Blind booking: all providers tested in 2019

In this article I present you one holiday trend where your spontaneity and flexibility are required: Blind booking. The not so new holiday trend comes from the USA and offers the opportunity to get cheap holiday deals that are far below the normal price. The highlight is that you will only be informed of the destination of your trip or the name of your hotel after booking. In this article you will find out which providers offer blind booking for flights or hotels in your range, how much money you can save and how you can cleverly avoid the additional costs incurred. I also give you detailed instructions, how the popular booking method works. So that you don’t fall into a trap with blind booking, you will also receive information that you should consider during the booking process.

Blind booking at Eurowings

In Germany, Eurowings is one of the best-known providers of blind booking. The airline is known for cheap bargains and offers blind booking a great opportunity for young people, flexible couples and spontaneous travelers to travel to different destinations such as Barcelona, ​​Prague or Venice at affordable prices. Different categories are available to you, each consisting of different goals. You can currently fly into the unknown for 66 euros book. The cheap airfare Incidentally, this is due to the fact that blind booking fills up individual spaces that cannot be occupied and are therefore offered at a discount. The categories can be booked from nine different departure airports:

  • Cologne-Bonn: Gay-friendly, party, culture, hiking and nature, Christmas markets, metropolises, shopping, snow and skiing
  • Dusseldorf: Party, culture, hiking and nature, metropolises, shopping
  • Hannover: Europe mix with cities like Vienna, London or Palma de Mallorca
  • Hamburg: Party, Christmas markets, culture, hiking and nature, shopping
  • Munich: Europe mix with cities like London, Amsterdam or Edinburgh
  • Stuttgart: Metropolises, Christmas markets, party, culture
  • Salzburg: Europe mix with cities like Hamburg, Palma de Mallorca or Berlin
  • Berlin Tegel: Europe mix with cities like Salzburg, Zagreb or Düsseldorf
  • Vienna: Europe mix with cities like Barcelona, ​​Palma de Mallorca or Faro

And this is how it works:

You have the option of individual Exclude destinations, the travel price increases by five euros with each excluded destination. Here is a small example of blind booking from Stuttgart: There are four different categories for this departure airport. For example, if you decide to "Party", you can fly there and back for 66 euros. Leipzig / Halle and Berlin are not among your favorite destinations, so you exclude these destinations. Two excluded destinations mean a surcharge of five euros each, so your new travel price is 76 euros for a return flight. Basically, all cities except three can be deleted, whereby the travel price then increases significantly. This example also applies to blind booking trips from other departure airports.

Blind booking with Lufthansa

Since mid-May 2016, Lufthansa has been offering “Lufthansa Surprise“Also blind booking flights. For all spontaneous travelers, this offer is a great way to fly into the unknown with the Star Alliance Airline. Two departure airports are possible for blind booking with Lufthansa: Frankfurt and Munich. From 69 euros you can go to great destinations all over Europe! With this offer you can choose from different categories and the following destinations when booking:

  • Go East:
  • from Frankfurt: Wroclaw, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Pose, Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius
  • from Munich: Wroclaw, Bucharest, Dubrovnik, Krakow, Posem, Sibiu, Sofia, Split, Timisoara
  • Arts & Sights:
    • from Frankfurt: Basel, Bilbao, Billund, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Luxembourg, Sofia, Valencia, Warsaw
    • from Munich: Basel, Belgrade, Wroclaw, Brussels, Helsinki, Lemberg, Madrid, Milan, Toulouse
    • The Great Outdoors:
      • from Frankfurt: Belgrade, Gdansk, Faro, Geneva, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Toulouse
      • from Munich: Gdansk, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Larnaca, Luxembourg, Oslo, Stockholm
      • Follow The Sun:
        • from Frankfurt: Alicante, Faro, Ibiza, Lisbon, Malaga, Malta, Marseille, Naples, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Porto
        • from Munich: Ancona, Bilbao, Genoa, Izmir, Marseille, Naples, Nice, Trieste
        • Go With The Bro:
          • from Frankfurt: Amsterdam, Berlin, Budapest, Dublin, Hamburg, Krakow, Manchester, Prague, Warsaw
          • from Munich: Amsterdam, Dublin, Hamburg, Manchester, Prague, Sarajevo, Warsaw
          • Urban Adventures:
            • from Frankfurt: Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest, Dublim, Istanbul, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Rome, Zagreb
            • from Munich: Athens, Berlin, Budapest, Bucharest, Dublin, Lisbon, Rome, Warsaw, Zagreb
            • Party on:
              • from Frankfurt: Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Berlin, Birmingham, Dublin, Krakow, Lyon, Prague, Warsaw
              • from Munich: Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Berlin, Birmingham, Dublin, Lisbon, Lyon, Prague, Turin
              • For the Lovers:
                • from Frankfurt: Athens, Bologna, Budapest, Florence, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Zurich
                • from Munich: Barcelona, ​​Budapest, Lisbon, Paris, Pisa, Prague, Rome, Vienna
                • Shoes & Stores:
                  • from Frankfurt: Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Blogona, Dublin, Florence, Hamburg, Istanbul, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome, Turin, Vienna
                  • from Munich: Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Berlin, Hamburg, Manchester, Paris, Rome, Turin, Vienna
                  • And this is how it works:

