Have you lost money because you could not travel and had a non-refundable holiday? You are not alone. Flights with low-cost carriers and the cheapest rates with hotels are always non-refundable. No one really books thinking they will have to cancel, so most people always chose the cheapest option, which has 100% charge if you want to cancel. Millions of people lose money on their unused travel bookings every year because they are not aware of one the travel industry’s best kept secrets.
Did you know that you can sell your flight or hotel reservation? Most people don’t, even though this option has been around for a while now. Instead of losing all the money you paid for a non-refundable trip, you can sell it to another traveller who is going to the same place at the same time. That way, you will recover at least some of the money you paid.
How to sell your flight to someone else
Flight tickets are trickiest to resell. You can transfer your flight to someone else if your airline allows you to change the name of the passenger. There is always a fee for the name change and they vary from airline to airline. The airlines which offer this service are mainly European, low-cost airlines. If your airlines does not allow name changes, then, unfortunately, your flight is not transferable.
How to sell your hotel booking
Hotel bookings are much easier to resell. If the reservation is made through a booking engine, the name change is done through the traveller’s online account. If the booking is made directly with the hotel, a phone call to reception is all it takes. Hotels do not charge fees to change the name on a reservation, so you can recover a lot more of what you paid for a hotel reservation.
Based in the EU? Your travel agent must allow you to change the name of the traveller
If you have purchased a package holiday from a travel agent based in the European Union, your agent must allow you to change the name of the passengers on your trip. They are obliged to do this by law, thanks to the European Package Travel Directive. They can charge you a small administrative fee for carrying out the name changes, but they should only charge to cover their own costs, not make a profit from this service.
Have you been in a situation where you could not travel and could not cancel your reservations? Did anyone even mention that selling your holidays to another traveller is an option? Probably not, because the travel providers are hoping to keep your money and sell the same booking to someone else at the same time!
By Galena Stavreva
Author Bio
Galena Stavreva is the CEO of SpareFare.net – a secure secondary marketplace for flights, hotel rooms and package holidays. If you cannot travel, you can sell your trip on SpareFare and recover the money you spent. If you want to travel cheaply, you can search the thousands of travel bargains on the site.