How and When to Use a Travel Agent: The Top Tips to Know
Are you unsure if you need a travel agent to plan your trip?
Trips are fun but the work needed to plan them can take all that fun away. People use travel agents to research and have more experience with planning trips. Yet, you don’t always need to hire a travel agent to get from point A to point B.
In this post, we’ll talk about some tips about getting a travel agent. We’ll answer questions like when to use a travel agent and how. Keep reading to find out.
1. When to Use a Travel Agent
You need to know when to use a travel agent and when not to.
Planning a simple trip is doable without a travel agent. This is especially true if you only need to get from one place to another. Talk to the airline if you only need to book a point-to-point flight on a budget.
Also, talk to a travel agent when you already have an idea about what kind of trip you want. Travel agents can’t read your mind and don’t know what your ideal vacation destination is. When you talk to an agent, it’s better to tell them where you want to go and what you want to do there.
2. Be Honest About Your Budget
The average person spends a little under $2,000 on summer vacations. If you have a budget a lot less than that, you need to tell your agent about it. If you don’t have an exact number, tell your agent where your financial limits lie.
Don’t be vague about money. Your agent won’t have any solid idea about which hotels, activities, or destinations can fit a budget where “money is no object”. Remember, all good and productive relationships get built on honesty, including that with your travel agent.
3. Limit Your Airfare Expectations
If you’ve done your research on airfare online, you have an idea about what your travel agent can offer you. Spoiler alert: it’s around the same price as you’ve seen online.
When you go to a travel agent, don’t expect them to bring out a magical list of much cheaper prices.
Even the best travel agents can’t pull out a list of cheap airfare prices when airlines aren’t offering any. Some agencies indeed buy bulk fares. However, it’s a rare find and often a hit-or-miss type of situation.
4. Don’t Forget About Your Agent’s Fees
Planning a trip is stressful. You need to research the best dates, the best flight offers, and the best accommodations. It’s fun to go on trips, but planning it needs a lot of work.
Also, remember that your travel advisor is always there when things go awry. Even when you’re already on your trip, you can still contact your agent on short notice.
Agents take care of you and your experience so expect they’ll ask for compensation for their effort.
5. Check the Agent’s Expertise
Like engineers, travel agents have specializations in various areas. Some have more experience with cruises while others lean more towards eco-tours. It’s a good idea to research a travel agent so you can get a sense of where his or her enthusiasm lies.
To Hire or Not to Hire a Travel Agent
Travel agencies exist to make your vacation planning easier. If it’s already easy, you need not bother with them. You’ll only waste extra money on their services and they won’t feel challenged by the job.
Now you understand how and when to use a travel agent. We hope you now know when to hire a travel agency for your trips. If you want to read more guides like this, check out our other informative posts.