Is using a travel agent beneficial in any ay, other than paying someone to deal with the hassles of planning a trip?

We are planning our honeymoon and everyone is telling us to use a travel agent, but with websites and forums like this and trip advisor, I'm not sure what the benefit is, especially since none of the recommended agents are dealing with our airfare, just with hotels, rail transportation and car rental? Do they get better deals and prices??

If you take the time do your research, you may not need a TA. Sometimes people will use a TA for convenience, but I think most people on this board do their own research and planning. It's part of the fun of traveling!

Monica

PS: I meant to add that sometimes a package may be a good price, but you'll need to research what the cost air, hotel, transportation, etc in order to determine that. I don't think TAs get the best deals as they did years ago.

Monica

You can usually undercut travel agents by a mile..
My step daughter is one. Trust me !

IMO the "benefit" for some is that the TA spends all that time doing the booking, etc., so you don't have to..and let's face it, that DOES take time.

I suspect some agents may very well have access to "deals" that the rest of us don't. This happens all the time in the cruise industry where favored agents get upgrades, etc.

For our upcoming trip to Japan we are using an agent who definitely has gotten us upgrades in several hotels. (and I generally never even think of using an agent anymore).

BUT, if YOU do the work then you retain all the control in terms of final decisions as to which hotel, amenities that are most important and the general "feel" of a property.

You can read TripAdvisor, what's on forums such as these, etc.

If there weren't enpough folks who prefer to have a TA do the legwork then they'd all be out of business.

Hi H,

Stay here. Do not go to a TA, especially for what you want.

See www.mobissimo.com and www.kayak.com for airfare.

See www.autoeurope.com, www.gemut.com and www.novacarhire.com for cars.

What's your itinerary?

I got tired of travel agents using Funjet,Apple, etc. for my trips and not even trying to be creative with other travel options or even pricing. So I decided I could do better and I have.
To be fair though, I spend months planning and tweaking an itinerary, how many agents do you know that would or could spend the time to do that for every client? Also, agents don't receive commission from a lot of companies anymore so it's not in their interest to book for you without charging you a fee.

I have stop using agents as soon as it became possible to book on the Net.
You DO have to spend considerable time doing it, though.

That really is the trouble with the Net - there is almost too much choice at times..!

BTW, Honeymooners2007..is it true what they say that the bride is always the one who does all the planning?

I have been watching your approach to posting and you don't need an agent-your itinerary for proposed honeymoon is simple and not too overloaded. You are posting with the right titles and getting good advice. You are going to do fine and you will learn SO much and take more pride in doing it yourself than in going with an agent. What a great way to start your new life together!

As a part-time TA I'd just mention that except for airline tickets the customer typically doesn't pay anything to a TA; the TA is paid through commissions from the service/travel provider. These days it's mainly hotels and (principally) cruises that offer commissions; airlines stopped some time ago, which is why you typically pay $5 over the airline's website price if you book using a TA like Expedia, Orbitz, et al.

TAs often rely on GDSs (Global Distribution Systems - Amadeus, Sabre, Worldspan etc.) for hotel bookings, and those services generally list only commission-paying hotel chains and the like (else why would the hotels pay the GDS for the service) so booking hotels through a TA will tend to result in big chains' properties being suggested. It's not always the case, of course - there are many TAs who have personal knowledge of boutique or specialty hotels, etc. (who will often pay commissions themselves) that aren't listed in the GDSs, so in those cases the TA can provide superior service over one who doesn't have that specialty knowledge.

Can you do the work of the TA on your own? Certainly, but don't overlook the power of bulk buying - big TAs like Expedia or Travelocity can negotiate special rates or selling deals with providers that you can't on your own (think Priceline) so there are many occasions when a TA can get you a better deal. Same goes with smaller TAs - the GDSs negotiate a big special with some hotel or cruise chain, broadcast it to their subscriber TAs, and they can pass the savings on to you. You'd never see those deals surfing.

Thanks everyone! As usual, everyone on this site has been such a huge help!
to answer some questions that have been posed:
ira, we are planning to fly into Venice in the end of June and spend three nights there; 4 nights in Tuscany/Florence and the remaining 3 nights in Rome and fly home from Rome - our first time in Italy and a very exciting trip for us!

And yes, dukey, the rumors are true- my lovely fiance is very excited about the wedding, but much of the planning gets him overwhelmed after about 20 minutes..the eyes glass over and he starts to get confused and then just gives up I guess women are more pre-disposed to remember intricate details about flower arrangements and menus...he's been a great supporter and takes care of me, but I've been doing most of the planning - which has been fun!

Thanks for all the advice so far guys!

With the internet now, if you have the time do it yourself!! Not just to save money but to get exactly what you want. Its much easier to hassle with the internet than a Travel Agent. However if you have the money and don't have the time or desire to hassle with the internet there are Trip Planners. They work sort of like an architect helping a client build a house. Expensive but perfect for some people. You might even have to hassle with the internet to find a Trip Planner.

I agree with a lot of what has been said here (I am a TA too). It is fun to plan and book travel; that's why I do it. About half the population likes doing it for themselves, and the other half hates it. (They're not the ones reading this forum). A TA has experience to draw on and can save you the time and hassle of doing it yourself, IF you don't want to do it yourself.

The other area where travel agents can save you a lot of money is if you want to book upscale hotels. There are consortia that have negotiated pricing and amenities with hotels that simply are not available anywhere else. For example, I recently booked a 5* in Paris for a client that was 162 EUR per night less than the lowest rate on the hotel's own website, and 265 EUR per night less than the same room on Orbitz or Expedia. And my rate did not have to be prepaid, it didn't have a cancellation penalty, it included breakfast, and it included champagne and tapas at the hotel's bar.

A TA is good only if they are really familiar with/have been to the places you are going - so they provide in-depth advice. (Typically the agents at the local chain travel store cannot do this - even if they try. You will need to find a specialized agent - and pay them for their time.)

If you have the time and interest you can do just as well yourself - unless you are doing an extremely complicated and upscale itinerary - when a good agent can get you special perqs - and possibly free upgrades. This is true only if you're going 5* and want a lot of special services.

For someone going on a low or moderate budget - you can do better yourself than any (free?) travel agent can.

Another problem with TAs is they don't get into the clients travel personality as a Trip Planner does, which in my opion is the most important first step.

"Another problem with TAs is they don't get into the clients travel personality as a Trip Planner does..."

Certainly not disputing that claim, TravMimi, especially since I am my own best "trip planner" butwouldn't you aree the accuracy of your statement might vary, just a little, from TA to TA?

Only if it's a travel agent that happens to know you because you have worked with them a lot. Most are looking at your plans from the "trips" point of view, not from your point of view. After the internet damaged so many travel agencies many agents became trip planners who do care a lot about the person's point of view and travel style. It's a pretty new field but there are getting to be more and more.