So, I’m about to go on another rant. You may or may not agree with what I’m about
to say, but just hear me out. My mom
alerted my to an article that she found on the website for Women’s Day magazine, and to say that it ruffled our feathers a
little bit would be a gross understatement.
The article was titled “9 Things Travel Agents Won’t Tell You”. Before I go on, here are the 9 “things” they
list:
1. They’re making commission
2.
They may not be able to book (or price) all airline carriers
3.
They may not have been to the hotel or on the cruise ship
they’re recommending
4.
Be flexible with travel dates and airports
5.
Travel insurance may not be necessary
6.
They’re best for milestone trips
7.
Online travel sites offer refunds and cancellation policies
8.
A travel agent won’t necessarily find the best price
9.
Sign up (and use) a travel rewards card
Okay, now let ME explain something to YOU, Women’s Day…
My mom and I have partnered up to purchase a franchise with a
host agency called Cruise Planners, Inc. (my readers know that I’ve mentioned
this before). I guarantee you that the
“major commissions” the author claims we make are considerably lower than this
article contends. And the clients aren’t
the one’s who pay us commission anyway!
It’s the cruise lines, hotels, rental car companies, etc. that do. Yes, there’s
not a single travel consultant who can say that they’ve been on every cruise
line or visited every resort out there – but we DON’T claim that AT ALL. What I can tell you is that every good agent
is constantly viewing webinars and online certification programs to keep ourselves
up to date, in order to give our clients the best travel experience
possible. Our business development
managers alert us constantly to new ship inspections and familiarization trips not
only for our benefit, but also for benefit of the CLIENT. We work personally with our clients to book
what THEY want. Something you won’t find
on an online travel site is decent support.
Travel agents don’t just make a reservation and bail. We build relationships with the traveler(s),
and are available to them during every step of their trip. I know for a fact that my mom always makes
sure to give out her cell phone number so that her clients can reach her any
time, with any question. What we do is
build relationships – show me an online site that can do that.
I believe that this article was poorly researched and incredibly
inaccurate. It tries to give travel
agents a bad rap, and I think that is SO not fair. The author is trying to lump all travel
agents/agencies together, and you just can’t do that. Every individual agent is different and has
their own way of doing business. I’m
going to use a big word now and say that I’m APPALED at the mediocre (okay, two
big words) reporting put into this article.
**You guys can check out the article for yourselves by clicking on this link:
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