These 10 Things Happened To You Because You Did Not Use A Travel Agent

With all the technology available for you to research and plan your vacation on your own, then why exactly does anyone need a travel agent? Many travellers ask themselves and others this question. There are some very easy answers that can be given. If you or anyone you know has found themselves in any of the 10 situations listed below, it is probably because they did not use a travel agent.

1. Your Hotel Room Looks Nothing Like The Pictures

In case you did not know, hotel owners will not post the real pictures of what the rooms look like for you to view online unless the rooms are really nice. What you get is the Photoshop-enhanced version, hiding all the scratches on the furniture and the discoloration on walls and floor. Even worse, those pictures were probably taken a few years ago and do not represent the last four years of wear and tear. Booking online will not reveal that information. You buy what you see and nothing more. You can read online reviews, but everyone’s perspective of what looks nice is different. What you need are the facts that will allow you to make an educated decision. This is why you go to travel agent. A travel agent will know or research the product to ensure you get the most up to date info before booking your trip.

2. You Missed Your Connecting Flight

Sometimes to get to where you want to go, it requires getting off the first aeroplane at a stop-over destination to board the next. If you do not have enough time in between flights, you may end up missing your connecting flight and possibly lose a full day of your vacation or miss your business meeting. If you have no experience with booking a connecting flight or travelling to a certain destination, then you have no idea of how to prepare for the many scenarios that may result in you missing your connecting flight. Your online flight booking engine will not provide you with that information. The best person to advise you on how to plan and what to expect is a travel agent that has had experience flying or booking clients on similar segments.

3. You Got Stuck With A Customer Service Rep That Barely Spoke Your Language

Most of the major online booking agencies offer phone customer support. How nice is it to call customer service to ask questions about your vacation and your phone representative can barely speak your language and does not know what part of the planet your vacation destination is located? This is the type of customer service you can expect when you book your trip online through one of the major online travel agencies. Very different from the warm, personalized service offered to you by your local travel expert that specialises in and knows everything about your desired travel destination.

4. You Spent A Full Day Of Your Vacation Trying To Locate Your Lost Luggage

Your travel agent does more than just book your trip for you. They are your safety blanket when misfortunes happen while travelling. Misfortunes like losing your luggage. If this has happened to you before and you did not use a travel agent, your probably invested a day or two in trying to locate your luggage and getting it shipped to your hotel. If you had used a travel agent, they would be the one on the phone for you, calling in favours, yelling at the airline to ensure you get your luggage as quickly as possible and be compensated for your inconvenience. Consider your travel agent your vacation attorney.

5. You Sat Three Seats Down You From Your Kids On A 10 Hour Flight

Have you every had to try controlling or comforting your four and six-year-old from three rows across on a long flight? Your travel agent would have made sure you've made your seat selection in time so you and your family members can sit close together. Travel Agent can call on their experience to know how fast an individual flight gets full and how quickly the good seats go. You book the flight by yourself, you probably booked it too late or skipped the seat selection option because you did not think you needed to do it that early.

6. You Got The Hotel Room Overlooking The Highway

The only thing worse than not taking a vacation is taking a vacation and have to listen to motorbikes, horns and pedestrians on the road late at night while you are trying to sleep. On the website, you used it said “Mountain View” room. What it did not tell you is that the Mountain is on the other side of the road and you have to get a room next to the highway to view the mountain. Your travel agent will not tell you not to book the Mountain View Room if that is what you want. What they will do is make sure you know that your room will be right next to the road and it will be noisy every night.

7. The Hotel Was Oversold And You Got Bumped

How about showing up at a hotel after, along day of flying, your flight got delayed for six hours and the hotel thought you would be a no show, so the gave up your room. So you get to the check-in counter expecting a room only to be told that you will have to spend the first two nights of your trip at a bed-and-breakfast down the street. If you had used a travel agent, you could have texted them to let them know that your flight got delayed, and they would have called the hotel on your behalf to ensure that they hold your room. Travel Agents have special relationships with the hotels the do business with, so hotel staff are more likely to offer their clients preferential treatment over someone that booked on a discount website.

8. You Missed Out On The Free Offer

Doesn’t it suck to know that the hotel or airline you booked had a special or free offer going on around the same time you booked and you had no idea? Someone you started a conversation with on the plane told you about it because they used a travel agent that made sure they got the free offer. Too late now, it’s no longer valid. However, if you contact a travel agent the next time you’re a booking a trip, your travel agent will research to find out if there are any incentives of special offers available for you to book your trip.

9. You Paid Way Too Much For A Taxi From The Airport To Your Hotel

There is such a thing as “Tourist Price” when you vacation in foreign countries. One of the things a travel agent will do for you is ensure that your airport transfer service is included in your package through a certified tour company. You would not need to be negotiating price at the airport with local taxi companies that determines the price you pay based on your accent.

10. You Wasted Way Too Much Doing Research Online.

Studies show that travellers will search over 30 websites and take up to three weeks before booking their vacation package online. This is no surprise due to the countless streams of contradicting information and prices. Doing all your own research to book a trip is overwhelming and sometimes scary. Why waste time doing something that someone else with expertise in the area is willing to do for you and can do it even better. Not only will your travel agent save you time on doing overwhelming research, but they will also most times help you create a better experience than you could have done on your own.

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