I went to a travel agent to book some flights and accom for an upcoming trip I'm taking. After reviewing the information she got for me, I was left thinking what the point of even using a travel agent is. She searched for accomodation on the agents website which only offered two (pretty ordinary) properties. I went home and looked on Zuji and Travel and came up with 20+.
Then it came to the flights. I needed four flights (SIN-BKK, BKK-CNX, CNX-HKT & HKT-BKK). Now after looking around at the respective carriers websites I found fares:
SIN-BKK - Swissair - $153 (Incl Taxes)
BKK-CNX - Thai - $81 (Incl Taxes)
CNX-HKT - Thai - $153 (Incl Taxes)
HKT-BKK - Bangkok Airways - $85 (Incl Taxes)
Now on the SIN-BKK sector she wasnt able to find the Swiss flight (closest was Indian Airlines at about $200) and on all the others she found the same fares, however a $14 "tax" was added to each of them plus a $30 booking fee.
Now I can understand wanting to use an agent to have everything booked together (and she was a very helpful person, obviously knew quite a lot about the destinations), but I thought they were supposed to be cheaper, not more expensive (with less options)!
Then it came to the flights. I needed four flights (SIN-BKK, BKK-CNX, CNX-HKT & HKT-BKK). Now after looking around at the respective carriers websites I found fares:
SIN-BKK - Swissair - $153 (Incl Taxes)
BKK-CNX - Thai - $81 (Incl Taxes)
CNX-HKT - Thai - $153 (Incl Taxes)
HKT-BKK - Bangkok Airways - $85 (Incl Taxes)
Now on the SIN-BKK sector she wasnt able to find the Swiss flight (closest was Indian Airlines at about $200) and on all the others she found the same fares, however a $14 "tax" was added to each of them plus a $30 booking fee.
Now I can understand wanting to use an agent to have everything booked together (and she was a very helpful person, obviously knew quite a lot about the destinations), but I thought they were supposed to be cheaper, not more expensive (with less options)!