LayAway Holidays Travel Survey

As a new and growing business, at Layaway Holidays we are very keen to hear your opinions on our business model, good, bad or plain ugly. We can handle the truth!

We have put together a short questionnaire, and would love for you to tell us what you think about what we are doing. To make it worth your while, we will draw a winner from all replies who will win a case of wine, on us. Let’s get to it……

Take the Survey here

* * *

Layaway Holidays have been making large waves in the holiday industry since their launch last November, with their first-to-market offering of the holiday paid off on layby. A simple-sounding system, some will be wondering ‘how does it work?’ and ‘Is it relevant to me?’

The answers to these questions are straightforward. To layby a holiday, you take the exact same approach as when you layby a nice pair of shoes. Just choose whatever takes your fancy, tell Layaway Holidays what that is (you can book online or just call on 0800 529292), and begin a payment plan that finishes 6 weeks prior to your departure. You pay by direct debit, so you never have to worry about when payments are due.

How relevant is it to you? That depends on how much you like to hold onto your own money. If you prefer it in your pocket for longer, a layby could make sense, as you would be locking in the total price, and only paying the minimum payment, either weekly, fortnightly or monthly, whatever suits you best. Layaway Holidays guarantee no price rises for the duration of the payment term, so you always know the exact cost of your holiday.

So where can you go on a layby holiday? In short, anywhere you like! Layaway Holidays provides a full travel agency service, and can layby a holiday to anywhere you like, worldwide, including favourite  islands and beaches, cruising, touring, safaris, fly-drives and dog sledding across the Arctic. Layaway Holidays also employ a cruise specialist and a weddings&honeymoons specialist, so all options are catered for.

Being an essentially web-based operation, Layaway Holidays conduct the majority of their business electronically or by phone, although with offices in Takapuna, Auckland-based customers are welcome to pop in for a chat and some travel advice on their trip.

Is there a catch, financially? Well there is no interest on the amount you pay, and no finance contract or even credit checks. The whole process is as simple as possible. When setting up a layby scheme you do preclude yourself from purchasing last-minute special offers by travel companies who are selling surplus stock, but when planning a holiday in advance, hoping for the last-minute deal can lead to disappointment if no offers appear for when you have planned to travel.

Some will wonder how safe their money is, as Layaway Holidays are a new force in the marketplace, and a new concept. To instill confidence in their customers, Layaway Holidays are bonded at the highest level available with the Travel Agents Association of New Zealand (TAANZ), and clients’ funds are kept safe in a trust account until the travel suppliers are due for payment.

Will the future of holidays be the layby scheme? There will always be a place for the last-minute break, the quick getaway and the sanity-saving weekender, but  It makes a lot of sense to a great many people to keep their money in their pocket, avoid loading up the credit card, and still get to go on a dream holiday. Layaway Holidays have been run off their feet since their launch at the end of 2009, and the signs are clear that 2010 will be the year of the layby, or should that be Layaway, holiday!

NOTE: Prices below are based on a 24 month booking


























































 

Published 25th Feb 2010

print