fran

Let me start by saying I'm not a travel agent. I book my own air travel online or call the airlines direct. I don't use travel agents for something like airfare because I don't see the need. But why the hostility on this board toward travel agents? It seems like there are some people who post here who have an unbelievable antagonism toward travel agents. If you don't want to use one, then don't. But get a grip...some people who post act like travel agents are the equivalent of Osama bin laden!

Barb

Fran:<BR>First, let me start by saying that I AM a Travel Agent. I enjoy my job. I know that there are some folks who like to book their own trips, that's great! I also know that there are some who can't or simply don't want to book their travel plans. We do have access to fares and information that the traveling public does not have or are not allowed access. I receive 3 weekly travel trade magazines, not to mention daily Email updates from throughout the industry.<BR><BR>Travel agents have taken our far share of lumps in the past. I don't know if it's because fo the rules imposed on us by airlines and other travel suppliers. When I book something for a client, I explain to them that we are only AGENTS (much like a Real Estate Agent). We DO NOT own the airlines, hotels, or cruise lines. We simply bring the buyer and seller together. Probably the most frustrating point of my job is not being able to control delivery of the product. When something goes wrong, we have to peel through layers of reservation agents and supervisors. Usually we can get a situation solved to the customers satisfaction, quickly. Our relationships with our travel suppliers are vital for both of our livelyhood. An individual traveler is simply that...one person. We have the power to move Market Share. Our suppliers listen to us.<BR><BR>Back to the original question regarding bashing. Not sure why, maybe they encountered a bad agent. I have attended industry events, and have been mortified by the actions of some fellow travel agents! Not every profession is filled with "stars".<BR><BR>Anyone who books their own travel, and is happy with the end results, I say good job! Maybe you would like a part-time position!? I personally enjoy hearing about my clients trips when they return! I still get very excited about their trips. My husband used to say that I liked planning our own personal trips more than I enjoyed taking them. That's when I decided to enter this business.<BR><BR>I only hope that if anyone has a problem finding what they need, they will turn to an agent. Establishing a relationship with an agent is much like establishing a realtionship with a doctor, dentist or lawyer. A good agent will ask a lot of questions. It's not that we're trying to be pry, we simply want to make sure that we're giving you what you really want or need. If a travel agent doesn't ask questions, RUN! Keep trying. You'll eventually find someone out there who understands you and can steer you in the right direction!<BR><BR>Good Luck, and we're not Osamas! We're here to help you, the traveling public.<BR><BR>Barb Peet<BR>Just Vacations, Inc.

justcurious

I was wondering if TAs get paid a commission or if they are paid a salary? Are their earnings based on how many trips they "sell"? Are they required to visit the places that they are "specialists" for? I have always been curious about the industry, but have never actually looked into it.<BR>Also, is there some kind of schooling that they need to have?

GGinSF

Although I usually book my own short-hop local flights, I use a TA for business and another for larger, personal travel. They're always helpful and professional. The travel agencies are being squeezed by the airlines and I wouldn't be surprised to see them start to disapear. Mine started charging me a small fee ($10) for bookings under $1000 since the airlines cut commisions. It's still worthwhile when I need them to do leg-work, etc.<BR><BR>Here's what one shouldn't do: Call a travel agent to get lots of travel info. Have them do all the fact finding, then buy your ticket somewhere else to save a few bucks (or get more milage points by booking on-line). A 'friend of a friend' of my agent did this to her. When the guy got stuck at an airport with ticket problems, he then called the TA and begged for her help. I couldn't believe she didn't hang up on him after he cheated her out of a commision. She's a professional and a nice person so she helped him out of a jam. If you don't want to use a TA, fine, but then don't take up their time.

anon

The relationship between client and TA is one that needs to ne cultivated. No TA can do a good job for someone unless the client gives enough information about likes, dislikes, expectations, wants, etc. It's both parties responsibility to exchange information.<BR>A good travel agent will ask those important questions and listen well. <BR><BR>I don't like TA's who pass themselves off as "experts" when in fact, they know very little about the destination. I would much rather have the TA tell me upfront that they do not know much about the place thereby telling me I need to know more myself or find another agent. Usually an agency that employs several agents will have "experts" within the ranks that can share information.<BR><BR>I think the hostility of this forum towards TA has come from some TA's advertising on the forum under the guise of "help". There was a great poster, SAM (Sharon, I think) who told everyone upfront what she did, so people could put her comments in the proper perspective. She didn't appear to solicit clients from here and offered great advice freely. There have been complaints about a few agents here that appear to offer free help on the forum and then send an email telling them the prices charged for this "help". I don't have a problem with fees, I don't like the manipulation I've seen in this last scenario.<BR><BR>I am not a TA. I would never be a TA. I think they have a difficult job within an industry that is so volatile. I applaud the good TA's. They can make a trip better.<BR><BR><BR>

xx

I have no problems with TAs when it comes to booking flights--they can be very helpful there. However, I do have a lot of problems with TAs and hotel recommendations in Europe. As another posted noted, far too many TAs pass themselves off as experts when they simply are not. Take Paris. I know the city fairly well and have often helped friends in planning their trips and selecting hotels. TAs will often try and route them to the easiest hotel to book, which usually isn't the best hotel. They go for hotels that 800 numbers in the U.S. or are part of chains. So many of my friends have been booked by TAs into Paris hotels that were out by La Defense or on the far edges of the city (near the peripherique). I've had to recommend hotel changes to almost all my friends who had Paris hotels booked by TAs. They would NOT have been happy with those cookie cutter, edge of town hotels. Just one example.<BR>TAs often are too quick to push package tours, even for people who clearly want to try things on their own. Again, because they're easier to book. <BR>The problem is that there are simply too many TAs, which means too many who aren't up to snuff. And far too many who advertise themselves as specialists in Europe when they're anything but. <BR>There are some really good TAs out there, but once you've been burned by a TA's bad recommendations, it makes you think twice about using any of them.<BR>

