Decades ago, a travel fair in Jakarta does not exist yet. Not everybody can travel easily to local destinations or go abroad. The price of plane tickets was still expensive, either traveling for business or leisure. The only options to buy the tickets are going to travel agencies or searching through the official airlines’ website which was only a few. Thanks to the digital era, everything is just a single click away. We now have many options to travel.
Travel Fair In Jakarta
Two years ago, Jakarta has it’s first Travel Fair event which was held in Jakarta Convention Center. The event was filled with hundreds of tenants of travel agencies from Jakarta. Each tenant offers many attractive promotions. People were craving good promotions to fulfill their travel bucket list. The event was a success and this year it’s held for 3 times in a year. Thanks to Travel Fair, now everybody in Indonesia can be a traveler. Either you’re a local or expat living in Jakarta, anyone can buy the plane tickets in the Travel Fair.
Travel Fair is the place where you can find good deals of plane tickets for going to local or abroad destinations.
The tickets can be purchased via online and offline. Via online is through the official airlines’ website or travel agency website. Via offline is going to the travel fair event that is usually held in malls in big cities or convention centers. The promotions offers are amazing, from cash back, discounts, happy hour, prizes and many more. It can be fun, competitive and stress full at the same time.
12 To Do’s Before Buying Plane Ticket At A Travel Fair
Before planning to go or buy tickets for your next destination, here are some tips I like to share based on my experience:
1. Check Passport Expiry Date
This is a very crucial part that sometimes we often forget when we’re going to travel abroad. Make sure your expired date is not less than 6 months. Last year when I went to Japan, the Immigration person in Soekarno-Hatta Airport told me that my passport would expire in 3 months right after he sealed my passport and 30 minutes before my luggage has already been check-in. There’s no turning back. Only 20% of hope that Japan’s Immigration would accept me in their country. Thank God, luckily they did. I guess that was just my luck.
2. Double Check Visa
Each country has a different validity period of Visa for each person. In Indonesia, we usually get a maximum of 5 years for America and 3 years for Australia. If you’re planning to go to those 2 countries, make sure to check your expiry date of visa before going to the travel fair.
3. Choose 3 Destinations
Make top 3 priority destinations before hunting tickets in the travel fair, in case your first option isn’t available. For example, 1 trip going abroad, 2 trips to a local destination or vice versa. There is a time limit and also quota to book promo tickets for every travel fair via online and offline. Don’t waste time wondering where your next destination should be.
4. Set 3 Options for Depart and Return Dates
In travel fairs, you will hear the word Black Out Dates. These are dates in Peak Season that are not available to book during travel fair. It means, to avoid the Black Out Dates, it’s better to choose a date one-half week before or after the Peak Season. If you’re planning to go on a trip around Peak Season, best to set 3 options of Depart and Return dates to avoid whether the date you want is not available.
Happy faces every time I travel
5. Survey and Research Destination
Big research and read reviews is a must for every travel destination. To make the best moment for your journey, find out when is the perfect time to go to your next destination from official websites, travel blogger, travel vlogger or someone who often travel. For example, my favorite choice of holiday is in winter. Before hunting promo tickets, I always make research for countries that have winter and usually not in Peak Season to avoid the crowd.
6. Price Comparison
For a price comparison, always find ticket price information from an official airline website, Skyscanner or travel agencies. Some promotions in Travel Fair can be tricky especially for those who don’t know the price. There are moments when you only have 5 minutes to decide for 2 left seats available to your next destination. Just when you decide to buy the ticket, it turns out it was way more expensive than the usual price. In this case, knowledge and time efficiency is a must.
7. Have at least 1 Trusted Travel Agent
The best thing about having 1 trusted Travel Agent from the travel agency is that they will help you make priority Purchase Order before the Travel Fair starts. Just by doing it via phone, you can give your request date and flight to your trusted travel agents without cueing in line or standing by in front of the computer a whole day long.
Choosing the perfect flight for your next destination
8. Make Sure Your Credit Card Is Safe
Nowadays there are many credit card companies offering various kinds of promotion such as cash back, buy 1 get 1 and plenty more. Make sure your credit card is not expired or already paid before purchasing the ticket in order not to miss out that good offers.
9. Buy Ticket before 3 Months Departure
It’s best to buy the plane ticket with a maximum of 3 months before the departure date. For example, buy a ticket in March for traveling in June-July. If planning to travel without using travel biro, no travel agent will remind us of our preparation before leaving. If traveling 6 months later, we do not know whether it’s still the perfect timing or will there be a natural disaster at the destination city.
10. Happy Hour is Always The Best Hour
Not many people know that the best time to buy plane tickets is at Happy Hour. It’s usually held in a mall or convention center around 10 AM-1 PM and 4-6 PM. I myself have experienced it by accidentally came on Sunday noon around 11 AM. The fair was not as crowded as I thought. There was more than 50 travel agency in the Fair. My randomly choice fell to 3 travel agencies that each gave me a very cheap ticket price.
I got a return ticket with a price of 1 million Rupiah (around $100) per person to go to Belitung from Jakarta when usually the normal price is around $200 per person. I also got a return ticket with a price of 5 million Rupiah (around $500) per person to go to Melbourne from Jakarta plus a power bank for the bonus. Normal price is usually around $700 per person.
11. Become Member of All Airlines
Join the member of all airlines is a must. You will enjoy the benefits that the airline has to offer. Such as using the airline’s lounge, gain points from your travel destinations and you will also receive many promotions.
12. Make Sure To Have Money
Last but not least, do not be easily get tempted by promotional offers especially when you do not have the money. It is better to have a saving first and have good preparations rather than going impromptu when there is no money.
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Hopefully, these long tips are useful before you’re going to the next Travel Fair. Have you ever had a good or bad experience from any Travel Fair? Feel free to share in the comment column, if you have some useful tips.
Let’s continue to my next post.
*This is not a sponsored content, all tips are based on my experience.
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