Travel agent procedures

They probably don’t want to provide that level of detail because then you can see that you would have saved so much money by putting the trip together on your own.

I deleted all my post except for the following. It was taking the OP's question off-track. If someone wants my history with a travel agent she/he can PM me or hunt for 2017 posts.

"I don't have an exact breakdown, but typically hotels are 2/3 of the cost and then 1/3 for tours, transfers, trains, etc."

Since the travel agent booked the trip, why doesn't she have the breakdown, at least for the major costs?

I hope your trip is wonderful as all trips should be.

We have used travel agents for trips we do not wish to plan ourselves. Examples include an African safari and a self driving tour of New Zealand. Both included multiple components; guides, flights between camps etc. We did not receive a breakdown of the components. We also found that the expertise of the agent was worth what it cost.

I do not know as I have never taken a Rick Steve’s tour, but do you receive a detailed invoice outlining the cost of each hotel, meals etc. I doubt it, so how does a person know whether or not you could have saved money booking hotels, guides transportation yourself?

Travel agents offer convenience and that is what you pay for when you use their services.

I will close by stating that not everyone enjoys or has the time to research and plan a trip.

I have a little trouble with the general notion that one can scour the internet for 3 months and become an expert equal to someone who has dealt with 1,000 tourists traveling the same region.

For those who do the well beaten tourist paths of Europe, planning your own trip is easier and a professional may not be very cost effective ... even if a good one will open options and opportunities you hadn't dreamed of. Come to think of it, if it's so easy solo, what is the purpose of this forum?

Especially if you want to go to the less touristed places before they are found by the masses and overly commercialized then planners and agents that specialize in the region know things and have access to resources that can be difficult to find on your own.

I hired a planner for an up coming trip to Montenegro. Ivr bern there often, but shes good and its easy and costs kittle if anything. She does provide a price breakdown and I think that's right and proper. Some charge a fee and some get a cut. Both are fair if it's a respected planner. My trip requires a few private transfers. I'd rather use her people knowing if anything does go wrong I have a lady in country to fix it. The option is blind trust for a driver named Boris that i found on the internet but never met. (Done that too ... but always "iffy".)

We used the same travel agent for many years for cruises, and always had an itemized list of costs.

In defense of travel agents, our opinion is that a good one is worth his/her weight in gold. On the other hand, there are some who are simply not worth the price of a cup of coffee. One has to shop around, interview several agents, and then decide if there is one agent upon whom one can rely. The secret, in our minds, is finding one old enough to have a lot of experience, and who has also traveled a lot and has first hand knowledge.

There are many times when one can research and plan one's own trip and have a great experience. But there are times when the convience of having someone else do all the detain work is worth the small extra cost.

"I do not know as I have never taken a Rick Steve’s tour, but do you receive a detailed invoice outlining the cost of each hotel, meals etc. I doubt it, so how does a person know whether or not you could have saved money booking hotels, guides transportation yourself?"

To me it's different if you are booking a guided tour vs having a travel agent put together pieces for you. With a guided tour you are also paying for the services of a full time guide so that piece is hard to put a number on. I don't think people take guided tours to "save money". I, personally, take them to get the added benefit of an awesome guide 24/7 and to have someone do the logistics for me.

In all the guided tours I've done from 3 different companies I knew what the total cost was going in and if I wanted to divide it out by the day and try and figure down what the daily costs were, I could.

I have never used a travel agent for booking hotels/airlines but I know several people who do. I also remember Kathy's (Horsewoofie) heartbreaking experience. I am so glad she's stuck around and traveled!

I do hope the OP's travel agent experience turns out to be great!

For me, a travel ageny books hotels and flights. That it is hard to argue the need for most of the time. A trip or travel planner makes thr flow of a holiday work from departure to arrival, but doesn't always do the bookings. Trip planners that work the region you are visiting can be a real benefit.

LOL. If someone arrives in town and is staying in an awful area, in an overpriced business hotel and has the most expensive possible travel pass and local arrangements you can bet they used a travel agent. They will have an airport transfer that far exceeds the cost of just hopping in a cab in the official queue.