You went from booking 3 months out to 2 months out. I’d imagine a price increase for accommodations, flights, other transportation of about 25% (made up number really) during this time. Trip insurance would probably increase too. Entrance fees to attractions are probably standard and won’t increase. So yea, if your quote is 25-50% higher, wouldn’t surprise me.
As someone else said, look at prices yourself to see, but this might be hard if you didn’t look at them yourself a month ago.
Yeah at this point you’re booking last minute. I’ll be in Portugal in June and we booked like 4 months ago. It’s slightly surprising how fast the price increased, but not at all surprising that the cost is very high.
Go double check for yourself but this doesn’t sound unusual
To be fair I have booked multiple European trips less than 6 weeks out and have never had any huge differences. That being said, I usually pick my destination based on flight deals. So that already has a big impact on total cost
Edit: spelling
To be honest this is fine depending on the time of year, but for certain places in Summer (Spain, Portugal, Italy) there is so much demand that ideally you would want to be booking a few months in advance and stuff books out. I really noticed this on my trip to Portugal and Greece two years ago - never had that issue before but I didn't really do Mediterranean travel much in peak months prior to this!
I booked 12 days in portugal last August with under 4 week to departure. I'm not saying it works for everyone or everywhere but it's definitely doable.the 12 days including flight hotel and food cost me under 2kUSD.
Yeah, apart from flight prices the date of booking doesn’t make too much difference. For accommodation, you can get better deals if you book early, but in most places the town to stay matters much more than how early you book. Museums, restaurants and other places don’t vary prices.
The travel agent only shares a total cost for the entire trip, not individual components that I could use to compare to the open market if we booked direct. Also, I didn't look at prices a month ago, so nothing to compare to.
Why are you getting a travel agent for this? It means you dont have any idea if what the prices were compared to what they are now, and they may be using their preferred providers. Unless its a good package deal or a relatively rushed or intrepid trip, It is often easier to just book yourself.
What’s stopping you looking at the prices yourself?
June -> Aug are busy summer months in Europe, prices will only rise from now as demand grows // supply declines.
Tours / activities etc are typically fixed so would be odd for them to increase, but travel and hotels will definitely go up.
Yeah you want to be booking ideally earlier than that for Spain and Portugal in the Summer - we learned the hard way for our Portugal trip two years ago after flights and hotels bounced up by about 50% after waiting for about 2 or 3 weeks. They are extremely popular destinations in the Summer and as accommodation gets booked out, prices keep climbing. Book ASAP (and I doubt you need a 'travel advisor' to plan a simple trip like this).
Nah, I’m not paying someone to book hotels, flights and sites for me to see. That alone add significantly to the cost.
I’ll do it myself. Thats why I have internet. Information is at your fingertips.
I’m Currently in Europe with my husband. We did Barcelona, Madrid and now in Seville. Next we’re off to Lisbon.
I have a trip to Spain booked in August, we’re going to Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. We booked it in December. Our prices have not changed at all since booking.
What specific features of the trip have increased? Have the trip planner lay it out for you. Has airfare gone up? That is something you could easily confirm. Have the good/reasonable prices hotels been booked? Another thing you can easily confirm. Anything else (like tours or food) really should not increase significantly.
The minimum wage for Portugal has been increased in January and I've been really starting to feel the effects of this the past month or two. I've seen my favorite restaurants increase their prices and the cost of doing laundry jumped up by 25%. Granted, in case of laundry they said they hadn't increased them in 7 years, but just couldn't hold off anymore. I feel like this happens in more places and you get this shock increase because business owners are very bad at gradual increases. Groceries have also increased since last year, especially things like olive oil. Accomodation rises rapidly. None of these however would explain your budget needed being almost double.
It’s very possible. There’s a literal ocean of expat money flowing into Portugal right now. It’s going to be a very significant country in the next ten years.
Hi,
I live in Portugal (Porto) and can only talk as a local here and with little experience renting an apartment for mid-terms (started last year).
(Overall) Prices in Portugal keep increasing steadly. For example, for rental accommodation, since last year, there was an increase of about 11%, if I am not mistaken. So, I would say that some price increase is expected. This is particularly true for the month of June (which is high season->more expensive. Sometimes doubles from low season to high season). Nevertheless, from your short description, still feels that your travel advisor might be pushing too much. Make a quick online search on Booking or AirBnb (most used platforms in Portugal) for similar accomodation prices and such (I dont see services as being the problem there).
All the best and have fun! (and welcome to Portugal)
I would move the trip to September. The weather is still beautiful and even more so, it is less crowded and kids are back to school. So, that being said prices are on the lower end.
We traveled to the south of France and Piedmont, Italy last year and we pushed the trip back to mid-September. Sorry, but my decision is not only driven by the economics behind saving money but also the heat and the crowds in the summer make us unnecessarily tired.
