Just called Astor travel agent and was told they only have airfares to Manila up until Jan, yet the airline websites quote me fares. I was interested in a March departure. This has happened to me before. I know Taiwanese have never heard of planning ahead. It is just not in their genes. So what is going on here anyway? Any Ideas?
Most Taiwan travel agents buy their tickets in blocks at a heavy discount and then resell them. This can end up to be much cheaper, but if it is a heavy travel date you might get stuck without a ticket or paying too much. As a result, they often only have inventory for a month or maybe two in advance. If the airline has what you want for a decent price, go ahead and book it with them.
Your problem is most travel agents in Taiwan don’t like to announce their Chinese New Year prices befor CNY which falls in February which is why they won’t tell you later prices.
This isn’t just a CNY thing. Last spring we were planning a trip to Tokyo in April and was told by our travel agent to wait until 3 weeks before to get a good price. Since April isn’t a terribly busy travel time, we waited.
beware advance fare qoutation are subject to change
w/o prior notification.it would be high or low,depending
what season.
just to give a slight info why T.A. won’t qoute for your March trip.
base on my experienced it’s really difficult for me to inform
my clients that the fare that I was qouted is not valid for
this date.you understand what I mean?
During peak season,eventhough ,prices are not releases
yet you can ask your agent to do advance booking.you can always reconfirm your fare qoutation and you ask for cancellation if you feel fares are not right(do it politely).
do it earlier before ticket issue deadline to avoid charges.
isn’t it simple?