitted over the Internet. The Asia travel agent also provides their travelers with a broad range of resources to help them stay satisfied, productive and focused on their business objectives.

Global Travel agents are the world-wide full service provider of travel reservation services, offering great service and a large selection of discounted hotels, flights and rental cars. Global travel agents makes available, on a package basis, travel products and services provided by airlines, lodging properties, car rental companies, destination service providers, cruise lines and other travel product and service companies. Global travel agents also offer travel and non-travel advertisers access to a potential source of incremental traffic and transactions through its various media and advertising offerings on the Trip Advisor Media Network…A global travel agent provides global electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and electronic commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers and corporations worldwide. The global Travel agent combines service leadership with flexible technology, intelligent data analysis and strategic solutions to provide travel management advantages to customers of all sizes, and all around the globe. The integrated and global technology infrastructure gives tourist the resources to access, analyze and act on the dynamic data.

The Travel agent websites provides the vast, latest, and detailed information on travel technology, e-commerce, reservation system, transaction processing services, travel booking, airline technologies, electronic ticketing, electronic data services, low-fare shopping technology, travel-management software. The travel agent website provides global electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and electronic commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers and corporations worldwide.

Today travelers still prefer using travel agents who can provide customized services and planning for complex records of journey.

India provides us travel opportunities of all kinds, of all forms, and for everyone. Nowadays best travel agents are presenting India in a way that is quite unique, unhindered and unexplored. Best Travel Agents want to show us the possibilities that are immense and unending. The chief mission of Travel Agents is to provide best quality and excellence to their customers promptly and exclusively… Best Travel agents provide us all the facilities while we are on our personal journey – THE JOURNEY OF THRILL AND EXCITEMENT. Frequently when the conversation turns to travel, travel agents are the only best ones who do not hesitate to make an approbation of the best travel agency they have dealt with.

Asia Travel agents advise travelers about their destinations such as weather conditions, local ordinances, and customs, attractions and exhibitions. Best Travel Agents also provide information on custom regulations, car rentals, required papers (passports, visas and certificates of vaccination), travel adversaries, restaurants, tourist attractions, and recreation; currency exchange rates and about other essential things. Also, travel agents mediate on the traveler’s behalf to make alternate booking arrangements.

Travel Agents consult published and computer-based sources for the best information on departure and arrival times, fares, and hotel ratings and accommodations. Best Travel Agents visit hotels, resorts, and restaurants to evaluate comfort, cleanliness, and quality of food and service. Travel Agents also assess individual’s and business people’s needs to help them make the best possible travel arrangements.

Travel consultants have to perform many tasks, such as: they have to confirm bookings and notify clients of luggage limits, insurance, medical, passport, visa and currency requirements. Travel Agents also have to discuss client requirements and advise on suitable options. Travel agents issue tickets for travel, accommodation vouchers and all relevant documentation, and also collect payments and maintain best records of transactions.

Today travelers still prefer using travel agents who can provide best customized services and planning for complex records of journey.

Asia Travel agents have the quality of active listening i.e. they have to give full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. Agents also have the knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. Best Travel agents also know about the principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life. Travel agents should have the vast and best knowledge of transportation, clerical, computer and electronics.

Many times agents are under a great deal of pressure during travel emergencies or when they need to reschedule missed reservations. During peak vacation times, such as summer and holiday travel periods, agents tend to be hectic.

Best Travel Agents possess good communication skills and strong customer focus. They are strong in computer and written skills. Travel Agents are also able to work as part of team and under pressure.  And the most important thing is that agents enjoy working with the people.

To attract the travelers, many travel agents specialize in specific interest destinations; travel to certain regions or in selling to particular demographic groups.

There’s a lot involved in planning a cruise. Between booking flights, finding the right accommodations for everyone in the family, and staying within your budget, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But you don’t have to do it all on your own. That’s where cruise travel agents come in.

Working with a cruise travel agent to plan your vacation can be extremely helpful and cost effective. Your cruise travel agent has industry contacts and experience that might help you get discounts or special perks. And having an expert do your travel planning for you will save you a lot of time and stress. Use these tips to make sure you get the most out of your cruise travel agent.

Finding a Cruise Travel Agent

First you need to find a travel agent who you feel comfortable working with. Shop around and ask lots of questions. Find out if prospective agents specialize in a certain type of cruise and if they’re knowledgeable about the cruise destinations you’re interested in. Learn as much as you can about their experience and credentials. It’s important to choose a reputable, experienced agent who’s associated with a trusted and well established company.

Working with a Cruise Travel Agent

Once you’ve found an agent you like, you should provide him or her with all the information needed to plan your perfect cruise vacation. And don’t leave out the details, even if they seem insignificant. For example, your travel agent probably won’t ask you if you’re a vegetarian or vegan. It’s important to talk about special dietary requirements or other needs that revolve around your health, beliefs or personal preferences. That way, your agent can be sure that your special requirements are met, and that you’re fully satisfied with your cruise.

Cruise Prices and Discounts

One of the perks of working with a cruise travel agent is that he or she can help you get the most for your money. If you have a specific budget for your cruise, and you absolutely can’t go over it, make sure your cruise travel agent knows this right up front. If your budget has a little room for leeway, let him or her know. This ensures that your agent won’t waste your time with cruise vacations that are out of your price range, and frees up his or her time to hunt down the best bargains for your resources.

