Do you EVER use a travel agent?

[suesam]

DH and I are planning a trip to London in december. I think I know where we want to stay, non timeshare and when we want to go. I can do it on line but it is making me nervous to plan such a big trip online, myself. is that dumb?
I do everything online all of the time in the US but have never been to Europe so it is making me nervous. Should it?

Sue

 

[Patri]

We went to England last year and did it all online. Booked airfare, hotels and learned about the train system. We bought our rail tickets there, though, since we didn't need a pass for a long period of time or several countries.

I will use a travel agent in a couple years, though, when I coordinate a cruise for my class reunion trip.

 

[geekette]

I have not, and maybe never will.

It does sound like you would appreciate one about now, tho, so get some recommendations from friends and use a local bricks and mortar professional if that will ease your anxiety.

I think probably one of the best reasons to use a TA would be if something goes wrong, you have someone working for you.

 

[Carolinian]

It has been years since I used a travel agent for a personal trip. That was back when a travel agency used to have an agent who was a specialist in consolidator fares. When that agent left, her replacement did not know what she was doing, so I left. You can find some consolidator fares online, but some only work through travel agents, but generally I think there are fewer consolidator fares out there there days.

My employer does use a travel agent, coordinated through our in-house travel department for our business travel. I think those travel agents still in business work mainly with business clients these days. I am on a business trip to Kiev, Ukraine at the moment and was amazed at the fare the travel agency found with two days notice before travel. Quirks in last minute fares, which businesses often need, are the niche that seems to keep travel agencies alive.

 

[suesam]

I suppose it is a confidence factor. I actually know where I want to fly into(Gatwick) and what hotel I want to stay at (Park Place by Victoria Station). So I am asking myself, why would I need a travel agent?

Sue

 

[geekette]

Probably the "foreign country" aspect. I generally make a list of phone numbers in case of emergency for overseas travel. Have happily never had to pull it out.

If flight + hotel is all you need, then maybe you don't need a TA.

 

[bnoble]

I haven't used one in a long time, unless I've had to---i.e., the sponsor of the trip requires me to go through their agent. It's been since my honeymoon to an all-inclusive in Jamaica, over a decade ago. That experience was fantastic, though. She got me a very nice upgrade from a villa with a shared pool to one with a walled private pool and spa, at a very good price.

If I were doing something like that again, I'd certainly shop around to see what an agent could do for me, but only as one of many options. The internet has pretty much leveled the playing field in terms of getting good deals and getting information about good/bad places to go.

 

[ScoopKona]

Book it online, I say....


But make sure someone has an AmEx card in case something goes horribly wrong. AmEx's travel department can take care of nearly any problem.

 

[Dave M]

The only reason I use a travel agent is for booking cruises. That's because the cruise lines charge the travel agency the same price as they charge direct consumers, but most big cruise travel agencies will split their commission in some ratio with their customers, often resulting in a much lower price than booking directly with the cruise line. Note: Royal Caribbean doesn't allow such commission sharing.

Further, some agencies, such as VacationsToGo.com, get special deals from the cruise lines, especially during the last 90 days before sailing, that are less costly than what the cruise lines offer directly.

 

[Fletcher921]

A travel agent is a great resource for people who don't like researching fares and hotels and locations etc. The mere fact that we are all on here yapping like crazy about travel and the like would explain why a lot of people here wouldn't feel the need to use an agent. We are the researchers...

Agents who do it day in and day out are normally way more informed of the current specials and great deals.

 

[silverfox82]

I use travelzoo, cheapcaribbean and skyauction, not "travel agents" but not doing it on my own either. have had some great trips with them.

 

[suesam]

Babs-good point. I do not know many people who would want to spend the time I do researching travel. Of course I love to do it! I think I am leaning towards doing it myself. The research is half the fun for me!!

