november_moon

In addition to printing out all confirmations, I make sure I have email confirmations or have printed things to pdf and emailed the file to myself. I have a yahoo email address, which I can access from any computer with internet access - gmail and hotmail work well too, and others I am sure. That backup comes in handly - like the time I spilled all over the folder with our confirmations

travelhorizons

To play the devil's advocate and give the other side of the argument.

First, to respond to Elainee, Expedia is a travel agency. If you book through expedia, travelocity, hotels.com, venere etc, you're giving your business to a travel agency but not getting anything from them in the way of advice, hand holding, or expertise.

Second, to respond to Trav_Eller, can you really in good conscience pick the brain of a TA (in other words, use the time of a professional), and then book yourself. If you at least tell the TA what you would like them to book for you, they can at least be compensated in the form of a commission from the hotels you're staying at. A TA is a professional trying to earn a living.

Finally, to respond to nytraveler, some "expert" agents do charge a planning fee. They are in demand because of their expertise and connections. As everyone who contributes to this forum knows, planning travel can be extremely time consuming. If you enjoy it, that's fine. But others may want expert help, and if you want someone to invest hours of their time on your behalf, helping you avoid simple pitfalls that the inexperienced traveler can often run into, I'd argue that the time of a professional is an investment that may be worthwhile to you.

"Those TAs no longer exist?" Well, actually they do. But as this is a non-commercial forum, this is not the place to refer great TAs. There are values out there - especially in the realm of luxury hotels - that you can get through well-connected TAs, many of whom will make those bookings for your without any fees at all.

Trav_Eller

"Second, to respond to Trav_Eller, can you really in good conscience pick the brain of a TA (in other words, use the time of a professional), and then book yourself. If you at least tell the TA what you would like them to book for you, they can at least be compensated in the form of a commission from the hotels you're staying at. A TA is a professional trying to earn a living."

I have no problem with that at all. I always tell them up front what my intentions are and invite them to quote for any part of the itinerary they believe they can offer a better deal or tour for. They are given my full details and email address and invited to follow up.

On rare occasions that has led to using that agent for airline ticket purchases (my first one-world-explorer ticket) or cars (my first Eurodrive Renault). But usually they can't offer anything better. However we always part amicably and there is no deception.

I accept that Expedia, Octopus, Priceline and similar are a form of TA, but it is a very specific form and I use them in that specific way. I doubt there is one I haven't used; there are a couple I'll never use again.

Cheers, Alan
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/

Melissa5

I plan and book our trips myself. Once I used a AAA travel agent to book a Pleasant Hawaiian package tour because I didn't have time to plan. Chances are, if I encounter a problem while overseas...my travel agent would probably have been asleep in her bed anyway, considering the time difference! You aren't really on your own when you travel independently...if you make sure to stay with hotels or b&bs or guesthouses known for excellent service, they will help you when you encounter problems. Many travel agents don't make much money anymore...the truth is some of them can't afford to travel all that often...there are folks on this forum who travel a lot more than travel agents do. We also like booking a private driver or tour guide for 1 day or 1/2 day when its helpful...we have had excellent results using drivers or guides recommended in the Rick Steves guidebooks. Ok that's my 2 cents worth of advice!

Michel_Paris

Because I have an interest in travel and don't mind spending the time reserching, I can find the information and options that interest me. My last use of a TA was booking a flight to Africa, whci I probably could have done anyways, but I was going with others and it was an easy way to coordinate us all on the same flights.

With Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak, etc... I think I can find flights and hotels as easy as the TA can. IN fact, I am currently looking to see if I can squeeze in a trip to Paris this year.

Look at the of the threads here specifically related to Paris. Does a TA know which arrondissement to stay in and the pros and cons? Which travel passes to buy? Where to shop for kitchen stuff? Where is a nice area to walk,Ile st Louis? Waht about jazz clubs? Who has the best cassoulet? Any place to watch an NFL game? Are the Catacombs open again? Any good restaurant recommendations? What can I do with my kids? I hawe limited mobility, how will this affect my trip? I don;t speak french, is this a problem? I hear french people are rude, is this true? I'd like ot do a day trip, what are my options? Where can I propose to my girlfriend? I want to renew my vows, how do I do this? Last of romantic restaurants?
Any small museums I can visit? Any exhibitions I can see while there? How do I get from the airport to my hotel?

