There is a lot of information available on the internet right now about travel. There are online travel sites for cruises, hotels, planes, trains and any other type of travel. But what is the right product for you? What is the location of the hotel where you want to stay? What type of room or cabin is right for you? Which cruise line should you be booking? Not all products are created equal and the product is not perfect for everyone. How to say? Contact a travel professional.
Do you have a travel agent?
There are multiple articles, even the President of the United States saying that travel agents do not exist or are leaving. In the same way they are correct. In the past, travel agents were the ones who called or booked a trip to the travel agency’s storefront office. Storefront travel agencies are much less now and in many days because “travel agents” have mostly gone home from work. Even the term “travel agent” is going away because what they do now is different from what they did before.
Travel professional / travel consultant
Travel agents are now much more a consultant and an advisor so they are now called travel professionals or travel counselors. Even the travel industry is trying to move away from using the term “travel agent”. Not only do they book a trip for someone else, they know more than what is available to the traveling client. Travel professionals are now constantly learning, constantly traveling, receiving input from other travel professionals about where they have traveled, and now what is needed for a day trip.
When you use an online travel agency like Expedia, Travelcity, etc., you can’t protect your back from anyone. They book the trip for you and then you do a lot more on your own. Say your flight has been canceled, who is going to book a replacement flight? You, they are not. If you use a travel professional that travel professional will do it. If something goes wrong on your trip, if the room you booked isn’t what you thought it would be, who’s going to fix it? A travel professional will constantly check for price reductions before making a final payment and see if it would be more beneficial to offer a new promotion than booking through a deposit. All of these issues can be resolved before the final payment is made.
A travel professional works with you from the time you first talk to them until you are safe and healthy at home and any and all problems have been solved or resolved.
It costs more to use a travel professional
This is not always true. True, some travel professionals charge a fee but not all of them do. This is because some vendors, such as airlines and some hotels, do not pay commissions or some vendors have reduced the amount of commissions paid to travel professionals. To conclude, some travel professionals charge a fee. I charge $ 50 domestically for airline reservations and $ 100 for airline reservations internationally. I will sometimes charge a fee for hotels for the same reason or if I personally put together different sections of travel. If I book a cruise or a tour, I do not charge a fee because the seller pays me a commission. Remember, whether you use a travel professional or not the commission is still being paid because it automatically includes the price from the seller. So, why not use travel professional and save your time avoiding trouble?
The rules of travel are constantly changing and it is the travel professionals who are able to keep track of them with their clients.