Do You Really Need a Travel
Agent?
Editorial Written by Stephanie Abrams
Do you cut your own hair or tune
up your car yourself? Probably not,
and for good reason! Chances are you‘ve found a great
manicurist, too, because you appreciate the value of professional
service. If you have bonded with professionals who understand
your expectations, interests, style, tastes, preferences, and
the level of your buying power, whom you trust to deliver good
value for your dollars spent, then you’ll understand why
every trip you take should start and with a travel agent!
But why should I do that when I can on 0line and
buy everything I need by myself, you may ask, Those who have
not experience the magical value of a travel agent may ask.
‘And I answer, “How do I love travel agents? Let
me count the ways!
1) Buying Power: You think
you can get great buys on the internet. Surprise! Travel agents
use the internet, too! Many have their own websites with booking
engines for air, tours, cruises, hotels, resorts and car rentals
as well giving you instant access for all your travel needs
with the added advantage to having dedicated professionals focused
on your particular trip! Agents are sent daily “insider
deals” which are offered only to agents for their clients.
Industry suppliers prefer to use the travel agency distribution
system for this purpose to avoid the costs of expensive advertising
which also causes delays in getting their message out to travelers.
More importantly for the supplier, using travel agents to distribute
good deals contains the news of the sales they run on their
product by not making major public announcements of price cuts.
Agents are offered deals in this way to avoid creating national
price-slashing turmoil.
2) Resources for the
best value: Agents buy from travel industry intermediaries
known as “wholesalers” and “consolidators.”
These are companies that specialize in travel products such
as hotels, resorts, specific destinations, and airline ticket
sales, in general. Since they buy mega-millions of dollars of
travel product from the travel suppliers, they buy at “bulk
rates” which allow them to resell the product to travel
agents at who can pass savings along to their clients. One of
the major consolidators which sells only to travel agents is
SkyLink Travel, (www.skylinkus.com). If you visit their website
you’ll note that it is clearly a site ‘For Travel
Agents Only’ and is password protected for bona fide agents.
If you are planning a trip anywhere in the world, ask your agent
to check airfares and hotel rates offered by SkyLink Travel.
Buy yourself a great present on your next international trip
and thank travelgirl for the savings you received from this
great tip!
3) How much is your
time worth? I laugh when people tell me it takes them
“no time” to purchase their travel plans on line
since I know what you really have to check to be sure you are
getting the right deal! If you properly check your options,
you will not only be checking flex-dates, but you’ll also
be checking what rates you can get from taking a short flight
to connect to another city where 2-for-one companion fares may
be offered or other specials that would make it worthwhile to
be creative with your itinerary! Travel agents use specialized
computers that tap into the inventory systems of airlines, hotels
and car rental companies. Additionally, they have access to
companies that are often excluded from websites that only offer
a selection of those companies they represent. The best deal
for you may be on Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines, Ryan Air or
Easy Jet but if you don’t remember to check them individually,
you won’t even know they exist when you check most sites!
Now consider how much time it will take to check all the possibilities
including the possibilities of which you may be completely unaware
where the best situation for you may be lying in wait! Only
an experienced travel agent is in the position to get you these
answers and what a blessing to be using her time rather than
yours!
4) Buy value: What
shoe brand do you like best? Is there a brand of makeup you
prefer? Is your answer, “I always buy the cheapest thing?”
We’ve never met but I’ll bet you didn’t say
that! And it’s no different when it comes to travel. All
brands are note created equal. When you throw a dart at hotels
in a city based on price alone, you may find that your savings
are eaten up by the cost of getting from the hotel to your appointments,
shopping, theatre, or sightseeing. You’ll note that you
could have stayed somewhere better and more convenient for the
same cost or less than the combined cost of the cheaper hotel
and the taxi fares and inconvenience of being in a less desirable
location. You may also be giving up amenities and quality of
service that you prefer, making all the difference between a
dream trip and nightmare. An experienced travel professional
uses reference tools uniquely designed to cut to the chase on
your behalf to be sure that all of your specifications are met
from budget limitations to ideal location with the best possible
service levels your budget can afford.
5) You’ll travel
well-informed! One of the services your travel agent
will provide for you is comprehensive information in with your
travel documents. You’ll know what the currency rate of
exchange is, the kind of electrical current used at your destination,
the climate/weather conditions you can expect, and the recommendation
that you buy travel insurance to protect yourself from loss
of money spent on your trip before departure as well as to protect
you from unforeseen events that may create additional travel
expenses while you are en route. And your agent will check on
items you may not know you had need to check, such as making
sure that your hotel room has air-conditioning! While we expect
that in the US, the fact is that many very good hotels in Europe
and elsewhere do not have air conditioning! All too frequently,
travelers planning their own trips and making that very assumption
are in for the big surprise when they check into their hotel.
6) Know where you are going: Are you a Destination Specialist?
Unless you have been to a destination many times and really
studied the place, you probably have a superficial understanding
of the destination. Travel agents take courses and refresher
courses on an ongoing basis which are offered by worldwide destinations
to train agents in the fine points of what they have to offer.
