I advertently (as opposed to inadvertently) - as an experiment - bought an opera ticket for 2011 in Europe, so now am toying with the idea of a trip to Europe in 2011.

In randomly surfing the net for accommodations, I came across websites like "berlin_bed" which seems to list pensions for ten euros or more cheaper than megasites such as "Venere".

Questions: are these lower prices for real? Is the higher price the "handling fee" for the megasite? Is it safe (and if it's possible) to book directly with the small pension itself or is it better to book through an agency?

TIA for any help you can give me!

Big sites like Venere are often more expensive because they add a commission or booking fee so it may be cheaper to book directly with the pensione. But, the benefit to booking with an agency is the security and ease of paying with a credit card. Some small pensiones may not accept credit cards when booking or they will not have an easy online booking system. It depends if the convenience of online booking on an agency website is worth an extra ten euros to you.

Ray: Thanks for your response.

Usually when visiting Europe, it's my friends there who do the hotel/pension bookings, but this time I can't very well ask them when they are not going along on this trip, so I'm a novice when doing it myself.

My curiosity was piqued because, as part of doing research, I tracked one particular property through several different booking sites and was very surprised at the sometimes huge difference in price for the same room.

As far as my poor German allows me to understand, this particular property asks for no deposits and allows a fee-free cancellation three days before the date booked. It seems like a good option and the price for booking direct (for this property) is almost HALF that of a middleman booking site. What do you think?

Where will you be visiting? Maybe we can suggest some specific places to stay. For instance, in Munich, we loved the Hotel Uhland. In Venice, the Hotel Riva, etc. Not ten euros, but very good values.

We used Venere for one small hotel, and discovered we could have saved money by booking directly. Also, some hotels and pensions will give you a discount for paying cash, so ask upfront about that.

ya, venere to locate the hotel then book direct. gr8 story about opera tkt.

Peaceout: thanks for your kind offer, but this entire trip is still a maybe. I don't even know how many operas to see, in which cities, nor even have a per day budget! But will definitely be returning for more excellent Fodorite advice as things begin to solidify!

Kind of silly to be spending thousands of dollars because of getting a $50 opera ticket as a result of experimental online ticket purchasing, but that's the way life is for me.

Which life seems to operate in reverse sometimes:
"For getting a horseshoe [opera ticket] a kingdom [a trip] was won."

scubes: thanks for the tip! and yes! I'm excited about getting the opera ticket!

Have you ever been to Europe?