Pie fell from the sky? Beware of the "Eight Traps" of Travel Agencies

With a trip just around the corner, prospective tourists are dazzled by large and small travel advertisements, not to mention the travel agencies' unique ways to attract tourists, or special prices on routes, or premium enjoyment, or giving gifts, which makes consumers "depressed" and feel that there are "big pies falling from the sky" everywhere. But some of them are "real pies" and some are "fake pies". The "real pie" can bring tourists a pleasant and valuable holiday, while the "fake pie" is the beginning of the journey of suffering. As a tourist, as long as he is wary of traps, he can still distinguish between "true and false pies" and be a shrewd consumer. If you can't tell the difference clearly, it is a safe and convenient way to buy an "insurance" for the trip by choosing the tourism products of big clubs and famous clubs.

Myth 1: Low price equals special price-price is the only basis for choosing a tour group

Huang Apo was secretly pleased to see a newspaper saying that a travel agency organized a one-day tour of Panyu Baomo Garden and Changlong, and the price was lower than that of 5 yuan. You know, tickets for Chimelong alone cost more than 1 yuan. However, there is still a small print below indicating that the expenses include: "air-conditioned car+meal fee+tour guide+travel liability insurance", but there is no "ticket".

In addition, it is understood that the current summer study tour routes are generally about 1 days to more than 2 days, which are launched in cold and summer, mainly to English-speaking countries, among which Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Japan are the most popular. The itinerary design adds rich learning and participation elements. Due to the high cost, the fees are generally higher. The 1-day study tour in Australia generally costs about 15, yuan for more than 2 days. With such a large cost, if you join a "black society" with a lot of tricks, you will not only have to pay a high tour fee, but also your children will not get any protection during their study and life. If anything goes wrong, it can be said that you have lost your wife and lost your soldiers. It is really not worth the candle.

Comments: As the saying goes, "You get what you pay for", which is very appropriate for traveling. Sometimes a route is just different from 1 yuan, and its tourism grade is far from each other. For example, if the same domestic tour route is expensive, the group in 1 yuan can stay in a three-star hotel, and the access is an air-conditioned bus, and the group meal is a standard eight dishes and one soup, while the group in cheap 1 yuan can stay in a quasi-three-star hotel or even a two-star hotel, and the access is non-air-conditioned, and the group meal is also eight dishes and one soup, but there are many vegetarian dishes. Don't think this is just a scare, this is a real case of a travel agency traveling in East China. As the tourism industry has entered an era of meager profit, the mere 1 yuan is enough for tour groups to set a standard.

Of course, there are some good "special offers". For example, Guangdong China Travel Service took the opportunity of the 55th anniversary of the social celebration to launch a one-day tour of 55 yuan and Hong Kong, which set the lowest price in the Hong Kong tour market in 2 years. Some people in the agency also analyzed the offer, saying that the 55 yuan Hong Kong tour may not lose money, but only earn less, and the social celebration is also "corporate public relations". The special offer line launched is just a "head start" to warm up the summer market.

but the number of scenic spots alone cannot determine the quality of the tourism team. As the operator of tourism products, the travel agency will certainly not show any flaws in the most obvious link. Therefore, if we look at the regular tourist routes, the trips taken by various travel agencies are very similar, and we can't see anything in the itinerary and scenic spots. We must also evaluate whether the team is worth the money from other aspects. Many people like to look for problems from the itinerary of tourist routes and see how many scenic spots are included in the routes launched by several travel agencies. Of course, the number of scenic spots is also an important criterion to measure a team. When signing a contract, don't forget to read the specific itinerary and make sure that all the scenic spots include tickets (at least the first big ticket). Especially in short-distance tour groups in the province, the number of scenic spots is still a major factor in determining the price of tour groups.

Therefore, the price is not the only reference for traveling in summer vacation, and the idea that low price equals special price is not desirable. The quality and standard of tourist routes themselves are more important basis for choosing a group, and we should not blindly covet cheap prices. We can't just look at the superficial price. The most important thing is to understand the real value of a tourism product through six elements: food, housing, transportation, travel, shopping and entertainment, such as scenic spots, accommodation and catering standards.

Myth 2: Advertising equals a trip-its content is the only standard of quality

Last summer vacation, 12-year-old Dongdong attended the Beijing Summer Camp organized by the school. After coming back, Dongdong, who was full of grievances, kept complaining to his parents: "After five days in Beijing, I haven't left a deep impression on the capital." It turned out that before the holiday, the school could see the publicity materials and advertisements of the summer camp every day. After the parents agreed, Dongdong was happy to join a student group with 158 yuan. However, when I arrived in Beijing, I got up early every morning and shuttled through various scenic spots non-stop. The longest stay was at the Great Wall for two and a half hours.

Comments: Colorful advertisements and colorful advertising words have always moved consumers most. Nowadays, advertisements play a "digital game", and the maze-like advertisements are incomprehensible to ordinary tourists and even people in the industry. The content of the advertisement is as rich as the itinerary, such as the number of days, scenic spots, accommodation, catering, transportation, etc. The biggest piece is the characteristics of the route, and the rich vocabulary makes people think, as if they were in a fairyland.

