Payment rules. What kind of beast is Sberbank Online travel agency and ATMs

24.07.17 79 033 0

What kind of beast is a travel agency?

How to buy a tour so as not to be left without money and a vacation

Roma and his friends were going to New Year to the Dominican Republic.

Konstantin Golubev

traveler

Roman, victim

In November, he paid for a tour, but the agency manager forgot to transfer the money to the tour operator on time. Roman learned about this already at Domodedovo, when he was not allowed on the flight. Friends flew away on vacation, but he remained at the airport.

A month later, Roman returned the money, but the holidays were ruined. How to avoid such situations and what to pay attention to when working with travel agencies - we will tell you in the article.

What does a tour operator do?

There are two types of travel agencies: operators and agents.

A tour operator is like a travel producer. He comes to the country and looks at what hotels, excursions, transport, entertainment and everything else that might be of interest to tourists. He negotiates with all these suppliers, checks their licenses and certificates, makes an advance payment to them, negotiates some quotas and discounts - the result is tourism product, aka tour.

By popular tourist destinations tour operators collect ready-made holiday packages: they negotiate in advance with hotels and airlines. Typically, a packaged tour includes flights, medical insurance and ground services: hotel room, meals, transfers, guided tours and entertainment. A tourist does not need to waste time and plan a trip himself - he buys a ready-made tour, takes a passport and goes on a trip.

These travel kits are called package tours. Operators sell them independently or through intermediaries - travel agencies.

What does a travel agency do?

If the operator is a manufacturer, then the agency is a store ready-made trips. The agency buys from the operator ready-made tours and sells them to tourists.

The agency's task is to help tourists choose and buy a suitable tour. Usually it goes like this:

A tourist comes to the agency and says: “I want to go on vacation! Where will you send it?
The agency shows him ready-made tours and explains what is included in them: where the tourist will live, how many days, when he departs and returns, and what else is included in the cost of the trip.
The tourist chooses the tour he likes, and the agency books the tour from the operator: “Reserve this tour for my tourist. Here are the passport details."
The operator confirms the reservation: “The tour has been booked. I'm waiting for payment."
The tourist pays for the trip at the agency, the agency buys the tour from the operator: “Here is the money for the tour. You reserved it for my boyfriend."
The tour operator receives the money and sends a tour package for the tourist to the agency: “Guys, everything is okay! I received the money. Tomorrow I’ll send you the tickets, hotel reservation number, insurance policy and travel itinerary.”
The agency hands over the voucher to the tourist - the tourist packs his suitcase and flies off on vacation.

If the agency and operator were people, it would look like this:

Before booking and paying for a tour, the tourist and the agency sign an agreement on the provision of travel services. We’ll look at what it looks like and what to pay attention to in the contract in the next article.

How agencies mislead tourists

Natalia Golubeva

worked in a travel agency for four years

Let’s say a client comes to an agency and asks the manager to select a tour. The manager has not been anywhere, but in order to sell the tour, he says that he has a great idea of the room, beach, pool and entertainment in the area. It turns out that the manager is misleading the tourist.

This is the most disgusting thing: when you go to a hotel with nothing but expectations, and get a room with a non-working air conditioner or mold on the walls. Therefore, we called and found out whether the tourist was satisfied with everything; studied descriptions of hotels and excursions from the tour operator; read reviews about hotels from others.

An adequate manager is always aware of construction near the hotel or long-standing renovations in the rooms and will not outright lie. The main thing is not to sell a tour for once, but to get a satisfied tourist who will return and book the tour again.

How to buy a tour cheaper

It is better to book a tour according to the season: choose a place in advance and contact the agency. Four to six months before the holiday, tickets and accommodation are cheaper and there will be many available rooms. If you take a tour a month or a couple of weeks before the trip, you will have to choose from what is left. For example, the cherry blossoms in Japan good hotels booked six to seven months in advance of the tour.

Take a holiday at the beginning or end of the season to save on accommodation. Hotels give operators discounts to fill rooms before and after the main influx of tourists, so holidays at the beginning or end of the season usually cost less. Find out the best time to travel to different countries Can .

Follow the Early Booking promotions. At the start of sales, operators want to quickly raise money to pay for purchased rooms and charter flights. Therefore, they attract tourists with promotions and discounts.

Charter - an aircraft rented in advance. The operator and agencies sell tours specifically for this flight in order to fill the flight and recoup the rental. Charter tickets are often cheaper, but the flight may be rescheduled for another time.

The operator "Tez-tour" is selling tours to the UAE for early booking with a discount of up to 40% until August 30. Screenshot from the tour operator's website

Usually buy early booking tours at summer resorts possible from January to April. For winter - from July to October.

Check canceled or last minute tours, if you are ready to go on vacation in a few days. When a tourist cannot go on a trip, he tries to return some of the money and resells the tour at a discount. Operators also reduce prices for charter tickets two to three days before departure in order to fully fill the board.

How scammers deceive

Unfortunately, there are scammers among travel agencies, and simply incompetent people among tour operators. Here's what to watch out for when dealing with an agency.

They work without an agreement with an operator. According to the law “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities”, the agency must have an agreement with each operator. Without an agreement or power of attorney from the tour operator, the agency operates illegally: it sells fictitious tours and has no intention of buying them back from the operator. Most likely, in a few months the scammers will close the office and disappear with the tourists’ money.

In order not to give money to scammers, before purchasing a tour, ask the agency manager to show the agreement with the tour operator and check this information yourself on the website of the Tourpomosch association. This can be done in two ways:

open a list of partner agencies in the register of tour operators;
in the register of travel agencies, see which operators the agency works with.

