9 Pros And Cons Of Expend A Travel Agent

Geoff Whitmore covers move rewards , trips , and product .

The thought of utilize a travel agent to volume your travel , versus doing it yourself , has pay some travelers pause . After all , what ’ s to say that you won ’ t end up in a Thomas Cook-type situation where you ’ re left stranded after your travel way collapse ? But for some , this risk of trusting person else to design all your travel is a minimum concern when they can avoid all the stress of travel planning .

Association travel shop / travel means in Belgium . ( Photo by : Arterra/Universal Images Group via… MoreGetty Images )

If you ’ ve considered using a travel agent before , but are even on the fence , hither are nine pros and cons to think on before deciding either room .

For some people using a travel agent , it ’ s all about the convenience . You assure your agent where you require to run and what sort of travel you like , sit back and relax and then hop on a airplane . Easy .

This one can live either way . Some travel agents can snag you great bundled pile on your travel . Early sentence , the price of utilize a travel agent think of you win ’ t actually salvage any money .

One great thing that a travel agent can provide is advocacy . They ’ re ever on your slope . If an airline cancels your flight or a hotel abruptly doesn ’ t own your reservation on file , your travel agent can serve things get sorted , tight . Though , this cause n’t real help when they also have the hotel or airline , as was the event with Thomas Cook .

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On a more awful scale , travel agent can too assist you in the example of a natural disaster or some other type of event that would expect you to evacuate a destination promptly .

An airline or a hotel brand might not worry that you rebook . There will ever cost another traveler in note to take your place . However , with agents , they often have a special number of customer . They need to earn your repeat business .

To do so , you ’ ll observe that agent will go out of their room to do certain you ’ re pleased with your experience . That might mean throwing in something for free or upgrading your experience .

If you ’ re traveling somewhere that ’ s altogether sword novel and completely alien , having a travel agent can make thing easy . They can recommend the best places to move , stay , eat and fun , and much they own first-hand experience with these places . This way , you ’ re not trust on internet research or a potentially out-of-date guidebook .

They can as well clue you in to respective small affair that be easy to convey person-to-person , such as local tradition , and any “ do ’ s ” or “ put on ’ t ’ s . ”

While not planning your travel is a pro to some , for other travelers , it ’ s a major con . Some traveler thoroughly enjoy the planning part of the travel experience . Everything from reading travel blogs , searching for inspirational destination photo on Pinterest and flipping through guidebooks can exist an exciting part of the procedure .

They ’ d never ambition of letting someone else take the reins .

One nice affair about book your travel experience yourself is that you can literally do it anytime , anywhere . When you have a travel agent , you have to consider individual else ’ s agenda .

If you determine you need to go to Bermuda at 2 p.m. on a Sunday and you need to book it right that second , your travel agent win ’ t equal able to help you until Monday morning . If you ’ re book things yourself , you can secure your travel plans correct then and thither . There ’ sec no waiting around for a returned call or email .

Shopping for a travel agent exist a trivial like shopping for any kind of assistant . You need to feel the utter one for you and your family . You want individual who preferably specialize in the type of travel you like , someone who make you feel comfortable and someone with well references .

This kind of shopping around for the utter travel agent remove time and patience , something you may not get . And , still if you do find a travel agent you recall you like , you could always get burn in the goal .

4 . They ’ re Not Great For Spur-Of-The-Moment Changes

If you ’ re the type of traveler that really likes to simply flee by the seat of your gasp while you ’ re traveling , that ’ s not going to be so easy when you get a travel agent . See a cool restaurant that you suddenly desire to try ? Name your agent , just for your agent to call the restaurant where you already get a reservation to get your reservation change to this new restaurant , can be a pain .

With no travel agent involve , you can cancel your old reservation straight from your phone and walk right into the fresh restaurant . Or , just skip reservation altogether and go with the flow .