Recommend a travel agent please

Do you want a travel agent to just make reservations for you , or one to design your entire trip including where to go?

If the latter, I suggest you take a tour. The itinerary is set, all reservations are made for you, all you will have to do is decide what to do during your free time and even then the tour manager will help with that.

The only decision you'll have to make is when and approximately where you want to go.

Excellent question Frank!

No, I'm not a tour type. Just looking to avoid mistakes and wasting time - you know, like a typical impatient American!

A travel agent can book airlines, hotels, trains, buses, etc....you still have to decide where you want to go, what you want to see.

Your other alternative is to take day tours either by coach or walking for the places you want to see. Every major city and even smaller ones offer various types of day or half-day tours to show off their area. Many include hop-on, hop-off buses which run a particular route all day and you can get on and off as you wish.

The less work you are willing to do, the more work you need to leave to someone else--or you will make major mistakes.

And a travel agent doesn't guarantee you will get the best deal. Nor will any devise an itinerary for you without you telling them where you want to go.

If you're like, Ok...I've decided I want to go to London, tell me what to see...then you need a tour of some type--even if it is just by the day.

Are you a AAA member? They have great travel agents! You might also get a members discount on parts or all of your travels.

"travel cost savings" ,, TAs are not known for getting you the best deals,, last time I almost used one,, for a Eurostar ticket,, she quoted me a price three times higher then what I had seen online. I went home booked online, and have not stepped foot in a TA office since! And just look at the prices of the hotels they will suggest,, always seem too expensive, and they will tell you what a deal you are getting.

The rarely know the nice little places either, they send you to chain hotels,, did you want to spend your holiday in American chain hotels,, or hotels that entertain bus tours... those are the types that pay TAs commissions,, not the mom and pop places, or the little b@bs... think about it..

You could use a TA to help with train tickets,, but I would buck up and design my own timeline, it is YOUR trip.

sorry to be so negative,, but really, most people do have better trips if they take more control, not less.

Pat,

Thanks for your frankness and bringing me back around to my original thoughts (suspicions) about travel agents.

Other than making airline and rental car reservations - I have little time to book anything else. Just may leave after 1-Sep any wing-it . . . Rick's ETBD and laptop in-tow.

:-)

You may not be a tour type, whatever that is. However, if you haven't tried a RS tour, you may find yourself very surprised. It is not a "typical" tour and I highly recommend. You see a lot more, don't have to wait in lines, hit places you probably would skip over which will be hi-lights of your trip. I think you should read the tour comments on the areas you plan to visit. You might be surprised.

Happy travels!

One more thing: travel agents aren't such a good deal. I refuse to use them because I have found while they are fine for the US, they are not for foreign travel. Rick does have a link to a travel agent he recommends. She is in the Seattle area. Check the home page and do a search. I can't recall her name.

You can waste a lot of time winging it if you haven't done your homework.

Will follow all of the above words of wisdom and experience.

Now if I could just get my life to slow down - even a little!

Thanks again!

I think the reason travel agents want to book at chain hotels is that is how they make commission. Smaller hotels don't pay commission and that is how travel agents make their money. If they booked somewhere that didn't pay, they would have to charge you extra to make the money. Either way, they should be compensated for their time. So really the choices are to do your homework and do your own bookings (my choice), have a travel agent book for you and expect to pay one way or the other, or book a tour. Doing the planning is not for everyone and some people are happy to pay someone else for what they consider to be a headache.

I wouldn't recommend a travel agent to my worst enemy.

I have yet to meet a travel agent that has in-depth knowledge of travel in Europe. They are just sellers of package tours and expensive hotel (hey, that's where the money is. That's good for them, NOT you).

I don't use travel agents any more, but I did use one on two European trips several years ago. She was wonderful. She had been to Europe a zillion times and had excellent recommendations for every city and town. I was really busy at work at the time with two kids at home, and just did not have the time to do the research.

I did come up with my itinerary. I would never leave that to someone else. Then I sat down with her and told her what type of accomodations I liked and the amount I wanted to pay. She ran the accomodations by me before booking them. Then the day before I left she handed me an envelope with all my confirmations and tickets. It was the greatest.

