Luxury Escapes review

The product list runs to flights, hotels and packages, so a single basket can hold a flight, the accommodation, a holiday package, a tour, a cruise, a hire car and the airport transfer. A family that wants all of those from a single booking site will find them in the same place, rather than stitching different suppliers together.

The company has been trading since 2013 and is based in Australia. That is a useful detail for a family booking, because a long trading record usually means supplier relationships that have been tested rather than a site that opened last season. Travellers booking from another region may want to check what that base means for pricing and support hours.

Support runs on phone, chat and help centre, so a traveller can call, open a live chat or read the help centre. The phone and chat routes matter for a family trip, where a delayed flight or a missing transfer often needs sorting while the group is standing in an airport rather than at a desk. A self service help centre covers the quieter questions.

Emirates covers flights, hotels and tours, which adds parking and lounges to the transfers and car rental the two sites share. Luxury Escapes lists flights, hotels and packages instead, centred on the package, the stay and the tour. Anyone who wants a lounge pass or an airport car park booked with the flight is better served by the airline site.

Rail and ski sit outside flights, hotels and packages. Intrepid Travel lists rail in packages, tours and cruise, and Čedok lists ski and rail in flights, packages and tours. A traveller with a rail leg or a snow holiday in the plan therefore needs a separate site, or a transfer only arrangement with Luxury Escapes for the rest of the trip.

Visa help is not in flights, hotels and packages. Intrepid Travel lists Visa support alongside its tours and cruise in packages, tours and cruise, so a traveller who wants documents arranged with the holiday has a named place to look. For everyone else, the visa step has to be handled apart from the booking.

A family trip usually needs a flight, a stay, things to do and a transfer, and flights, hotels and packages covers each of those. Support on phone, chat and help centre means a parent can call during the trip rather than only before it. Travellers after a single hotel room for a weekend, or a fare on one route, are served well by the airline or hotel site.

Luxury Escapes scores 9.2 overall, with the offer part at 9.5 and the trust part at 8.4. It is set beside 3 alternatives, and that comparison set is where the product gaps show up clearly: rail, ski, parking and lounge access sit elsewhere.