                    Similar to Eurowings, Lufthansa can also exclude individual destinations and thus skilfully narrow your selection. The travel price increases by one euro if a destination is excluded. For each further excluded destination, the travel price increases by five euros. At the same time you have several options, the duration of the trip and the Narrow your travel period. For example, you can choose between the two alternatives "No flights before 9:00 am" and "Only flights from 2:00 pm". In addition, there is the "weekend option", in which the travel days for a weekend can be narrowed down more precisely. Choose between trips from Friday to Sunday, Saturday to Monday, Saturday to Sunday or between two weekends.

                    Blind booking over New Years Eve

                    You don’t have a plan for New Year’s Eve yet, but would you like to start a short trip? How about a blind booking trip over New Year to different European cities at a bargain price? At Eurowings and Lufthansa you have the opportunity to fly cheaply on holiday even on New Year’s Eve. From 66 euros you can book any number of days over New Year’s Eve in a European city and duly greet the new year. Possible destinations include London, Milan, Dublin, Vienna, Budapest, Stockholm and many many more.

                    And this is how it works:

                    As with the booking of a conventional blind booking trip, you do not know in advance which city you are flying to. Only when the travel documents are sent is the Blind-booking Surprise perfect! All you have to do is think about a travel period for your trip and choose between the different departure airports and categories. If you are looking for hotels in Europe, the best thing to do is to check out Booking.com.

                    Blind booking over New Years at Eurowings

                    If you want to fly on holiday with Eurowings over New Year’s Eve, you should first think about which departure airport you want to start from. Then I recommend you to check out the individual categories for your trip. You feel like it, New Year in the fresh air to spend? Then click through the goals of the "Hiking and Nature" category. You can choose from various destinations such as Sarajevo, Zurich or Dublin. If, on the other hand, you really want to have a blast on New Year’s Eve, you should choose the "Party" option. This gives you the chance to spend a short trip in cities like Barcelona or London. Then you have to define your desired travel period and enter the passenger data. When all the data is complete, you will finally receive the travel documents to your blind booking destination.

                    Blind booking over New Years at Lufthansa

                    Similar to Eurowings, you also have the option at Lufthansa to put your blind booking trip directly on New Year’s and New Year’s. First, think about whether you want to start from Munich or Frankfurt. In a next step you should make clear which category you want to choose. For the party animals among you, the “Party On” category probably has the best goals. Anyone against it romantic break would like to spend with the partner in the category "For the Lovers". Then you choose your desired travel period, with the additional option of specifying whether you want to fly over a weekend or not. At Lufthansa, too, you will be sent the travel documents and information about your destination when you enter all the data.

                    Additional costs when booking

                    baggage

                    During the booking process, the airline Eurowings offers a lot of additional options for blind booking that can drive the price up significantly. This is included in the flight Hand luggage up to eight kilograms. Additional baggage items weighing up to 23 kilograms cost an additional € 15 per flight. Luggage up to 32 kilograms even with a surcharge of 65 euros. If you add your additional luggage, the blind booking experience can quickly turn into expensive fun. This baggage Policy You should definitely consider if you want to go on an extended shopping trip or if your stay is long. Basically, only one piece of luggage should be checked in per person, because a second suitcase costs 75 euros.

                    Vacation Tracker Tip: Book a large suitcase for two and store all the things you need there. So you can share the cost of one piece of luggage.

                    Seat reservation

                    A seat reservation can also cause additional costs. At Eurowings, reservations can be made using the Web check-ins simple and easy, but with additional costs. The total amount increases again if you choose another payment method as direct debit. Then an additional surcharge is due (applies to Invoice, PayPal, credit cards, vouchers). Only direct debit as a payment method is free of charge.

                    If you master these stumbling blocks well and are flexible, the price of 66 euros for a return flight can still be put together. It is important to be careful and not to overlook unnecessary costs. In any case, blind booking can save a lot of money.