Stephen, you may have noticed I am a fellow Pittsburgher (Go Pens!), but I'm sorry to tell you she has since retired. I think the best way to find a good travel agent is through word of mouth. I got mine from my hairdresser. The problem is that it getting harder to find people who use them.

Wow, the great replies just keep coming.

Yes, one would logically conclude that a travel agent might not (either intentionally or unintentionally) always have a client's best interest in mind.

Time to stop blogging and start reserving I suppose . . .

Thanks and kudos to you all!

Hey Stephen, no one wants to waste time or have unpleasant surprises, but what about pleasant surprises? I was as green as could be and unprepared (although I thought I was quite prepared. ahhhh....hindsight they say :o), and sure there was some "wasted" time, but among my pleasant surprises was, 1) attending a church service which turned out to be a wedding, 2) hopping on the wrong bus (still can't figure out how the tour operators allowed that to happen) and seeing several sites (Delft factory & Madurodam among them) that turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip, and "wasted" time in Paris trying to figure out which train would get us to Versailles. Met lots of wonderful, helpful locals. Relax, and do try to be flexible, allowing for the "wasted time" moments and the pleasant surprises. These moments could be your favorite memories! Good luck, and enjoy yourself.

RS offers travel consultation to help you plan a trip; from what you're asking it may be worthwhile for you to spend the money for 30 minutes or an hour of an experienced agent's time to get build an itinerary. They don't make the reservations, but once you know where you're going and what you're doing that part falls into place. See http://www.ricksteves.com/about/consulting.htm

Also don't discount the benefit of a tour like RS offers. I've traveled both independently and on a RS tour. It will take you on your own 4-5 days to do what his tour does in 3 because of the efficiencies; they have the hotels booked and your keys waiting, you don't waste time finding hotels or the sites, they have the reservations made for museums, etc. RS tours typically start with a meeting and then group dinner; 2 things stand out. First of all, the leader asked how many of us didn't consider themselves "tour people" and most people raised their hand. Second, he said that RS aims to deliver as much value for what the tour costs as what you'd get if you spent the same amount on your own, and in my opinion they easily met if not surpassed that standard for me and most people (although there are people on this forum who can get by on much less).

Well, I do use a travel agent every time I go to Europe. She does a complete itinerary, books all the rooms, sets up the airline schedules, does the car rentals and prepurchases any rail passes or other items needed, like the Paris Museum card. She also must be frugal and cut my costs, which she does. And she is available to others, if they need that kind of service, because she is national.

Having been there numerous times and doing all the tedious research on these things, plus actually going there and experiencing what does and does not work, she has been able to save me literally days of frustration, and by following her guidelines, hours of wrong turns and endless wandering. Well worth it.

John, glad you are happy with your TAs service,, but I seriously doubt she is as frugal as me,, and I stay in decent places( a/c etc are musts) . I have a feeling you spend alot more then me,, and consider it budget.
I can always find nice hotels for under 100 euros, in great locations,, and with all amenties..I have paid as little as 60 euros a night, to my average of 90-100..
I bought a flight ticket to Rome from Paris,, 80 euros..
and Eurostar for 50 GBPs.. and the TA I asked about that quoted me hundreds more!!

So, you are lucky,, but , are we getting the same products too??

Pat -

My hotel costs were as low of E45.00 a night and averaged E80 to 90, with air conditioning. I do not stay in too many "two" star hotels and never understood anyone who does. One of the most expensive places we stayed, BTW, was a Rick Steves recommended place in Harfleur and it was not worth it.

Since the price of air tickets vary so much, I always wait until she tells me the fares have dropped before booking a trip. You should know that TA's do not get any money back from airlines when they book any longer and many agents have started charging a booking fee because of it. Since the trip itself is so tied to the flights, all planning starts after that and since she does all the work, I pay her for it.

I have no idea how much she saves me by cutting out the misery of figuring out train schedules, finding my hotel, pre-buying car rentals and train tickets or what to do or see once I am there, and getting museum schedules. She even suggests restaurants that are good but not expensive.

John is correct that travel agents do not receive commissions for airline bookings. Some hotels pay commission and some do not. Some people (most likely not the majority of us who frequent this site) just don't have the time or interest to research and book their own trip. For those people a tour or a travel agent is perfect. You all know how much time you spend researching and making your reservations. A travel agent doing the same thing has to be compensated for their time too. That comes either from commissions or charging a fee. I don't think a travel agent is out of line expecting to get paid for their time. I get paid to do my job and they should be able to get paid to do theirs. Frankly, if it wasn't for me doing all the work, my husband would probably be happy to pay someone else to do it!

