Benefits of Choosing a Travel Agency for Your Next Vacation

Benefits of Choosing a Travel Agency for Your Next Vacation

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Choosing a travel agency to handle your next vacation as opposed to dealing directly with an airline presents numerous benefits. Here are a few of the benefits you enjoy:

Wealth of information

Because of their experience and wide connections with people in the hospitality industry, travel agencies are in the best position to provide sound advice when it comes to the following points: off peak and peak travel times, budget travel, hotel and meal deals, excursions, shopping bargains, and other tourism-related topics. Much will depend on your preferences. For instance, are you interested in a golf holiday, a fishing trip, a museum jaunt or a spa type of vacation?

Discounted fares

Travel agencies and online travel agencies are great for bargain hunting and usually get the best deals from their network of contacts. They also purchase air tickets on volume, consolidated tickets, enabling them to buy air tickets at considerably higher discounts.

Extended network of suppliers and providers

Given that travel agents deal every day with hotel managers, restaurant owners and managers, bed and breakfast supervisors, tour operators, limousine companies, and other people who offer a specialized service, they know who and what are offering better prices and when. So travel agents have a wealth of information on just about anything related to travel, and because they network with other travel agents, they get to exchange valuable tips. Consider yourself fortunate if you happen to be dealing with a travel agent who seems to know “just about everyone” in the travel industry and who can offer you the discounts that she reserves for preferred clients.

Group discounts

If you tell your travel agent that you and your friends want to travel together or that you’re taking your family of four on a Kenyan safari, he or she might be able to slash off more dollars from your air tickets because you will be travelling in a group. Sometimes, when you buy three adult tickets, travel agents will let your four-year-old travel for free or at a much lower price. Travel agents can, at their discretion, extend courtesy discounts to groups. The more seats are bought and the more rooms are booked, the higher the discounts they receive.

Perks

Travel agents also have access to suppliers and service providers who hand out “bonuses” or perks. These are the nice extra incentives that say, hotel managers would give to agents so that the next time the travel agency has a large group of travelers, they choose the same hotel. Meal vouchers are another example that travel agencies have a constant supply of to give to loyal customers. For example, if you and your friends like to visit Las Vegas a lot, your travel agency may give you slot chips worth .00 to use on machines, or free passes to a stage show or concert. So you see, it does pay to develop good relationships with travel agencies especially if you’re a frequent traveler.

Specialization

Some travel agencies specialize in certain types of travel and cater to a certain age group or specific professional groups. Some travel agencies have more strengths and capabilities than other travel agencies. One travel agency may know the ins and outs of Eastern Europe or may know what the best budget restaurants in Tokyo are. Other travel agencies may cater specifically to retirees, students or government officials.

When a travel agency handles a large account like a mid-size company whose executives travel weekly, you can be sure that travel agency is in a position to offer significant savings on plane tickets or hotel reservations. If you have a friend who works for a large company and his company uses one travel agency, you could ask him to request the travel agency for special deals. Because travel agents are grateful for the continuing patronage of their company clients, they will most likely share tips on how to travel on a shoestring budget for the executives’ children.

Don’t let one unfortunate experience with a travel agency discourage you. Find another. If you deal with the airlines directly, you’re just another caller to them, whereas if a travel agent calls the airline on your behalf, the airline will recognize the travel agency as a regular customer and hence would be more inclined to extend courtesies.

What you need to do before calling a travel agency is to decide:

· Specific travel dates

· Where you want to go, where you want to stay and whether you’ll need a car or rail passes

· If you’re willing to travel on a restricted ticket or as a standby passenger

· What activities you’d like to do once you arrive in your destination

By giving your travel agency complete information, she can be more efficient in helping you plan your next vacation.

Consolidators=Cheap Flights!

Consolidators=Cheap Flights!

Our Pauper loves to save money using an airfare consolidator. These consolidators contract with airlines to get tickets at cheaper rates than the general public. Because they buy large blocks of tickets the airlines love them.

