6 Things To Check Before Booking Travel Deals

You found it. A travel deal. The price is right, the dates work, and that little voice in your head is yelling “Book it now, before it’s gone.” But before you hit confirm, there’s a five-minute step that can save you hundreds of dollars or a canceled trip with zero refund. It’s reading the fine print.

I sat down with Susan Catto, Head of Publishing Canada at Travelzoo, on a recent episode of The Thought Card Podcast, where she shared exactly what her team looks for when they vet a deal — the fine print details that separate a genuine steal from a headache down the road. Here are her top tips, straight from our conversation.

Continue reading or listen to the podcast episode below. 

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1. Refund and Change Policies

Susan’s biggest piece of advice: know what happens if your plans change before you book.

Some deals come with no refunds and no changes at all which might be fine, but only if you know that going in. Her workaround: buy travel insurance and air medical evacuation insurance separately. That gives you a safety net even when the deal itself is nonrefundable. 

If you want more flexibility, she suggests looking for a “cancel for any reason” travel insurance policy — it costs more and likely won’t refund 100%, but it can offer peace of mind, especially if you’re in a stage of life where you are dealing with aging relatives or unpredictable health circumstances.

2. Seat and Cabin Selection

Susan pointed out that seating is its own category of fine print. On a cruise, you’re going to care about where your cabin is. On a flight, she said, you’re “going to want to be able to choose your seat, especially if you care about not being in the middle row or in the back.”

If a deal doesn’t let you select your seat or cabin location, ask what your options are before booking, not after you’re already assigned a spot you don’t want.

3. The Solo Supplement

Most travel deals (cruises, group tours, all-inclusive packages) are priced based on double occupancy, meaning the cost is calculated assuming two people are splitting a room.

The solo supplement is an additional fee tacked on when you’re traveling by yourself, meant to cover the “lost” revenue from that empty second spot in the room.

Susan flagged this as a common trap: a solo price that looks too good to be true often means the company either pairs you with a stranger (same gender) in a shared room, or charges you the supplement to avoid that.

That same trip can jump significantly once the supplement is added, sometimes by 50-100% more than the advertised price.

If privacy matters to you, that might be a dealbreaker for you, or it might not, but it’s the kind of detail you want to know before you commit.

Before you book anything solo, search specifically for the single supplement fee or the solo traveler policy in the trip details. If it’s not listed, ask.

Tired of reading? Listen to the full podcast episode with Susan Catto on Spotify. 

4. What’s Included in the “Starting From” Price

Susan explained that Travelzoo’s team prices out every piece of a trip and assigns a dollar value to see whether a deal really holds up.

Her advice for the rest of us: that eye-catching “starting from” number is usually a floor, not the real price. It might reflect a flight with layovers or the most basic room category. 

As you compare deals, price out what you would pay for the version of the trip you actually want, frills and all.

5. Identify Your Non-Negotiables

This isn’t fine print exactly, but Susan treated it the same way: decide ahead of time what you’re simply not willing to compromise on. For example, long flight times with a real risk of a missed connection can be a dealbreaker when vacation time is limited. Knowing your non-negotiables and travel style can help you sort any deal into “yes” or “next” a lot faster.

6. Read Reviews

Susan’s approach to reviews is worth stealing too. She said she doesn’t “pay a ton of attention to one star reviews or every five star review,”  instead, she reads the three- and four-star reviews, because those tend to be the most balanced and specific.

The Bottom Line

A travel deal isn’t really a deal until you’ve checked what it doesn’t tell you upfront. 

Thanks to Susan’s insider view from vetting deals at Travelzoo, we now know exactly what to check: 

• refund policies
• seat selection
• solo supplement
• what’s baked into that “starting from” price
• your own non-negotiables

Lastly, always read the fine print.

You’ll book with a lot more confidence and fewer unpleasant surprises.

Read Next: Stop Overpaying for Travel with Pauline Frommer 

Danielle Desir Corbett

Danielle Desir Corbett is an award-winning and 6x grant-funded travel writer and podcast host who went from financial struggle to visiting 27+ countries all without waiting until retirement. Her story is proof that budget doesn’t limit adventure. Tune into The Thought Card Podcast for practical strategies to travel smarter and live on your terms. Say hello: thethoughtcard (at) gmail (dot) com.

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