Travel agent recommendations

Mariel,
Do your plans require you to use a travel agent? After two trips to Europe in the last two years, visiting multiple cities and flying open jaw + train travel, I've found that I can pretty much do it all myself. Plus, boards like these fill in many of the gaps and will open up different ideas for things to do, places to go, and ways to get there.

I agree with the above posts. Go on your own. Use a consolidator for your airfare and hotel. I have paid only $499 to London six nights hotel w RT air; Munich and Rome also very very inexpensive. Once there, I made my own sightseeing arrangements.

I only want to use an agent for flights. I find it incredibly time consuming to sift through all the multitutes of flight search engines, like sidestep, kayak, etc. Plus, I can't figure out how to book an open jaw trip online myself. Maybe someone has a tip for that? And I know buying directly from an airline is not a good idea because those agents never have access to the lowest fares. Let me repeat I am not interested in using an agent to plan the trip for me - I just want one who will book me the best flight and possibly rail pass. That's it. Thanks!

To book open-jaw flights on Sidestep or Kayak, click the radio button next to "multi-city." It's right above the "To" field. Enter one segment per line. To find the cheapest flights, avoid weekends (try for Tue/Wed/Thu flights) and check the option for "nearby airports."

Hello Mariel.
In my experience, I always got a much lower price for airline tickets by buying directly from an airline (internet, or telephone). It can be a price difference of more than $ 300.

Well, I haven't used a ta in many years, do everything online now, find I get better prices that way. Travel Agents have to get paid somehow, so they either book you with things that pay them commission( therefore you pay a higher rate) or they charge a flat fee. Here where I live ta's charge a flat rate for booking you an airline ticket.

Anyways, as already said, booking open jaw means just click on " multi city" and fill in blanks accordingly.

PS I would think that a student Travel Agency would be adept at getting best prices, students are not known for having lots of extra money are they.LOL

Mariel, I'm surprised you're having trouble finding a travel agent. Checking the Portland Yellow Pages, there are 13 pages of travel agents!

Rick recommends buying air tickets and car rentals through a TA, and I use the same method. I often book regional flights on my own, but for overseas flights (they're insured if purchased through a TA) I always use a TA. I also arrange car rentals and travel medical insurance at the same time (one stop shopping!).

For lodgings I sometimes use a TA for the first stop, but after that use guidebook listings and arrange those directly with the proprietor using the net.

As someone else mentioned, the agents (at least in this area) charge a flat fee for booking, but I find this is reasonable and it usually saves me a lot of time. In the past my TA has found flight deals that I couldn't find when I was searching on the net, which has saved me some money! I use BCAA as my TA, as there are additional benefits for members.

Good luck!

Are you a AAA member? Their travel agents (at least in my area) are usually very good. And members get good discounts.

Thanks Ken - I think I found a good lead. I agree with your travel methods.