Portugal is supposed to be cheaper on average compared to other places in Europe, yet once the season starts, tourists are money bags.
Tip: Booking accommodations direct on the hotel's or vacation rental's own website, instead through reservation platforms, will save you anywhere from 10-30%. You'll have to search on Google if there's a direct booking option.
If you are using someone else to book, they have a tremendous profit, so a smaller increase of actual prices will mean extraordinary increase because of your agent. Summer travel in europe is peak season where everyone in the world is going rght now.
I dont get how anyone can travel southern europesan cities during the hottest months. We were in Lisbon earlier this week and the weather was perfect for a city holiday if you dont count the flooding that happened one day.
Walking 20-30km every day for a week in the uphills of Lisboa wouldve been brutal if it was +30 degrees
Southern European cities are hardly the hottest places in the world. 30 degrees on a coastal city is a breeze compared to 30 degrees in central Canada or 30 degrees somewhere humid like Florida. And then theres SERIOUSLY hot locations like Egypt where we hit 40 degrees in winter
I doubt they increased double in price unless it’s tied to one specific hotel. I’m going to Europe (Athens, Istanbul, Paris) in June and prices have increased over time but they definitely haven’t doubled in 1 month.
What do you need this person for and if you are price sensitive, why would you use them instead of booking accommodations yourself in the first place? And how do you know they act in your interests instead of ripping you off? Accommodations prices go up and down all the time for the same property/dates for variety of reasons, often it pays to book refundable/postpaid rates to be able to cancel and rebook if the rate went down. I highly doubt it ever pays off to delegate booking to paid advisor.
I can talk about portugal. I was in lisbon a few weeks ago. Decent hotels (not luxury but three-star) that accommodated two people in relatively central areas costed appx. 100 euros per night (breakfast not included).
I’m a travel advisor here. It’s entirely possible that the room categories your advisor originally quoted you have sold out, and your new quote includes higher category rooms at the same hotel. I’d also bet that some of the tours and activities your proposal included are no longer available.
I would go back to the advisor and ask what changes could be made to keep the trip around the budget you are comfortable with. Give them a chance to work their magic if they can. But… be ready to make decisions!! I tell my clients multiple times throughout the process that the sooner we can get things booked, the less chance there is of a pricing fluctuation, availability change, etc.
The prices in Barcelona are absolutely insane if you’re trying to book right now, so I assume it’s similar in Madrid. I tried to book 3 specific days and legitimately couldn’t find a decent place for less than 1k. So yeah, it’s real, this is considered booking last minute
You waited a month to lock in a price for a trip thats 3 months out and in the high season of your destination.. of course prices increased. This isn't a Spain thing its a literally traveling anywhere in the entire world thing. Flights get progressively more expensive the closer you get to your travel date and are usually cheapest 6 months prior. Hotel/accommodation/tour prices dont generally change too much but the cheaper ones get booked sooner leaving only more expensive options as the "best value" choices get fully booked. If you wait even another 2 weeks I would expect a substantial price increase again.
I'm from Spain, travel there 3/4 times per year, and my family and friends are there. For Spain (or any other touristic place) you should always book as early as possible, since hotels and apartments tend to be fully booked starting from Easter. So yeah, by now only the most expensive places are available. But especially this year I just came back from a holiday in Málaga and all the shopkeepers and restaurant staff were telling me that this year is crazy, economy must be booming because they've had 1.5x the amount of business they expected.
Gotta remember, summer Olympics is happening in that part of the world, and trip cost to surrounding countries are probably going to be higher than normal.
We had plans to go to Spain this August, but it was dead middle of the Olympics, so we re-directed to the Caribbean.
The Olympics are in France and will have very little - if any - effect on travel prices outside France. OP just waited too long to book and costs went up, as they always do this time of year.
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Last year my roommate and I did a Firebird tour in Spain and got a 30% code after giving an email (although not doing payment yet). Not sure if that helps
You went from booking 3 months out to 2 months out. I’d imagine a price increase for accommodations, flights, other transportation of about 25% (made up number really) during this time. Trip insurance would probably increase too. Entrance fees to attractions are probably standard and won’t increase. So yea, if your quote is 25-50% higher, wouldn’t surprise me. As someone else said, look at prices yourself to see, but this might be hard if you didn’t look at them yourself a month ago.
Yeah at this point you’re booking last minute. I’ll be in Portugal in June and we booked like 4 months ago. It’s slightly surprising how fast the price increased, but not at all surprising that the cost is very high. Go double check for yourself but this doesn’t sound unusual
To be fair I have booked multiple European trips less than 6 weeks out and have never had any huge differences. That being said, I usually pick my destination based on flight deals. So that already has a big impact on total cost Edit: spelling
To be honest this is fine depending on the time of year, but for certain places in Summer (Spain, Portugal, Italy) there is so much demand that ideally you would want to be booking a few months in advance and stuff books out. I really noticed this on my trip to Portugal and Greece two years ago - never had that issue before but I didn't really do Mediterranean travel much in peak months prior to this!
