Why use a travel agent???
Published Friday, March 18th 2011 - Updated Friday, March 25th 2011Travel has certainly evolved...a long time ago, you needed a printed ticket to get on an airplane and you probably got it from a travel agent. Now you buy online and there is no ticket, just a number. Not all that long ago, you needed special printed travel documents to go on a extended land or cruise vacation and you picked them up at an office. Now you don't need those either and you probably don't visit your travel agent's office very often, if you even have one. Traveling meant being prepared with a trip to the library, book store and travel agency office for information . Now we click, goggle and surf our way to expert status without leaving home.
We can easily book most travel options without a travel agent. That's a fact. The big question though is: Should we?
Where travel agents have the most visible value is being there for travelers when something goes wrong. But luckily, that does not happen all that much so those who are comfortable with the click-and-book method accept what they feel is a minor risk.
Most Importantly (and frankly more commonly), travel agents can offer great value that travelers could not get on their own.
Value added by travel agents will generally translate to lower prices, complementary upgrades, bonus amenities when traveling and other good things down the line, after booking. AFTER BOOKING is the unknown, difficult-to-measure factor that eludes many travelers.
Odds are up-front pricing on many elements of a travel purchase will be the similar or the same from one source or agent to another. Even compared to the service provider, be that an airline, car rental agency, tour company or cruise line, pricing is similar.
Or so it seems.
That similarity in price is misleading and causes those with even a minimal online booking comfort level to say "What do I need this middleman for? I can do this myself."
True, today we can do it ourselves. Do we save money? In the long run, probably not. Anything we can find online, travel agents can find too. They can also monitor pricing, economic, social or weather-related concerns that might affect your travel.
The big advantage of a travel agent is: your good travel agent will have all the information you need to make the most of your vacation. Perhaps that would be links to critical websites, basic but required literature on destinations or merely making sure all the T's are crossed and the I's dotted.
Critical to your vacation success, your travel agent considers the act of booking the beginning of the transaction, not the end like the result of click-to-book internet only methods. Once you have paid, you are done with the click-to-book internet only way. Now all you have to do is make it to the airport on time for that flight and that is the end of it.
In today's world, prices, availability and even the nature of travel are changing at a rapid pace. Websites update pricing and availability but offer little or no hope of passing new benefits available after the sale along to travelers. Click-to-book internet only methods are pretty much done with you after payment is made, you can't make a change or fix a mistake.
Travel agents work on building or maintaining an ongoing business relationship with you and are easily accessible. Try emailing, texting or calling your click-to-book website.
Should your plans change, if you have questions or should you want to know more about where you are traveling and how you are getting there, your agent is just a phone call, email or text away.
Your travel agent is "your friend" in the travel business. They are your friend who knows what is going on in the travel industry. They can put that information together with their knowledge of you for a winning combination that will reap huge rewards in the long run.
When memories, experiences, sights and sounds are important...see a travel agent.
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