Though you can get really good deals by knowing how to use consolidators, remember they are not structured for great service. They’re playing the quantity game not the hold-your-hand game. If you need personal attention use your travel agent instead.

The best time to use consolidators is during high travel times of the year. Other than these peak travel times consolidators don’t really offer much better rates than those offered in the lowest advertised fares. Yet, you can enjoy 20-30% off when you decide to travel during Christmas, for instance.

The other good time to turn to consolidators is if you are traveling on short notice. Unlike the airlines, they don’t penalize you for traveling on the spur of the moment.

Always use a credit card with consolidators. Some consolidators can charge high fees if you change your plans and/or cancel your flight. So make sure you understand what the policy on cancellations and refunds is.

In this article I’ll give you a list of consolidators that are available to you directly or through your travel agent.

In addition I’d recommend you purchase a copy of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, which is available at most libraries or you can subscribe for . Write to: Consumer Reports Travel Letter, 101 Truman Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10703-1057.

Let’s get started:

Cheap Tickets sells more than 500,000 tickets a year for domestic and international flights. Now they even help you with hotels and cruises. Call 800-AIR-PLUS (800-247-7587) and visit http://www.cheaptickets.com

Council Travel Service offers super fares in the USA and mostly all of Europe for cheapskates like you and me. They also package individual travel packages for vacations, car rentals, rail passes, paid internships, and work programs. 800-226-8634 And visit:

http://www.counciltravel.com

Far Eastern Travel if your plans include a visit to China. 800-275-3384

Fly Cheap has my favorite name among the known consolidators. They do a good job on all kinds of flights to all manner of destinations. 800-359-2432 and visit:

http://www.flycheap.com

Chinatown seems like a place for tourists until you take a look around at the faces of the people who live there. How many stories are engraved on the memories of the Chinese residents who live here?
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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Looking for Cheap Airfare? Learn How to Score Dirt Cheap Airline Tickets

Looking for Cheap Airfare? Learn How to Score Dirt Cheap Airline Tickets

It doesn’t matter if you are a veteran traveler or are planning your first trip on an airplane; there isn’t anyone who doesn’t want to save money on their airline tickets. This is particularly true if you’re planning a vacation to a far off land and the last thing you want to do is eat up your entire vacation budget trying to buy plane tickets.

Finding dirt cheap airline tickets takes some time and patience but it can definitely be worth the effort because we all know that traveling by plane is not that cheap. Whether you are on a budget or not here are some tips and trick you can use to find significant discounts the next time you travel by air.

1. Be flexible with your travel dates and times. Most airlines charge more for peak travel times during the week. By flying at off peak times such as mid-week and/or late evening/early morning you can find significant savings. This is also true of your destination. If you are planning a vacation try to go during the off-season. Not only will you find discounts for your destination but the airlines will also offer savings simply because they need warm bodies in their seats.

2. Book your airfare in advance. This does work to a point because if you book farther then 4 months out your chances of finding good prices are greatly limited. At the same time don’t wait until the last minute because you will be charged full price. Your best window of opportunity is between 4 months and 12 to 20 days before your known travel date.

3. Compare, compare, and compare. Don’t jump at the first deal you think you see. This is where having a little patience can come in handy. Shop around the different airlines websites, travel websites, and even travel agents to get an idea of what the going price for your destination is. This will allow you to pick the fare that best fits your budget and travel plans.

4. Look for package deals. If you are planning a vacation then see if you can find a discount package for both accommodations and airfare. This is something you can usually find through travel agents who know how to find these kinds of dirt cheap travel packages. Cruise vacations are also known to offer discount airplane tickets for their passengers, but you have to ask.

5. Call the airlines. A simple call to the airlines service representatives and asking what kinds of deals and discounts they have going is a great way to save money. In fact most airlines run discounts all the time but they do not actively advertise them.

Scoring dirt cheap airline tickets is not always easy but if you take the time to research your options and have some patience to find the deal that works best for you. Being flexible is your most powerful tool when it comes to finding cheap airfare and when you finally leave for that well deserved vacation just think how good it will feel with that extra cash in your pocket.

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