One thing I would use a ta for ,, if I had an involved schedule of trains tickets to get,, I hate looking at train schedules... I haven't used one YET for that as I have only had to book an occasional leg here and there, but for some trips,, anyone who wants to do the train ticketing is a ok with me..LOL

BTW John,, of course you did not pay 45 euros a night for hotel with a/c in Paris,, as that would be a miracle.. right? Hotels are always cheaper outside of the big cities..

As for RS hotels,, well, I avoid them,, since his books are so very popular,, the places in them get overrun,they put their prices up,, and I think their attitudes come down.. They become victims of the free publicity he gives,, and I think many of them get a "well so what we are booked solid,, we don't need to cater to you anymore attitude"

No, Pat, it was not in Paris. It was in the non-touristy town of Quimper, which wasn't all that bad a town anyway, centrally located in Britainy and a great place to stay three nights to tour the area. My TA found it and suggested staying there for three nights to see the surrounding area. She was right. She does a great job in finding alternatives like this that are convenient, time-saving (a MUST when travelling in Europe), and inexpensive. I DO pay her a commission for the work she does, which she calls "practical tips" for European travel. It includes info on transportation, schedules, food, accommodations and how to find your hotel. And little helpful hints, like what you might want to see wherever you might be and where convenient toilets are located. Its like a private guide book for your trip.

We used travelbuddies.us. The guy's name is Al and he was so very helpful. He lives in Rome. We live in the US and have talked with him several times, plus using email. He has a number that you can call him at no charge to you.

Stephen,

To begin with, even if you're not a "tour type", I'd definitely suggest that you consider a RS tour. They're excellent and provide a nice balance of free and group time. They also take care of the transportation and other "details".

Regarding Travel Agents, I always use a travel agent for transatlantic flights and car rentals. In the past, my TA has been able to save me not only some money but also hours of internet time.

I'd suggest trying to narrow down where you want to go. Once you have the countries, you can focus on specific cities and sights that you want to see in each city. Europe Through The Back Door is more of a "pre-read" for travels in Europe, but I suppose it could be a good source or reference during travel. I'd suggest packing along Rick's country-specific books as well, as they have lots more information. They also have great information on Hotels & restaurants in major cities, and sightseeing details (Museum times, costs, etc.) as well as transportation.

Using open jaw flights would be the most efficient method, especially if your starting and ending cities are some distance apart. You might find it useful to stop by an AAA Travel Agency just to have a chat, as they might be able to at least provide some ideas.

If you could provide somewhat of an idea where you want to go, what time frame you're dealing with and what type of sights you're interested in, it would be a LOT easier for us to offer suggestions.

Cheers!

OK, we will play travel agent for you. But here is what you have to do. How many total days do you have? Subtract 2 and divide by 3, what is that number?

Well, you would be proud of all the homework we have done. Perhaps you've seen a post or two of mine elsewhere on this site.

The good news, the four corners of our travels are Frankfurt, Giverny, Arles and Venice. The bad news is will cover approximately 2,400 miles in 15 full days. We've Googled all the routes, trimmed a lot of fat (and are prepared to trim even more) and loaded all of the destination addresses into our GPS. Yes, we're nuts and wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanks for all of the great advice above. That coupled with a great deal of research and planning should make this a very memorable trip!

Use travelbuddies.us. The man helping us is named Al and he lives in Rome. He has been so helpful and given us so many great ideas. He will give you a phone number to call him that is no charge to you in the US. He has saved us time and money. Try him!!

I, too, would recommend a RS Tour. I always traveled independently until last spring when I tried my first RS Tour. I was so impressed. It is a great combination of free time and group time, small group size, great guides and run very efficiently. I will take my 3rd one next month. I extend the tour with travel on my own either at the front or back end, too. I would take Rick's advice and only use a travel agent for airline tickets. Itineraries are so personal, but you could use Rick's tour itineraries for suggestions. Give us some bare bones though of where you want to go, how long you want to stay and the folks on this site will provide lots of input, I'm sure.