I sincerely hope you will read my previous posts on this blog and I would love to have your comments as well! It's kind of a neat way to get some things said that there aren't always opportunities for-- plus I like to write so that's always fun!
I have something I would like to kind of vent about I guess and this blog is probably as good a place as any to express myself. Whether you are a valued client of mine or a potential customer who is thinking of calling me about a much needed vacation, it is important to me and to all travel agents everywhere that you understand something.
When you book a vacation package with a cruise line or tour operator directly and cut out the travel agent, well, for each ten instances, probably another travel agent bites the dust. More importantly you are hurting yourselves in the long run. If you get nothing else from this post, please know that the same suppliers that you are using to book directly are the ones we buy from and they do NOT, I repeat do NOT give you a better price than what we can give you. They are greedy but they are not stupid. They do not want to alienate travel agents. You are gaining something for someone by booking directly but not for yourselves by any means. When you book directly you are only enabling them to save the money that they would pay us for selling their products. You see they pay us from their bottom line. So there is no benefit to you whatsoever as the savings do NOT, I repeat, do NOT go to you. What you are forfeiting is much more substantial.
When you book without a travel agent you are giving up so many things. Most certainly knowledge and experience but more than that, the excellent service that an agent provides--at least this agent. When you go directly to a resort website or a cruise line website or even a hotel, they make everything look beautiful on their sites. Afterall why would they put some old ugly pictures on their website? They want you to come there so they can collect the money upfront and they don't always care about repeat business because there's someone else right behind you stepping off the next plane. Sad but true.
When you book directly with them are they going to take care of you before, during and after your travel? Who are you going to go to for questions and help along the way? Some "order taker" on the Internet? Travel agents are your advocates. At least this travel agent is. I am there for you every step of the way. If something does go wrong, I will fight for you afterwards. I will even continue to check rates after your deposit to see if the prices come down. No one in the world is going to do that for you at a cruise line or airline or hotel or the dreaded Internet! You see I do care about repeat business. It is my bread and butter. And I want referrals from happy clients. It's what makes my business grow.
I have traveled to so many places--at least 15 European countries, including Greece; China, Israel, more than 20 Caribbean islands, 38 states in the U.S. including Hawaii and Alaska and I have traveled many times to Mexico and consider myself a specialist in the Cancun and Riviera Maya area and the island of Cozumel. Every time I go I inspect resorts and hotels and have tours from the manager and take photos to share with my clients. I use many of these photos on my website and I also write reviews of many of the places I have traveled to. You can see more than 25 of my on line photo albums on www.snapfish.com
I have cruised 40 times, 15 times with Royal Caribbean alone. I share these same photos and reviews on my website. I believe I go way beyond the call of duty with sharing my personal experiences, knowledge and perspectives.
Many of you do what I call "price shopping" where you call 4 or 5 different agencies to get prices. This is a complete waste of your time as we all get the same prices from suppliers. But you have to compare apples to apples. If you are going to be a shopper then be a smart shopper. Ask questions and find out what is included in your vacation price and what is not. Are all of the taxes and fees included? How about resort service charges? How about transfers to and from the foreign airport? Do you know the difference between an "Inclusive" and an "All Inclusive" resort? Do you know what the island departure taxes are for each Caribbean island? Are they included in your package? What about surcharges and fees due to fuel increases and utility shortages? Do you know what is included in your cruise price and what is not? Do you know about shore excursion options and how to save money when you stop in the ports of call on a cruise? How about travel protection insurance? Are you absolutely sure what it covers and what it does not cover? PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ MY PREVIOUS POST ABOUT TRAVEL INSURANCE. YOU WILL BE SO GLAD THAT YOU DID.
The thing for you to do is find an agency you can trust and feel comfortable with. I have been in business for 14 years. I will share many things with you as long as you don't take advantage of me. If you are price shopping be good enough to tell me beforehand; not after I have worked for 12 hours or one week or even more on your package (at no fee I might add) and then you tell me you found a less expensive rate "on the Internet." Please understand that the reason it is less expensive is usually because many of these added costs were left off your package but they were included in mine. You can pay now or pay later. I have even had clients compare six night packages to five night packages and not know that they were quoted one less night than what they asked for!
And please don't make me work hard on your vacation and then say "Thank you, I will let you know" and then call the agency in the next neighborhood and tell them that "Eagle's Nest gave me a price of $2500. Can you beat that?" Any idiot can take a price and cut their commission by $50.00 and then steal the package from me after I did all the work. I don't ask you to give me part of your hard-earned income and I don't think you should ask me to give you mine. I work 12-14 hours a day to find something perfect for you and I don't believe I should have to give up part of my income by rebating my commission.
I will work for you just as hard as I can. There is nothing wrong with you checking prices from more than one source. But work with me and let me know what you are doing. Be honest with me about what is important to you in your vacation and the budget you are hoping for. Please don't tell me you can only travel on Sunday to Sunday and then tell me later that I lost the booking because you got a cheaper price for a different day. If we can talk to one another and develop a relationship then I know what you are expecting and I keep all of that information in my data base so the next time you call you won't have to repeat all that and start all over again.
Being a travel agency owner is one of the most rewarding things I have ever undertaken. But it is also one of the hardest things I have ever done. I don't mind hard work. Just please don't take advantage of me. Be open and honest with me from the beginning and you won't believe the benefits you will receive.
That has to be the most complete and frankly HONEST tutorial on a travel agent's position that I have ever read. I like to think most people will do the right thing if given all the facts. I wish I could hand a copy of what you have said here to every prospective client. Well done.
Posted by: Sharri Moore, CTA DS | March 07, 2008 at 12:08 AM