Automated Booking?
 

Hi all,

I have been traveling for a number of years for business and leisure and one of the things I really dislike is the booking process. I never feel as though I am getting everything I want or if I am I feel like I am really paying for it, nevermind the amount of time I have spent trying to always optimize my trip.

Are other people seeing these pains? If so, how are people mitigating the problem are there tools out there or is this one of the necessary evils of travel?

Thanks!

I suspect the only way to get everything you want is to pay for it.

I also think it depends on exactly what you want.

If you want a luxury hotel close to interesting sites you will have to pay a lot of money. If you are satisfied with a reasonably nice room, a few minutes away from the big sites on public transport, it's going to be cheaper. If you are willing to settle for a tiny room, twenty minutes away on public transport, it will be a lot cheaper.

If you want to avoid the irritation of the booking process then pay for a travel agent to do it. This will cost extra money, of course. And not even the best travel agent can fix everything. There will always be some tiny irritation somewhere.

I've found that when I stay in cheap places I'm willing to overlook a lot more of those tiny irritations than when I have paid a lot of money.

As for the booking process I think of it as a necessary part of the trip planning, since I can't afford to pay someone else to do it for me. It can be irritating, yes, but it can also be fun. Sites like booking.com really help a lot, since I sort rooms by both price and location.

The only way to get everything you want is to build your own hotel on your own island . The moment you step away from that standard you're accepting what the market is giving you.

Knowing what's important to you and what you're willing to give up greatly eases the search process. Having vague ideas often leads to disappointment. The more you can define your goal the easier it will be. That also requires you to do enough research to know if your goal matches the destination.

Things like booking.com let you search using a wide range of criteria. You still need to know what matters to you. No automated tool is going to understand your personal tradeoffs.

What exactly you don't like about the booking process? You are not able to find the accommodation you have in mind or that it is difficult and time-consuming to make the booking?

For me, once I know my destination and dates, I start looking for accommodation. To be honest, I prefer finding apartments over hotels, therefore I check Airbnb or serviced apartments. If I want to look for a hotel, I always like to check the map of the city and look for affordable, good looking and well-reviewed hotels in a central area. In the end the location for me it's the most important since I prefer to walk rather than use public transportation. For booking flights, I use Skyscanner which works perfectly and is always helpful.