I, anon, who posted at two messages above am in no way related to the other sarcastic "anon" from before :-0

DUH, having trouble remembering who you are today?

In a former life I was a TA, and I have to agree w/ previous poster(s) who write that TA's are short-lived. Their best hope is to specialize in one area of travel where they can provide tangible value. And Pleasant Hawaiian is not a TA, they're essentially a wholesaler. If they didn't have to price for the TA's commission, you potentially could buy your trip for 10% - 15% less.

And then beachbum, what happens when your "consolidator" trip goes wrong? If your trip goes well, fine, but if you run into problems, look out. Pleasant Hawaiian held my money ($3000)hostage and refused to give me a refund for 51/2 months. This never would have happened if I used a travel agent. Again when I went to Hawaii and my car wasn't availible my TA got me a $50 Hertz car voucher which I am sure I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

I have had a great travel agency for years and use them all the time. But, I also will take the time to check out web specials to see if they can apply to my needs for travel. My agent also will tell me about some web specials that are available and as courtesy books them for me and then gets cars, hotels, etc for me. I pay their service fee and it's done! They get notices all the time about "deals" for their clients, but they also take the time to see what's out there on the web to pass on to their clients... maybe I am just lucky??<BR>

Jeff,<BR>I agree with you that generic travel agents are a thing of the past. There are agents who still want to sell the whole world and they're deluded because you can't be good at that many destinations! But the speciality travel agents aren't going away at least in the near future because a lot of people still want to find an agent who really knows the destination they are going to! I don't know about the Conde Nast test but I do know how they've chosen travel agents in the past. I wouldn't doubt that they picked some agent with lots of years of experience and thought that was enough. It isn't! A well-traveled and intelligent travel agent with a few years of experience can often beat the old "experienced" agents who got in the business in the first place for the perks that used to exist and because their husband made enough money to support her whether she did well or not!<BR><BR>I think a lot of you have experienced agents like that and so you think they're all that way and they're not. Good ones are hard to find because there are still so many bad ones but they are out there!<BR><BR>If you want to find a good agent, first ask if they have been to the destination you're going to and how many times! If they haven't been, you're right Jeff, you may be able to do just as well on your own. But if they have been and particularly, if they go regularly, they will probably do a better job than you and at the very least, save you a lot of time! <BR><BR>Last of all, don't judge a travel agent by the cheapest price! That's not what booking with a travel agent is about! There are cheap motels and things like buses and trains that most agents don't even do because it's not worth the time it takes to do. So for very budget trips, yes, you will do better most likely.<BR><BR>If you don't want to use a travel agent, just don't! But don't criticize them generically and don't criticize people who have found good agents. There's just no reason to do that!<BR><BR>

I have been a travel agent for 23years and I disagree with some of your comments. Just remember that on Sept 11th, how did your web booking provider handle your travel plans..we had clients calling us from across Canada and the U.S. trying to change their flights and we were able to personally handle them.<BR><BR>I'll admit I haven't been around the world but give me a break, do you actually think we have enough time to travel to every hot spot out there. We're not paid enough to travel constantly. <BR><BR>There are alot of people who will continue to use travel agents because they are still leery of using the net and they don't want the hassle of booking their own vacation.<BR><BR>We're not extinct yet!!!<BR>

You (travel agents) are not paid enough to travel constantly ? I was always under the impression that travel agencies sent their agents to various travel destinations at the agency's expense.

Most travel agencies will pay for one trip per year to travel to a popular destination. These may be organized familiarization trips or you can arrange your own. There is certainly a budget attached to these trips. Years ago you could get great fam deals but they are few and far between now.

A lot of people are responding here that don't know anything about the travel industry. Agents will get perks when new hotels or cruise lines offer new routes. Also, they get gret deals for Hawaii or east coast islands depending. E.g. Outrigger was offering agents to stay for 39/night or so a few years ago. These perks go to the larger agencies, at least that's what my agent gets. As mentioned above the key is to get an experienced agent. Conde Naste and Travel and Leisure both offer yearly reviews of the best agents. Also check out www.virtuoso.com agents which can get you upgrades in Hawaii hotels.

sorry for all the typos, hit post too soon ; )

I usually book through a travel agent, but this year decided to book directly through the hotel. We are going to Oahu for 2 weeks, and I am saving about $30-40 dollars per night by booking with the hotel instead of the travel agent. I have been to Hawaii once before, so I didn't feel nervous doing it this way.

Once you have been to Hawaii or nay other place a couple of times you will know the location better than any travel agent !!

A question for the travel agents...<BR><BR>Isn't it true that frequently hotels, cruise lines,etc offer special incentives to T/A?<BR><BR>Should a travel agent tell a client that the agent is getting a special bounus for placing people with certain hotels, etc.?<BR><BR>Doesn't the incentive create a conflict of interst and reduce their objectivity?<BR><BR>

One of the reasons we like to book ourselves is that if an emergency came up we can cancel within 24-48 hours and not have any penalty. We would be able to take a credit for the airfare minus the 100.00 penalty. <BR><BR>With any travel agent that we have used, you must pay in full 45 days ahead of your trip and if you don't buy travel insurance, you are flat out of luck. We always get upgraded anyway and we usually only rent a car for a day or two (Hawaii) so we don't need the "free" car thrown in. The last time we used a large, very well known travel agency they totally messed up our itinerary. The had us going to the Westin Maui Price instead of the Westin Maui and they had us booked into an outrigger when we requested the Hilton. When we discovered what they had done, (luckily in time) we couldn't get into the Hilton as it was full. They put us in the Hyatt and the room was disgusting. The travel agent would not help us when we complained, but the hotel gave us free nights for our next stay at any of their hotels world wide. Only through our dilligence did we get the trip we planned on. This is why we always book ourselves. Who can we trust any better?

Dick, how else is a travel agent supposed to learn about a specific hotel, cruise line, etc, if they aren't going to get perks to visit? I have never had an agent push anything on me. Give me a break. How else are they going to learn about a particular destination? As you and I both know it is very expensive to travel.

xxx,<BR><BR>I am not talking about fam trips.<BR><BR>I 'm talking about things like... book 5 trips in the next two months to a specific resort and get 4 days free....book 8 trips and get a week free..etc. Or book 6 cruises and get $500.<BR><BR>I believe that incentives like that can easily cloud their objectivity. Most TAs seem to prefer booking into chains or large resorts( that gurantee the commission will be paid) instead of others which MIGHT have been better for the traveller.

In reply to Lisa, you should know that the penalties for cancellation are not imposed by travel agencies but the companies they have you booked with (such as Pleasant Hawaii, American Airlines Vacations,etc). If you read any brochures they list penalties for cancellation or changes to a booking.<BR>I know, too that these penalties apply to internet bookings so by doing it yourself doesn't mean that you can just decide not to go someplace and get all your money back. About the only thing you can get a full refund on is a hotel that is booked direct instead of through a tour company because they will usually let you cancel up to 24 hours for some locations or till 4pm day of arrival for others.<BR>

Sue,<BR>That's exactly what I was talking about. We book ourselves directly through the hotels and airlines and we join the different programs that the hotels have such as Starwood, Fairmont Presidents club. These programs have great benefits and upgrades. We get 35% off rack rates at Starwood as well as points towards free nights, etc. Almost the same at Fairmont. I truly don't feel or have found that any travel agent can beat these prices.

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