Bob Brown

Maybe I am fortunate, but my travel agent can usually find a cheape fare for me than I can for myself. Just recently I scoured all of the normal places for the lowest price from Atlanta to Calgary. I wasn't satisfied, so I called my travel agent. Within a day she had a rate some $40 per person better than what I had found. And on rental cars, I usually get a better price using her booking services than I seem to be able to find on my own. (And I use AAA to get a discount, too.)<BR>So until such time as I can get better prices on my own, I will continue to use a travel agent when he or she can save me money.<BR><BR>

Pickens

My hostility stems not from the TA's on this board, but the many I have encountered who know much less about the destination that I do and the many good people on this board. I used to have a wonderful travel agent, but she retired. Since then, I have encounted too many TA's that are clueless, who cannot get me a better deal then I can find on my own, or try to push me into a package I don't want, or book a hotel or transportation service I don't need.<BR>I agree that a good travel agent will do this, but there are too many travel agents who don't bother to return calls, find good deals, etc.<BR>Maybe the TA industry can get together and formulate a uniform education and training and certification process to assure quality service. If this does not happen, I can see TA becoming extinct.

Airline Reservationist

I work for a major US airline and I have to say there are great agents and not so great agents. I deal a lot with them on a daily basis. Usually I find that when they are good they are REALLY<BR>good but when they are bad well not so good. Just like in the airline industry. I have worked in reservations for 10 years and I consider myself to be exceptional. First I listen to what the customer is needing, wanting etc..<BR>There are times when I do not have the authority to do what they want. I save time by getting a supervisor in and explaining so that the customer does not have to tell his/her story three million times. I even go out of my way to look at other airline fares because there may be times when our airline is not as competetive in that market. I want to provide service to the customer. I hate it that our industry has gone down the tubes. I sit by other reservationists who make my job that much harder. Then of course there are those callers that want the $100.00 and wonder why our service is not like that of the Concorde. Lets face it, times have changed. All I know is try to be considerate to people. If you feel the service is not what you expect get someone else. After all we do have freedom of choice<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

elvira

A personal friend is a travel agent, and I call him for airfares, AFTER I've done a little research. He usually can get the same airfare I've found, and sometimes an even better one (he knows unusual routes with special fares, like maybe through Cleveland i/o Chicago). I buy railpasses and train tickets from him also, as I'm willing to pay a service charge for the convenience of having them ahead AND having somebody to do follow up if they don't arrive. He'll take my personal check i/o a credit card if that's how I want to pay.<BR><BR>I stay in apartments and 2* hotels, which I book myself. Those accommodations don't pay fees to agents, and I can do it myself so *I'm* not going to pay him, so it's not fair to ask him to do work for which he gets no money.<BR><BR>No one person can know everything about everywhere, so why should a travel agent? I do expect him to have basic information like you can't drive from New York to London, and the ability to find whatever information that he doesn't know, but I don't expect him to know the best yurt to rent.<BR><BR>I expect him to be professional and courteous, to call me if he says he will, and to help me make good decisions ("spend the extra $100 and get the non-stop to Palm Beach" "my client says the Charcoal Briquet Museum is boring").<BR><BR>Actually, I've not seen a bashing of travel agents in recent memory; fran, are you related to sandi?

Joanne

I have no particular hostility toward travel agents, nor have I noted this on this forum, but I have had mixed experiences. Years ago I made three trips a year for board meetings in different parts of the US. Choices were much greater in those days with lots of airlines to choose from. I would shop by phone, then give our TA, at the time what, I thought were the best flights and she would issue the tickets. In essence, I was doing her job and she never suggested I do otherwise, but it worked out okay.<BR><BR>More recently I have torn my hair out when instead of receiving calls from a TA with updates, I was constantly calling her or stopping by her office, only to find out she hadn't started on our requests. The proverbial straw was when I asked her to find air to Spain with either UA or a partner (for FF miles) with no more than one connection.<BR>After weeks of waiting, she came up with a flight on US Air with two connections. Never did business with her again.<BR><BR>We were fortunate to most recently find an absolute jewel. She calls when she says she will and has been helpful, often beyond the call of duty. She has arranged train tickets, hotels, etc. when we don't do it ourselves, and we have been very pleased with the accommodations she arranged. We have also recommended hotels to her which we found and liked that she might use for her other clients. <BR><BR>In any case, I agree with some of the previous posts--TAs are kind of like the little girl with the curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad she was horrid!<BR><BR>j

Yikes

If you ever had to attend a social function where travel agents were in attendence, stay clear of the buffet!!! You could lose a limb with those maniacs. If you weren't among the first in line you wouldn't get to eat. And if a cruise line, airline or hotel was giving out free stuff (pens, bags, even brochures) count on the TA's to grab as much as they could stuff into their purses. The grabbiest, rudest people I ever worked with.

fran

No, I'm not related to Sandi. Actually, I have no idea who Sandy is. In reading thru posts on this board Ihave seen t/a bashing. Maybe they're old posts. I don't check the dates so I don't know. But it seems like whenever a t/a is mentioned, there are always negative comments. So I was just curious.