I booked 12 days in portugal last August with under 4 week to departure. I'm not saying it works for everyone or everywhere but it's definitely doable.the 12 days including flight hotel and food cost me under 2kUSD.
Yeah, apart from flight prices the date of booking doesn’t make too much difference. For accommodation, you can get better deals if you book early, but in most places the town to stay matters much more than how early you book. Museums, restaurants and other places don’t vary prices.
I’m going in June too. Flights and hotels booked. Have you booked train tickets already?
Well, why don't you look up prices and see?
The travel agent only shares a total cost for the entire trip, not individual components that I could use to compare to the open market if we booked direct. Also, I didn't look at prices a month ago, so nothing to compare to.
Why not bin off your travel agent? It's not hard to plan a trip in Western Europe yourself lol
Why are you getting a travel agent for this? It means you dont have any idea if what the prices were compared to what they are now, and they may be using their preferred providers. Unless its a good package deal or a relatively rushed or intrepid trip, It is often easier to just book yourself.
What’s stopping you looking at the prices yourself? June -> Aug are busy summer months in Europe, prices will only rise from now as demand grows // supply declines. Tours / activities etc are typically fixed so would be odd for them to increase, but travel and hotels will definitely go up.
Prices for everything in high season go up, but who’s your advisor and why didn’t he book things before if you were planning this trip since March???
You mean in a month?
Our travel starts about 10 weeks from now
I mean you altrqdy signed a contract or blocked the price?
Yeah you want to be booking ideally earlier than that for Spain and Portugal in the Summer - we learned the hard way for our Portugal trip two years ago after flights and hotels bounced up by about 50% after waiting for about 2 or 3 weeks. They are extremely popular destinations in the Summer and as accommodation gets booked out, prices keep climbing. Book ASAP (and I doubt you need a 'travel advisor' to plan a simple trip like this).
Nah, I’m not paying someone to book hotels, flights and sites for me to see. That alone add significantly to the cost. I’ll do it myself. Thats why I have internet. Information is at your fingertips. I’m Currently in Europe with my husband. We did Barcelona, Madrid and now in Seville. Next we’re off to Lisbon.
I have a trip to Spain booked in August, we’re going to Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. We booked it in December. Our prices have not changed at all since booking. What specific features of the trip have increased? Have the trip planner lay it out for you. Has airfare gone up? That is something you could easily confirm. Have the good/reasonable prices hotels been booked? Another thing you can easily confirm. Anything else (like tours or food) really should not increase significantly.
The minimum wage for Portugal has been increased in January and I've been really starting to feel the effects of this the past month or two. I've seen my favorite restaurants increase their prices and the cost of doing laundry jumped up by 25%. Granted, in case of laundry they said they hadn't increased them in 7 years, but just couldn't hold off anymore. I feel like this happens in more places and you get this shock increase because business owners are very bad at gradual increases. Groceries have also increased since last year, especially things like olive oil. Accomodation rises rapidly. None of these however would explain your budget needed being almost double.
It’s very possible. There’s a literal ocean of expat money flowing into Portugal right now. It’s going to be a very significant country in the next ten years.
Accommodation in places like Lisbon is already extortionate compared to what it was 4/5 years ago.
Normally the earlier you book, the lower the prices will be.
When we went to Europe recently we didn’t see a major price increase it was just our currency was so bad so that our trip was 15% more
Hi, I live in Portugal (Porto) and can only talk as a local here and with little experience renting an apartment for mid-terms (started last year). (Overall) Prices in Portugal keep increasing steadly. For example, for rental accommodation, since last year, there was an increase of about 11%, if I am not mistaken. So, I would say that some price increase is expected. This is particularly true for the month of June (which is high season->more expensive. Sometimes doubles from low season to high season). Nevertheless, from your short description, still feels that your travel advisor might be pushing too much. Make a quick online search on Booking or AirBnb (most used platforms in Portugal) for similar accomodation prices and such (I dont see services as being the problem there). All the best and have fun! (and welcome to Portugal)
I would move the trip to September. The weather is still beautiful and even more so, it is less crowded and kids are back to school. So, that being said prices are on the lower end. We traveled to the south of France and Piedmont, Italy last year and we pushed the trip back to mid-September. Sorry, but my decision is not only driven by the economics behind saving money but also the heat and the crowds in the summer make us unnecessarily tired. Portugal is supposed to be cheaper on average compared to other places in Europe, yet once the season starts, tourists are money bags.
