Advantage of having travel agent for flights, esp Brisbane

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  retiredfeline on 15/01/2013 - 10:23

  Not much in most cases. Make your own bookings.

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  Clivey In Space on 15/01/2013 - 11:26

  We recently got better flight prices to the UK and car hire in NZ, than what we could find ourselves. This is not always the case as previously our experience was the other way around.

  With our recent car hire in NZ, the travel agent price was $20 per day less than what we could find online, booking direct or using reciprocal motoring membership.

  Travel agents still have their use. Just treat them as another resource in finding information and getting pricing. The one we used was proactive and told us to hold off making any bookings at the time as they knew a travel expo for agents was coming up and they usually have further discounts during this period.

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  Holysmoke on 15/01/2013 - 22:52

  They could also assist with airline refunds if you miss your flight for whatever reason.

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  Pumpkin_rrr on 16/01/2013 - 10:05

  Thanx all for your sharing. Will ponder over this for our NZ trip.

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  Flover on 16/01/2013 - 20:40

  Its great sharing and lot of helping material had posted there.

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  Pumpkin_rrr on 18/01/2013 - 11:41

  I recall reading something like "Book Now Pay Later", could be one of those airline newsletters. I had been searching frantically including Qantas but no success. Please tell me I am not dreaming.

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  Derrick Crane on 20/01/2013 - 13:49

  Haven't used a travel agent for years. By all means research a price on-line and see if they can beat it.
  Flights may occasionally be cheaper but I don't think they would be better for accommodation and they certainly have enormous markups on travel insurance.

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  T Info on 21/01/2013 - 09:26

  If an agent books flights can you delay the payment/ticketing ? This depends on the rules of the fare, some give 24 hours, some 72 hours, some fares have a particular date set, and for others its so many days before travel commences that full payment must be made and tickets issued, its not the agent that sets these. Its the Airline.

  All this comes about due to using a full reservation system that goes deeper into the airline inventory than web based systems. We can compare real time fares and flights across many different airlines at once on a neutral screen. Almost all web based airline systems demand instant payment. Remember these were set up to advantage the airline, not to advantage the traveller.

  Other advantages using an agent. As someone mentioned, when things go wrong. Remember the Qantas grounding, the volcanoes in NZ and Iceland etc. Massive disruptions to flights. In these cases most agent groups will have disaster recovery plans, will have received a briefing from the airline(s) and will be busy re-booking their passengers whilst the DIY travellers will be waiting on hold on the phone. Meanwhile all the most desirable alternate flights will likely have been taken.

  Agents book millions, hundreds of millions of dollars even with many airlines and hotels, car rentals, cruises, tours etc. This gives us more leverage in many cases than a lone passenger spending a couple of hundred dollars in a one off booking. We have contacts further up the chain in most case who we can call to sort issues. We know the intricacies that go on behind the scenes in airlines and other travel providers.

  Also we are researching all sorts of travel related subjects day in day out. Chances are we will find more good value opportunities than most. Often we get advance notice that an airfare special will be happening and can advise clients. Specials often start at midnight so advance notice can give you a massive leg up. We share information with hundreds of other agents, who in turn get real feedback from the thousands or tens of thousands of travellers we advise or make bookings for.

  It comes down to personal choice and its a bit like doing tax returns. Most people should be able to do their own tax return, all the information is publicly available, yet most people pay a tax agent or accountant to either advise or process.

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  Pumpkin_rrr on 21/01/2013 - 13:17

  -2

  Thanks T.
  I always believe that we shoule leave the expert advice to the expert/professional. Hence all these agents: tax, travel, real estate…. But the challenge is always to find one that best suits. There are so many shonky ones out there that often result in waste of time and frustration. If you can PM me for one which you know would gladly appreciate.

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    retiredfeline on 21/01/2013 - 13:46

    But it also depends on the complexity of your problem. If you are a salaried person your tax affairs are simple so you can do your own tax return. Likewise if your travel arrangements are simple, just fly into a place, stay with relis or at the resort all the time, then go home, you can do your own bookings.

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      T Info on 21/01/2013 - 18:42

      Sure for simple point to point single carrier bookings most people are capable of doing, although some prefer to get others to do it for them for a variety of reasons.

      For long haul or multi sector travel there is usually no advantage booking your own. There is no upside and maybe some downside. Only published fares can be booked online, not nett fares and also most interline bookings are either problematic or not able to be booked via the web. Airpasses are not usually able to be booked online and also if you have domestic sectors in connection with international travel (interline) its either usually difficult or impossible to ticket onto one ticket, which has many advantages in many cases. So you miss out on many options, you pay instantly you make the booking, the price is generally the same or higher, and you have no-one to assist other than the airline resi who may or may not even speak english. The airline is not likely to tell you that a special will be starting tomorrow or next week or that xx airline has something more suitable for you or a better price. And not everyone wants the absolute lowest base fare, many people have other requirements, certain times of departure or arrival, least stops or least hours in the air, preferred aircraft type or seating.

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        retiredfeline on 21/01/2013 - 18:59

        +1

        The last few years before I gave up on travel agents they were amicable but ineffectual, unable to do any better than the best option I had already identified.

        I could see from the tactics that the process of disintermediation was well under way.

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  vlad777 on 21/01/2013 - 16:49

  FlightFox is your best friend for such stuff.

  Start a contest (it is better to specify some price to beat), wait few hours or couple days, choose best option then book by yourself following step by step instructions provided. If nobody beat your price you could ask for refund.

  Use this link to get 25% discount of contest fee http://bit.ly/WHDHKt

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  Pumpkin_rrr on 07/02/2013 - 12:42

  Just book our returned tickets to NZ with Virgin and note as below:

  • Airfare Oz-NZ in AUD$
  • Airfare NZ-Oz in NZD$
  • 2 lots of AUD$10 "booking fee"
  • 2 lots of NZD$10 "booking fee"
  • 4 lots of credit card's "international transaction fee" on the NZD payments

  Whilst I am amazed with how Virgin accumulates their wealth, I am just wondering if the agent had sold us the tickets, would we have avoided both the "booking fee" and "international transaction fee"?