LastLaugh

Well, we know the last poster is not Penny/Joyce because there's only one punctuation error, one missing word, one run-on sentence, and no inappropriate capitalization.<BR><BR>Or has Penny/Joyce been studying something other than the unemployment rules?

Straight

Ah, but the poster has the same habit of lurking ready to pounce on any post that might make Penny's case about using travel agents. The repetition of the capitalized LOL may have satisfied Penny's craving for capital letters. What do you think, Dr. Watson?

laughing

Penny and Joyce must be busy. Otherwise they would be right here laughing along with me at you and all the other buffons here. Or maybe not, they don't have the heart to be straight up mean like the others here on this board. Too much of Ladie's.<BR><BR>So I'll be their body guard and do the dirty work. Although they really should rip right into some of you uneducated, ill mannered, snotty, snub nosed, gut is too big probably, and your crack shows when you bend over people.<BR><BR>LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Straight

Oh, wow, "Laughing" posted at the same time I did. Hey, "Laughing," you really do need to try a little Ritalin, preferably laced with morphine to calm you right down. You're why so many of us would love to see registration required at this post. Now go play in the rush hour traffic outside the travel agency.

laughing

Registration wouldn't bother me a bit.<BR><BR>MORPHINE is for people who get hurt booking themselves and finding out they are paying more than is really necessary. Or drug addicts like you.<BR><BR>LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Dr. Watson

Straight,<BR>You are correct. Penny/Joyce has run out of Medicaid presription benefits and is therefore back in action on the boards for lack of proper medication. Maybe Hillary Clinton was right about socialized medicine.

WildBill

Yeah, I'm a self-booker and I'm really paying for it... OH, that hurt.... Yeah, I've cost myself so much money because in the last year I've only been able to go to Hawaii, Brazil, Belize and Las Vegas (twice) without the use of a travel agent... Gee, maybe I could've paid them to get me the free upgrades I got for myself at many of these places... Geez, maybe I should have booked a trip through them for twice what I paid direct... Your right, I'm really screwing myself not using your services... Like I've said before,niche market agents will survive as will the top general agents, otherwise, BYE BYE TA'S, (maybe you should ask the milk deliverymen what to do)

Lisa

I know that I will probably get slammed for this posting, but I just had to reply to some of the people on here. Yes, I am a travel agent, but I will not get rude like some I have seen on here. Usually I keep my mouth shut as everyone has their own opinions and are going to do what they want anyway. In fact, I actually agree with many of these postings about the horrible service travel agents can give. This is exactly why I had gotten into the business, as I was sick of being treated so rudely all the time. It is unfortunate that there are so many bad agents out there, as they do give the decent ones a very bad name. Our agency maybe runs a bit different, but I can guarantee I will come up with the best price for the client. We not only check our res system, we also check consolidators and I do check orbitz as well. I am honest with my clients, if it is a huge difference I tell them to go ahead and book online, I can't blame them. But I can tell you that the service we do provide exceeds anything the online agencies can provide. Not only do we look for the best prices, but we also run weekly queries to see if prices have gone down for all our records. If your seat choice is not available we will put your record in queue and keep trying until we can get you that better seat. We have emergency numbers if you are in the midst of a trip and need to contact someone immediately, toll-free of course. I believe our agency is quite different than a lot of them out there. On September 11th, we were slammed with calls of stranded passengers. We not only helped our clients, but also all the passengers that had booked online and couldn't get through to anyone. We have agents that strictly handle corporate and agents that handle only leisure. There will always be people that want to book online, more power to them. I don't have to fight for clients, as I have plenty to keep me busy. The agencies that are not going to last are the ones that give poor service, like many of you have spoken of. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but please remember there are a few of us travel agents out there that really do care and want to help our clients.

