29 March 2002 (Part 1 of a series - Part 2 here)
Many people can tell you stories about bad travel agents that have given poor service. Other people will secretively smile when they hear such stories and deliberately not share details of their travel agent, who they want to keep for themselves
Travel agents can be even more helpful in the 'information explosion' that we are all otherwise confronted with. A good travel agent will save you time AND money
This is part one of a series discussing the impacts of zeroing travel agent commissions on you, the traveler
There are several different trade groups that travel agents might belong to. By far the best group is ARTA - if you are dealing with an ARTA agency you're much more likely to be dealing with an agency that is equipped to best help you.
Travel Agents - Obsolete or Essential?
The airlines seem to be doing their best to drive travel agencies out of business. And with the growth in convenient seeming internet travel services, do you even still need a traditional travel agent?
The Real Reason the Airlines hate Travel Agencies
The airlines say that they can't afford to pay travel agents a 5% commission (up to a maximum of $20 per ticket) and so most major carriers have no stopped paying commissions entirely. But, if the airline sells the ticket to you themselves via their (800) service, they have probably incurred $20 in costs (the cost of the phone call, the cost of the employee, related costs for supervisors, etc, etc) by selling it to you directly. Even more strangely, although they 'can't afford' to pay up to $20 to a travel agent, they can offer as much as a 10% discount (with no limit) off all their fares if you buy from their website. It doesn't make sense, does it
Read on to understand the real reason that the airlines are keen to drive you away from travel agents and to force you to deal directly with them
The reality is that there is a major 'cost' to the airlines which travel agents cause them - a cost they are desperate to hide and eliminate. And, what is that cost? It is the cost of losing revenue every time a travel agent advises a client how to save money on an airfare (for example, by changing routing or flight times), and/or the lost revenue every time a travel agent advises a client about a more convenient schedule or a lower fare on a competing airline. With the difference in two fares being potentially the difference between perhaps $300 and $1500, good advice from a travel agent can 'cost' the airline (and save you!) a huge amount more than just $20
Let me ask you this. When was the last time you called an airline to book a flight, and the reservations agent at the other end said 'Oh, sir, I think I should volunteer the information that there is a flight on one of our competitors that leaves at the same time, but which flies nonstop instead of requiring a change in plane, and with a fare $250 cheaper than our fare.'??? No, instead, if you ask about other airlines, they'll stifle a giggle and say 'I'm sorry, but our computer system doesn't have that information'. That, in a nutshell, is the difference between booking direct with an airline or with a travel agency
These hidden 'costs' (ie when their otherwise captive clients are free to choose what is best for themselves rather than what is best for the airline) are potentially huge to the airlines - and this is what they want to eliminate. They want to deprive you - their customers - of access to the best comparison information and expert advice that could otherwise save you huge amounts of time, trouble, and money
How (good) Travel Agents Help You
Good travel agents don't just find you 'the lowest published fare' and 'the most convenient itinerary', although if this was all they ever did, you'd still want to use them all the time. Here's a list of some other things that good travel agents can sometimes (but not always) help you with. Note that this list only relates to airline travel, there's much more that agents can do when helping you with cars, hotels, tours, cruises, etc.
- Negotiate with an airline to make available seats on flights that are otherwise sold out
- Get you priority wait listing on flights
- Negotiate with an airline to get you a lower fare even though it is showing sold out in the computer
- Help you to get the best seat pre-assignments possible
- Treat you as a person and provide, in turn, personal service; and use their personal knowledge of your likes/dislikes/preferences to ensure that your travel plans best match your needs
- Pro-actively monitor your flights and fare and tell you if better itineraries or fares come along
- Act as your advocate in dispute and problem resolution
- Be available for emergency problems and flight changes
- Can sometimes obtain discounted consolidated tickets on domestic flights
- Can almost always obtain discounted consolidated tickets for international flights
