Are travel agents worth the bother?

[spiggy_topes]

I recently had to book a moderately complex itinerary for a forthcoming visit to the Middle East (on business, with a side-trip to see a friend in Oman) and on to Europe (privately). Most of the trip is in business class, as the client is paying, but the private flights are in Y.

I went on-line, found the flights, and noted down the quoted fares. Before booking, I sent the itinerary to a travel agent and asked if they could get a cheaper deal.

The J-class fares were about what I expected, but to my surprise the quote for the Y legs was substantially higher; for instance, DXB-GLA, LGW-DXB came in at over $2000, while the same flights were at about $1200 on the Emirates website. I queried the fare and they price-matched.

Worst of all the agent couldn't even book me on one Middle Eastern airline (Oman Air, MCT-AUH) and quoted a silly price & itinerary as they 'didn't have a contract' to sell that flight at the Web price - and I ended up booking the flight myself.

My question is: does a travel agent ever offer a better deal than I can get on the Web? This was a major Australian chain, but the convenience of using them would have cost quite dearly if I hadn't done my homework.

 

[straitman]

Travel Guru, Where are you :?:

From my perspective though is that the Travel Agent is worth the effort for most people as they are often unaware of the hidden issues and hazards that a good Travel Agent will steer them clear of.

For the savvy traveler it is quite a different picture as you have found and the Travel Agent may not be of any real use or assistance.

I'd rate myself somewhere in the middle and certainly compare notes with a GOOD Travel Agent when I'm looking at something complex. Simpler itineraries I am more than happy booking myself.

 

[clifford]

I haven't used a travel agent (unless you include the online variety such as Priceline and Expedia) for at least 10 years, since the internet sites became fairly mature.

Maybe on the odd occasion a travel agent could come up with something obscure that one wouldn't normally be aware of, but in general I would back myself against an average travel agent anyday. Flyertalk also helps.

But having extensive web experience, expertise and plenty of time (as I do) also helps greatly.

 

[MelUser]

I think a good TA adds value but you said "major Australian chain" and that would worry me.

 

[2muchplastic]

I think a good TA adds value but you said "major Australian chain" and that would worry me.

I guess that are two schools of thought here:

1. That a large chain can bring buying power (lower cost to your trip). But my experience is that these large chains and their associated call centres lack the knowledge to give you the help and advise that you really want.
2. A smaller, independant TA generally has the knowledge, but doesn't always have the margins to be able to get the price you want.

So the answer is yes, IMO travel agents are worth the bother, except for really simple requests. A good travel agent can be worth their weight in gold, but are few and far between.

 

[aspro2]

I find the constant frustration of ?never having been given a useful tip or other valuable contribution to a proposed itinerary (simple or complex) by a TA a real deterrent. I walk into a TA's office with anticipation of the lack of knowledge or the automaton-like "customer is an idiot" approach which is so common. Unless you can develop a regular relationship with one of the golden good TAs, it seems there's almost no chance of any added value from most of that profession I imagine part of the problem grows from the disdain of dealing with so many customers who just walk in and don't know anything about what they want or need.

 

[JohnK]

As we discussed in another thread on AFF recently I believe that occasionally some travel agents are able to offer cheaper deals that are not available, or hard to get and more expensive, on the internet.

It does not hurt to do the homework and work out which option, travel agent or internet, will be cheapest....

 

[AlphaVictor]

In the days when I was a TA, I worked what was one of the first independent "bucket shops" in Sydney that discounted airfares. This was the early 90's when peak season airfares to London were $3200 for Qantas, BA, SQ and even Philippine Airlines. Most agents made 20 - 30% comm on PR back then with little or no discounting.

What I enjoyed most in those days was the thrill of the fare, the rules and what you could come up with, within those rules and sometimes stretching them a bit. Getting a special eraser and rubbing off the X for transit to give pax an extra stop, or using a reval sticker to get you back before the minimum stay requirements.

Travel was an art, it was math, geography and imagination (and a bit of balls thrown in for good measure for a loyal client). Most of that is gone now.

We had two Flight Centre agencies up the road who use to send clients to us so we could work out the complex itineraries for them, then told the client to come back to the FC office and they would beat the quote.
Once we caught on, we made sure we stuffed a few up and underpriced by $500. It stopped pretty soon after that.

