Looking for a good travel agent

[Blackadder]

Just seeing if anyone can recommend a good,reliable travel agent preferably on the North side of Sydney or CBD.
Not happy with being promised they will be in touch, only for me to have to give follow up calls.

 

[JohnK]

No recommendations? A sign of the times or are travel agents really that bad?

 

[SeatBackForward]

I can't recommend an agent, but i'll advise,where possible, book directly with the operator. Using the internet makes it a lot easier now than it used to be. I recently used a travel agent, albeit an online one to book flights for my parents. Unfortunately my father passed away, and the agent have caused us all sorts of grief in obtaining refunds, despite airline policies of full refunds due to death. I ended up dealing with the airline directly, who have processed refunds etc..

The worst part was, we used the same agent to bring family back here at the time of his death. The agent wanted $500 per passenger for changes to the return date. I spoke with the airline directly, who processed the 3pax change for a flat $200. It's now been over six months, and we're yet to receive the refund off the agent, the airline has processed it already...

So my lesson from it all was, book it yourself, because its easier to deal with the Airline directly.

 

[El_Vee]

The only surefire way is to hit the street and try a few. I'm a TA but I often go to competitors in nearby suburbs wearing 'civilian clothes' and requesting the same quote from each. The first 90 seconds tend to tell me everything: knowledge without relying on a computer or brochure, open ended questions and service level. Yep, it's a waste of their time, but for me it's vital to know what our competition is offering in terms of product and service (plus I'm sure some do it to me). I'd suggest to drop into a few offices and put them to work. Asking to speak to the manager tends to help; they'll have usually been around longer, will (hopefully) have extensive knowledge and will have learnt what customers expect from a TA. And try all brands - of the two most knowledgeable agents I know, one works in a city-based store for that big mob, the other for a tiny boutique outfit.

The industry is an increasingly difficult one and unfortunately this means that it doesn't always attract the most desirable applicants. Expect to get a few duds along the way, but you'll eventually find one that fits your requirements.

 

[straitman]

The only surefire way is to hit the street and try a few. I'm a TA but I often go to competitors in nearby suburbs wearing 'civilian clothes' and requesting the same quote from each. The first 90 seconds tend to tell me everything: knowledge without relying on a computer or brochure, open ended questions and service level. Yep, it's a waste of their time, but for me it's vital to know what our competition is offering in terms of product and service (plus I'm sure some do it to me). I'd suggest to drop into a few offices and put them to work. Asking to speak to the manager tends to help; they'll have usually been around longer, will (hopefully) have extensive knowledge and will have learnt what customers expect from a TA. And try all brands - of the two most knowledgeable agents I know, one works in a city-based store for that big mob, the other for a tiny boutique outfit.

The industry is an increasingly difficult one and unfortunately this means that it doesn't always attract the most desirable applicants. Expect to get a few duds along the way, but you'll eventually find one that fits your requirements.

El_Vee,

Welcome to AFF and thanks for your helpful first post.

 

[minkw]

Hi!

Instead of looking for an agent, I can recommend that you look for a person who works for a wholesaler that deals in the particular area that you travel to most, as they will know the best deals/routes, and actually know the destination. Where as your typical travel agents has to try and know a little bit about the all the world. The only thing is that not manly wholesalers have a direct department of if they do its usually not advertised and is mainly via word of mouth/referrals only, as this is an avenue for clients who wish to book direct.

Wholesalers are companies that sell land and air to travel agents at a gross or nett price, and in some cases are the plug-ins suppliers for discount websites such as Expedia, Agoda etc.

I myself actually work for a wholesaler that specialises in Asia, and I do have a hand full of clients mainly family/friends of to which I sell airfares/land to at our wholesale sell point, so as a company we still make our wholesale margin, but avoids any “agent” commission we have to pay.

In most cases wholesale or private airfares need to be met with a minimum of 2-3 nights accommodation but this has never been audited that I know of, ticketing this type of airfare without the land is known as a dry airfare.

Prices? Well these are usually 5-7% cheaper for flights than the airlines websites and usually 9-13% cheaper than hotel websites/tour operators., how this works is that our wholesale margin for airfares are usually 13% where 5-7% are usually paid agent commissions and for land, wholesale margins are roughly 20-27%, where usually 9-13% are paid agent commissions. Agent commissions are different for all agents/chains/operators depending on the chain/preferred agreement etc,

Also not all wholesale fares are always cheaper, in some cases they are about the same price as published fares or ones that are on airlines websites, but offer more relaxed conditions, for example TTL/ticketing of a fare is not required until say 10/30/60 days prior to departure, it can also work the other way around where they are more restrictive, such as some don’t let you open jaw etc, and some are not event eligible for ff miles!