Straight

I will ignore the LOL Fool, Lisa, and respond directly to your post, all flaming aside. <BR><BR>I congratulate you on your attitude and willingness to be helpful. You sound like a dream agent, but as you admit, there are a lot who are not, and for many of us they are the rule and you are the exception.<BR><BR>There are two issues here: if all agents were as in-up-to-the-elbows as helpful as you seem to want to be, no one here would have a bad word to say about them. 30 years ago, I had the help of a really wonderful agent planning a memorable trip -- and I was delighted to go back and report to her, and she was delighted to have the report to add to her files. Then 2 yrs. ago, I went to one agent expecting the same treatment and this one wouldn't talk to me because I wasn't going to take a cruise; another agent who wouldn't talk to me until I'd written a check upfront; and finally the one agent who would work with me provided mainly rudeness, slipshod handling, mix-ups, and once we got over there, disappointments. <BR><BR>And now, of course, the airlines are making it worth our while to book on-line by making special "internet discounts" available. And one final point: the VERY frequent flyers are now rewarded with such special access and treatment by the airlines that they may not feel they need an agent when things go wrong.<BR><BR>All that said, may I point out that the behavior of the airlines is not only _not_ the agents' fault, it is predatorily devastating to the travel agent profession -- and I am truly sorry about that. Everytime someone gets predatory in the marketplace in the name of squeezing out another percent profit, it makes the world a crummier place and something somewhere is always lost -- here, it is service.<BR><BR>What I suggest to you and genuinely professional travel agents (the Penny's and the Laughing Jackasses of the world are on their own) is that while concentrating on upscale leisure travel (cruises) etc. may seem like the only place you are going to make money, I see a big opportunity in emphasizing the services you CAN provide the average traveler --- all those things you mentioned about help when things go wrong, "emergency" numbers, etc. plus some upfront help that might cost a little time and money at first, but might be worth it. <BR><BR>The kind of service you describe is exactly what the industry needs to emphasize in PR, advertising, etc. But not with the smug condescension some agent-posters here have manifested. No, WE are not lucky to have YOU; YOU are supposed to be glad to have US.<BR><BR>After all, if I go to a travel agent asking for help booking a room in Barcelona or Paris and she goes to her two packagers and sends me to a hotel way off the beaten track, or she goes to the internet and does the same search of chain hotels I could have done, why would I go back? <BR><BR>But if she is willing to go a little further -- a little more research for the quaint B&B near Luxembourg gardens -- one maybe I could have found too, but it would have taken a little more of MY time -- and does the phoning or faxing for me, you bet I'd go back. Question is: do you want the one-time big commission from the cruise people or my repeat business for the long haul?<BR><BR>Good luck to you, Lisa, and thanks for your honesty and your service to your clients.

Lisa

Straight, thank you so much for the kind words, I knew there were decent people out there! Just had to tell you though, I am actually a corporate agent, so I don't get the luxury of concentrating on the high dollar clients. So I HAVE to focus on customer service to maintain my client base. We are in the metro Detroit area, so we rarely get what agents consider to be the "dreams" clients wanting to spend the big bucks. So our leisure agents also need to focus on going above and beyond what the run of the mill agents provide. I am lucky to have a boss that has a good head on her shoulders and can change with the times. Im sure this agency will be around for a long time, but if it's not, I will fall back on my original career which was marketing. Again, thanks for the kind remarks, you really made my day!

Penny

Straight,<BR><BR>I don't know why you would be so pleasant to one and not another. Every thing Lisa has described is exactly the way it is in our agency. We are not so different. <BR><BR>As to you and your remarks directed towards me personally, I don't know you and therefore you could not possibly know me. There are trolls on this board who rob peoples names and identies, and you can very much tell if it's me or not posting. So hold your judgements for your own judgement day and please refrain from making the rude and derogatory remarks where I am concerned.<BR><BR>I have only tried to offer a different perspective of things I have seen written here. One that a multitude of years in this business has taught me.<BR><BR>I don't have a problem with self bookers. And I have help a fair share to straighten out a mess they have created online for themselves. And if you truely were up to date on the postings of this board, you would know that this agency too helped those stranded by 9/11. Even to the point of digging into our own pockets to help with lodging's for those caught off guard and unprepared. <BR><BR>So you see, Lisa is not a dream agent at all. Just one of the professionals like myself and many others.

What

Imposter! What have you done with Penny! The poster pretending to be Penny is almost reasonable. Did she really stop laughing and make up a rational post (errors and all)?

