Top tips for booking with confidence this year

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Oliver

As so many of us have been unable to go away in the last 12 months, we know there is huge pent-up demand for holidays, with many eager to book a well-deserved break.

If you’re dreaming of your next chance to get away but are unsure what the current uncertainty around travel means for your plans, the following advice from ABTA takes you through everything you need to know to book with confidence this year, so that you have a holiday to look forward to when travel recommences.

1. Use the expertise of an ABTA Member to help you plan your trip
Our Members are experts at finding the best holiday to suit their customers’ preferences, and at a competitive price. They’ll look after you every step of the way, including doing all the research, giving you the latest advice for your destination and keeping you up-to-date on any restrictions or measures that you need to be aware of.

2. Book a package holiday
Booking a package holiday provides the best form of protection for your travel plans, as your holiday will be protected under the Package Travel Regulations. This means you have a right to a replacement holiday or a full refund if your holiday is significantly altered by a change in the situation at your destination.

3. Check the Foreign Office advice for your destination and sign up to the alerts
You can keep up to date with Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office travel advice for the country you’re visiting at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, which includes local rules relating to coronavirus. We recommend signing up to receive country specific email alerts so that any important updates go straight into your inbox.

4. Book early for the most choice and best prices
There is massive pent-up demand for holidays, so by booking ahead of others you’ll be able to take advantage of the best deals such as free child places or room upgrades and secure the accommodation and resort of your choice.

5. Note that flexible booking policies are available
On top of the existing protections that come with booking a package holiday, many ABTA Members are also offering additional benefits or flexible cancellation and rebooking policies, such as allowing you to change your arrangements free of charge at a later date if needed.

6. Take out travel insurance
Make sure you take out comprehensive travel insurance to cover your specific needs as soon as you book your trip. Many insurance policies now include different types of cover for coronavirus, so read the policy details carefully to ensure it has the level of cover you want. For more advice on travel insurance, visit www.abta.com/travelinsurance.

7. Make sure you have the documents you need
Many destinations, including those in the EU, require you to have at least six months left on your passport, so check it will be valid for your travel dates and allow plenty of time to renew it if necessary. You should also apply for any visas you need in plenty of time and visit TravelHealthPro to find the latest travel health advice for your destination.

8. If you’re travelling to Europe, check to see if there are any additional steps you may need to take
Now that the UK has left the EU, it’s important to familiarise yourself with the extra steps you may need to take to get ready for your trip. This includes checking you have a valid passport and the right documents for driving or taking your pet abroad. Visit our advice page at www.abta.com/brexit for more information.

9. Plan and pack for a safe journey
As your departure date nears, make sure you’re up to date on the latest measures and documentation required for travel, both for your journey and once you arrive in destination. Revisit the FCDO travel advice pages for the country you are visiting and if you have any questions about your holiday, your ABTA Member travel provider will be able to offer you further support and guidance.

10. Look forward to your holiday
Having more time to enjoy the excitement of heading off on holiday is one of the most common reasons why people book in advance, so once your trip is booked, you can sit back and look forward to heading off on your much-deserved break.

Back Share

Great cruise, boat, taxi, hotel, meal (and more!) arrangements in Athens and Corfu. Oliver has this amazing ability to know what we would enjoy, which is why I've already booked my next trip with RB! To the Carribbean we go in November!! 🥳 Thanks Oliver and the entire team at RB!

Zain Qazi

‘As usual, Sam at RB Collection arranged our recent Iceland/Scotland cruise with attention to every possible detail. He remembered what had worked for us previously and used that knowledge to enhance our experience. No question was too much trouble for either Sam or his colleague Clare. We would not consider anyone else for our holiday arrangements; RB Collection are truly superb!’

Hilary Carroll

Wonderful way to book a wonderful holiday. Such a personalised & attentive approach to helping us find the perfect family holiday! Couldn’t recommend more!!!

Pandora Bahrami

They found us the perfect hotel for our London stay. Exactly the right balance of perfect location, incredible breakfast and they really listened to what we wanted. I even had access to one of London best gyms included in the stay!

Katie May Medley

RB Collections are a wonderful family run firm who welcome you into the family from the first holiday you book with them. My special thanks go to Clare who always ensures my booking runs smoothly and takes the stress out of the process of decisions by ‘knowing’ and implementing my preferences using information she has ascertained from previous bookings. I don’t have to remember…..Clare does it for me.

