Trusted travel agent

[SecondAttempt]

Does anyone still use travel agents and if so do you have one you can recommended. I thought I asked about this a couple of years ago but searching the forum only brought up a relevant post from 2007 which got minimal response so I'm asking again.

Here's my problem: I usually book my own flights and hotels and have for many years. But in researching a couple of upcoming trips I'm getting increasing frustrated with the online options, both airlines and places like Expedia and Kayak. My issue is that I am looking to book that April 2025 trip to Saigon that I mentioned in another thread well in advance...like this June. So I am trying to do some planning. Almost every search site wants me to fly to LAX or SFO first from Hawaii then back across the ocean to a hub in Asia like Tokyo, Seoul, or Taipei. I get that there are no direct flights to Saigon from Honolulu but there are plenty of direct flights to Tokyo and Seoul.

And my destinations have expanded to include Luang Prabang in Laos and Siem Reap in Cambodia so there will be numerous short flights within Southeast Asia and the online sites don't find these flights. I can go directly to Vietnam Airlines or others and find the flights myself. With so many cheap local carriers in Asia I'm sure I am not finding the best options.

I would love to be able to hand all this off to a travel agent and am happy to pay commission for their work. But the only ones I find want to sell cruises or luxury packaged tours. I'm just looking for a flight expert. I always book hotels directly and have no interest in cruises.

Does anyone have one to recommend or perhaps can recommend a better site to search on for Asia?

 

[1242Vintage]

Stopped using a travel agent years ago. Agent was less than useless in helping us navigate an emergency situation and getting us on a plane home. That was the last time we entrusted our travel plans to someone else.

Wife does all the travel planning now. And it’s a good thing. We have a flight coming up and one leg of the air is on the now ground 737 max. She has all the paperwork and she rebooked us quickly. Problem solved … no agent required.

 

[athena53]

You might want to try the Boards at flyertalk.com. I've been on there for years. You'll find people who live there, were born there, travel there annually, etc. They can also tell you which of the local airlines have the best track record.

I've booked with local airlines in Europe and usually allow myself a night in London each way just to make sure I make the connection (and because I like London!). I first book the RT to London and then go to the national airlines (e.g., Air Serbia, Air Malta) and book the rest of the trip. Since AA won't do a thing if I get to Heathrow too late to get the Air Serbia flight and Air Malta won't take responsibility if I get to London too late for my AA flight home, it adds some safety.

What you really need if you want to go the travel agent route is someone who specializes in the area, not someone who's going to use the same on-line tools you have. Now that I think of it, you may find THAT on FlyerTalk as well.

Just make sure you do a thorough search of previous posts- they get a bit testy if you ask a question that's been covered at length before, e.g., "How do I get a visa for Vietnam?".

 

[tulak]

Have you tried using Google Flights or Skyscanner?

I use Google flight a lot, Skyscanner not as much, and have pretty good luck finding the flights that I want. One thing you can try is to specify ‘multi-city’ instead of ‘round-trip’ when searching for flights. Or you sometime I’ll check out one-way routes between specific cities to understand what airlines fly there and then go to the airlines website to see what flights they offer.

I also only book directly with the airlines. I never book through a 3rd party company, such as Expedia. That will only lead you to pain if you ever need to make changes to your flight.

And like Athena, I’m not against booking separate tickets, especially when flying in/out of different cities. When I do this, I usually stay an extra night. I’ve done this with London and most recently Paris. It works great and gave us an opportunity for a nice dinner in Paris before flying home the next day.

 

[brett]

Lots of international travel over the past 15 years.

We stopped using a TA years ago. Many have left the the business.

Most of our travel is independent. We use an on line TA to book cruises simply because we get a commission rebate from the TA in the form of an on board credit.

The only other time we used one was for an African trip/safari. We tried a local agency who specialized. Not happy. So we contacted a tour provider directly in South Africa and arranged it ourselves.

For air we use airlines, google air, itmatrix, skyscanner. Also use flightconnections.com to get an overview on routes.

 

[audreyh1]

Flights - I use Google Flights. https://www.google.com/travel/flights/

You don’t have to use Expedia or Kayak or go directly to each airline. Once you pick the flight you want Google Flights sends you direct to that airline site with the flight already selected.

Asia, however, is outside my experience.

 

[brett]

We have spent multiple winters in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Viet Nam.

We have used many carriers. AirAsia is one of our favorites. Also NOK, Lion, Viet, Jetstar, Thai Smile, Scoot (good for Singapore and going to OZ).

Easy to shop on line. You do not need a TA for this. IF you are going to some islands carriers like AirAsia often have a ticket that includes air to a mainland airport and ferry to the island. You de plane and you are directed to a mini bus that takes you to the ferry.

 

[OldShooter]

In 2018 DW and I traveled in Vietnam and Myanmar, arrangements by Myriam Grest, Myanmar Travel Ltd. She is in-country and had many favorable reviews in International Travel News*. This was a totally custom trip that included a river cruise with Pandaw. We did not travel with a guide but she arranged guides in most of the places we stopped. All were very good, as were her hotel recommendations.

Try this: https://www.intltravelnews.com/#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=Myriam Grest &gsc.sort=date

If that doesn't work, go to intltravelnews.com and search on her name. You can also search on your desired destination names.