Give the above to your TA and see what they say/do. All of these have been asked and answered here regularly. Unless your TA posts here...

Paris is an 'easy' one to plan. I can see no advantage to having a TA, unless it is to coordinate flights from diffrenct cities to get everyone there at the same time. Everything else can be done...here or on the internet. By doing this, you can create YOUR visit, not some package the TA might feel comfortable offering.

Dukey1

Venere, Travelocity, Hotels.com are NOT "travel agencies"...all of these, especially Hotels.com are simply booking engines and this latter is one which hotels use to unload unsold room space at below-advertised prices.

travelhorizons

Dukey,1, they certainly ARE travel agencies. They sell the products of hotels, airlines, car rental companies, etc. They make their money either from commissions received from those vendors or by negotiating NET pricing and marking it up. (All of the pre-paid rates are marked-up NET rates). That's what travel agencies do.

If you use the hotel's own website, or by calling or emailing them, you're booking directly. If you use a third party, that party is a travel agent.

I would argue that you might as well use a third party who can get you perks and give you advice, especially if it doesn't cost any more.

PaulHahn

In most cases, TAs don't know any more than you do about a destination unless they have been there themselves. I tried using TAs a couple of times hoping to save some time and effort, but the TAs knew less than I did about my destinations, and they didn't know squat about any accomodations except big chain hotels and what came with package tours.

AlessandraZoe

I forgot that I DID use an Egyptian travel agency in Egypt (Michel_Paris' entry reminded me). And I would do that again. Our pre-trip planning time was non-existent, my time in the country was short and I had to do lots of in-country flights, bus, ship connections that required split-second timing and language skills I certainly didn't have. Now THAT was a good investment into services. And it was quite inexpensive considering how individualized our trip was.

But I sure booked my own flight TO Egypt. There was no way the little Egyptian agency could beat the deals I could find.

That is not to say that there are not travel agents who could have found a better deal. Wendy Perrin, renowned travel specialist, annually lists travel agents who are professionals in the highest sense. Here is the latest list:
http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/11147

What makes this so interesting is that Wendy gives the reader an idea of what makes these specific agents so valuable. I think reading that gives one the idea of how one could best utilize professional skills.

AlessandraZoe

and booking with Liberty travel ain't one of them!

Christina

I think hotels.com is not a travel agency, but Travelocity certainly is. As is Expedia. To me, that means you are selling more than one thing (not just hotels).

In any case, I agree that for a trip to one city like Paris, there is no need for it. And for a good one for a complicated or high-end trip or to exotic locations, you pay for it, and it can make a lot of sense. But not to Paris.

There is little trouble of any kind that can occur on a trip to one city, and possibly a travel agent could help if something weird occured in the hotel or plane booking, if they made them. I am very independent and just handle snafus myself, whatever they are. I am sure I know more about what to do in Paris than any travel agency would (or some other places, as I do research).

Aside from confirmation letters, call me paranoid but I do actually have a backup list of a couple hotels on me to call that I would like just in case something happens and I don't get my reservation as planned. That way I'm not at the mercy of a hotel or have no idea if something did go wrong. I've only had a booking not honored once (due to overbooking at the hotel or some guest wouldn't leave). That hotel had already arranged for me to stay at a similar level hotel within one block at the discounted rate, so it was okay with me. I was only there one night, so didn't care that much and actually knew where the other hotel was located.

No travel agent will be able to solve minor problems with local transportation, etc.

suze

I prefer to be self-sufficient. If I arrived Paris and something went wrong with my hotel reservation, like Christina I would have a couple backup plans (other hotels in the neighborhood) and calling a TA back in the US isn't one of them.

travelgourmet

I generally book all my personal travel myself. For business, I use the corporate TA, but that is strictly due to work requirements.