But imagination must be imagination, and consumers still have to understand the content of advertisements. Moreover, although advertisements are equivalent to contracts, advertisements are not the whole of contracts, let alone the itinerary. In advertisements, travel agencies may inflate the number of days, split up scenic spots, and write as many scenic spots in the same scenic spot as possible in the schedule, but they are actually just a big scenic spot. Some advertisements have a long list of scenic spots, which makes people feel that the itinerary is very rich. In fact, these lists are probably "decomposed", and a scenic spot is listed with several names, or a series of scenic spots with low or free tickets are selected for advertising. Finally, they really come down and find that it is just a few scenic spots. Consumers should still follow the itinerary at the time of registration, and the words in the advertisement may be exaggerated. This is only a means for travel agencies to promote sales. As long as it is not excessive, it is reasonable for consumers to be too serious. The key is to go to the travel agency to consult and register in person and ask about the relevant content. You can't take it for granted to judge the tourism products yourself.

Misunderstanding 3 "sight star" equals "target star"-there is no uniform format for joining a tour group

Mr. He once joined a Jiuzhaigou tour group and agreed to stay in a three-star hotel for the whole trip. However, due to the special shortage of local hotels, a group of people finally checked into a small hotel in the main town of Sichuan in the middle of the night. Altitude sickness, cold, and no toilet, although he can understand the objective conditions at that time, he will definitely ask to join those teams with designated accommodation hotels when he travels abroad in the future.

comment: I don't know when the accommodation standard of tour groups has been referred to as "quasi-star" and "standard star", which is of course related to the hotel's star rating standard. Some hotels are listed star-rated hotels, that is, "standard star-rated hotels" (referred to as "star-rated hotels" for short), while some hotels are not listed, but "star-rated hotels are being declared" or "feel that they have the standard of star-rated hotels" are "quasi-star hotels" (referred to as "star-rated hotels" for short).

Travel agencies usually classify tour groups by "star hotels". Generally speaking, standard groups stay in two-star or equivalent hotels, luxury groups stay in three-star or equivalent hotels, and ultra-luxury groups stay in four-star or above hotels. However, not every hotel with hardware facilities can successfully select a star-rated hotel, and the hotel's software is also one of the keys to the evaluation. In this long evaluation process, the hotel can only claim to be a "quasi-star" hotel, so many guests will find that the hotel has not hung the "star card", and there is no uniform standard for the quality of the hotel's decoration facilities and equipment, and it depends entirely on the consumer's "subjective consciousness" feeling and judgment.

Every tourist season, the hotel accommodation problem will become a hot spot of complaints. Before signing up for the tour group, the most important thing for consumers is to find out which hotel to stay in or which hotels it may be. Usually, "Zhunxing" hotels are new hotels, and their accommodation conditions are sometimes better than those of the old "Biaixing" hotels.

Misunderstanding that four groups are equal to "selling piglets"-"legal groups are also illegal"

Mr. Liu and his friends joined the Shanxi tour group of the travel agency. When they arrived in Taiyuan, they found that the local travel agency had combined 12 tourists from two other tour groups with them. Due to the lack of coordination and communication between local escorts, tourists sometimes compete for seats on tour buses and crowd out each other when eating.

when the number of individual tour groups does not reach the number of tour groups, travel agencies may have the phenomenon of "not receiving enough customers", and local agencies usually combine these scattered teams into a team to organize tours. However, the tour group will definitely inform the guests in advance and send the team after obtaining the consent of the guests.

Comments: "legal group fight" is the exclusive term of tourism, while "selling piglets" is the exclusive term of consumers. The similarity between them is that the group members come from different registration points or agencies, but the difference is that the former knows that it may be sold before registration, while the latter knows it after it is sold, so "legal group fight" is legal, but.

The Tourism Quality Supervision Office will handle the behavior of "teaming up" according to the situation: if the travel agency informs the guests before departure and it is also stated in the travel contract, there will be no complaint here; If the travel agency "assembles a group" without informing the guests beforehand and causes a series of unhappiness, the guests can complain to the relevant departments.

Myth 5 "6 days" is equal to "6 full days"-traveling may not be "going out early and coming back late"

Miss Xiao, who plans to take a 6-day tour in Beijing, walked through three or four travel agencies, holding a pile of information for comparison. There are 8 scenic spots in the itinerary of each travel agency, but the price difference is nearly 1, yuan. It turned out that the traffic was at work. In long-distance travel, air tickets will always be the "big head" of the tour fare. The price difference of the same tourist route is great, so first find the reason from the flight. The prices of flights departing at different times are quite different. Most of the more reputable travel agencies put the flights of each team into the itinerary. Miss Xiao visited several travel agencies, and the itinerary she got in her hand indicated the round-trip flight time. The most suitable flight for traveling should be "leaving in the morning and returning in the evening", which can ensure sufficient travel time without being too tired.

