Changes at my travel agency

With the internet, it is very easy to book your own reservations for everything you need.

Other than using a cruise specialty travel agent, we no longer use travel agents. Cruise specialists often come up with freebies not offered directly by the cruise lines.
We book flights directly with airlines after having a poor experience with a big online flight consolidator during the pandemic.

Accommodations are booked thru Booking.com, Hotels.com, Air BnB and other online sources. I often will go on GoogleMaps and magnify the map a couple of clicks before looking for hotel icons to click on. I look for inexpensive properties in specific areas with higher than normal customer ratings.
I do see people taking large families together on trips, and they should find a good travel agency.

Times change

I actually had to look at the date of your post to assure it was not a "Zombie" post from the early 2000's or 2010 timeframe,

Yes, they lost all their commissions some time ago for those bookings, meaning if they are not getting paid by selling you something else, or you are paying them a fee, it is either wasted effort, or only done out of goodwill. (Maybe you book a couple cruises a year separately)

Our experience has mirrored the PPs, and certainly predated the pandemic. With the advent of online booking, TAs have lost commissions on hotel and transportation bookings to a great extent. For cruises, vacation packages, and tours our TA still does flight and preflight hotel bookings for us as a courtesy because we've been regular customers for almost 20 years, but it's not the norm.

Times indeed certainly change with regards to travel agencies — at least 25 years ago. It’s too easy & most convenient planning one’s vacation and business travel online. I’ve been doing both since 1997.

After horsewoofie's experience with the travel agent who took her money but never booked the trip, I've been pretty gun shy about travel agents.

But I think it would have been nice if the agency had given you a heads up.

Our travel agent is a long time family friend. He is somewhat retired but will help us out. He told us this was happening a quite a few years back. We did go through him for our trip to Egypt, Jordan, and Israel next March. Too many details and I don’t have support for these countries like I do here.

I have used this particular agency for decades and, yes, I know how to use the web thingy. I also what my time is worth and it's more than I wish to spend trying to book international flights.

My long time friend is now a VP with her company. She knows all the tricks and has great connections in the industry. I trust her explicitly to make connections for me that leave plenty of time, to sell me insurance products based on service not cost, and to figure out the best way to get anywhere at any price. As long as I come up with a few trips they can make some real money on, I'm pretty sure she'll help me with other services but, sigh, I will miss hitting the trail with the confidence the itinerary she has designed for me is based on our past experiences and that her company has my back if things should go horribly wrong.

I really miss those travel agent days.

At the office we had a monthly subscription to OAG North America which allowed us to map out our flights itinerary for the week (usually flying 3 + different airlines), and then fill in the hotels we wanted to stay at and places we needed car rentals - then the secretary would fax it over to the agent - then on the Friday before the week of travel we had all confirmed reservations and printed out boarding passes allowing us to head straight through security (eliminated having to check in) in our hands. And the agency had an agreement with a 24-hour hot shot problem solver.

Absolutely carefree business travel - it was nice, real nice.

It sounds like you have a good long relationship with a TA that you trust. You’ve mentioned that your time is valuable but so is her’s. So perhaps you can have an explicit agreement for her to book your flights etc for a fee?

The last time I used a travel agent, I had to argue with, then convince her that Yes, Glasgow was indeed in the UK.
Haven't used one since, that was in 1998.

I understand that some people love to travel but do not enjoy planning the travel, which sounds like you. Maybe you would be better off with a tour company that does all of this for you?

The last time I used a travel agent, I had to argue with, then convince her that Yes, Glasgow was indeed in the UK.
Haven't used one since, that was in 1998.

Yes, well, there are incompetent boobs in every industry, probably yours, too. Fortunately for me, the staff at Global were consummate professionals.

EDIT: Some pedantic nimnull had to second guess my typing accuracy and general disdain for autocorrect's suggestions when I was feeling nertorious, merious, or even the least bit negligitimate. Serves us both.

Bogie - Since I live with one and since I know you and am sure you won't take offence (!) I can verify that "Men don't"!

I miss travel agents too.
Haven’t used one since 2003.

Over about 30 years I tried 3 travel agencies and it was always a complete flop.

About ten years ago, someone walked out the Denver airport with my look-alike bag. Haven't checked a bag since.

Bogie - Since I live with one and since I know you and am sure you won't take offence (!) I can verify that "Men don't"!

"Times change. Men don't." Fundamental rule of nature. Here is another: "If you push something hard enough, it will fall over."

I understand that some people love to travel but do not enjoy planning the travel, which sounds like you. Maybe you would be better off with a tour company that does all of this for you?

Yep, that's the plan. My agent is handling several aspects of next spring's trip to Spain for two of us and we have decided to visit Iceland on the return leg. I'll also rely on her to locate and book a vetted tour operator for us.