Sue

 

[dougp26364]

When booking a cruise, sometimes things go wrong. Cruise lines don't play ball very well when you don't have a little leverage. If you TA does enough business with a cruise line, they can sometimes cut through the red tape and either reach a compromise or get satisfactory results for the traveler. But, you need something other than an online discount TA that's only going for the bulk business. While you need a large agency, you also need one that specializes in personal service. AAA would be one such agency that does enough business with the cruise lines but also provides in person personal service to help their clients. I'm sure there are others but this is the one the comes to mind at the moment.

So yes, I have been known to use a TA in certain circumstances. Most of the time I'm fine on my own but, not always. It's good to know your limitations and know when a little help can go a long way.

 

[Carolinian]

For leisure travel, TA's are often not good value. For certain specific things, like those who deal with consolidator fares they can be, but you need to have the specialized knowledge yourself of what you need to take advantage of it.

For air tickets, you pay more for the TA's add-on fee than you would if you booked yourself directly. There are plenty of free websites these days like Sidestep or Skyscanner which make comparisions easy. I have sometimes found that I knew more tricks than some TA's in finding good prices even before the advent of the internet Years ago, when I was travelling two or three times a year from Raleigh to Nassau on Eastern Airlines and TA's were paid a commission by the airline instead of charging customers an add-on fee. Knowing that purchasing back to back tickets Raleigh to Miami and then Miami to Nassau was always $50-100 cheaper, that is what I asked for from a local TA I was using for the first time. Instead she booked it all the way through as one ticket. When she handed it to me I told her that was not what I asked for and she replied that it was the same planes and same price. ''No it isn't'' I responded and insisted that she price it back to back as I had requested. She seemed astonished when it came back nearly $100 cheaper doing it that way and without further debate rebooked it that way.

With hotels, many still give TA's a commission, and their hotel books have a code that tells them which ones do and how much. When they recommend a hotel, the amount of their commission will be a factor. For hotels, I would much rather deal with an internet site like Booking.com where I can compare all prices and get great discounts.

 

[TerriJ]

I have worked with a travel agent when six women were going on a trip. I did all the arrangements myself one year, and didn't really like doing it for so many and then worrying if something would go wrong.

 

[frizzlefry]

If I need to know that a flight is refundable I use a travel agent. Otherwise I enjoy the research and preparation for a trip.

 

[Skinsfan1311]

We use an on-line travel agency for our cruises.

The main reason is that the large agencies can hold large enough blocks of staterooms to take advantage of group-rate discounts, which they pass along to their customers.

Even with Royal Caribbean, (who no longer offers discounts when booked through travel agencies), the cruise agency that we use offers onboard credits which, effectively, is a discount. We still book our own air when we cruise.

As for the rest of our travel? Nope, don't use 'em.....

 

[Nickfromct]

Only for cruises and only because he is a friend. Otherwise I feel I know more about finding deals than most travel agents. We have to use a travel agent for business travel at my company and I find myself telling them where to get the best prices.

 

[Carolinian]

Only for cruises and only because he is a friend. Otherwise I feel I know more about finding deals than most travel agents. We have to use a travel agent for business travel at my company and I find myself telling them where to get the best prices.

I do all my air routings myself and then give them to our travel office to send to their travel agent. Otherwise, I would end up on an airline I don't want with a routing I don't want.

 

[x3 skier]

I don't use a travel agent but if it is the first time going to a Country or Area, I usually book through a tour company that has free days in the itinerary. Any return trips, we go it alone through the internet using airline and hotel sites. Any tours, I research ahead and buy in country or use someone like Viator, a tour consolidator.

Cheers

 

[timbuktu]

10 Good reasons to use a Travel agent

It's a free service except for airline tickets so go online for those.

A A A emailprintTop 10 Reasons to Use a Travel Agent
July 07, 2008 By: Ruthanne Terrero TravelAgentCentral 5
Here's an open letter to your prospective clients who are debating whether to use a live travel agent to book their vacation or to go it alone by using the Internet.

1. You've Googled "Mexico vacation," and come up with 17.8 million responses. Need a little help editing those choices?


2. Remember when you used that obscure website to book your hotel, and when you got there you spent your beach vacation overlooking a parking lot?


