What is the point of a travel agent?

[stocktake]

I have always booked on line direct, either for flights, with the owners for property or even direct with the airline for a package holiday.
With the demise of Thomas Cook and the subsequent rescue of the majority of the shops by Hayes Travel I decided to go along and see if they could beat the price of a package holiday to the canaries we are looking at.

Turned up at Hays Travel with my spreadsheet and explained the above, "don't think we can match internet prices " was the first thing the rep said. Good start.

Rep checked my figures and agreed the price I had come to. Then she went onto her travel agent site for the same company and looked at the rates for the same package and came back with a price that was almost £200 more than I had got to

She then got her calculator out and hit the buttons with amazing speed and as such I couldn't follow what she did and then announced she could match the price.

She never tried other operators, never tried tweaking the dates by one or two days to see if the price altered and never tried or asked about airports nearby. I didn't say but I had already spent many hours doing this on line and selected the most cost effective dates.

I said I would think about it but I just had the feeling I had just wasted a couple of hours, travelling to the store, paying for parking and returning home.

Even if the saving had been £10 I would have taken the offer, if she had tried a little harder to get a better price but still only matched it I feel I would have also taken it but to not even go through the motions just didn't cut it with me.

[clf]

Originally Posted by stocktake

I have always booked on line direct, either for flights, with the owners for property or even direct with the airline for a package holiday.
With the demise of Thomas Cook and the subsequent rescue of the majority of the shops by Hayes Travel I decided to go along and see if they could beat the price of a package holiday to the canaries we are looking at.

Turned up at Hays Travel with my spreadsheet and explained the above, "don't think we can match internet prices " was the first thing the rep said. Good start.

Rep checked my figures and agreed the price I had come to. Then she went onto her travel agent site for the same company and looked at the rates for the same package and came back with a price that was almost £200 more than I had got to

She then got her calculator out and hit the buttons with amazing speed and as such I couldn't follow what she did and then announced she could match the price.

She never tried other operators, never tried tweaking the dates by one or two days to see if the price altered and never tried or asked about airports nearby. I didn't say but I had already spent many hours doing this on line and selected the most cost effective dates.

I said I would think about it but I just had the feeling I had just wasted a couple of hours, travelling to the store, paying for parking and returning home.

Even if the saving had been £10 I would have taken the offer, if she had tried a little harder to get a better price but still only matched it I feel I would have also taken it but to not even go through the motions just didn't cut it with me.

I normally do it myself too. However I have had a few that my ex sorted via a travel agent. Thankfully she did, on the second trip we had together. Arriving at the complex (golf resort), the keys were not where they were supposed to be. Phoned the helpline, and they had the keys delivered to us within 30 minutes (it was 2am!).

It is the little things and peace of mind when things go wrong for why you go to a travel agent.

I have a friend who has been a travel agent for the past 30 years. Currently working for a company called Travel Counsellors, I used her to book a trip to a Grand Prix I wanted to take my father on. I wanted the peace of mind as he was 70 with heart problems. Gave her my budget, told her what I wanted, and she organised it as a package. Because they are not tied to anything, she was able to mix and match as you would do yourself, but with the added benefit of ABTA cover (something you may not necessarily qualify for doing it yourself). If I was you, and the agent matched your price, I would take it, for the back up that they will invariably have. You will also be helping to maintain a high street business competing in an online world without losing any serious money, except your parking, fuel and a little time, unless you phone them?

[stocktake]

Hi Alan,
It was more the attitude and apathy that got to me.

Mix and match is exactly what I expected the Travel agent to do as there were some marginally better flight times available but this was never investigated even though I suggested it.

I actually booked the package holiday on line with Jet2 last night who are fully covered by ABTA as I have booked the whole package.

It was my intention to book with Hays as you say to help the high street however small, The experience left me somewhat disappointed and as I say, felt I wasted my time.

[roverbarmy]

We always travel from our local airport which severely limits choices but makes for a much more pleasant journey with daytime flights etc. I've found that by monitoring the operators website, I can pick the best prices at certain times of year. The differences are amazing. My latest holiday has varied from £820 per person to £1180 for exactly the same holiday, depending on what time of year you book. I used to wait until four to six weeks before departure date for the cheapest prices but have found that just after Christmas can be as cheap, if not cheaper! We have booked one of the top hotels, half board, cheaper than it would have cost to go self catering in an apartment. Our price includes the transfers too.



If you have time on your hands (which I do) just keep looking and make notes.

[macafee2]

My wife used these https://www.bon-voyage.co.uk/?gclid=...SAAEgI4w_D_BwE
for a trip to Canada and was very pleased with the itinerary, "hotels" and places to visit that they put together.
she is using them again for a trip to America, no good if you don't want Canada or America but the girl dealing is having to work hard, planning and putting together an itinerary that my wife can then look up on the net.

Yes my wife could do the same thing cheaper but is allowing the travel agent to take the responsibility. You book into a rat infested hotel, your problem, they book you into a rat infested hotel, their problem.

Any questions my wife has, to the travel agent they go.

They take or should take the hassle out of planning and so you do have to pay for that

macafee2

[Astraeus]

Our experience a little different. My father does his research, goes in to the branch in Dundee and books it there. For instance their two weeks in Switzerland in August 2020 £200 less than 2019.

Now the difference it can make. My Father and Mother have been going to Madeira for 4 weeks in January every year for a while. (There just now)
On Christmas Eve 2018 Mt Dad collapsed with Appendicitis and subsequent operation. They also discovered small tumour in his remaining kidney.

My mother and I went down to the branch in Dundee and they sorted it all out for her. They got all bar the excess back with all of it for flights refunded right away and rest minus a small excess a few weeks later. Good ones are worth using... bad ones not.

They made a difficult time a little easier. They always seem to get him good deals too.

Chris

[Simondi]

We're exchanging the Costa del Clyde for the Costa del Sol for a week next month.
I used our local travel agent for it, they got a cheaper price than I'd tried online and the service was excellent.

I think a lot comes down to the individual you deal with

[richw]

My missus went into a travel agent and booked a great package holiday.

Later, we tried booking a couple on our own with Jet2 packages online, and that was pretty much the same. Perhaps a shade cheaper (hard to tell, as we didn't go like-for-like) and you can twiddle various options until the cows come home, and get exactly what you want. I wouldn't feel too comfortable about doing that with a stranger in a shop!

I keep wondering if the top-drawer option would be to bin-off Jet2 packages completely, and book the accommodation and flights myself. But there is the pesky business of a transfer, and I wouldn't have a local rep (the Jet2 reps were very helpful for us).

[ceedy]

Begining to agree a bit here to ... ..

[SCP440]

We usually use Travel agents but have also arranged it all ourselves. On one occasion we booked through a travel agent. The Hotel was nothing like it was supposed to be. The room we were supposed to be staying in didn't even look like it had been cleaned, we complained and I was given several sets of keys and I was told I could choose. As we had been traveling all day we choose the best of a bad bunch. The following day after a disgusting breakfast I rung the travel agent and explained how bad the hotel was. They arranged to move us and the hotel they moved us to was amazing, one of the best in town.

Could I have done this if I had arranged the booking myself? Maybe but it was a lot easier getting some one else arrange it and when we returned home we had a letter of apology and a voucher for £500 to be used against our next booking.