Stephen: Hello, I'm Stephen.

　　Alice: And I'm Alice.

　　Stephen: And this is 6 Minute English. This week we're talking about booking holidays

　　online. Some travel companies have been criticised for making misleading

　　claims about holidays or flights they're selling on their websites. Well, you're

　　probably familiar with the kind of language used in advertising holidays.

　　Sometimes, the way a holiday is described doesn't really match what it's really

　　like.

　　Alice: For example, ‘azure blue waters’ might turn out to be a dirty blue sea, and a

　　‘cosy hotel room’ - a nice way of saying it's a very small room.

　　Stephen: But it's not just the descriptions that are controversial - travel companies have

　　been getting in trouble for the way they sell their services online. Before we

　　find out more Alice, let's hear today's question.

　　Alice: OK.

　　Stephen: Online travel is big business, and the top online travel company in China is

　　called Ctrip.com. They announced a huge increase in profits between January

　　and March, but how much was that increase? Was it:

　　6 Minute English ? bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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　　a) 13%

　　b) 23%

　　c) 33%

　　Alice: Oh, because you said it’s a huge increase I’ll go for the biggest figure – 33%.

　　Stephen: Well, we'll find out the answer at the end of today's 6 Minute English. First,

　　let's talk some more about booking holidays online. If you're like me, at this

　　time of the year, you're searching through lots of holiday websites for a really

　　good deal.

　　Alice: A really good deal - a bargain, a great offer.

　　Stephen: But it might not turn out to be that cheap in the end. There can be hidden costs

　　and something can end up being more expensive than you were expecting.

　　Alice: Hidden costs include anything that's not very obvious. It could be taxes or

　　administration charges - payments for the office staff who deal with money

　　and booking your flights or hotel.

　　Stephen: It can be really frustrating after lots of clicking to discover that the final price

　　of your holiday is considerably more expensive. Here's Stephen Dunk, the

　　Commercial Director of Travel Zoo, a company which sells holidays online.

　　Insert 1: Stephen Dunk

　　You see a great offer and you think “I’d like to go and do that”, and then you start

　　trying to book it and you actually see that it’s no longer available, or that you’re going to

　　have to pay much more money. And having made that emotional commitment to go and

　　do something there’s nothing worse than having to make a decision to either pull out or

　　to pay much more than you perhaps were anticipating.

　　Stephen: So Stephen Dunk says that you might see a holiday you like. When you try to

　　book it, it's no longer available or it could be much more expensive than you

　　had budgeted for.

　　Alice: To budget for something is to plan to spend a certain amount of money on it.

　　Stephen: He also says if you have chosen a holiday, often you've made an emotional

　　commitment to go on it. It's a difficult decision then to pull out.

　　Alice: An emotional commitment. I think he means if you’ve set your heart on doing

　　something - you’ve decided you really want to do it - you’re less likely to pull

　　out, even if the price goes up.

　　Stephen: To pull out, means to withdraw or not do something. Also, booking holidays

　　online can mean clicking lots of buttons. There can be quite a few stages

　　before you see the final cost. Let's hear about some of the hidden costs of plane

　　flights. Here's George Hobica from airfarewatchdog.com.

　　Insert 2: George Hobica

　　I think it’s a great boon for consumers to actually see all the taxes in the airfares.

　　Unfortunately a lot of airlines when they send you an email will say $179 to Europe,

　　say from New York City, or even in the reverse direction. And in fact it requires a

　　round-trip purchase so it’s twice that, and it doesn’t include taxes – so the real fare is

　　$1000. It’s very, very deceptive and I think it is time that the airlines be upfront about

　　it.

　　Stephen: George Hobica thinks it's a great boon to be able to know all the price details

　　of a flight - to be able to see all the taxes.

　　Alice: A great boon – that’s something really helpful or beneficial.

　　Stephen: But he said, a flight from Europe to New York being advertised for $179 could

　　end up costing $1000. That's a very large difference in price.

　　Alice: He also used some interesting words and phrases associated with travel. In

　　American English a return trip is called a round-trip.

　　Stephen: George Hobica says the way fares are advertised can be deceptive. He wants

　　airlines to be more upfront.

　　Alice: Deceptive - misleading. He wants airlines to be more upfront - more honest -

　　about their pricing.

　　Stephen: Well, there’s certainly plenty to be thinking about when I'm booking my next

　　holiday! Have you any holiday plans this summer, Alice?

　　Alice: Not yet. I think I might go away in the autumn.

　　Stephen: A bit of sunshine would be nice, I’m sure. And earlier I asked you how much

　　profits went up at the Chinese travel company ctrip.com?

　　Alice: I said 33% between January and March.

　　Stephen: Close enough – it was actually 23%.

　　Alice: Oh, that’s still pretty big.

　　Stephen: So, before we go, would you reading some of the words we heard in today's

　　programme, please?

　　Alice: Of course.

　　hidden costs

　　clicking

　　budgeted for

　　an emotional commitment

　　to pull out

　　boon

　　Stephen: Thanks, Alice. Well, that's all we have time for on today's 6 Minute English.

　　Both: Bye!