3. How many hours were you on hold with the airline when your flight was canceled because of a snowstorm?


4. Did you really mean to spend your honeymoon at that resort whose one tiny pool was filled all day with 12 screaming children?


5. Who knew that when you booked that "villa" in Tuscany, it would be a small room with a kitchenette and no air conditioning? Funny, it looked much better on your computer screen.


6. No one explained to you that in July, it's winter time in Rio, and so you showed up there with nothing but five Hawaiian shirts and three pairs of swimming trunks.


7. How about the time you really needed a restful vacation, and you ended up in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and someone threw up on your shoes?


8. Yes, I guess that hotel must have used a telephoto lens when they took a picture of those guest rooms that you saw on their website.


9. I suppose contacting the Attorney General to resolve the fact that that Internet site has billed your credit card three times instead of once is the only route to take at this point.


10. It was definitely odd that there were no cab drivers at the airport at 3 o'clock in the morning when you finally landed in Costa Rica, but booking a transfer to your very remote hotel would have been a good thing to remember when you purchased your airline ticket and hotel online.





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[Talent312]

I've used my home computer to book all aspects of the following trips:
France -- Paris, Avignon, Cannes, Annecy (trains)
Italy -- Rome, Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Florence, Venice (rental car & trains)
Ireland -- Waterford, Kilarney, Galway, Dublin (rental car)
Germany -- Frankfurt, Munich (trains), Bernkastel (rental car)
Greek Isles -- Santorini, Mykonos, Athens (ferries)
England & Scotland -- London, Inverness, Edinburgh (rental car)
... with an Eric Clapton concert at Albert Hall...

I never had a problem ('cept maybe trying to see too much in a day)
I say this not to boast, but to point out that it is emminently possible
to be your own TA, and IMHO, to know what your options are and to
chose them yourself.

 

[Redrosesix]

I've used my home computer to book all aspects of the following trips:
France -- Paris, Avignon, Cannes, Annecy (trains)
Italy -- Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Venice (rental car & trains)
Ireland -- Waterford, Kilarney, Galway, Dublin (rental car)
Germany -- Frankfurt & Berkastel (rental car)
Greek Isles -- Santorni, Mykonos, Athens (ferries)
England & Scotland -- London, Inverness, Edinburgh (rental car)
... with a Eric Clapton concert at Albert Hall...

I never had a problem ('cept maybe trying to see too much in a day)
I say this not to boast, but to point out that it is emminently possible
to be your own TA, and IMHO, to know what your options are and to
chose them yourself.

Gee, you've been to more places than some TA's I've met.

We haven't been to Europe yet, but we've never used one for our North American trips. I feel like doing the research helps us figure out what we want to do on our trip, and I would have to do it anyway.

On the other hand, a friend of mine travels a lot (several leisure trips per year) and has been to nearly every continent. He uses a TA that he has been working with for about 16 years -- she knows where he wants to go, the kinds of things he likes to do, and how much he wants to pay, and lets him know about upcoming deals. If I did 3 or 4 big trips per year like him, I might want somebody else to do all the digging for me -- he just reads travel magazines for fun.

 

[falmouth3]

I generally do research online and I ask questions here on TUG. People here haven't failed me yet.

I also bring along some travel books - like Maui Revealed and Rick Steves Paris so that I can plan the day to day activities.

Sue

 

[avad88]

We use an on-line travel agency for our cruises.

The main reason is that the large agencies can hold large enough blocks of staterooms to take advantage of group-rate discounts, which they pass along to their customers.

Even with Royal Caribbean, (who no longer offers discounts when booked through travel agencies), the cruise agency that we use offers onboard credits which, effectively, is a discount. We still book our own air when we cruise.

As for the rest of our travel? Nope, don't use 'em.....

Our traveling exactly! We only use the T/A for cruises for onboard credits. Everything else, I do research and compare, plan, book, etc. with the help of various websites.
I enjoy it and have the time, so can't see paying a T/A. Most of the 10 reasons above can be avoided or done with research on the web.
Ava