Budget travellers are my favourite sort of travellers, simply because they’re very well-behaved and they appreciate all the hard work that goes into making sure they have a good, safe and comfortable trip. Of course I’m talking about this from a broader point-of-view of the travel and tourism industry, including holiday destination accommodation in addition to the industry I’m right in the middle of, air travel. Trust me, when we get together with our counterparts who work in the holiday destination accommodation industry, normally what we have to share as part of talking shop are stories of how difficult guests can be.
So I take my hat off to budget travellers as they understand the true value of every penny they spend, but they also understand how difficult our jobs as the people who service them can be. Budget travellers are always looking to save a buck, but they know that they get what they pay for in many instances and they also know that sometimes it’s just not worth trying to go for the cheapest deal you can get. So to give a little something back to those great wanderlusters who have mastered the art of prolonging their trips as a result of always sniffing out a good deal, I’m going to share a little bit of insider knowledge about a little-known class of travel industry services which can have them enjoying a little bit more of a premium service.
So we’re talking here about the higher-end of budget travel, which granted is not always a clearly visible line, but a line you can spot with little effort, nevertheless. Sometimes it’s as straight-forward as recognising an association with a specific brand name, such as how flying Emirates Economy Class is a definite step-up on flying economy in pretty much any other airline, in the entire world! I’m personally yet to come across a better economy class. So, as is the case with this airline, yes, their economy class costs just a little bit more than the same class ticket of many other airlines, but what you get is something which can be described to be a class above the regular economy class. You get a lot more than the little bit extra you pay for.
Moving beyond the higher-end service that can be associated to a specific brand, it becomes all about taking up that somewhat “open-ended” option with each ticket you buy or with each hotel, hostel or any other place of accommodation you book. In the airline industry it’s usually referred to as something like an instant-upgrade ticket, economy-plus, etc. What happens is you pay a little bit more and then should there be a space in a better class, like in Business Class, you get upgraded and can then enjoy those premium perks associated with that upgrade.
When booking accommodation it’s usually a little bit different and largely depends on how the property phrases this option of being able to get an upgrade. Sometimes booking online and pre-paying affords you this luxury of having your room upgraded upon arrival, to have you enjoying the higher-end of budget travel.