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Anyone still use a travel agent for airline tickets?
02-23-2011, 12:27 PM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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Anyone still use a travel agent for airline tickets?
I haven't used an agent to buy airline tickets for years, now. Today I had lunch with a friend who frequently flies to Taiwan and he said his agent beats any on-line prices he can find by about $200.
Am I missing something, or is he just not an astute shopper?
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02-23-2011, 01:37 PM
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#2
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gone traveling
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
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We always use a travel agent and have done so for more than 15 years.
Yes, I know you can look, book, and sometimes come up with some great deal that will beat the price of an agent (which costs nothing).
However, we've been booking trips longer than we've had the net so we're used to the "old way". Also, we've used the same local agency with only one change in personnel (one retired).
While anybody can question the price of a flight/hotel/car, etc, the "true value" comes into play when you have problems, such as we had last June on our trip to London along with a Baltic Cruise. As you know, there was this small problem with a volcano in Iceland, who decided to clear its throat.
We were concerned about the ship which was brand new and we were the second booked week. We heard that the tour had a chance of being cancelled since the ship was "out of place" due to being used for evac of British citizens stuck in Spain. They used the liner to transport a few thousand folks home, who could not get on a train nor use an airplane.
The agent called every day, with an update. He also checked on the status of our travel insurance to ensure we would be covered (due to an early policy purchase, which he recommended).
We made the trip over, and the ship was in Southampton in time. Two days before we were to return, he started calling us with updates as to the weather conditions, our flight status, and just to help put us at ease. He also arranged for pre-booking some out of the way hotel rooms in London "just in case".
This wasn’t the first time we've had impacts to travel, but it was just the latest.
Just to say that we will continue to book through him/his firm. And yes, when we do searches after he's booked the tickets, he usually gets a better price, along with booking the air separately from the tour (you can get better air prices, along with better seating and schedules; tours usually try to "shoehorn" you in to available seats/flights rather than what is best for your personal schedule).
Just to add that if you use a travel agent, they are not all the same. In the early years, we had some that did less than a sufficient j*b. Luckily, we found a couple of "diamonds".
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02-23-2011, 01:41 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
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I used an agent to find our tour company in Mongolia as I wanted someone to help me figure out the best way to do a private trip. She didn't do our airfare or anything, but I'm very grateful to her for finding the awesome folks who took us on a trip of a lifetime.
I'm a DIY sort, but I'd use an agent again if I was going somewhere expensive and complicated like Mongolia.
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way
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02-23-2011, 02:50 PM
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#4
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,860
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We've lived here long enough to know what airlines we'll end up on for certain trips, and we check the online prices before going six miles up the road to the travel agent... who always beats them.
For us it might be the military discount. (I don't think you can enter a code onto a website for that.) For your friend it might be that the agent does a lot of Taiwan charter business and gets a bulk rate.
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Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."
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02-23-2011, 03:24 PM
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#5
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,726
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Travel agents can find competitive fares for international flights, especially non-US based carriers.
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02-23-2011, 03:35 PM
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#6
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
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How did you find your travel agents?
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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02-23-2011, 04:45 PM
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#7
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 176
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Haven't used a travel agent since the late-90s. Even in the mid 90s when the Internet was younger I average out better online. Have yet to see a travel agent add a mid-sized car to a Las Vegas trip for $15/day!
With sites like Kayak returning results from 60+ sources, its hard to better that competitiveness. I get free trip services, trip insurance, baggage insurance, concierge services, collision coverage, burglary insurance, etc. through my credit card company (most people do but many don't know it).
Things are a little different with international, many of those agents are "consolidators", and that's how they often get those prices.
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02-23-2011, 05:21 PM
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#8
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 125
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YES
We always use our travel agent for any big trip, especially if overseas. The best advantage is that if there are problems, you have someone on your side to call and help get the problem solved. Saves you lots of time and headache.
Occasionally, they come up with special deals that you would not ordinarily know about.
We have used the same agent for the past 12-15 years.
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02-23-2011, 05:37 PM
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#9
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Gone but not forgotten
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 6,924
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Quote:
Originally Posted by travelover
I haven't used an agent to buy airline tickets for years, now. Today I had lunch with a friend who frequently flies to Taiwan and he said his agent beats any on-line prices he can find by about $200.
Am I missing something, or is he just not an astute shopper?
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I used a travel agent in Dec '10 because I hadn't been on a plane in ~15 years and wanted advice. Next time, don't know.
__________________
"Knowin' no one nowhere's gonna miss us when we're gone..."
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02-23-2011, 05:53 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Indialantic FL
Posts: 1,330
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Quote:
Originally Posted by travelover
I haven't used an agent to buy airline tickets for years, now. Today I had lunch with a friend who frequently flies to Taiwan and he said his agent beats any on-line prices he can find by about $200.
Am I missing something, or is he just not an astute shopper?
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Agents can get better deals on international tickets thru consolidators. Especially on Business Class tickets. Most do not sell to retail customers but to agents and other consolidators.
__________________
JimnJana
"The four most dangerous words in investing are 'This time it's different.'" - Sir John Templeton
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02-23-2011, 06:36 PM
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#11
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Gone but not forgotten
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sarasota,fl.
Posts: 11,447
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I haven't used a travel agent in fifteen years but if I was going on a complicated international trip I would definitely use one .
