Only a few years ago, the preferred method of booking a holiday was by physically going into a branch of a popular travel agent on the high street, or booking by phone. But now, with more and more people having access to the internet at work and at home, thousands of online travel agents have been set up to make booking a holiday easier and cheaper. However, with so many sites to choose from, it can be hard to know who to book with, and most importantly, how to protect yourself when booking a holiday online, so here are a few tips to keep your money safe online.
Use a Credit Card
When booking a holiday, or buying any item online, it’s best to use a credit card instead of a debit card, which will give you more protection if someone manages to get hold of your credit card number. By using a credit card, you won’t be liable for any charges if someone makes a fraudulent purchase, unlike a debit card, which depending on your bank and your type of account can leave you unprotected.
Use Your Head
The old saying, ‘if something sounds too good to be true it probably is’, is a term which can be easily applied to buying anything online. There are some travel sites and travel companies that will advertise holidays for cheap prices, but then add on hidden charges at the checkout, so keep that in mind when you’re booking your holiday. There may also be some less than legitimate sites which will offer holidays that don’t exist, so keep a clear head and research a site before buying from it.
Use Your Destination
When looking for your dream holiday online, it’s a good idea to search specifically for that destination. Try typing something like cheap Amsterdam flights or cheap flights Amsterdam into a search engine and see what you find, you may even track down a great deal, which could save you a lot of money off your next holiday.
Safe Booking a Holiday Online
Kerala Most visited places
The two places in Kerala tour you shouldn't miss are 'Varkala Beach' and 'Vizhinjam'
Varkala Beach:
Varkala beach, which is one of the fascinating tourist spots in small village known as Varkala which is located in the Trivandrum district. Actually it is 42 kilometres away from the Trivandrum city. It is one of the beautiful places to spend our holidays. This is one of the best places in Kerala for watching sunset. The panoramic landscape, seascapes and the brown sands of the beach makes every spectators mind cool.
It is believed that if we go there and taken a holy dip in the holy waters of the beach, the body and the soul of the pilgrims will get purified. Because of this belief, the beach is also known as ‘Papanashini’ which means destroyer of sins. The beach is always well crowded with pilgrims in almost all the holidays. Since the beach is bordered by hills, we can see high steep cliffs with red brown stones surrounding the beach and there is also another belief that the mineral water gushing from the hills has medicinal properties.The two other important attraction points of this place are the 2000 year old Janardana Swamy Temple and the Nature Centre. The Nature Centre offers Ayurvedic treatments like Yoga and meditation courses especially for the visitors. A lot of people came to the beach with family, and they enjoy swimming, playing volley ball, water spots such as Parasailing, Scuba diving, wind surfing etc which will be a great fun.
The transportation to the Varkala beach is not so difficult. We can reach there by road, rail or by air. Buses are easily accessible from all the parts of Kerala and the neighbouring states too. A railway station itself is owned by Varkala, so getting out there by train is also not a problem. The nearest airport from Varkala is the Thiruvananthapuram international airport which is 52 kms away from Varkala.
Vizhinjam:
Vizhinjam, which is believed to have been an ancient port, is located in Trivandrum district to the south of Kovalam. This is situated almost 17kms from the Trivandrum city. Vizhinjam, which is now a fishing harbour, is a very attracting tourist place. The place was once a commercial centre for the Portuguese and Dutch. At that time the Europeans have had commercial establishments there. Near to the sea shore, Portuguese have built a church which is named as Old Vizhinjam Church and is still functional. Vizhinjam is now known for the Ayurvedic treatments since it has some world famous beach resorts in around the place.
The major picnic spot at Vizinjam is the Vizhinjam Rock Cut Cave. Earlier, it was left unnoticed for long time but now it is a famous historic spot. In the cave temple at Vizhinjam, we can see the rock cut sculptures of the 18th century. This is just amazing and I think every person will like to watch it again and again. There is a one celled shrine loose sculpture of Vinandhara Dakshnimurthi which is enclosed by the granite cave. Huge rocks are drilled to make the ruins of the rock temple and this must be the main attractive spot of the tourists. A Marine aquarium is also developed here which contains a wide collection of sea animals. This aquarium is one of the famous aquariums which house the world's rarest and most exotic species of invertebrates and fishes.
The place has its natural depth and because of its proximity to International Shipping channel, now Vizhinjam is being developed into an International Deep Water Container Transshipment Terminal. We can reach Vizhinjam by road, rail or air. There is regular bus service from Trivandrum. The place is about 12kms away from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport and about 16kms Thiruvananthapuram central railway station.