The reservation is cancelled. To confirm a reservation and purchase a tour from the operator, the tourist first pays for the trip at the agency, then the agency transfers the money to the operator. After this, the operator sends a tourist voucher and itinerary receipts. Without these documents, the tourist will not be able to go on vacation: he will not be allowed on the plane and will not be accommodated in a hotel room.

This is what the itinerary receipt looks like:

Number of ticket

How else do they deceive tourists?

They lure you with promotions and discounts. The agency makes money by reselling tours: it buys from the operator at one price and sells them for a little more. Usually the agency receives 5-10% of the tour cost.

Fraudsters offer tours at bargain prices, accumulate the required amount and go off into the sunset. To avoid falling for the tricks of scammers, check the average prices for trips in advance with different operators.

They take money without an agreement. A travel services agreement is the basis for partial or full payment for a trip. When an agency takes money without an agreement, it is working in a dirty way. Therefore, if the manager is in a hurry with payment and offers to draw up an agreement later, it is better not to risk it and immediately go to another agency.

They don't provide payment documents. When a tourist pays an agency, the employee is obliged to give him a payment document: a cash receipt, a cash receipt order with a stamp and signature, a note with passport data, the purpose and amount of the payment - any document confirming the fact of transfer of money. Without payment documents, it will not be possible to return the money even through court. If you paid for the tour, but didn’t take the documents, you gave the money to the scammers.

Remember

The tour operator creates a tourism product, the travel agent sells ready-made tours for operators.
The tour operator is responsible for the quality of the tour and the accuracy of the information; the travel agent is obliged to explain to the tourist what he will get for his money.
Package tours are more profitable independent trip to popular tourist destinations.
It is better to book a tour several months in advance, and accommodation is cheaper at the beginning or end of the season - this way you can save money.
Before paying, check the tour program and contract, and then take the payment documents.
If the operator has not sent the travel voucher and itinerary receipts, make sure that the agency has transferred the money to the operator.

HOW DOES PAYMENT OCCUR THROUGH VTB BANK

You can pay for the tour in cash at additional VTB Bank offices throughout Russia.

You can check the addresses and opening hours of branches on the bank's website.

To pay for the tour through VTB Bank you need to present:

Receipt with payment agreement number
Passport

You can also pay for the tour at VTB payment terminals/ATMs. You can check the addresses and opening hours of ATMs on the bank's website.

To pay for a tour through a payment terminal/VTB ATM, you need to enter the agreement number on the screen (from the payment receipt).

How to get a receipt with an account number for payment:

You must select the payment method you are interested in
Select the option “Pay at a VTB branch”
Fill out the form with payer data
Select a form to create a receipt
Click the “Receipt” link, after which a receipt is downloaded for payment through the appropriate banking institution

Example of a receipt with an agreement number for payment

Payment is accepted in rubles according to the company’s internal exchange rate on the day of payment for the tour.

Additional payment is made at the exchange rate on the day of payment.

In addition, you can pay for the tour via Internet Banking

You can make a payment through VTB Bank from your personal account (every order has a “Payment for the order” tab).

To pay via Internet Bank, you need to receive a receipt with the agreement number for payment. Next, through your VTB Bank personal account, pay the required amount according to the agreement number indicated in the receipt.

Payment for each order must be made in a separate payment. It is not allowed to pay for multiple orders with one amount.

Additional payments are not allowed for orders that have already been paid for. non-cash payments. If such payments are received, they will not be credited and must be returned.

At the time of booking the tour, payment is made using bank cards using two-stage authorization technology. This means that the money is frozen (blocked) on your card until confirmation of all services in the application is received. As soon as all services in the application are confirmed, the money is debited from the card automatically. If a refusal is received, for example, from a hotel, the money will automatically be returned to the holder’s card.

2. Partial payment by bank card

Installment plan from TEZ TOUR!

Partial payment by bank card is possible for tours on charter flights to Andorra, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, China (Hainan), UAE, Thailand, Turkey: 30% payment immediately and the balance no later than than 15 working days before departure.

The cost of the tour is fixed in USD. Prepayment/additional payment is made in rubles at the current exchange rate of the Company on the day of payment. Full payment must be made no later than 15 working days before departure.

Pay for tours online without commission!

We do not charge a commission from clients when paying for tours with a bank card.

We accept bank cards of the following payment systems:

3. Sberbank online and cash payment

You can choose the option of paying in cash through Sberbank branches using an account from your personal account. Invoices printed for payment upon application are valid for 2 business days (day of issue + 1 day). This allows you to FIX the amount payable at the rate in effect at the time of invoice!

When choosing Sberbank Online payment produced in personal account Sberbank, the purpose of payment indicates the application number.

Payment for tours at Sberbank ATMs and terminals, as well as through Sberbank Online without commission!

To pay for tours, you can use any of the following payment methods:

1. Sberbank Online and ATMs

Payment is made from bank card or your bank account (in Sberbank Online).

2. Terminals

Payment is possible using a Sberbank card.

Sequence of actions when paying for an application (using the example of Sberbank Online):

4. Payment for early booking tours

For early booking tours with charter flights Partial payment in cash or through Sberbank Online is possible: you must make an advance payment of at least 25% of the cost to book a tour. The remaining 75% must be paid no later than 15 working days before the departure date.

Payment is considered made upon receipt of funds.

Attention! On the last day early booking Payment must be received no later than 18:00 Moscow time!