*Sadly, ITN has shut down due to COVID impact on travel advertising. The magazine featured articles by subscribers describing their trips. These are still on line and worth a look by anyone planning an international trip.

 

[rodi]

Heading out in less than 48 hours for SE Asia.

Used flights.google.com to book flights.
Did a multi-city for my main flights (into Singapore, out of Bangkok). JAL. Then did individual flights between our destinations. AirAsia from Singapore to Siem Reap, Thai Airlines (was originally booked as Smile Thai, but they were absorbed into their parent company). That's from Siem Reap to Phuket. And VietJet between Phuket and Chiang Mai, as well as Chiang Rai to Bangkok. (Bus between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

Google Flights helped me find/book all the flights.

 

[brett]

There is a free shuttle between Bangkok airports. BKK-DMG.

It is very easy. You can follow the purple (?) markings on the floor of BKK right out to where you catch the bus for DMG. All you need to show is a boarding pass for your DMG flight. Even then the driver does not look very closely at the paperwork. Last time, a few years ago, we only had a sheet with our reservation/flight on it....no problem, hop on board!

 

[5Miler]

DGF books all or our travel as she is a part time travel agent specializing in cruises. Most travel agents won't deal with airline travel these days as years ago, airlines stopped paying commissions to TAs. It's just not worth the aggravation for DGF to work with airline reservations for no compensation.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

+1 to using Flyertalk and that some users are prone to give a bit of attitude.

For the most part we book direct nowadays but occasionally go through a travel agent or third party site.
Travel agencies and third party sites occasionally have access to deals that the average retail consumer will not have direct access to. This is because of bulk buys, ticket dumps with heavy restrictions, etc.

+1 that if you use a travel agent, use one that specializes in that region or type of travel.
Eg. During the early days, we used a travel agent (IACE) for help with a trip to Japan. They gave us info at the time about JAL or ANA (I forget which) providing cheap add-on flights in Japan if you book a flight from North America to Japan. And they also had at the time these circle pass tickets that let you go to multiple destinations. Perhaps Vietnam Airlines may have some kind of similar multi-location pass (??).
Conversely, you can also try to scope out a good travel agent on the ground. That's what the missus did during her first visit to Vietnam in the early 2000's. She thought it booking all the side trips while there worked well but YMMV of course.

+1 to using Google flights.
We also occasionally check what low cost carriers operate in the areas/countries that we're visiting and go to their own websites to see if they are a fit for some of the shorter hops.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Thanks everyone. I usually do well on my own but it has become increasingly frustrating that the search algorithms want to send me to the mainland first. I think they give preference to airlines that "pay for play" and I don't think Hawaiian Air pays. So if I try to book something from Kona it decides I need to fly to the mainland on United then back to wherever I am going. Very annoying.

For the southeast asia trip I found a very helpful site - flightsfrom.com that lets you see all the nonstop destinations available from a city and which days of the week each route is available. That's seldom an issue for major airports but was very helpful for solving my immediate problem. I haven't booked anything yet but I was able to use that site to see what my problem was. I was trying to fly a route that is only served by discount carriers and Vietnam Airlines. Vietnam Airlines wants us to fly to Hanoi and overnight there for a simple flight to Seoul. Once I found that site I quickly figured out what was going on and found decent options.

Anyway, I had a travel agent when I traveled a lot for business 20 years ago and she was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. She charged a modest amount for booking ~$35, probably closer to $50 today but usually saved me hundreds on international trips. I would love to find someone like her again. I'll check some of the suggestions people have made.

 

[Lucie]

We have been pleased with Laura Dodson at Cruz Holidays. We use her for our cruises, but she does plane and hotel reservations too.
Email laura@cruzholidays.com

 

[Sunset]

I just tried out bing search AI , and I guess other AI things would work, for travel itineraries.

I tried a couple of places I know well, and it gave a good starting point for a person to investigate and modify for travel plans.
In fact I found out a tourist site just 30 miles from where I know well and I never knew existed.

I just asked it to: plan a one week trip itinerary to xxxxxxxxxxx

 

[walkinwood]

Do you have a Vietnamese grocery store / social club in your area? Go ask them who they use.


I know a lot of Indians who use small travel agencies that specialize in travel to India. Maybe the same is true of the vietnamese/south asian communities.


I now book directly with the airlines. In case of cancelled flights etc, it is much easier to deal with the airlines than through a travel agent.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Do you have a Vietnamese grocery store / social club in your area? Go ask them who they use.


I know a lot of Indians who use small travel agencies that specialize in travel to India. Maybe the same is true of the vietnamese/south asian communities.


I now book directly with the airlines. In case of cancelled flights etc, it is much easier to deal with the airlines than through a travel agent.

That's a great idea about the grocery store or social club. There is not much of a Vietnamese community in Kona but I think there is a small club. The Filipino community is huge though and now that I think of it I know a woman from Myanmar (she calls it Burma) who goes home fairly regularly. I bet I can do a little social networking and find someone if I need to!

I also prefer booking myself so I have full control. But I will say that the agent I had bailed me out big time on one occasion after I called her at home around 3 AM her time when I ran into an issue while abroad. She was affiliated with Carlson Wagonlit and was able to get me rebooked very quickly using their resources.

In any case, thank you everyone for all the suggestions!