                    Blind booking with hotels

                    However, blind booking does not apply only for Flights and hotels can be booked using this option. For example, you can book overnight stays with Hotwire, an American subsidiary of Expedia, without knowing which hotel you will be staying in. So can be up to 60% discount get out compared to the normal hotel price. How it works? At Hotwire, the surprise hotel is booked based on the travel date you specified. That means that after entering your Travel data get an overview of the available hotels. In this step you will be shown additional information about the corresponding accommodation. So you do not know the exact hotel in advance, but you get an impression of the location and facilities of the available hotels.

                    Blind booking with hotel & flight

                    Alternatively, you can book entire city trips including hotel and flight via blind booking. For example, one provider for this option is blookery or Wowtrip. On the website of blookery you have to first determine how many people you want to travel with, then, similar to Lufthansa and Eurowings, you have the option to choose between different categories. The options are "Sightseeing", "Nightlife" and "Romance". In a next step you can also choose the region you want to fly to. Do you have yourself for example for the southern region decided, cities like Thessaloniki, Marseille or Florence are waiting for you. Here, too, you have the chance to exclude certain goals. Then you choose the type of accommodation and decide on a departure airport, enter your travel period and set your budget. When you have sent all the data, an offer will then be sent to you by email. You do not have to accept this offer, however, if you would rather choose a different category or region, you can easily have a new offer sent to you.

                    at Wowtrip the booking process is similar. First you enter your desired departure airport. These include Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart. Then you have to enter, with how many people you are traveling with. Everything is possible from one person to more than eight people. Now the duration of your trip from three to eight days and off you go! You’ll get one Monthly overview displayed with the respective costs of your Wowtrip trip, where you now select the desired travel period. Note that prices are more expensive during school holidays and high season. Between the numerous travel destinations, you can then exclude destinations that you do not feel like or that you have already visited. At the end of the process, you will be asked whether you are flexible with the departure times. If not, please indicate the time when you can leave your home. If you now want to book your surprise trip, all you need is your travel details and personal details and you’re ready to go. You can do a wow trip Also give away a surprise trip. A great gift idea for all travel enthusiasts in your area!

                    Blind booking voucher

                    Eurowings offers a blind booking voucher on the website, which is perfect as a surprise or Christmas gift for friends, partners or already grown children. With a personal message, your loved ones can redeem the voucher for a blind booking trip. How about, for example Beach vacation with your girlfriend in Ibiza or Sardinia? Or a party trip with the best buddy to the party cities London, Barcelona or Budapest? Are you looking for even more inspiration for your Christmas present? Then just browse through my gift ideas for Christmas.

                    experience & Tips on blind booking

                    What kind of experience I did with blind booking and what Tips I have ready?

                    Tip 1: As I mentioned before, you should try to exclude only the most necessary cities so as not to push up the price too much. Also pay attention to the luggage regulations and try to get on with hand luggage or alternatively share a suitcase.

                    Tip 2: Often you can Blind booking flights Do not cancel at all or not easily because the offers are not subject to the Distance Selling Act. However, if there are serious defects during your trip, you are entitled to legal compensation.

                    Tip 3: If you want to exclude certain cities without accepting a price increase, I recommend that you check the departure schedule of your departure airport more closely in advance. Certain cities are only served on certain days. With a little effort, destinations can be excluded from the outset without having to be deselected for an additional charge. The effort is worth it!

                    Tip 3: An experience I had: Don’t just book for one night. You will only find out the flight times after booking and it could happen that the outward flight is late in the evening and the return flight starts the next morning. In these cases there is not much blind booking experience left.

                    Tip 4: After the booking, the hotel search is pending. If you don’t want to be surprised here, I recommend the Booking.com website, where you can find a large selection Hotel suppliers is available.

                    Conclusion

                    Blind booking is a great opportunity for the flexible and spontaneous travelers among you to fly cheaply and inexpensively on vacation or to take a city trip to a hotel. The prices are often far below the normal price if you consider some of the things and tips mentioned above. So there are up to in hotels 60 percent discount compared to the normal price. With blind booking you can easily get to know new vacation spots and discover new cities. Please note, however, that the trips cannot be canceled or only postponed, rewritten or changed for high surcharges.

                    Based on my own experience, I can fully recommend Blind Booking to London, Malta and Milan and consider it a great way to discover Europe at affordable prices! Have you had any experience with blind booking and booked flights with providers such as Eurowings or Lufthansa or found your hotels on Hotwire? If you can’t wait to start your next vacation, you can just click through my city trips and package deals.

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