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Fair comment - however I have never had a problem when booking two units for the same period telephonically with the stated intention when doing the booking of canceling the one unit within a week while I consult with friends on which unit we wish to take. Based on above comments some might consider this abuse.

I agree fully with Vincent above that the current system is not morally defensible and as he stated it is not a question of refunding all funds - SANParks would be justified in deducting a fee to cover the cost of the booking (which should also eliminate abuse).

It is however the inconsistency in treatment that frustrates me

Dear forumites,

At this stage the online booking system is not intended to meet all requirements, but to serve as a convenient tool for those who know what they want - and want it now - even when doing booking amendments.

If you need to book accommodation that is not perfectly suitable for you, please do your booking telephonically and communicate with call centre with any changes you might wish to make.

SANParks - Thanks for the feedback

The online booking system is great and one of the best I have ever seen on any site of this nature.

The only problem is that it sometimes results in a potential visitor being unfairly prejudiced when making modifications / changes to their booking. That leaves them with a bad taste in their mouth and potentially stops them being ambassadors for a what is truly a unique asset of SA and overall well managed and run.

The request is not for a change to the system but simply a review of the terms and conditions relating to online modifications to bring them more inline with those applied to telephonic bookings. To prevent abuse I am sure some form of booking cancellation percentage fee could be implemented. To be honest this has little effect on those "in the know" as the alternative methods work well - but it would be great if the online system could be used to its full potential.

Thanks, mikef!

Every time that Reservation Office is talked about the solution always seems to be: "Just telephone" forgetting a lot of overseas customers, who cannot or will not pay the high cost of telephoning or who has a basic english and has difficulties in making himself understood or to understand.

Another thing: To get what you want in KNP or KTP these days, you have to book 8/10/11 months ahead and quite a lot of things can happen in such a long period.

to me, it does not make sense because if they wanted to avoid people booking things they don't need, they'd have to apply this rule (of full payment in advance) to the other booking methods as well

Fully agree. I also made an online booking, several months before my trip. At the time the booking was exactly what I wanted, but like Micetta said, a lot of things can happen or change in such a long period.

The trouble is I cannot change my booking and pay the difference between the old/new reservation. The only option is to lose R825.00, which is a lot of money to me.

I have absolutely no problem in paying a cancellation percentage fee, therefore I wholeheartedly second mikef; please reconsider the terms and conditions of the Online Booking system. It is such a great system.

Thank you to all who have participated in this debate. Your advice on how to deal with this issue is much appreciated.

I want to assure SANParks that the present online booking system meets most of my, and other visitors, needs. This has also been echoed by some of the participants in this debate. It is a vast improvement on the previous online booking system.

The best time for me to make my bookings is in the late evenings. I do not have the time during the day to hang on a telephone and make telephonic bookings or changes to my reservations. We must also take note of Micetta's remarks and not forget the needs of the overseas visitors.

It is possible to bring the necessary changes to the present online booking system. All that I am asking for is that the same rules be applied to all the booking systems available to SANParks. This will ensure fairness and less frustration.

This year I will spend my first New Year in KNP ... looking forward to it.

Happy New Year Vincent

So, you guys might have heard about the weather in Europe. And the flights that aren't a-flighting ....

Well, ours was one of them...

I need to know for sure if a booking made by the Online Booking system can be changed via emailing reservations. I'm sure it says so (or not) somewhere on the website, ... but I lost a bit of my cool collected brainess sometime today and need some .... here it comes ... HELP.

Sorry I don't have the answer Gwen....but I have asked for help for you from the Mods....

Thank you!

Gwen, how far into the future do you wish to reschedule for? With tomorrow being Sunday, SANParks reservations offices will be closed; but on Monday I can give them a call to try reschedule your booking for you if you like.

One would also need to find out how they will be treating visitors to the parks who have flights delayed due to the bad weather in Europe; after the volcano erupted SANParks were very understanding and helpful to clients who had had to alter their trip plans. All this though, we will only be able to establish on Monday.

Thank you Dalene. Much appreciated.

We don't have much flexibility because of my school holidays. Foeke has loads of time, because he just got early retirement, which is also the reason for this special holiday: celebrating new beginnings.

So, .. I booked a new flight for Tuesday. We will be entering the park on Wednesday. Because of the new schedule we won't be able to use the accommodation on these dates:

19 Dec Satara
20 Dec Satara
21 Dec Shimuwini

If it is possible to change our online booking, we would like to change it to

1 Jan Skukuza Semi-luxury Bungalow
2 Jan Biyamiti Guest Cottage
3 Jan Biyamiti Guest Cottage

I sent an email to reservations earlier, but I really appreciate all help I can get!
I realise it is a close call. (We also need to reschedule our care hire on Monday)

We will be leaving home on Monday evening, but I will bring my laptop.

Dear Gwendolen,

Have you already cancelled the 19/12 booking? If not please forward me the reservation number? The sooner you cancel, the easier it is to resell and the easier it is to assist booking changes without any forfeiture of payments made.

Best wishes.

JOEP