Scotland Vacations - Avoid Travel Traps in Australia

Some are so many travels deals around these days that more and more travelers are getting sucked into deals that turn out to be too good to be true. Believe me the whole fun goes out of traveling East Coast Australia when you realize you've been stung with a hidden fee.

Now before you submit your credit card numbers here are some common travel traps and how you can avoid them. You don't want to become a victim to a travel trap, you have worked hard to save hard for your big holiday. What once was included in the standard fee are now turning up as costly extras only realized by the traveler when it is too late.

Changing holiday bookings

Don't forget the fees if you change air fares or car hire. Virgin Blue Holidays charges around $40 per person to change the holiday package and a $30 administration fee. As well as airfare or hire car fees you may have included, the company can charge you their own fees. Changing a holiday package can be a costly nightmare.

Yes they can be more expensive than a standard ticket but can allow you to change your details without big cancellation fees. Perhaps consider a flexible airfare ticket. You will though have to pay some kind of cancellation fee. It may work out cheaper than the original date you planned to travel. Accommodation Or find the cheapest date to travel you can, how to avoid the trap: Book your air fare.

Said, spokesperson for lastminute.com.au, " Mia Carter, book a 'flexible' flight that will allow changes and cancellations up until the day before travel, if you think your travel dates may change. Be sure to choose a hotel that allows cancellations, "When booking a hotel room. Or ask the company via email or phone what their cancellation policy is, aLWAYS read the fine print, for accommodation.

Spelling errors in the booking details

Spelling errors and typos in your booking details can be a costly travel trap. Yes you read right.

And don't book your holiday late at night with weary eyes. ! Then check again, how to avoid the trap: Check your details!

Returning your hire car to a different location

Where I planned to pick it up, instead of Brisbane Airport, on a most recent holiday all the major rental car companies wanted to charge a one-way fee of at least $100 to return the car to Cairns Airport in Queensland, for example. Recently I found out how costly hiring a car can be.

There are a few out there such as driveaway.com.au and they will often waive these one way fees and still get you the hire car through one of the major car hire companies. How to avoid the trap: Search third-party websites that beat the rates of the major hire car companies.

Rental car insurance

Ask questions of the hire car company and shop around of you're satisfied. This can very costly and there are lots of hidden traps such as fees to reduce your excess and so on.

How to avoid this trap: Research your own car insurance or travel insurance to see if you're covered without the need to get insurance through the hire car company.

Paying over-the-odds for flights

Through their commissions, lets face it that's how they earn a living. Travel agent fees are usually much higher than if you did the booking yourself online.

I suggest contacting the airline directly for better offers. Webjet and ZUJI can give you competitive prices, Travel.com.au, websites such as Expedia. Subscribe to airline email bulletins and watch for newspaper and TV ads for seat sales, consider alternative airports. How to avoid this trap: Avoid peak season and Mondays and Fridays when business people fly.Try Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons to fly.

Excess luggage

Virgin Blue charges $10 per kilogram for bags exceeding 23kg. For instance: For checked luggage Qantas charges between $10-$50 for every kilogram over the 23kg limit. You can pay a heavy price for excess baggage and each airline has different policies and therefore different fees.

. . A hidden trap for young players. Check the scales have been set to "0" before putting luggage on the scale. Qantas and Virgin Blue have a limit of 7kg on domestic and international flights. Weigh your carry-on bag. " Do you need that replica zulu mask? Leave it out, "If in doubt! How avoid the trap: Check the airlines weight limits before you leaving home.

Currency exchange surcharges

They more often than not have the worst exchange rates. Most expensive places to exchange currency in Australia are usually airport kiosks.

Get smarter than the companies who have the hidden fees and enjoy your holiday with more cash, use them to your advantage! So there are just some traps and tricks of traveling in Australia which I'm sure are similar across the world. Do your research to save lots of money. These days Australian banks also have pre paid accounts linked to cards. How to avoid the trap: Buy cash before you leave or use your debit card to get cash from local ATM machines and your credit card for shopping.