Don't book your tours on getyourguide. Google the company and reach out to them directly on whatsapp

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Salt-Buy-8879@reddit

Always check both and try to find discounts! For GetYourGuide, I use the code SISOULNOMAD5 for a 5% discount, but maybe there are others

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Jordangander@reddit

Check both, and know that GYG can help you if the company falls through that you booked with. Same goes for other day trip companies.

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NiagaraThistle@reddit

I don't know why ANYONE uses 3rd party consolidators to book ANYTHING for travel.

The 3rd party 1. has to make a profit so will absolutely mark prices up, and 2. The 3rd party can offer crap customer service but you still have to deal with them instead of the actual service provider.

I typically save hundreds to thousands on my family Europe trips contacting an booking direct for everything from airfare to accommodations to tours ot admissions at museums/attractions and transportation.

In fact I save over $2,000 US on accommodations avoiding AirB&B / Booking[dot]com and directly contacting/booking traditional Irish B&Bs.

I know these consolidator sites make booking 'simpler' but in the long run it is just more of a headache and more expensive.

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JiveBunny@reddit

In lots of cases, I suppose language barrier and being too nervous to try and book direct. There was somewhere I wanted to go in Japan, but could only book accommodation by phone or fax - if a third party had existed to facilitate things I'd probably have gone with that just so I didn't have to work out how the hell to fax someone in 2025.

It took a *lot* of homework to work out how to book baseball tickets as a) a non-resident b) without a Japanese billing address or access to payment systems that don't exist here c) without having the language skills to be able to buy something like that through a konbini as many Japanese people do. There was a third party agency that did it at a significant markup, and most people just casually googling how to do it would probably go through them. If you're spending enough on a family holiday that you are saving in the thousands when booking direct, you're probably a fairly experienced traveller and are prepared to hunt around and figure it out.

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NiagaraThistle@reddit

"language barrier and being too nervous to try" - i don't speak other languages, but I do just make my 'requests' as simple English as possible: "Room for 4 people (2 adults, 2 kids) for 3 nights. Arrive June 15. Depart June 18. Budget: $125 per night. Do you have an available room?" Then I just email it. With instant translators/chatgpt I can just have this translated in the local language and send it. I find this direct contact via email to be very simple and not nerve-wracking at all since there is no real 'face to face' contact with the other party. It's worked for 25 years, even before Email when i would have to phone or fax :)

Re: 'spending a lot on family trips to save $2k+': you'd be surprised how LITTLE i spend on my family trips (relatively speaking of course), thus making $2k savings that much more 'impressive' (ie it's not like i'm spending $20k or more to save this amount...but sadly I'm no longer spending $3k for a summer trip to Europe either :)

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JiveBunny@reddit

That's the kind of thing I do as well, but you'd be surprised how many people get nervous about not using the big booking sites!

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NotaDeskFit43@reddit

We booked a snorkeling trip in cozumel through a website and paid a lot of money for sub par guides and a rushed tour. Two days later we went to a smaller island near cancun and some guy walked up to us and talked us into doing a day long trip on a small boat for just our group and it was the best snorkeling experience of my life. The guide took us to some amazing spots and we had lunch included as well. This was all for $40 per person (I think).

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