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Why choose a travel agent?

A good travel agency can provide you with a broader and more complete range of services than can be found on the internet. The ability to conveniently talk with a real person can make all the difference when you have a problem, or need some special advice or assistance.

If you use a good travel agent, you are not limiting your travel purchase options in any respect. You and your agent can still book and buy anything from the internet as well as directly from suppliers, tour operators, travel wholesalers, or any other source of travel. Your agent can help you select the best, and most informed, travel choices.

This is the key element of what makes a good travel agent. Too many agents promote themselves as offering the most inexpensive travel options. But, for most of us, we don't want simply the cheapest. We want the most suitable and the best value. Find the agent that will be most sensitive to your needs and best match them to the travel products available.

There are three main factors that go in to making up the ideal travel agent for you :

1. Ability to Understand You and Your Needs

A good travel agent will ask a lot of questions. Of course, as you become a regular customer, they will not need to ask all these questions every time, because they will already know many of the answers.

A good travel agent will always be focused on you, not just on the travel they are selling to you.

2. Knowledge

If the travel agent does not know more about the travel products you are wanting to buy than you do, then their ability to add value is sharply reduced.

Some travel agents insist they can be an expert on everything, everywhere in the world. This is a completely unrealistic claim. But at Travel Intrigue, our travel agents are experts on adoptive travel and specifically the countries to which AAI travels—China, Russia, and Guatemala. But for those not using AAI, our agents are still fully versed on domestic and international travel with over thirty years of travel booking experience.

3. General Competencies

The U.S. is one of few countries that does not require any formal training or registration procedures for travel agents, which allows for a huge range of levels of knowledge and professionalism within the travel trade. Be sure your agent is one of the better ones!

In all cases, it is fair to ask the travel agent how many years they have been in the business, and what types of travel related qualifications they have. The agents at Travel Intrigue have over 30 years of combined travel booking experince.

Good Reasons to Use a Travel Agent

Even with the rise of internet airfare booking, travel agents still sell 80 percent of all airline tickets, 95 percent of all cruises, 90 percent of all tours and packages, 40 percent of all car rentals and about 25 percent of all hotels. The slogan, "Without A Travel Agent, You're On Your Own," is true today more than ever. Agents act on their client's behalf, but if you have booked through the Internet, who are you going to call when you discover your "room with a view" has a view of the dumpster?

There are a host of compelling reasons to use a travel agent: Travel agents are out to find the consumer the best rate available. Convenient one-stop shopping. Agents are there to save you money as well as time.

Customer advocacy:

If you have a problem with a particular part of your travel experience, the agent is there to act on your behalf to see that restitution is made.

Expert guidance:

Travel agents, unlike instructions on a web page, are experts in understanding and deciphering the myriad of travel information out there. It is what they have been trained to do and they do it every day.

Personalized service:

Instead of an impersonal voice thousand of miles away, travel agents are you neighbors. They know what you want and what you value in your travel experience.

Professional advice:

Travel agents are there to make sure you get where you want to go, when you want to go, and for the lowest price.

Time:

Instead of checking a long list of travel Web pages, which only provide rates and fares for the companies that have contracted with them, why not go straight to the source? A travel agent has all the information at their fingertips, saving you a few hours in front of a computer screen.

Unbiased information:

Agents work for their clients, not for a travel supplier. It makes sense that a happy customer will be a repeat customer.