Janet Goodwin

Having just returned from a fantastic long weekend at Disneyland Paris, we had to leave a review for Sam and the team at RB Collection. They removed all the stress from organising the trip and ensured everything was in place for a truly memorable trip for all the family. We can’t thank them enough and we will certainly be back for future holidays. Our experience has been 10/10 👍🏻

Mike Boyden

Just returned home from a wonderful holiday in Madeira arranged by Sam from RB Collection. Every detail from flights, hotel, transfers, recommended restaurants and "must to do's" was excellent and all documents arrived by post in good time for checking before departing on our holiday. Due to the weather, our journey was delayed by two days. However after contacting RB on the emergency number in the holiday package, all was sorted by the team - an upgraded hotel room at the same hotel, flight, transfers, taking away all the stress from ourselves and allowing us to enjoy our extra two days. One cannot put a price on a phone call and text messages when something unfortunate happens and you feel vulnerable. On our return, the excellent service has continued by Sam and colleagues who are now dealing with the necessary correspondence with the airline company. My husband and I and children at home who were concerned when we were stranded, cannot thank the team at RB enough for their support and professionalism and we are looking forward to many more holidays using the company. Tom & Janet

Tom&Janet Marks

We came to RB Collection with an idea of some of the places we wanted to visit in Rajasthan, India - and they made it all happen, expertly and efficiently. Oliver and Clare were a pleasure to deal with, sorting every aspect and adding their own ideas to really enhance this wonderful trip. They checked in while we were away to make sure everything was going well (which it was) and I knew they'd be on hand if we needed anything. Thank you!

David Page

The purpose of this review isn't to confirm that our holiday was a 5 star experience (which it was, by the way) but it's a review to say that RB Collection's involvement in planning, booking and safety netting our holiday experiences has been truly 5 stars. Are people bothered if my wife and I had a great holiday - I suspect no...... Are people interested in the company that was instrumental in creating 5 star holidays - I suspect yes ......and so it's RB Collection's skills and involvement that get this 5 star rating. As a family we have booked our own holidays almost exclusively by ourselves for 35 years - until a year ago when we used RB Collection's services for the first time to book a holiday to the Ice Hotel in Sweden. We chose to book through them because we had no experience or knowledge of the Ice Hotel and their exclusive Ice Hotel Website was great. Their involvement made all the difference - in particular their personal commitment to making things work and since the first contact, they have been getting to know our travel "needs, wants and likes" more by each contact. Our next holiday was a Silversea Cruise - one that we could easily have booked ourselves, but RB's influence allowed us to save a significant (4 figure!) sum. Reason alone to recommend! Our third and most recent booking with RB was a safari which could not have been a better holiday experience. The reasons for this are as follows: 1. Up until raising the possibility, I knew nothing about safaris i.e. where to go / at what time of year / for how long etc. Within 72 hours of a discussion of a suggestion by me for a Tanzania trip (based on a google AI search), I was infinitely far better informed and after weighing up possibilities, we opted for a Kenyan trip to Amboselli and the Masai Mara. What a brilliant decision! 2. Whilst the travel options were perfect for our particular needs, RB's involvement to seamlessly arrange the multiple transfers on our journey came to the fore. This was particularly evident on coming back from Zanzibar (beach unwind) to Nairobi International, which would have presented a significant challenge had we opted for self booking, due to the (multiple) security & immigration stages. (Yes, of course - we would have negotiated the stages - we're grown ups - we can look after ourselves, but oh my. the loss of wasted heartbeats would have been significant!) Turns out that what was arranged for us was faster than "fast track" and I certainly became aware of lots of people looking enviously towards us and our safari representative as we whizzed by! 3. Photography is an important aspect of our holidays. Good photographic subjects / scenes are our means of ensuring that we're seeing good stuff, which - IMHO - is a main focus of a holiday. Our safari guides had been well briefed about my photography wishes and from the get-go, they discussed what we were looking for from our holiday and so every day we had a mutually planned itinerary for the wildlife that never disappointed. Our guides had been particularly selected from the briefing given by RB pre-travel to the safari people. In a nutshell, RB have changed our attitude to holidays and their associated experiences. In our time with them, we have undertaken holidays that we have never done before and we are now definitely thinking differently about what to do in the future. Add to this, the reassurance and safety net that travel agency booking confers and I think that RB Collection definitely deserves a 5 star review. By the way - we live distant to their location - all of our dealings have been by telephone and email so don't think you need to be locals to use their services.

Colin Scott

A big shout out for RB Collection ….they have done it again !!!! Made our World touring a pleasure AGAIN ….having done the cruising in various parts of the world …the Canada trip…..the India & Nepal trip…& just recently the Hongkong Australia New Zealand trip…it’s like being transported on a Dreamliner !every attention to detail from getting to the airport arriving at the destinations & being picked up & taken to the various types of accomadation ….Thanks Team RB & especially to Sam for this last one 🌴☀️😎

Linda Taylor

call: 01543 258631 email: vip@rbcollection.com

One step away from a trip of a lifetime