Ask your travel agent about discounts, free upgrades, and other ways to get more out of your cruise without going over budget. Your cruise travel agent will have contacts in the travel and cruise industry that might help you save money. In some cases, for example, you can get discounts by booking flights, lodging, and the cruise all in one package.

You can also save money by booking late in the season, even a up to a few weeks before the ship is scheduled to leave port. Waiting to book your trip can be risky, but if you’ve got strong nerves, your cruise travel agent can help you reap the rewards. Cruise prices drop to rock bottom in those few weeks before the vacation actually starts, and your agent could help you snag a cheap cabin or take advantage of other great last minute incentives.

Try to be Flexible

The more flexible you are with your travel requirements, the more easily your cruise travel agent can help you get a good deal. For example, are you willing to be flexible regarding the type of cabin you want? Or perhaps you can leave for your vacation a day early to take advantage of lower air travel prices. Let your cruise travel agent know if you’re willing to make small compromises here and there. It could save you a significant amount of money.

Other Questions to Ask your Cruise Travel Agent

It’s important to establish an open dialogue with your cruise travel agent, and to ask lots of questions. You need to understand all of the details of your cruise and know what to expect once you’re onboard. Use the questions below as a starting point when you’re working with a cruise travel agent, and be sure to ask plenty of your own too.

Will the agent handle all of your trip bookings, including extras such as rental cars and activities in stopover cities? Will the agent be available to help solve problems that arise during the trip, or does the agency have a point of contact local to your destination? Can the agency supply travel insurance? Are there local customs or any passport or other regulations you should be aware of in your destination country?

The other woman said that she wished she could do the same but had been unable to find a travel agent who could help. Apparently, someone she knew recommended Northern Cyprus to her. The description of its climate, fabulous beaches, beautiful scenery and welcoming local people deeply appealed to her but she had been unable to find any travel agent offering package holidays there. The person who recommended Northern Cyprus to her explained how it was possible to book flights and accommodation online but she felt apprehensive about not going through a travel agent.

I was quite taken aback at hearing this admission of total dependency on travel agents and ignorance of Internet travel sites. After all, this was 2008 in the U.K. where traditional travel agents have long since been marginalised by online travel sites. Yet, as the conversation developed it became apparent that neither woman knew anything about what resources the Internet offers in this respect.

It got me thinking about how many other people there were around who need tips on organising travel online and when I got home I decided to write down the following seven steps for them.

Step 1: Finding out about the travel destination

Open Google and type into the search box, the name of whatever country or general area you want to holiday in, followed by the words “travel information” or “travel guide”. For example; “Spain travel information”. Browse several of the sites your search throws up and then decide which ones give you the best travel tips relevant to your holiday needs.

Step 2: Deciding on the actual resort

Use the best sites you find from step 1 to decide which resort or locality offers you most of what you want for your vacation. For example, localities with secluded beaches or beaches with lots of facilities, resorts that have plenty to keep the children occupied or quiet villages in scenic locations, etc.

Having familiarised yourself with all that you want to know about the resort or locality, ascertain the nearest airports (or other relevant transportation centres).

Step 3: Finding suitable accommodation

When you have found some resorts that satisfy your criteria, look for suitable accommodation in them. This may require typing a new search term into Google because the sites you have looked at so far may not have sufficient detailed information about specific accommodation in a given locality. They may however have some links to other sites that do. If so, check the links out before starting a new search. If you do need to do a new search, the best search term to use would be something like; Name of resort or locality followed by the word “accommodation”. For example if after researching southern Spain, you had decided you liked what you had read about Mojacar as a holiday resort, you would type; “Mojacar accommodation”. Here’s a tip worth remembering: you may need to refer back to the other website pages that you have already opened so keep them open by doing your accommodation search in a new tab. In case you don’t know about using tabs, take a look at your browser tools options and learn how to set your browser up so that you can open new pages in new tabs.

Step 4: Checking cheapest flight availability

When you have ascertained that accommodation exists in your chosen locality, the next step is check out what flights (or other transportation) is available to get you to the resort.

Open another tab on your browser and this time type in the search term, “cheapest flights” followed by the name of nearest airport. If there are other, more distant airports that you would be prepared to consider, you might want to run separate searches for each airport.

Spend time on checking for flights because quite considerable variations in ticket prices exits, not only from flight operator to flight operator but also from one airport to another even when they are more or less the same distance from your departure airport and operated by the same company. Very significant price variations will also be found by trying different departure and arrival dates.

Step 5: Provisionally book accommodation

Assuming that you establish the availability of flights (or other transportation) at the time you want and within your budget, you will be in a position to provisionally book accommodation. Return to the browser tab you left open with the websites providing accommodation details and follow the instructions for contacting the person or organisation offering the accommodation. Sometimes this will be an automatic online process and sometimes you will need to send an email. Submit the dates you have decided upon from the flight availability research. You will not normally be asked for a deposit at this stage but if you are, inform the accommodation owner that you want them to provisionally hold the dates until after you have booked your flight.

Step 6: Booking your flight

Having received confirmation that the accommodation is available for you between the selected dates, return to the website where you found the cheapest flight deal and book your outgoing and return flights. Very occasionally you might be unlucky and the flights on the selected dates are no longer available. If so you will need to select new dates and redo step 5.

Step 7: Confirm Accommodation

Once you have your flight has been booked you are in a safe position to confirm your accommodation booking. Usually, this will require that a deposit is paid, either online or by bank transfer. Either way, the balance is usually paid upon arrival at the accommodation.