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02-23-2011, 07:01 PM
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#12
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Toronto
Posts: 157
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It depends ...
If you use discount carriers such as Airtran or Jetblue, I think it's cheaper (or the same as) than the agents; However, if you fly oversea, it's cheaper to use an agent, especially if you stopover some place before your destination, it costs only $25 more to stop over.
To book an international flight, I still don't know how to add an extra location for $25 !? Say if I fly to Singapore, I would like to stop in Hong Kong. This is the problem for me because I don't know how to book a flight to Singapore but stop over in Hong Kong for 1 week.
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02-24-2011, 12:18 AM
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#13
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 98
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I would agree with the general responses here. A travel agent offers a service that becomes more valuable as the trip becomes potentially more complicated. For trips to Hawaii I will use one of the internet travel sites or Starwood in order to get the best price. For similar trips to Tahiti, I will use a travel agent in order to get the best service within my price parameters.
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02-24-2011, 03:43 AM
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#14
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 728
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Sometimes use travel agent to book flights especially on larger airlines (not budget airlines) - find that they can either find me a better price and also can get me a later confirmation/payment date esp when I can't finalise my plans yet.
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02-24-2011, 05:42 AM
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#15
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gone traveling
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever
How did you find your travel agents?
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In our case, it was just plain "luck". While we had used other agencies, they really were not outstanding.
We got to know this agency since it was used by my (former) company executives who traveled to Europe quite often, since a good deal of them were natives of that area (I wo*ked for a company in the U.S. owned by two different firms located in two different countries in Europe).
The company is no longer local (moved to another state, upon another merger) but the agency is. It started out under the American Express Travel logo but then was taken over by another larger local/regional agency.
My only suggestion is to try an agent/agency. If they don't meet your expected results, move on. It's not the agency, but the personel within the agency that makes a difference; same as any other company.
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02-24-2011, 07:25 AM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
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Any of you folks that are willing to share the names of agents you've worked with, especially in Central and/or South America, I'd be very grateful! PM is fine. We are trying to book for Peru at the end of December and it is relatively complicated due to needing in-country flights as well.
Thanks for any info! Also welcome tips on Peru if you got 'em!
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way
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02-24-2011, 08:53 AM
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#17
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rescueme
In our case, it was just plain "luck". While we had used other agencies, they really were not outstanding.
We got to know this agency since it was used by my (former) company executives who traveled to Europe quite often, since a good deal of them were natives of that area (I wo*ked for a company in the U.S. owned by two different firms located in two different countries in Europe).
The company is no longer local (moved to another state, upon another merger) but the agency is. It started out under the American Express Travel logo but then was taken over by another larger local/regional agency.
My only suggestion is to try an agent/agency. If they don't meet your expected results, move on. It's not the agency, but the personel within the agency that makes a difference; same as any other company.
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Thanks, Rescueme--we like Sarah in SC are also planning travel in late fall to Central America and I'm thinking a travel agent for this trip could be most helpful for many many reasons.
We used an agent for a cruise a few years ago and she was not at all helpful when the cruise was cancelled a week before the saildate because of ship problems, so have booked everything directly since then.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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02-24-2011, 11:03 AM
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#18
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 1,812
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Haven't used a travel agent for 10+ years and probably will never use them again.
Unlike others, I find that using a travel agent is actually an impediment when something goes wrong. If I book direct with an airline or a hotel chain, when the **** hits the fan they have to sort it out.
I had an experience where I used a TA to book a flight from UK to Oz return. When I needed to change the flight the airline had to go back to the TA who couldn't be bothered responding in a timely fashion. So for us, no TA is ever going to get another cent.
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I be a girl, he's a boy. Think I maybe FIRED since July 08. Mid 40s, no kidlets. Actually am totally clueless as to what is going on with DH.
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02-24-2011, 02:25 PM
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#19
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,726
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Travel agents still can provide value where there is less competition, where most of the flight options are non-US carriers, where there is substantial non-US domestic travel or other local arrangements.
Most US carriers have reduced the need for intermediaries and offer their best prices directly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarah in SC
Any of you folks that are willing to share the names of agents you've worked with, especially in Central and/or South America, I'd be very grateful! PM is fine. We are trying to book for Peru at the end of December and it is relatively complicated due to needing in-country flights as well.
Thanks for any info! Also welcome tips on Peru if you got 'em!
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Peru? Nice. Its been a while for me, but it's still a good destination. Lima, Cuzco/Machu Picchu, or both? First visit? How's your spanish?
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02-25-2011, 09:03 AM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
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Michael, this is the foolishness we've signed up to do in January:
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ket-54020.html
The Mototaxi Junket has a new itinerary, which will start the madness in Puno, near Lake Titicaca, and end at Ayabaca, on the Ecuadoran border. I've described the distance as kinda like driving a moped from here to Texas on dirt roads, but only if the Andes Mountains and the Amazon basin were between SC and TX.
We've paid our money and signed up as Team Dixie Chickens. I'll be updating that thread as we get our website built (we will be raising money for Practical Action as part of our commitment). It is going to be awesome!
We are taking private Spanish lessons with a Peru-born tutor and I hope that will help as we traverse the Andes in a moped with a sofa on the back. On a lighter note, we did just update our wills last week.
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way
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