Agents take pride in being Destination Specialists, a designation
they earn from hours of study and passing exams. Courses include
everything from how to get there, the history of the destination,
its sights, shopping, restaurants, accommodations, golfing,
spas, water sports, historic sites, and yearly events. When
you deal with an agent who is a specialist for the destinations
of interest to you, you are dealing with a person with all of
the answers. It is doubtful that you’ll want to put in
100 or more hours of study into learning about each place you
want to visit but you can count on that kind of expert knowledge
when dealing with a Destination Specialist. The good news is
that, when you deal with a travel agency, you’ll probably
find a world of specialists under one roof since the combined
knowledge of the agents often completes the pieces of
a global puzzle.
7) Hand-Holding Service
Globally: You’ve got a friend when you have a travel
agent! If you buy from an impersonal website, even one that
boasts that they have a customer call center, do you really
expect to get someone to go to bat for you when you are standing
at the airport ticket counter having a debate over your flight
plans? It happens all the time! How many different people are
you going to have to explain your story to in order to get anybody
to help you sort out a situation that is not going the way you’d
like it to? Strong client-agent relationships include clear
lines of communication. It’s not unusual for agents to
have 24-hour toll-free calling for emergency assistance for
their clients. It’s also not unusual for clients to have
the cell phone number of their agent with an open invitation
to call ‘anytime’ they are needed! Your agent is
your lifeline when you are traveling and the ‘great equalizer’
to assist you in dealing with front-desk clerks, airline personnel,
and others en route who may not be seeing things your way! Your
agent already knows your itinerary and can pick up your silk
scarf and carry it into battle on your behalf. There is no value
in getting a problem resolved when you return from your trip!
Being put into a hotel room where you are facing a parking lot
instead of the ocean can only be rectified while you are there
and having your own personal advocate to straighten things out
while you are at the beach or shopping is the sensible route
to take. That’s the road agents travel every day!
8) You’re never
traveling alone: When you are out somewhere in the world,
who really knows where you are? You may be in transit and unaware
of a storm or other circumstances that will delay your travels.
If you’ve ‘done it yourself,’ you’ll
be thrashing about trying to get flights, hotel and car reservations
to continue your interrupted trip. And you’ll be in the
company of thousands of others in the same situation which complicates
the problems you incur. Your travel agent knows exactly where
you are and what time you’ll be arriving to meet the frustrations
created by a foggy night or cancelled flights. It’s part
of a day’s work for a travel agent to learn about bad
weather or other conditions somewhere in the world, generating
the need to pull the records on all clients in the affected
area, resulting in ‘crisis management’ on behalf
of those clients by securing hotel rooms, other flights, train
or car rental reservations, rescheduled flights for another
day, to be sure that their clients have the least possible inconvenience
under bad circumstances. You’ll know at once when you
arrive at an airport in distress who is out there on their own
and who has a travel agent! While others are frantically calling
about to put their immediate future in order, those with agents
can be seen making the one call that does it all, and often
finding out that their back-up plans are already confirmed!
Ah, life in the easy lane!
9) Your personal shopper:
Do you enjoy having a personal shopper? If you shop in
the same place often enough, you may have a relationship with
a salesperson who knows what size you wear, what styles flatter
you, and what is in your price range, even for a splurge. You
probably get a phone call now and then telling you that an outfit
or pair of boots is being held with your name on it! And you
appreciate that kind of service. Travel agents do the same thing!
When a good deal to a place you love to go to comes into the
agency, you’ll get a phone call or email telling you there’s
a trip begging for you to take it at a price you just can’t
afford to refuse! Long before email alerts to destinations sent
by airlines to those who register for such services, travel
agents have been on the lookout for their clients. It’s
like having your own travel shopper with a very personal touch.
Additionally, your agent will make sure that you have all the
proper documentation for travel so that there’ll be no
surprises that interfere with your trip!
10) Pamper yourself:
Do you really need to do everything for yourself? Couldn’t
you use a little pampering? You can get it! Go hug a travel
agent today. Nobody should leave home without one!
• Be sure to visit my award-winning website,
www.sabrams.com
and www.travelingfeet.com
for travel tips, travel news and information and scheduled guests
on my radio shows!
www.travelgirlinc.com
• March 2007
Gotta
Fly Now! sm
Stephanie Abrams
Other TravelGirl Editorials
by Stephanie Abrams:
March 2006, Spring
Time Travel
May 2006, (coming soon)
September 2006, Castle
Hopping
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Stephanie Abrams, recognized
as a leading radio travel expert and as one of the "100 Most
Powerful Women in /travel," is host of the weekly Travel WITH
Stephanie Abrams, heard coast-to-coast on the Business Talk
Radio Network and appears weekly on radio's nationally syndicated,
"Traveling Feet!" Visit Abrams' award-winning website www.sabrams.com
and www.travelingfeet.com.Stephanie welcomes
travelgirls' travel questions at stephanie@sabrams.com.
