Using a travel agent or not??

For you Margaret, the travel agent is best. Sounds like you need or like a little hand holding and there is nothing wrong with that. If you have someone you like and she does a good job, use her.

Its all a matter of personal preference. Personally, unless it is a really complex itinerary, I don't think I need one. Depending on where you travel, not so much in Europe as in other parts of the world, a travel agent may be necessary. For example, flights on Vietnam Airlines (which I am using this fall) MUST be booked through a travel agent...

Our travel agent that used to save me a lot of money, quoted a price $300 higher than I got directly from the airline. If you need hand-holding, use an agent. If you are looking for the best fares, compare them on-line.

Rick says "a good travel agent is worth their weight in gold." Unless you are comfortable planning your own trip, I'd say use the agent again. Yes it has its costs, but as the previous poster noted, it can be cheaper than doing it yourself and if things go wrong, your travel agent can save you a lot of headaches.

That said, I've never used a travel agent. But I am an obssesive planner and I enjoy doing the research myself, and have a lot of time to do it. So really--it depends on your personal style. But is a good agent worth the expense? Absolutely.

I haven't used one in many years( maybe 15 or so ?) .

All you need is a pad of paper and a pen, and some free time.
I have all three.

I just keep surfing around the net, write down the prices I find on various sites, and compare.

Anyone can do this, but, it is not for everyone. As I said, it can take time, and patience. I love doing it , sort of an easter egg hunt, I am looking for the " treasure" ,, and it is part of the pre trip anticipation for me. For some people ,well, you said it, they are " scared to pieces" ,, now, that doesn't sound like fun.

Keep in mind you could try both. Look up and see what prices you can find. Find what you think is the lowest. Then , go to a TA and ask her to find her lowest price. If she gets one lower , go for it. If she doesn't then you can do one of two things. Either go ahead and book the flight you found on your own, or you could tell her you found this price on a flight , and can she get it also and then book with her.

Here most agents take an extra 50 bucks to book tickets, I use that for more wine and book my own. LOL

I will say, if one is booking a very eloborate itinerary ,, and travelling on airlines you have never heard of,, then may be a TA would be best.But, for a straight round trip ticket to any major Europeon city ,, why bother.

Hi Margaret,
Is there a time this next week that we could go to lunch? Afterward we could go to my place and I'd show you how I find relatively good deals. Although we have some wonderful travel agents in our valley, I have learned to plan our trips just as well if not better (less expensive).

I have never used a travel agent in 40 years of flying around in work and pleasure, etc. Only exception, I went to Israel last November which is almost necessary to use a travel agent there...with the tours and all.

I used a travel agent once.....She convinced me into not going to a city I wanted to see.
Looking back, I was disappointed that I listened to her and have since done everything on my own.

Margaret,

The method I generally use for flights to Europe is to research the flights I want on the internet, and then book these through a Travel Agent. I usually fly open-jaw to Europe, and want to be able to choose the time of arrival, arrival & departure airports, etc. I try to focus on charters such as Air Transat as the price is generally better, but I've used Air Canada in the past also.

There are several reasons I like to book through a travel agent:

1.) Flights booked through a TA here in B.C. are covered by the Travel Assurance Fund so if the airline has "difficulties" (as happened with Zoom Air a few weeks ago), I'm guaranteed to get my money back, if the credit card firm won't cover it.

2.) I've found from past experience that it's been a good idea to "double check" my flight arrangements. Since my trips usually involve at least 2-3 flights each way, the TA has been able to suggest more efficient and faster connecting flights.

3.) If there are problems at any time, the TA will be much better able to offer help if the flights were booked with them.

4.) My TA is a "full service" agency, so I can get travel medical insurance, etc. at the same time.

I often book regional flights on the net, however for transatlantic flights I alwasy use a TA. This is a practise that even Rick recommends!

Good luck and happy travels!

When I'm planning a relatively uncomplicated itinerary, I do it on my own. But I have a terrific travel agent who books my work-related travel, and I don't hesitate to call her when I have a trickier itinerary. For example, suppose you want to break a journey up and spend a couple of days in the city where the connecting flight is--say, Seattle to New York and New York to Milan. I think that if you book online, you have to book it as two separate flights, which will be a lot more than if you booked from Seattle to Milan, changing planes in New York. But my travel agent has booked me that route with a three day layover and saved me lots of money over using travel websites (and being in New York for three days was very much worth it!) Maybe there is a way to do that cheaply on Orbitz, Kayak, Travelocity, etc but I dont' think so.

The other advantage to having a travel agent is that you have someone in your corner when things go wrong who can straighten out your problems while everyone else is hassling with the airlines. Two examples: last year a Seattle-Denver-Austin flight ran into trouble when the Seattle leg was late leaving, which would have made me miss the last flight out of Denver for Austin. I got on the phone with my travel agent, and she took care of rebooking me onto a Chicago flight that got me into Austin that night. Another time I had booked Seattle-Philadelphia-Paris, and the Philadelphia airport was having weather issues, so she got me on an alternate flight that got me to Paris actually a little earlier than originally scheduled. Not bad for 50 dollars!

I don't use travel agents.

One of my previous employers gave us travel dollar bonuses. They had to be used through the company's in-house travel agency. I found I had to do all the research for the agent, then they charged me a ten percent service charge because most of the places I wanted to visit or stay didn't offer commission to travel agents. Financial arrangements are different now but the research part of it still holds true. The more complicated the travel plans get, the less I want a travel agent because I'll have to research it myself anyway.

Anyone who is competent using search engines online will find prices at least as good as their travel agent will find and are more likely to find bargains.

It's hard to get a travel agent to understand I am willing to look at different departure dates, times and airports to get a good deal. Only I know how much it's worth to me to change a date, departure time or airport. If I tell an agent I want the cheapest flight, she might not tell me I can get a direct flight vs. one stop for an additional $20 or that I could save $200 per ticket by flying out of Baltimore vs. Dulles.

My travel style is to get off the beaten path and stay at budget accomodations. Travel agents aren't well schooled in that type of travel.

I also like to look at lots of options before I decide. Travel agents generally give you the package you asked for rather than choices.

I would say that the only real advantage to using a travel agent in Western Europe is if you want someone else to do the research. There's such a wealth of information out there on the major sites in western Europe that, in my humble opinion, anyone can plan their own trip, even a multi-destination trip. A travel agent might be able to "save" some money on an airline/hotel bundle... but you're often "saving" money at an expensive hotel, rather than finding a smaller, cheaper place on your own.

The one destination in Europe where a good travel agent is very important? Russia! This country has a real affinity for byzantine red-tape, and sometimes, the only way to navigate the bureaucracy (which is sometimes not even available in English), is to hire someone who knows the system.