Travel agent versus the QF website

[dragonman]

Just thought i would share the experience I had today. Wanted to go to NY and Los Angeles in April next year flying QF in Y. Cheapest fare on the website I could find was $3113. Tried two travel agencies today - and ended up getting the fare for $2500. Had always thought I would find the cheapest fare on the website so this was news to me.

Not sure of the protocol but I am happy to share the name of the TA if its ok.

 

[aybee]

Travel Agents in Oz can almost nearly always beat an airline direct international fare, thanks to the distribution method in effect down here, commission levels, overrides and the proliferance/reliance of the agents here on Nett fares. Not really much of a surprise.

 

[serfty]

Travel Agents in Oz can almost nearly always beat an airline direct international fare, thanks to the distribution method in effect down here, commission levels, overrides and the proliferance/reliance of the agents here on Nett fares. Not really much of a surprise.

I can easily see a 5-10% saving for those reasons, but 25%?

 

[aybee]

At one Corporate Agency I used to work for back in the early 2000's, we had agreements with 3 or 4 carriers (such was our volume with them) that gave us high teens overides on top of the regular, so yeah, the %'s can get up there. If it's a preferred client, then the % you lop off for them gets high as well.
Then there are preferred deals, wholesale netts and all the rest of it. Depends on the carrier, the agency and the type of travel required.

 

[anat0l]

International fares perhaps the travel agent could do better. Except if you are planning an esoteric itinerary, e.g. xONEx or a run. (Then again, QF couldn't do that on their website either....)

The weigh up of charges from either one would be interesting. TAs typically charge 1.1% or thereabouts for credit cards; QF charge something like $18.00 or more for international sectors.

As for domestic bookings, might as well do it yourself. Last time I was quoted by a TA they said, "we just look at webjet and add $10.00 to the price."

 

[JohnK]

Some travel agents can get much better airfares and deals than the QF website.

A friend of mine travelled SYD-PVG//HKG-SYD with QF in May and paid $1250 via a travel agent. Could not get anywhere near that price with a simple SYD-PVG or SYD-HKG return let alone an open jaw.

I hope that travel agents are always around for those times where it is difficult to make a booking on a airlines website....

 

[Dougo]

Please correct me if I'm wrong here, but doesn't the fare that the TA quotes depend (in part ??) on which consolidator they use and/or how much commission they are willing to forego in order to secure a sale (not to mention special affiliations / deals / contracts that they may have with the supplier)?

It seems to me (based on my experience), costs quoted for airfares from TAs sometimes depend on whether or not they are interested in a quick sale vs searching for the best fare or perhaps steering you to "your only real option" which translates to selling you a fare for which they get the highest commission.

But I really think it helps to do the research yourself then if you think might be able to do better, test the market and snap up a bargain ticket - make sure the T&Cs is acceptable as some of these can be very restrictive which is probably reflected in the cheaper price.

 

[bambbbam2]

Some travel agents can get much better airfares and deals than the QF website.

I didn't believe this until I spied some invoices at work for an upcoming NZ conference and some people are paying 900 for a per/syd/akl rt...

 

[oz_mark]

I didn't believe this until I spied some invoices at work for an upcoming NZ conference and some people are paying 900 for a per/syd/akl rt...

Here's an interesting thing about per-syd-akl. It is cheaper in business class to do this than per-syd (1731 vs 1740)

 

[Keith009]

TAs could also have access to consolidator fares, such as Concorde Fares which can be substantially lower than published fares.

 

[burmans]

Some travel agents can get much better airfares and deals than the QF website.

Any recommended places to start looking for some good examples of these "Some travel agents"?

 

[Dougo]

Any recommended places to start looking for some good examples of these "Some travel agents"?

With no idea where you are living, I can't recommend anyone. However in general, I have found that going to smaller TAs not affiiliated with any particular company or spruiking particular products, I have obtained better deals.

Others I've spoken to have said that if you want to travel to certain parts of the world, eg Asia, go to a TA where there is a big Asian community and you may find a better deal.

For O/S travel only, I usually research sites and prices on the web before going to my TA, and seeing what they can come up with. Sometimes they've been able to better the price, sometimes I've obtained the same price and other times it's cost me a a couple of dollars more.

I can hear you asking why go to the TA in the first place if I can do all that over the web? The answer is because I like to support local businesses where possible, and I get access to a lot of first hand experience and knowledge, and a better level of customer service from dealing with them than I do when talking with some faceless call centre person who reads from a script or hasn't the know-how to search beyond what is on his/her screen. I do not like the large global TAs who only push their products and quite frankly, whom I've found to be very unreliable on several occasions and I will never deal with them again.