Comments: It is often seen that some tourists complain about the lack of days after leaving the group. The reason is that the departure time is afternoon or evening, and the return time is morning. There are not as many days as written on the itinerary. After deducting the first two days, there are not many days in the scenic spot. But in fact, the time taken up by transportation is inevitable in travel. Unless consumers arrive at their tourist destinations and join travel agencies locally, the time taken up by transportation in tour groups will be shortened.

As for the problem of "leaving late and returning early", it happens from time to time in tour groups, because discounted locomotive tickets are usually in the morning or evening, and it is understandable for tour groups to choose "leaving late and returning early" flights in order to save costs, as long as tourists make it clear when signing up.

Myth 6: Tickets are equal to package tickets-you shouldn't pay for the trip

Mr. Wang just took a trip to Hainan in a travel agency on May Day. During the five-day trip, Mr. Wang encountered one annoyance after another: unable to withstand the persuasion of the tour guide, Mr. Wang and others visited a temple in the famous Dongshanling-Chaoyin Temple. Seeing that the incense was in full swing, Wang and others were also eager to add incense. When asked about the money for incense, 13 yuan/person, it seemed a little unreasonable to come to the temple without incense, so Mr. Wang had to pay for it bitterly. Next, in the famous Nanshan Temple scenic spot in Sanya, Mr. Wang and others want to visit the Thousand-handed Guanyin with Buddhist relics, and they have to pay for small tickets themselves.

Comments: Some travel agency advertisements claim that the travel expenses include the ticket fees, but the scenic spots are often divided into "big tickets" and "small tickets". The "big ticket" is the ticket for the gate of the scenic spot, such as "scenery in the middle of the scene", "garden in the middle of the garden" and ropeway fees, and so on. It is best to ask clearly before signing the registration contract.

moreover, in the course of traveling, we often encounter the phenomenon that tour guides ask for "adding scenic spots" (that is, adding scenic spots). According to the general practice, the travel agency indicates in the travel contract that "it is suggested to pay × 1 yuan at its own expense" or "it is suggested to add × scenic spots at its own expense", and the tourists will sign it and take effect if they think there is no objection. During the trip, the travel agency will strictly follow the contract requirements to ensure that the scenic spots on the itinerary are visited. When the tour guide advises tourists to increase scenic spots at their own expense, they will ask the guests to sign to ensure that they will "voluntarily participate in a self-funded project". When inviting guests to participate in "interactive" projects, tourist attractions should inform the guests in advance or post the charging standards in the eye. In addition, the number of points will be agreed in the travel contract. It is unreasonable if the travel agency desperately adds points, and tourists can complain to the relevant departments.

Misunderstanding Seven group meals are equal to a big meal-eight dishes and one soup are the "banquet standard"

When Mr. Chen traveled to Beihai last year, the tour guide took the team to a seafood restaurant at dinner, which was called letting tourists taste local seafood, without arranging meals at night, and the tourists ordered at their own expense. Mr. Chen and others asked for a refund of the meal fee, but they were told that this meal was not arranged in the original plan, and the meals of tour groups would have specified standards. Generally speaking, the "meal standard" would be indicated in the itinerary, for example, the words "meal standard: 5 yuan/day" would be written, which means that the daily meal standard is 5 yuan for each person, 1 yuan for breakfast and 2 yuan for lunch and dinner.

Comments: Comments on "I'm not used to eating" and "I can't eat well" often pop up in the mouths of Guangdong tourists. "Eating in Guangzhou" is well known, and the quality of group meals often becomes one of the complaints of consumers. Travel agencies usually indicate how many meals are included in their itinerary, and some even include how much the meal is labeled. However, the standard of travel agencies is often "eat well" rather than "eat well", because the standard of "eat well" varies from person to person, so the expectations of group meals should not be too high unless the tour group is packaged with "gourmet" as a feature, and the "gourmet" from other provinces is different from Guangdong.

Nevertheless, tourists should do as the Romans do and try local flavor dishes. Anyway, the tour fare is so expensive, so they have to pay for this "soy sauce money". If there is no arrangement in the group meal, they can "chip in" and ask the tour guide to help them add dishes. I believe an unforgettable dish will make the trip more interesting.

Misunderstanding: Eight visits to a store equals a "black shop"-shopping is "beyond the scope"

Miss Tang participated in the "Four-day Luxury Tour of Hainan" in December last year. Needless to say, the beauty of the island scenery along the way was very good, and the accommodation was also very good. However, during the short four-day trip, the tour group actually went to such things as pearls, tea, bear gall, local products and seafood. What's more, there is a time limit for visiting scenic spots, but there is never a time limit for shopping, and it often takes a long time and takes up a lot of time.

Comments: At present, travel agencies have an unwritten rule: the number of fixed-point shopping is one per day. When the itinerary is tight, shopping time will be arranged twice a day, but on average, it is also one per day. If the number of shopping spots exceeds the specified number or the shopping time is too long, the escort has the right to give a warning and stop the escort.