Moral, the right travel agent is a godsend and once you find one, follow them. Independents are better - Trailfinders I like or being "ageist" I have to say that any agent over 40 will know 400 times more than any FC, Jetset, or Harvey's agent. Then again if you just want someone to beat your $1500 airfare to LAX, then go for FC, that's about as much as I'd trust em to handle.

 

[drron]

I stil use a TA.The main reason is so I can book my flights at least 10 months out but not pay until a month out.She also accepts Diners.
As well she knows our travel habits and we get an email if something comes up such as a recent BA fly F for the price of J.
Also when it comes to accomadation she can often get something when nothing is available on line and usually at a good price.
Also when things go wrong such as the recent BKK airport fiasco and Mrsdrron doing herself harm it is great to have someone else doing the legwork and organising the refunds.
Our TA though is an independent agent.I can foresee using her well into the future.

 

[Alanslegal]

I have a friend who works for a major travel agent and a few months ago I gave her a complex LONE4 routing for her to price just for fun, she came back with a price tag of close to $8K I naturally LOL. She told me she couldn't get the LONE4 fare to work so she looked up the prices flight by flight! I felt bad she did that.

Anyway, give her a relatively simple request and she can work wonders. For eg. a couple of years ago I needed a weeks accommodation on the Gold Coast. I specifically told her I wanted to stay in the Q1 apartments. She found a 3 bedroom apartment, super high floor, at least 150sqm in size, for $300 per night. The best rates online were near double that.

Moral of my story - I'd give a TA a crack at my enquiry and if they can offer something better, I'd definitely give them some of my bookings. It doesn't hurt to shop around and have some input from those who work in the travel industry - you just never know, you could save some money and time.

 

[wandering_fred]

Let's just say I know a TA in Perth that will book LONEx with AA and add the appropriate OneWorld Visit-xx fare segments if I need them. Add in the agent only CX fares and I am happy to provide her with the odd additional commission on stupid QF fares, though I do now know how to read the web page source....

Do I look elsewhere? Of course.

Fred

 

[brissyflyer]

I book online myself where possible however for more complex itineraries such as open jaw and stopovers going through a travel agent is the only option as a number of airline websites don't offer the ability to book open jaw and stopovers.

Peter

 

[saine]

I have to say, I've lost my faith in travel agents after my recent trip to Europe. I'd booked through Student Flights.

Due to troubles in Athens, I sent an email to my travel 'consultant' asking her if it was possible for me to skip the free flight coupon flight from Athens to Vienna, and make my own way. She replied that it was, that I had plenty of time to make up my mind. So, I cancelled my Croatia-Greece flight and sent her an email saying to go ahead and cancel, then.

She then replied saying it was impossible to do that with my fare - despite telling me a few days earlier that it was. I explained my situation and that I was now stuck in Croatia, with not a huge number of options for getting to Athens. I got no reply - I had to get a family member to go to the store, and they still did exactly nothing. I ended up contacting the airline myself in Zagreb and they cancelled the Athens flight in five minutes with no troubles.

What's the point in having a Travel Agent when they give you misinformation?

 

[serfty]

G'day saine, welcome to AFF.

... What's the point in having a Travel Agent when they give you misinformation?

So you can sue them ... (of course said misinformation needs to be in writing ...)

 

[saine]

G'day saine, welcome to AFF. So you can sue them ... (of course said misinformation needs to be in writing ...)

Thanks! I've been lurking for a few weeks - these forums are very interesting!

Well, I do have the original emails... Hrm... But in the end, I wasn't financially impacted because Austrian Airlines fixed the flights for me myself. I just won't use the the agency again (after using them for four international trips in three years.)

 

[Travel Guru]

I've been reading this thread with interest, not wanting to but in with my say too soon and send the direction of the chat off course, but decided I may as well throw my 2c in (as most of you will know i'm always only too happy to do).

I've been an agent for years, and after spending a fair bit of time in consultancy and management at FC now run my own boutique agency.

There are several factors which in my opinion determine whether an agent is "worth the bother" or not.

