Booking travel and accessing your finances online
In this course you’ll learn more about safely booking travel online. You can use a travel agent to organise everything for your trip, or use travel comparison sites to look for bargains and deals yourself. You can also book online directly through a tour company or airline’s website.
You’ll also find out about the importance of email and text messages when it comes to organising travel, as well as how to access your finances while travelling.
This course finishes up with some key tips on how to use your mobile phone to get the most out of your next trip.
Transcript
Welcome to 'Booking and paying for travel online'. In this video, you'll learn how the internet can help you book and pay for travel, including accommodation, tours and flights. You can visit an airline website to find flights and holiday packages for destinations you want to visit, or you can use a comparison website. These sites present travel deals from lots of companies in the one place, so you can easily compare them. You can compare flights, accommodation, car hire, and even travel insurance. Once you find a deal you like, you can click on it to go to the company's website and find out more.
Before you book or pay for anything, make sure you check for costs that might not be obvious, such as cancellation fees. Check where the company you're booking with is based too, as it can be more difficult to get a refund from overseas businesses. When you're satisfied, you can go ahead with your booking. You'll need to provide some personal information, such as your name, phone number and email address. Enter your preferred payment method to pay for your booking. The website will send confirmation and details of your booking, including a reference number, to your email address. You can view it in your email app on your phone, by tapping on the attachment.
If your phone doesn't have a mobile data connection, you might not be able to access your email while travelling. Saving important travel documents to your device helps ensure you can always access them, even when you don't have data or Wi-Fi coverage. It's handy to have printed copies of your documents too, just in case you run out of battery or lose your phone while travelling. A day before your departure, you can use your phone to check in to your flight. Checking in early helps avoid airport queues on the day you travel, and lets you choose your seat on the plane. Just visit the airline's website and enter your name and booking reference number. Once you've checked in, the airline will send your boarding pass to your email address. You can show it on your phone at the departure gate, before getting onto the plane.
If you're going overseas, signing up to the Smart Traveller website at www.smartraveller.gov.au lets you receive official government travel advisories for your destination as an email or SMS text message to your phone. While in another country, you will be able to access your money at ATMs using your everyday card or credit card. Your bank will charge fees on your transactions, so it's a good idea to understand the costs before you travel. For security, a bank can also block an account if it detects any out-of-the-ordinary spending. To avoid this, be sure to let your bank or credit card provider know when and where you'll be travelling overseas. And if you haven't already, download your bank's official app to your mobile phone. It lets you stay on top of holiday spending and fees as well as everyday bills and transfers while you're away from home. Happy travels!
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1
Travel agent or DIY?
4 min
2
How to use travel comparison websites
4 min
3
Importance of email and text messages for travel
5 min
4
Accessing your finances while travelling
7 min
5
Using your mobile phone to make travelling easier
5 min