Booking through Travel Agent or Online?

[Amysicle]

I did a quick search but didn't find anything I was looking for.

I noticed there were a few travel agents on here and I was wondering what the pros and cons were of booking through a travel agent and booking your own vacation online? Is there a benefit at all by using a middleman?

[Tik-Tok]

Everytime I've looked into it, it seemed travel agents can get you the best deal, no matter when you want to go, where doing it online, you need to wait for a "sale" to get the same deal.

[89coupe]

I got a smoking deal on www.expedia.ca a couple months ago. 10 nights in Honolulu at the Hyatt Regency for 3 people with flights only $3420.00 all included.

I'm laughing now as the trip is almost double the cost now.

[Subwoofah]

The travel agent can get you good deals but I find that the webfares sometimes get the deals at the same price as an agent. So its always good to shop around...
The advantage of using an agent is that basically he is the one planning your trip for you. He does the research, finds the best price (puts on his commission) and sells the trip.
There isnt really a disadvantage... unless he finds a trip for the same price as a webfare and marks up the price.

In the end, its better just to become a travel agent yourself and write off your travels as a business expense... thats what i'm doing! :)

[CaptainReboot]

I guess it would depend on how complicated your trip will be.

We wanted to just go to Hong Kong, but a travel agent told us about a tour of Korea they had. It was basically a 3 day tour of Korea, but we had the option to stop in Hong Kong for as long as we wanted, without paying extra. The only condition was that we had to fly back out of Korea to Canada.

The tour was the same price, if not cheaper than just a plane ticket to Hong Kong, and included accomodations, meals, and sightseeing in Seoul.

So the travel agent basically found us a way to get to Hong Kong cheaper, not by finding the best flight, but by sneaking on a Korean tour and not having to pay any more money for a separate flight to Hong Kong.

Travel agents can find things like this, or if you're trip is complicated (lots of destinations, arranging tours, etc), but if you're just going to Vegas for a weekend, it would be easily to use an online service in my opinion.

[bspot]

The last three times I've used travel agents they massacred my trip and I had to put the work in myself to fix their mistakes. I do a much better job myself, and always get the same, if not better prices.

[Subwoofah]

if you just want airfare... usually its better just to do it yourself just cuz you can find good deals online. The only thing is you gotta search and plan the trip YOURSELF and thats what you're paying the travel agent for.

If you're lazy or the trip is too big get an agent.

If you are savvy and can do some research why not become an agent yourself haha.

[Ntense_SpecV]

We found an all-inclusive down to Costa Rica for 8 days on Expedia.ca cheaper than the Travel Agent was able to get for us on exact same trip. I told her about this and she was able to price match it being that it was through Air Canada Vacations.
She told me that they are usually able to price match if you can find the exact same trip online yourself. So we ended up booking it through her - now the price difference was a lot (almost $500/person) so really look around and see if you can find deals.

[Subwoofah]

Pretty much any travel agent can price match a deal you find online... he/she just wont make as much commission, if any.

To get the best deals, plan your trips ahead of time and have the agent send you deals when they come up.

Like right now i'm on the lookout for Calgary-Vegas air+hotel deals from now till 2009 September.

[MintRacer]

so how much was the total price for this package and what travel agent did you use?


Originally posted by CaptainReboot
I guess it would depend on how complicated your trip will be.

We wanted to just go to Hong Kong, but a travel agent told us about a tour of Korea they had. It was basically a 3 day tour of Korea, but we had the option to stop in Hong Kong for as long as we wanted, without paying extra. The only condition was that we had to fly back out of Korea to Canada.

The tour was the same price, if not cheaper than just a plane ticket to Hong Kong, and included accomodations, meals, and sightseeing in Seoul.

So the travel agent basically found us a way to get to Hong Kong cheaper, not by finding the best flight, but by sneaking on a Korean tour and not having to pay any more money for a separate flight to Hong Kong.

Travel agents can find things like this, or if you're trip is complicated (lots of destinations, arranging tours, etc), but if you're just going to Vegas for a weekend, it would be easily to use an online service in my opinion.

[Amysicle]

This is what I'm kind of worried about. But I mean, things could just as easily go wrong if I booked it myself online if I hadn't been doing the proper research and stuff either.

I'm wondering, if things went to hell, if I could call the travel agent I booked with (during regular business hours of course) to help me fix it or find a solution that would be good for the both of us. Having someone to help me figure out a plan B while I'm down there might be worth the extra money within a reasonable amount.


Originally posted by bspot
The last three times I've used travel agents they massacred my trip and I had to put the work in myself to fix their mistakes. I do a much better job myself, and always get the same, if not better prices.

Thanks for the input, it's given me something to think about. I've only really dealt with travel agents when I found vacations I wanted online, went in and told them to book it for me since my CC didn't have a high enough limit at the time and paid with debit.

[Subwoofah]

If you have a problem, call the agent! Thats what he's getting commission for... unless you gave him nothing. lol

[MintRacer]

I've been screwed booking all inclusive vaction to mexico online.. I went with yahoo travel because they were cheapest at the time.

[Subwoofah]

A good question to ask is if the agent has ever been on an all inclusive to mexico... some people have no idea where they are sending you!

[CaptainReboot]

Originally posted by MintRacer
so how much was the total price for this package and what travel agent did you use?



It was I and J Travel in Dragon City Mall in Chinatown. It cost $1433 including all taxes.

We got 3 days in Seoul, a tour guide + transportation for the three days, all food and accomodations in Seoul, and an open ended ticket to go to Hong Kong with return flight to Calgary. At the time, it was around $1400 or so to HK when I did my own research.

I thought it was a pretty good deal, since we got hotel for 2 nights in Seoul, plus food, plus a tour. Next time we head over to HK, I'd definately look for something like this again.

[Ntense_SpecV]

Originally posted by Subwoofah
Pretty much any travel agent can price match a deal you find online... he/she just wont make as much commission, if any.

To get the best deals, plan your trips ahead of time and have the agent send you deals when they come up.

Like right now i'm on the lookout for Calgary-Vegas air+hotel deals from now till 2009 September.

I didn't know that they could price match - I figured that they could give "deals" more then price match...but I'm not too worried about anything going wrong with our trip. Plus it was a family friend that helped us out, so if something does happen I'm not concerned about her making it right. You would think that they would want to help you out considering that most people travel more then once in their life time.

[jus_sum_guy]

Originally posted by Subwoofah
Pretty much any travel agent can price match a deal you find online... he/she just wont make as much commission, if any.

That's not always true. It depends on what agency the agent is working for.
In Most cases the commission goes straight to the agency and not to the agent, so the agent cannot knock off the commission per agency rules.

But at the same time, that agency could have a policy where they will price match.....

So it's best to shop around!

[Subwoofah]

Yes every agency has its own policies. I work for one where if you find the same deal, we'll price match.

Oh and if you have a Travel agent thats a friend or family member helping you out, then you've got a keeper!

I'm going to a seminar on June 21 about becoming a home based travel agent, if anyone wants to learn more... pm me!

[zarge]

travel only? my mom works for them from home. Quite simple just need some clients to follow you