The Benefits of Using a Travel Agent
Using the professional services for many common transactions, such as tax preparation or real estate transactions, is not questioned. Similarly, the use of a travel agent should not be questioned when it comes to spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for some valuable leisure time!
Below are just a few benefits of using a professional Travel Agent:
1. Travel Agents are a great source of information.
Agents are constantly in a process of familiarization with travel products and
services. Continuing education and customer feedback also help agents
become travel experts.
2. Travel Agents can compare information from many different sources.
No single supplier is going to advise a consumer that a better route or better
fare is available on a competing carrier.
3. Travel Agents stay abreast of the most current and timely promotions.
Via daily faxes, agent-only e-mail transmissions, and their relationships with
their district sales managers, agents obtain the most current promotional
information.
4. Travel Agents analyze current promotions.
The cheapest deal is not always the best deal!
Agents can help you decide which promotions will work the best for you &
your circumstances.
5. Travel Agents clarify the fine print.
Cancellation penalities and restrictions are not always obvious at first. The
benefits of a professional's experience can save a traveler money-and
headaches!
6. Travel Agents simplify the research and transaction.
Travel agents are like personal shoppers. They provide one-stop shopping for
travelers who require air arrangements, rental cars, cruise accommodations
and hotel stays--with suggestions that are in the best interest of the client,
not the supplier.
7. Travel Agents enhance your trip with value-added benefits and amenities.
Agents add to a client's experience by sending a bottle of wine, providing a
special land package, a specific escort or other customer amenities.
8. Travel Agents can use clout to obtain the seemingly impossible.
Whether it's airline seats, hotel rooms or cruise space, the travel agent has
more buying power than the consumer.
9. Travel Agents get problems resolved.
Travel Agents also have more power when it comes to "going to bat" for
clients when unexpected situations arise. The agent serves as the consumer's
advocate in the event something inadvertently goes wrong.