I mean, I enjoy painting but I was happy to hire a professional crew to paint my house two years ago. Same with the plumbing. And electrical. And HVAC. Some things are best left to experts.

Back in the early 90s there wasn't much going on with the internet so travel agents were the pathway to taking trips like bike trips in Europe.

Lunch hour down in the lobby of my office tower sometimes included grabbing a bag of fresh popcorn and browsing racks of travel brochures at the travel agent - that's how I ended up taking 2 Butterfield & Robinson cycling trips to Italy. Without that office and those display racks I wouldn't have ever heard of B&R.
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It's easy to be your own travel agent today when Google search does all the work for you BUT it wasn't like that back then - it was travel agents who saved the day and sent you on your merry way.

We use American Express travel. I love them. I used them before Covid and especially post Covid. I'm also a cardholder and gladly pay the annual fee.

right before covid, we had done a DIY trip to Kauai. (we;ve been there a few times and was familiar). I had the worst experience trying to get a refund from airbnb. I was dumb to use a new visa card for bonus miles I needed for a trip that didn't happen on United. I learned from this experience to only use American Express for travel because you talk to a real person, they will help you with options, and minimize stress. If I need to contest a charge--done. The ball is in the other person;s court (like airbnb would've been). Since I booked through Visa--it was my problem.

We just booked 2 international trips with AXP travel and it was a joy not having to figure it out and be a logistics expert. Plus I also have some protection using the card for travel benefits.

We use American Express travel. I love them.

Never thought of AMX. thanks!

This thread had me reaching back into my dim, dark 76 year old past and realizing that I have never used a travel agent in the way people describe here. Not even in 1977 for my first trip to Europe which was about 4 months long. I guess that's kind of odd for someone my age.

The closest things to that are trips/tours through the travel services provided for military and civilian employees of the US Army in Europe in the 1980's, and of course the Rick Steves tours I've taken.

I've done the planning and logistics for all our and my solo trips. Most recently that was for 2.5 weeks in Wales in August following the Rick Steves Best of Ireland in 14 Days tour.

My dirty little secret is that I like the planning and working out the logistics. By doing that, I'm well-informed if something goes wrong and can confidently deal with the adjustments that need to be made.

Or maybe I'm just a control freak! 🤔

We had a now-retired travel agent we used often over many years. We always knew where we wanted to go, but she helped immensely in booking flight itineraries that were complicated (layovers, multi-family) and could get seat assignments when we could not. Often she would let us know if there was a good fare sale going on. She would check in for us, and even called us once while we were in Europe (it was middle of the night back home) to tell us of a flight delay.

In the last few years she was there, her agency charged a flat fee of $50-75 pp to make flight arrangements. We miss her.

There are advantages to using a travel agency, all the more so, if you are well acquainted and familiar with a particular one. Admittedly, the last time I used a travel agency for a Europe trip was in 2007. I was too lazy (and busy too) to devote the time in dealing with the details. "Times change"....immaterial.

I will say that I used a travel agent for my March 2020 trip to Egypt and Jordan. Ultimately, I had to cancel 5 days before departure due to the shutdowns and border closures.

She was invaluable in that. She was the one dealing with all the cancelations and insurance and refunds. She spent hours and hours on hold as everyone was canceling. I didn't have to. That, to me, is worth her weight in gold.

Over here in the gov't/corporate sector we've been getting shmoozed for the last couple of months to use the approved travel agencies for our personal as well as business travel arrangements -- they've been offering us perks and little freebies and bonuses. I think maybe the big travel agencies are not going to go down without a fight, and they are working out some deals with major clients.

Re AMEX travel, a long angry post on another travel site about how AMEX Travel has also been stripped and is now basically a phone bank in the Philippines that uses Expedia and Travelocity. Here I found it, read it before you decide.

https://liveandletsfly.com/american-express-platinum-travel/

OTOH, I booked a trip through them with miles and money and when I had to cancel, it took a few days of concerted effort but I got everything back.

AMEX travel, a long angry post on another travel site about how AMEX Travel has also been stripped and is now basically a phone bank in the Philippines that uses Expedia and Travelocity. Here I found it, read it before you decide.

I have never had a bad experience with AXP travel. In fact they found less expensive tickets than what was on the airline website. Plus they got us seats, i get email updates on changes, and they do the logistics. It is not a phone bank at an offshore call center. I checked out this guys blog and either he got something mixed up-membership rewards is not platinum travel department, he's reporting second hand from someone else, or has some sort of bias. who knows? all I know is I go through AXP because they have the expertise and resources to plan and also get us out of a jam if need be. The OP is looking for options and this is one to consider.