after winning a bid

[mary-j]

I have never bid for a holiday on Luxury Link before but hopefully that will change soon. There are just so many beautiful hotels/resorts on L.L. that I am very interested in and Iam finding it really difficult to decide on which one to choose. The thing I am a bit wary about iswhat if I go on to win a bid and then I go and try to book flights myself and find that there are no flights available for the dates I have booked for the hotel? Would luxury Link allow me to change the dates or are the dates I give them not changable? Thanks for your help.

[lhbrown]

Hi mary-j,

We are in the same boat. We usually take our holidays in Europe. So I look at the LL packages I like. Usually there is a time frame given on how long these packages are good for. Right now, most of the packages are good till March 31, 2007, some of them go through the summer of 2007. So look at your airlines and your flights, check what would be good dates for you (you can always put a reservation on hold for a few days). Then contact or e-mail the hotel(s) and ask if they have availability. Put your bid in for the auction. If you win the auction, firm up your flights and contact the hotel(s) confirming that you did win the auction and confirm your reservation with the hotels. It's not that difficult playing travel agent for yourself, and it usually has worked out well for us. You can do it, it just takes a little patience and coordination. Good Luck

[dunc82]

Well said LHBrown. In addition i'd also add, mary-j, that the auctions usually allow you to take the package anytime within a certain period (e.g. 1 December 2006 - 31 March 2007). When you win the auction you can then select which dates you choose within that period, so even if one week has no flights you can still change the dates slightly within the period to fit with flights that are available. It is only when you contact the hotel to confirm your LL auction booking that you will have to specify exact travel dates.



Regards,



Duncan

[daldoc]

HI,



We have bid and won 13 auctions, Canada, US and most in Europe. What we ususally look for is the time period of the auction needs to be in the time frame we have to take a vacation and in a location we are interested in. We usually like to go to Europe in the fall or at Thanksgiving time. We have NEVER had a location not let us use when we wanted to during the time duration they have given. We always email right away to let them know what our travel schedule will be and have not had a problem.



debbie

[lhbrown]

Hi Debbie,

We have had a problem only once, in Switzerland, where we attended a wedding and needed a specific, unflexible date. We had booked nearly three months ahead of time. As it turned out the hotel needed to close early for the season in order to repair their heating system. However, they were very nice and gave us a full year to use the package without any blackout dates, even during their high season. Since we travel quite frequently to Europe, we had no problem finding time to use the package.

Hi Duncan,

Thanks for your post, however, don't forget to go back and rate the post... As you know, these ratings do count...... thanks.