Can’t travel? Sell your holiday and get your money back!

Can’t travel? Sell your holiday and get your money back!

Mockup_01_02

Travelling is something everyone looks forward to- the new culture, the history you’ll learn, and the food, of course! We neglect to believe that, sometimes, plans change. Sometimes you even have to cancel your whole trip. It happens more often than you think. You’re left feeling disappointed that you missed a vacation, in addition, you’re left frustrated that you’ve paid for a trip you couldn’t attend. Countless times, travel reservations are non-refundable, so if you can’t go…that means you lose the money you’ve paid.

It looks like you’re not alone. Millions of people have found that they have lost money on unused travel bookings, usually for non-refundable flights or hotel reservations. However, there is one thing they fail to realize; there are ways they can sell their non-refundable travel reservations safely and easily!

How to get a refund for your non-refundable travel reservations A much-needed solution has been created by SpareFare.net. The company has created a secondary marketplace for travel reservations. SpareFare connects people who have bought flights, hotel rooms or even complete holiday packages, but have found that they cannot use them, with those that are looking for a chance to take advantage of discounted travel.

By utilising the service, those who originally bought the holiday can recover at least some of the money they paid, whilst the people buying can often save as much as 50%-60% of what they would originally have paid. It is a win-win situation for both sides! Not only do you receive a great discount, but as a trusted platform, both buyers and sellers are protected from fraud. Moreover, SpareFare acts as an intermediary, making things progress smoothly throughout the whole process.

Now that the basics have been presented, how does the reselling actually work?

Selling an airline ticket

Before you can consider transferring your flight, you must check that your airline allows name changes of the ticket holder. More often than not, it is allowed – over sixty airlines allow for name changes! The change takes 1 minute and is done through the passengers’ online account. Usually, there is a fee for the name change, and this varies by airline and fare type. If you find that a specific airline’s policy does not allow for ticket name changes, then it may be worthwhile contacting them to see if you can get further details. A full list of all airlines which allow changes can be found here.

Selling a hotel room

Hotel reservations are even easier to sell! You’re usually asked to call the hotel with whom you have a reservation. From there you can inform them you need to change the main guest name within the reservation. More often than not, there will be no fees to be charged with this, however, you should always check with your hotel, just to be sure. If you have booked through Expedia or Booking, you can change the guest’s name through your online account

Selling a package holiday

A package holiday usually comprises of flights, transfers, hotels and any other extra features associated to your holiday. In this case, you will need to speak to your personal travel agent. The option to transfer your holiday will either be a part of their terms and conditions, or, if you cannot see it in there, you could always speak to someone to find out whether or not it is possible and if there will be any fees to pay. Please remember that if the travel agent is based within the EU, then they must give you the option to change the name on the reservation, by law.

The process as a whole

One of SpareFare’s many perks include protection to both the buyer and the seller. Not only do they make sure that the process is safe, but they also help to ensure that the price is fair too.

The process of selling or buying through SpareFare is:

1. The buyer will put forward a price that they are happy to pay.

2. The seller then decides whether or not they want to accept or decline the offer. The bidding process will take into account the current price of holidays and flights, all to make sure that a true discount is applied and that an over inflated price is not charged.

3. The seller will be responsible for changing the name on the booking, only once the buyer has sent over the money.

4. The buyer confirms that everything has been received and is correct.

5. The seller will then receive their money once the time of the travel reservation comes. This is to ensure that they do not change the names back on the booking and cheat their way out of money.

Of course it’s upsetting to realize you cannot attend your holiday, however, with some help from SpareFare, you’ll soon forget about your inconvenience- you will have redeemed some of your money from the unused trip which you can use for your next holiday!

Mockup_03_01

*This is a guest post written by SpareFare but no payment has been received for this*

 

-Hannah X

Travel With Me: Cologne, Germany

At the end of June, me and my boyfriend went to explore the city of Cologne. It’s actually taken me this long to write this post because I am still in denial about being home and back to reality.

I’ve been to Berlin but Cologne was never really a place that jumped out at me but oh my god I am so glad we decided to go as I have fallen in love. As I said, I have been to Berlin and I loved it but Cologne was extra special, from the little cobbled streets surrounded by bars to the padlock bridge stretching across the river, everywhere you turned there was something more to love.

36745292_10156633734749244_5859222680447746048_n

We arrived and went straight to the hotel to dump our luggage so we were free to explore. Obviously the first spot on our agenda was the cathedral which was so breath taking; I actually forgot the amount of times Jack and I said ‘It’s so big’, but it really was. We then had a little stroll towards the river and luckily found ourselves at the Lindt chocolate museum which was like stepping into Willy Wonker’s chocolate factory.

Day 2 was zoo day! Cologne is quite famous for its zoo so we couldn’t miss giving it a visit. After getting a little confused with the trains and contemplating a 50 minute walk, we soon arrived and I was like a child at Christmas. The whole day was perfect including the weather and the top highlight was seeing a racoon as I think they are adorable and one of my favourites. We finished the day off perfectly with dinner and a few drinks before an early night to recoup for the next day which was visiting the city of Bonn.

Like with Cologne, I didn’t have much expectations when it came to Bonn, but again I was very surprised with how beautiful it is. A city that was once the capital and the birthplace of Beethoven now holds a place in my heart. Bonn is full of little cobbled twists and turns and quirky bars and bistros and a Sephora that I had been excited for ever since we booked the trip.

Our last day was bittersweet; our flight wasn’t until 10pm so we had a full day but I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread and sadness knowing we were heading back to reality and eventually back to work. We did however make our last day the best it could be so we headed back to some of our favourite spots and visited a house that belonged to the Gestapo in WWII which had been covered into a museum – that was such an eye opening experience and I’m so glad we did it.

36723862_10156633734559244_4870184217184567296_n

I already can’t wait to go back to Cologne and the whole trip is definitely up there with one of my favourites.

– Hannah Xx