Straight

Penny, you take and mean everything personally. That is not professional. And yes, you do too have a problem with self-bookers, otherwise you wouldn't have put in all the time and energy you have being so defensive. The more you post, the more we _do_ know you, whether you use your own name or not.<BR><BR>But for both you and Lisa and other agents, so long as corporate accounts are your main activity, you can't be surprised if non-corporate individuals feel they don't get well served or can meet their own needs. And a lot more of the people who post here fall into that category than those who have everything taken care of by their corporate employer.

Ralph

While I work in the travel business, I recognize that in today's environment it makes economic sense for many individuals to book on-line.<BR><BR>The savings in many cases are substantial. Our agency cannot match these fares. This together with the airline commission cuts makes it impossible (or very difficult) to make money booking airline tickets without a booking fee.<BR><BR>For those who wish to pay our fees, we welcome your business and will work with you in a professional manner. For those or you want to book on-line, I understand why. In the vast majority of cases you will have a positive experience.<BR><BR>However please do not call us for information so you can book on-line. The word library is not on our business cards. <BR><BR>Please do not call us when you can't get through to the airline of the web site is down.<BR><BR>If you want to call us names or take joy in our current situation, that's okay - I simply consider the source.<BR><BR>What are we doing - moving into niche markets (starting in 1995 when all this began) such as senior bus trips; speciality tours etc.<BR><BR>Markets where to a higher degree we can control our destiny and our progit margins.<BR><BR>airline tickets now represent less that 30 percent of our business and by the end of 2003 will be less that 3 percent.<BR><BR>

Thanks Ralph

Thank you from all Travel Agencies. Yours is one of the best posts I have read on this board.<BR>As an owner who saw a once profitable storefront agency decline and close. I have moved my agency home and am making a profit specializing in Ski Trips, Cancun and Caribbean All Inclusives, and Cruises.<BR>I miss helping Airline Passengers find great fares, but like you cannot compete, so only about 1% of my business is regular airline tickets.<BR>It is sad for those walk-in, cash clients because they are the ones who are the losers in this game.

Denier mot

To Thanks Ralph, et al:<BR><BR>Posters like Eric and others who question the wisdom of using travel agencies fall precisely into the category of those whom agents cannot now help. <BR><BR>Among those people are some of us who have made one or another of "Ralph's" mistakes -- going to an agent for help that shouldn't or couldn't be offered. It is no wonder some of those individual "cash, walk-ins," etc., are put off by agents, either because of frustration that they aren't going to be helped by an agent or because of agents' hostility at having their time "wasted" by people who don't know what the score is nowadays regarding what agents can and can't do.<BR><BR>But agents (such as, I'm afraid, Penny) don't seem to get that fact and so they laugh (LOL, etc.) at people who have tried to fill in the gap for themselves. At least Ralph understands the choices we "self-bookers" have had to make -- thank you -- and that telling us to go to travel agents is often a non-starter.

laughing

Denier mot,<BR><BR>What part of I am not Penny don't you get???? Are you that stupid and thick headed. People such as yourself seem to have run off one of the few decent people there were on this board. I do not recall ever seeing her attack anyone until attacked. Self preservation is a must in this enviroment. Especially with people like you.<BR><BR>LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

WildBill

Dear LJA (Laughing Jack Ass), keep laughing as the profit margin on your business keeps getting smaller and smaller and you keep getting fewer and fewer clients. Unless you're working in a specialized/niche market your days are numbered.... To Quote Nelson: HA HA!!!!!

Dernier mot

What part of you AND/OR Penny do you not get? Never said you were Penny. Don't care if you are or are not. All that laughing is either cause or effect of having such limited powers of observation and reasoning.<BR><BR>If travel agents are performing such an essential service, why do you (they, Penny, whomever) feel the need to talk about it so much? And why isn't your business booming? I echo Nelson et al: Ha!

calli

Ok==let's admit it...some people are self bookers. The tools are here on the internet that allow us to book/browse shop. With that being said, there are businessman who simply do not have the time to book themselves on their business flights..I think the corporate travel agent is alive and well. It is the vacation agent that is the dying breed.