For example, flying to SYD/LHR RT in Business, anytime in Feb based on SQ D class, published and the SQ website have this coming in at $7664 + taxes, where I have just had a look at our fares/addendums it coming in at wholesale sell at $6820 + taxes, so I a saving of $844, however has restrictions such as add-one are not permitted so if you wanted to do a side trip with SQ add-on fares this would not be permitted.

Hope that helps

<redacted>

Cheers!

 

[Travel Guru]

Hi!

Instead of looking for an agent, I can recommend that you look for a person who works for a wholesaler that deals in the particular area that you travel to most, as they will know the best deals/routes, and actually know the destination. Where as your typical travel agents has to try and know a little bit about the all the world. The only thing is that not manly wholesalers have a direct department of if they do its usually not advertised and is mainly via word of mouth/referrals only, as this is an avenue for clients who wish to book direct.

Wholesalers are companies that sell land and air to travel agents at a gross or nett price, and in some cases are the plug-ins suppliers for discount websites such as Expedia, Agoda etc.

I myself actually work for a wholesaler that specialises in Asia, and I do have a hand full of clients mainly family/friends of to which I sell airfares/land to at our wholesale sell point, so as a company we still make our wholesale margin, but avoids any “agent” commission we have to pay.

In most cases wholesale or private airfares need to be met with a minimum of 2-3 nights accommodation but this has never been audited that I know of, ticketing this type of airfare without the land is known as a dry airfare.

Prices? Well these are usually 5-7% cheaper for flights than the airlines websites and usually 9-13% cheaper than hotel websites/tour operators., how this works is that our wholesale margin for airfares are usually 13% where 5-7% are usually paid agent commissions and for land, wholesale margins are roughly 20-27%, where usually 9-13% are paid agent commissions. Agent commissions are different for all agents/chains/operators depending on the chain/preferred agreement etc,

Also not all wholesale fares are always cheaper, in some cases they are about the same price as published fares or ones that are on airlines websites, but offer more relaxed conditions, for example TTL/ticketing of a fare is not required until say 10/30/60 days prior to departure, it can also work the other way around where they are more restrictive, such as some don’t let you open jaw etc, and some are not event eligible for ff miles!

For example, flying to SYD/LHR RT in Business, anytime in Feb based on SQ D class, published and the SQ website have this coming in at $7664 + taxes, where I have just had a look at our fares/addendums it coming in at wholesale sell at $6820 + taxes, so I a saving of $844, however has restrictions such as add-one are not permitted so if you wanted to do a side trip with SQ add-on fares this would not be permitted.

Hope that helps

Inbox/pm me if you travel to Asia a lot in business!,

Cheers!

Actually you might want to check that, most airlines are now cracking down on the sale of wholesale fares without min. land requirement and are randomly checking at check-in...not having documentation to prove you've met the airfare requirement means you run the risk of being denied boarding (which they have every right to do).

We also have a wholesale arm to our business so know a bit about wholesale fares and I think you'll find that while the TTL's on wholesale fares can be more restrictive, the change rules are not, and often quite the opposite with alot of fares non-changeable once ticketed which wouldn't at all suit the business traveller.

TG

 

[minkw]

Actually you might want to check that, most airlines are now cracking down on the sale of wholesale fares without min. land requirement and are randomly checking at check-in...not having documentation to prove you've met the airfare requirement means you run the risk of being denied boarding (which they have every right to do).

We also have a wholesale arm to our business so know a bit about wholesale fares and I think you'll find that while the TTL's on wholesale fares can be more restrictive, the change rules are not, and often quite the opposite with alot of fares non-changeable once ticketed which wouldn't at all suit the business traveller.

TG

Hi TG, strange as I have yet to hear about the airlines cracking down on this, will need to keep an eye out!, we are Tier 1 with most of the Asian airlines so perhaps they could be more are more relaxed?, however business travelers would be much better on our private fares as these are more of less designed for business travelers, but we mainly use this for staff duty travel naturally.

However I just checked the fare rules of all our SQ wholesale, these both allow changes after ticketing, Business if FOC, where Y is $25, it seems your company has different fares and Addendums to ours.

Cheers!

D CLASS

16 Penalties​

​

​

​

A. Changes:​

After ticketing: No ChargeProvided the change does not contravene the fare conditions.​

B. Cancellations / Refunds:​

1. After ticketing/before departures: AUD $1202. After departures: AUD $120​

C. No-Show Fees:​

ADT – AUD 120 CHD – AUD 120 INF - NIL


__

Y CLASS

16​ ​

Penalties​ ​

[FONT=Courier New,Courier New][FONT=Courier New,Courier New] A. Changes:​

After ticketing: Rebooking permitted at a charge of (per transaction) ADT – AUD25 CHD – AUD25 INF – NIL​ ​

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