I like to compare using a TA to doing your tax, for some, doing their tax return online is perfectly suitable, for others using someone like H&R Block for $50 is (in their mind and for their circumstances) perfectly suitable and yet again for others, an experienced CPA from an accounting practice is more suitable.

Using agents such as FC, Student Flights, Escape Travel (all part of the FC group) is like using H&R Block to do your tax, it'll get the job done but as with anything you get what you pay for, and I think people cause themselves alot of problems by expecting a high level service from agencies such as these.

The other issue as clifford raised is how much time you have on your hands, my clients for the most part are $$ rich but time poor and are more than happy to leave everything in our hands to be done for them, but then if you've got plenty of time on your hands, why not organise it yourself if you can.

While I appreciate that in these times especially that the dollar is scarcer than usual, you've got to realise that you need to ensure you're not screwing an agent down so much that there's nothing in it for the agent to bother giving you good service; i'm lucky, I just dont do price beats, but for your local FC agent, they have no choice and will generally make up for it by giving substandard service.

As I said, just my 2c...take it or leave it.

TG

 

[NSWhere]

What you say makes sense to me Tavel Guru, and I like the analogy. I guess like so many things it comes down to a value, as opposed to price, proposition.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I like to compare using a TA to doing your tax, for some, doing their tax return online is perfectly suitable, for others using someone like H&R Block for $50 is (in their mind and for their circumstances) perfectly suitable and yet again for others, an experienced CPA from an accounting practice is more suitable.

Using agents such as FC, Student Flights, Escape Travel (all part of the FC group) is like using H&R Block to do your tax, it'll get the job done but as with anything you get what you pay for, and I think people cause themselves alot of problems by expecting a high level service from agencies such as these.

Let's roll with your analogy;-

I pay about 10x in accounting to the firm I'm with than what H&R Block would charge, however I'm receiving over 100x the value through significant tax cuts, savings, "in the loop" knowledge and ongoing support.

Honestly I can't see how a botique TA could add even 3x more value to a ticket price to justify the extra markup that would be required to not compete on price.

Airfares are comodoties - it's about price on the airline - nothing more.

This is where you get into business strategy and adding entrepreneurial insight into an existing business for high growth in a new market. Also called a 'blue ocean' opportunity.

As this is what I do for crust; without giving out too many details here's a free ride for you:

- Target high end frequent flyers like those on this forum. We spend a truckload of cash each month on flights/accom and its RARELY based on price that we book something. Generally it's on flexible tickets, airline/hotel preference, points/status or that it's more convinient.

- Offer real value-adds that FC wouldn't and doesn't service. Throw in limo airport transfers on both ends and bottle of bubbly in the car.

- Have one of 'your people' assist the passenger at the airport.

- Help your customers maximize FF points/miles without them having to ask. Propose different iteneries/airlines/routing if time is not a constraint.

- Help them upgrade their seats once ticketed. Call the airline and use your 'special connections' to make sure the upgrade is at the top of the waiting list.

- Don't deal with anyone that doesn't have status with an airline or doesn't fly in premium cabins.

There's a heap of other things you could do too, and that's off the top of my head based on 6 figure spends over the last 10 years.

Another hour of thinking it out and you'd have an interesting business model there that not only DOES NOT compete with FC/major chains - but opens up an entirely new market (high end FFs) while staying away from the corporates.

And there you go, a travel agent that no longer competes on price but adds real value, in a way the seasoned traveller appreciates, understands and most of all - supports.

 

[serfty]

Such agencies actually exist; there are even shops that will book reward flights/accommodation etc for you - doing all the hard work ...

 

[simongr]

Personally I am somewhat loathe to use a regular chain TA as you will get what you pay for - pretty much nothing...

I have until recently booked all travel through AA and planned the DONE4's myself inminute detail.

With my new job most travel is domestic (including NZ as domestic of course) but I have some admin support who flick the bookings to a corporate TA (fight the powers). I have recently been quoted $500 for a K class peak hours return to MEL and $1500 for K class syd-akl/wlg-syd trip - both of which seemed a little steep.

My plan in the future when I eventually have to stump up cash to fly to the UK is use a TA like travel guru to book cheaper J seats as that is where I see the value - the ability to find hidden fares or unexpected fares (like the AY cheap J you used to be able to buy).