Interesting take on travel agents

Good luck finding a travel advisor who knows what they are doing. If they aren’t charging you a substantial fee you probably are better off booking in your own.

And as a note if you want an agent to help when something goes wrong make sure they have 24/7 coverage. Things rarely go wrong at 10 am on a weekday.

I can’t imagine needing a “Travel Advisor” but if I did, it would be for something complicated and important enough that I’d expect to pay a fee for their services. Anything that pays commissions to an agent, I can book it myself and avoid the hassle of dealing with someone who doesn’t understand that I want something different than what they would want for themselves. The Frommers writer seems to be writing for an audience that doesn’t know how to do any basic research or form an opinion - what’s so hard about visiting a country for the first time? Especially when you have these forums to learn about traveling there!

The last time I used a travel “advisor”, she did not believe me that Glasgow was part of the UK.
It took a bit of an argument……

I am my own advisor ever since.

When I was travelling continuously, I occasionally used an agent. My experience is that they can add value if they are top notch and willing to be available at all hours. Otherwise, you can do everything they do and often better. Since our company had a contract with an agency, we were expected to use them. After proving that my own reservations were more cost effective and efficient, I was allowed to bypass them.
There were two occasions where I found an agent who was worth working with. One was private agency. The owner was top notch and answered her phone at all hours of the day. She did her research. I could trust here to connect the dots I needed connected. Sadly, I was forced to use a different agency to conform to company policy.... that was not such a great experience.
I also had a very good experience with an American Express executive agent... the general pool of services was quite mediocre, but the executive agent was top notch and trustworthy.

We have 2 travel advisors whom we use for various trips and reasons.

If we are going on a European cruise or private tour with others, we book through Stewart, a seasoned TA. That way I don’t get stuck booking anyone else’s hotel, airfare, etc. He handles all the complaints.

Second, my daughters and their families love a Disney cruise. They feel the children are too young for most of the rides in the parks and the crowds and summer heat too overwhelming. Lauren, our Disney expert, takes care of everything for our group - usually around 10-15 people. In addition to booking the best room locations, she reminds us when deadlines are approaching or when certain activities are opening up for reservations. She arranges all transport to the cruise port and back to the airport, everything. We just show up. Such a pleasure. We have had a few snags along the way but she is always available just a text away, 7 days a week.

Like mentioned above, you have to have reliable, knowledgeable TA.

The article makes a lot of good points. Not everyone has the experience, or wants to learn the skills it takes to plan and execute a complex trip on their own. Most people that participate here do. But there are questions here every week from people who do not know about things like open jaw ticketing, codeshared flights, travel insurance, rail travel, or hotels other than Marriott/Hilton class business hotels and resorts. Those people could use some advice and handholding from an experienced advisor. There's a place and a need for them, just not necessarily for people wanting to travel "Rick Steves style".

While I was still working, my employer used a 24/7 travel concierge to book our travel. It was highly valuable because I always seemed to have to fly to or through Chicago in the winter. Odds of cancellation or delays were about 50/50. My last flight out of Chicago in January 2023, as I was walking through the terminal I saw my flight was delayed meaning I'd miss my connection. I called the concierge and by the time I reached the ticket agent my flight had already been rearranged. The flight was further delayed and I was in danger of missing another connection, but by the time I'd landed and turned on my phone I'd had a text that the concierge had anticipated that and had rebooked me again for the next morning plus arranged my hotel.

There is a time and a place for them. I'll likely use one for an African Safari.

Standard advice is to always use an agent for cruises they seem to have connections

I always use a travel advisor for longer trips with flight bookings on trips to Europe, and some types of travel insurance if I need it (but not travel medical.... I can't use the usual medical insurance that travel advisors offer, so I arrange that through a specific insurance company). I tend to book hotels on my own (mostly using recommendations in the RS guidebooks), flights within Europe and intercity transportation. As I travel solo much of the time, the value of using a TA became apparent on a trip a few years ago, when I was injured and spent a week in hospital. One call to my travel advisor and she took care of changing return flights, and also coordinating with the airline medical department and the travel insurance company.

Assuming we are talking about the best of the best, then why would an individual think they could spend a few hours on the internet and duplicate the knowledge of someone that spends their life doing it?

Going to Rome for four nights, maybe not a lot of value. Especiallyt the first trip as there is so much to see and do its hard not to run into things you hadn't planned on and enjoy every moment of it. But sometimes a good tour designer / travel planner is worth the investment x 2. Even more so when you decide to leave the ordinary behind and see the parts of Europe not yet totally polluted by tourism.

I've been to the Balkins about 12 times, I still call a local travel planner before I return. Getting from A to B in the Balkans doesnt mean checking a train schedule. It means a bus or a driver. Buses some times great, sometimes not so great. Drivers affordable if you know who; expensive if you use the one on TA. The things to see and do arent in the latest edition of Conde Nast, better to ask a lot of questions, but sometimes you have to know the questions to ask.

My favorite in the Balkans will just help you plan for a few hundred Euro or plan and guide the entire trip for you .... or anything in the middle. You get to choose. Hard to find a better solution. I knew a couple of designers like this in Ukraine too.

If anyone knows good European based Travel Agents / Tour Disigners or what ever you want to call them, this might be a good thread to list them.

Do your own research and planning, you don't need a travel agent, especially since you have this Travel Forum.

I'll kindly disagree that there's no value in a good agent, especially if they they specialize in certain types of trips, such as cruises, weddings, large multi-family, multigenerational trips abroad, or traveling with disabilities. We have a local agency that's been in business for nearly 50 years and whom I know does quite a bit of business with very busy professionals who are challenged with just leaving the office behind, let alone having time to plan a trip. They are very good at what they do, the owners had property in at least one European country, and they expected their agents to have regular, firsthand experience with travel abroad, cruises, etc. if that was their specific speciality. Hand-holding? No problem there, be it a novice or someone with an especially complex scenario.

We used one for a family member's wedding in Mexico some years ago. The Happy Couple had arranged with the agency to handle their guests' bookings and questions, if desired, so that things ran smoothly and efficiently. Could we have done the footwork ourselves? Sure - and we did book our own airfare - but it was a particularly busy time (we were moving) and it was very nice to just make the phone call/send the email, be clearly and efficiently provided with the important details, say yes to this, no to that, quickly have itinerary, costs, etc. in writing; done.

Some of the posters above have mentioned other areas where they're useful.

Also, for any trip which is not in Europe I would definitely go through a TA. Yes, Allan, a safari would be one such trip.
We’re headed to Japan in March and used an agency to set up our trip. Our TA Stewart took car of our flights. We will have guides along the way in different cities, but not everyday. But, if we run into any problems, help will be just a quick phone call away with someone who speaks English.
As stated above, everyone travels different, but we all get to the same end, a beautiful trip to remember.

One wonders if a TA is actually going to do and be the essential things that were stressed in the article. That is getting better prices, and being available to call for problems. As someone noted, problems often occur at off peak times. Do you really call your travel agent on a Sunday at 0500 when you have flight glitch. Or from a time zone that is so different? And, do TAs act as fiduciaries?
How much do travel agents cost? How are they paid?
If you go to an agent to book that safari, you are captive to whatever they tell you, unless you research safaris yourself. Then you might as well not need them if you are researching anyway to double check their work.
I think that using TAs is for comfort and convenience. Many people on RS do their own planning and enjoy that aspect of travel.