I like the fact that my local TA knows me and I know them and that I can call them up and get them to deal with the airline etc if there are unexpected issues that are likely to impact on our travel plans, like the problems in Thailand last Sept - all ironed out, tickets re-issued etc without me having to worry about it.

It's a personal choice and something you need to research to see if you can find a TA or several TAs that you prefer to deal with, or if in fact you prefer to do everything yourself.

 

[JohnK]

Any recommended places to start looking for some good examples of these "Some travel agents"?

Viatour Travel in Haberfield, Sydney is one I would highly recommend. I was able to get a SYD-ATH return with SQ and on the same itinerary an ATH-SKG return with OA for my mother that was only possible on some online websites. I saved hundreds of dollars and could not even get close to their quote looking at separate itineraries on the internet from various websites.

There are many other smaller travel agents, who I have dealt with over the years, that have access to the same type of deals. Kyrenia Travel is one of these travel agents but I believe they now buy their tickets from Viatour Travel. Most times the smaller travel agents have been recommended by friends but at other times I have found them in the yellow pages or looking in the newspapers.

I will get back to you with the name of the travel agent that was able to get the SYD-PVG/HKG-SYD open jaw quite cheaply.

 

[burmans]

Viatour Travel in Haberfield, Sydney is one I would highly recommend. I was able to get a SYD-ATH return with SQ and on the same itinerary an ATH-SKG return with OA for my mother that was only possible on some online websites. I saved hundreds of dollars and could not even get close to their quote looking at separate itineraries on the internet from various websites.

There are many other smaller travel agents, who I have dealt with over the years, that have access to the same type of deals. Kyrenia Travel is one of these travel agents but I believe they now buy their tickets from Viatour Travel. Most times the smaller travel agents have been recommended by friends but at other times I have found them in the yellow pages or looking in the newspapers.

I will get back to you with the name of the travel agent that was able to get the SYD-PVG/HKG-SYD open jaw quite cheaply.

Thanks for the recommendation, yes I am in Sydney (Naremburn) but frankly would have thought with the proliferation of the internet you could deal with just about anywhere! One of our neighbours is a TA (and a possibly an option for me but enbarassing if she isn't the cheapest) who works from home and she has clients all around OZ. My experience with TA's generally have not been great, in most instances have been able to find cheaper fares and accomodation myself and without much effort, so would rather try someone good than have to do more shopping around.

 

[Dougo]

Thanks for the recommendation, yes I am in Sydney (Naremburn) but frankly would have thought with the proliferation of the internet you could deal with just about anywhere! One of our neighbours is a TA (and a possibly an option for me but enbarassing if she isn't the cheapest) who works from home and she has clients all around OZ. My experience with TA's generally have not been great, in most instances have been able to find cheaper fares and accomodation myself and without much effort, so would rather try someone good than have to do more shopping around.

You are absolutely right about using the internet and that you can deal just about anywhere, however I wasn't sure if you were living in Australia or elsewhere. With the TA I use, I still shop around and then go to her to organise the bits I don't want to do which is not what you want.

From my understanding of the way the travel industry operates, SOMETIMES the cheaper the fare, the more the TA has had to forego with their commission in order to offer the reduced fare and therefore secure the sale. This was certainly true with regard to one large TA that I used to deal with. But then the level of care and customer service just was not there in the end so I'd rather not use them.

If you want the cheapest fare, you might just have to keep shopping around. Have you thought of setting up a TA business with yourself at the helm so that way you can secure cheap tickets? I don't know if it's easy or in fact possible to do (without meeting some industry requirements??) but at least you should be able find out what the wholesale fares are?

 

[coco50]

International fares perhaps the travel agent could do better. Except if you are planning an esoteric itinerary, e.g. xONEx or a run. (Then again, QF couldn't do that on their website either....)

The weigh up of charges from either one would be interesting. TAs typically charge 1.1% or thereabouts for credit cards; QF charge something like $18.00 or more for international sectors.

As for domestic bookings, might as well do it yourself. Last time I was quoted by a TA they said, "we just look at webjet and add $10.00 to the price."

I agree entirely. If the LAX/JFK or/LGA costs $3113, a RTW is much better bang for your buck. I consult the airline and a TA for OS flights but always book my own domestically