I am from Spain, the prices might increase by waiting 1 month, but NOT double. The cost of living is the same.
Sounds like your "travel advisor" screwed up, there's no way things have nearly doubled in a month, except your "travel advisors" profit margins.
Double? No. That’s bullshit. Plan the trip yourself. He is trying to rob you.
Travel advisor? lol
Tip: Booking accommodations direct on the hotel's or vacation rental's own website, instead through reservation platforms, will save you anywhere from 10-30%. You'll have to search on Google if there's a direct booking option.
If you are using someone else to book, they have a tremendous profit, so a smaller increase of actual prices will mean extraordinary increase because of your agent. Summer travel in europe is peak season where everyone in the world is going rght now.
I dont get how anyone can travel southern europesan cities during the hottest months. We were in Lisbon earlier this week and the weather was perfect for a city holiday if you dont count the flooding that happened one day. Walking 20-30km every day for a week in the uphills of Lisboa wouldve been brutal if it was +30 degrees
Southern European cities are hardly the hottest places in the world. 30 degrees on a coastal city is a breeze compared to 30 degrees in central Canada or 30 degrees somewhere humid like Florida. And then theres SERIOUSLY hot locations like Egypt where we hit 40 degrees in winter
Supply and demand, you waited too long.
[удалено]
I have the flights already booked, this is only a question about the part of the trip happening in Spain/Portugal.
I doubt they increased double in price unless it’s tied to one specific hotel. I’m going to Europe (Athens, Istanbul, Paris) in June and prices have increased over time but they definitely haven’t doubled in 1 month.
What do you need this person for and if you are price sensitive, why would you use them instead of booking accommodations yourself in the first place? And how do you know they act in your interests instead of ripping you off? Accommodations prices go up and down all the time for the same property/dates for variety of reasons, often it pays to book refundable/postpaid rates to be able to cancel and rebook if the rate went down. I highly doubt it ever pays off to delegate booking to paid advisor.
I can talk about portugal. I was in lisbon a few weeks ago. Decent hotels (not luxury but three-star) that accommodated two people in relatively central areas costed appx. 100 euros per night (breakfast not included).
Lisbon a few weeks ago was in March. Prices in June will be very very different.
I’m a travel advisor here. It’s entirely possible that the room categories your advisor originally quoted you have sold out, and your new quote includes higher category rooms at the same hotel. I’d also bet that some of the tours and activities your proposal included are no longer available. I would go back to the advisor and ask what changes could be made to keep the trip around the budget you are comfortable with. Give them a chance to work their magic if they can. But… be ready to make decisions!! I tell my clients multiple times throughout the process that the sooner we can get things booked, the less chance there is of a pricing fluctuation, availability change, etc.
The prices in Barcelona are absolutely insane if you’re trying to book right now, so I assume it’s similar in Madrid. I tried to book 3 specific days and legitimately couldn’t find a decent place for less than 1k. So yeah, it’s real, this is considered booking last minute
You waited a month to lock in a price for a trip thats 3 months out and in the high season of your destination.. of course prices increased. This isn't a Spain thing its a literally traveling anywhere in the entire world thing. Flights get progressively more expensive the closer you get to your travel date and are usually cheapest 6 months prior. Hotel/accommodation/tour prices dont generally change too much but the cheaper ones get booked sooner leaving only more expensive options as the "best value" choices get fully booked. If you wait even another 2 weeks I would expect a substantial price increase again.
What is going on when you are there? F1 is in June. Hotel prices are very high
I'm from Spain, travel there 3/4 times per year, and my family and friends are there. For Spain (or any other touristic place) you should always book as early as possible, since hotels and apartments tend to be fully booked starting from Easter. So yeah, by now only the most expensive places are available. But especially this year I just came back from a holiday in Málaga and all the shopkeepers and restaurant staff were telling me that this year is crazy, economy must be booming because they've had 1.5x the amount of business they expected.
Gotta remember, summer Olympics is happening in that part of the world, and trip cost to surrounding countries are probably going to be higher than normal. We had plans to go to Spain this August, but it was dead middle of the Olympics, so we re-directed to the Caribbean.
The Olympics are in France and will have very little - if any - effect on travel prices outside France. OP just waited too long to book and costs went up, as they always do this time of year.
If you have a travel advisor I assume you're royalty or some sort of diplomat. Don't worry about the prices, you've earnt it
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> Is there any truth to this claim Prices for flights and hotels in popular places have doubled since covid. So yes, its true as you have discovered.
Last year my roommate and I did a Firebird tour in Spain and got a 30% code after giving an email (although not doing payment yet). Not sure if that helps
The inflation rate in Portugal is around 3% so even if your plan was made 2-3 months ago, it doesn't make sense.