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OT - Any travel agents out there

Limp Lizard

Limp Lizard

Full Member
Or people in the know.
A Funjet radio ad says contact your travel agent. But you can get Funjet reservations easily online. What can a travel agent do that I cannot? I would like to support these people, but not at an increased price, or even the same price, since I have to go to the trouble of working with a travel agent during business hours, versus sitting in my grubbies at home and doing the work online at any time night or day.
 
BABYFACE

BABYFACE

Full Member
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flyfishingfrog

Active Member
Limp Lizard said:
Or people in the know.
A Funjet radio ad says contact your travel agent. But you can get Funjet reservations easily online. What can a travel agent do that I cannot? I would like to support these people, but not at an increased price, or even the same price, since I have to go to the trouble of working with a travel agent during business hours, versus sitting in my grubbies at home and doing the work online at any time night or day.
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Travel agents don’t cost you anything, most work out their home so work whenever now and specialize in a certain type destination (Mexican, Caribbean, Europe, Disney) if you find one that books lots of trips to the place you are going, they will be able to give you more than just booking rooms and flights

The one we used for Europe built out the itinerary based on things we wanted like to be at the Vatican when the Pope was there, take a back room tour of Windsor, play the Old Course and got all of that scheduled for us

My daughter took her kids to Disney and used some lady who sent her a book with a daily plan, scheduled meals with princesses, for them an upgraded room for free, and setup one day with a personal tour guide

It’s worth a call if you can find one that focuses on what you want to do because they have packages you might not know about just in the internet
 
VictoryLap

VictoryLap

Full Member
flyfishingfrog said:
Travel agents don’t cost you anything, most work out their home so work whenever now and specialize in a certain type destination (Mexican, Caribbean, Europe, Disney) if you find one that books lots of trips to the place you are going, they will be able to give you more than just booking rooms and flights

The one we used for Europe built out the itinerary based on things we wanted like to be at the Vatican when the Pope was there, take a back room tour of Windsor, play the Old Course and got all of that scheduled for us

My daughter took her kids to Disney and used some lady who sent her a book with a daily plan, scheduled meals with princesses, for them an upgraded room for free, and setup one day with a personal tour guide

It’s worth a call if you can find one that focuses on what you want to do because they have packages you might not know about just in the internet
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If they don't cost anything how do they make money? I'm just curious.
 
Realtorfrog

Realtorfrog

Full Member
We have used a Horned Frog that specializes in All things Disney.....we are currently working with her for the third time now. Costs nothing and the insight and behind the scenes info you get is definitely worth it!
 
Limp Lizard

Limp Lizard

Full Member
I am interested in cost, primarily. Or some extra service like helping with frequent flier miles/points. Getting a better deal for no more, or knowing how to apply miles with other credit card points to get the best package.

I can pay extra if it is really worth it. Four years ago I used the Rick Steves company, paying (less than $100) for advice on where to stay and where to go/what to see, what to pack, how to get around, etc. for my two-week vacation to England/Scotland. Definitely worth every penny. I was able to see a lot and stay at decent places for good prices.
 
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flyfishingfrog

Active Member
VictoryLap said:
If they don't cost anything how do they make money? I'm just curious.
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Hotels and resorts pay them a percentage of your rate for booking the stay

Often So do other non-airline activities like tours, etc

Airlines don’t anymore which is what killed the travel agency industry as a business and why most travel agents will charge a small fee to use them to boom your flights (mine charges $35 per ticket while my sones corporate group charges about $10 but they book his entire company)

For me it’s worth $35 to have them do everything together but I would guess a lot of people do their own flights after the rest of their trip is planned or the other way around
 
Limp Lizard

Limp Lizard

Full Member
flyfishingfrog said:
Hotels and resorts pay them a percentage of your rate for booking the stay

Often So do other non-airline activities like tours, etc

Airlines don’t anymore which is what killed the travel agency industry as a business and why most travel agents will charge a small fee to use them to boom your flights (mine charges $35 per ticket while my sones corporate group charges about $10 but they book his entire company)

For me it’s worth $35 to have them do everything together but I would guess a lot of people do their own flights after the rest of their trip is planned or the other way around
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Please don't use the word "boom" when talking about flights.:eek:

And I hate it when the Captain says "We'll be on the ground in about 45 minutes.":eek: Every flight eventually ends on the ground (counting water as ground, too.)
 
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GoFrogs789

Member
My wife is a no cost travel agent. The nice part of using an agent is they do all the work for you, taking the most stressful part of a vacation out of the equation for you: the planning.

And while Sunjet might have a special offer going on, there actually might be better priced options out there for you, which an agent can compare multiple providers to a location and help find you the best deal.

Happy to put you in contact with her if you are interested. We are based out of the Arlington area.
 
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GoFrogs789

Member
We've been doing this for 7 years now...and 2018 is already our highest year on the books. Popular vacation spots like Disney World have actually made it more difficult for the regular person to book a trip...everything there from your meals and ride times is reserved months before you leave...so having someone familiar with their systems is a major benefit, especially if it doesn't cost you anything.
 
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flyfishingfrog

Active Member
SuperTFrog said:
I’m looking for a good VCR guy. Tape got all stripped out when I was watching footloose last night.
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I bet my vacations are 5x what they would be without a travel agent for the same money because I ask someone that actually knows what they are doing to help...vs hitting up yelp and forgetting that most of that is fake anymore

Last year our agent got us into the Vatican for a full mass with the Pope on Palm Sunday with less than 40 other people before the big public mass just because she knew the head of visitors at the Vatican from previous bookings

Last time we went to Disney she knew about the new fast pass process and which of the park guides can book multiple fast passes based on the package and which rides a guide can get you to the front without waiting - and then built a plan so we hit 10 rides in 3 hours and then took my granddaughter back for a nap - it was so smooth it was amazing compared to standing in line for 40 mins at every ride

I could go on but you don’t know what you are doing wrong if you think internet surfing will get you the same experience- plus they are basically free - so I would say booking it yourself is the cassette tape of today’s digital travel experience
 
Dogfrog

Dogfrog

Active Member
Depends on what you are looking for in a vacation IMO. The more intense you want your vacation to be, highly planned with tons of side trips and activities, the more you need an agent. Personally I’m not partial to those kinds of trips.

Our idea of a vacation is to fly into a great place, take a short cab ride or train to a hotel well located within walking or shuttle distance of everything. That would include stuff like fishing depending on location. I’d much rather get there, then play it by ear.
 

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