To my mind, I would say that there are a few reasons to use a TA:

1) For certain destinations, they can offer better deals and better access. These deals, however, tend to apply to popular package destinations - beach destinations, Disney, etc.

2) There are specialist TAs that are a logical choice for certain more difficult to plan destinations. I would consider a TA next time I want to go to Tibet, for instance.

For simple trips, though, the internet has made it pretty darn easy to book on your own.

Regarding Liberty Travel... I would not hesitate to use them for trips like scenario #1, but only for savings. However, you will not get the kind of support and advocacy that your friends are looking for from them.

Trav_Eller

AlessandraZoe wrote:
"I forgot that I DID use an Egyptian travel agency in Egypt (Michel_Paris' entry reminded me). And I would do that again. Our pre-trip planning time was non-existent, my time in the country was short and I had to do lots of in-country flights, bus, ship connections that required split-second timing and language skills I certainly didn't have. Now THAT was a good investment into services. And it was quite inexpensive considering how individualized our trip was."

That shows how varied experiences can be. My Egyptian trip was one of the rare times I used a local agent. My experience was a little different to yours, to say the least. As a consequence I will happily never visit that country again.

Agent report here (I write as loralgt on Tripadvisor): http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...any-Egypt.html

Trip reports commence here: http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/2009...egyptians.html

Cheers, Alan

returntoyourseat

I find that much of the fun of traveling is planning the trip, and especially on this forum. The downside, depending on your friend, could be a hiccup and there could be "I told you so". I have never used a travel agency except for company travel department, and many times they make me angry. Go for it, many here to help. We took our best friends to Paris and Provence a couple of years ago, I planned the entire trip and except for my navigator have some mini strokes, we were fine.

allisonm

We used a TA in the early days of our travel when the internet was just a babe. We purchased air fare for a trip to Ireland, then later booked a decent package to Paris, hotel and air. Booked the same for our son and DIL a couple of years later. Now, there is no reason not to do it ourselves.

Expedia and similar sites serve a purpose

allisonm

Hit submit. GRRR...

They are an excellent point of comparison for fares. But they are not all-inclusive. If I want to go to Vegas, they don't work with Southwest, which is a good airline to take from here to Vegas.

Now I do my own research for airfare, hotels, B&B's, you name it. I book my Ireland flights through Aer Lingus and make all other reservations myself.

Last year our snafu was the volcano. No TA could have helped us with that.

AlessandraZoe

Trav_Eller--Oh believe me, I was scared to death to use mine. But "Casual in Cairo" aka Debbie, was quite helpful in telling me what to look for when evaluating service/package, and again, I think the only other choice I had given my time horizons was some big company package thing.

After reading all the advice from the pros on TA, here and elsewhere about using Egyptian agencies, with trepidation I more or less made a list of "needs" in an email and sent it out to whatever Egyptian agencies my investigation Excel sheet indicated as "may be trustworthy", asking them to send back an itinerary and a bid. Some didn't get back, some got back with such CHEAP pricing that I was really scared, one came back over the moon in cost, and two or three had very different in schedule but similar in cost proposals.

As you know, it's just so hard to sift through all those fake posts/evaluations on TA and elsewhere. The agency I ended up using didn't get a lot of fabulous reviews but they didn't get "don't ever use this company again" things. Husband and wife--and I think I liked that aspect, too.

Could things have been better in places? Yeah. Were we ever deserted anywhere? No. Were we ever part of a "cattle car" tour? Never. Did we have a least one GREAT guide? Yes, our archeologist guide, with whom we spent three whole days, was such a dear man. My daughter and I absolutely loved him, and there was another guide, a young woman in Cairo (plus her really cute driver there) that we'd adopt in a second.

So again, I think what I paid was dirt cheap for services I could not possibly duplicate.

Which brings us back to the OP's original question. I showed my sister (also rather independent traveler) and she said, "Heck with the TA question. That girl better ditch the traveling companion now. Bet you she'll also be the type to insist on buying any transportation passes online before she goes OR she'll insist that she's heard it's unsafe to ride the Metro in Paris."

I think my sister nailed it!