It's been a long while since using a Travel Agent

[Paddy55]

Haven't used a TA since they c**ked up a some flights to Europe for Mrs Paddy and her kids in 2009.
I enjoy doing the research on flights, xfers, hotels and side-trips and Mrs Paddy has been happy with my efforts ever since.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Well as I only use points for for international flights, I have little need for a TA for that.

With my land arrangements I am a bit quirky, and so it is hard hard to brief someone for that as well.

 

[Katie]

I use a TA for all intl family flights, sometimes for mine, sometimes not.

A big bonus of the TA for me is he can get me/us the preferred amount of FLounging time, while the QF website only offers short connections through SYD or MEL.
Also, he just saved us $2k by routing home from an into trip through MEL vs SYD. This was not available online. We have to overnight in MEL, but that will still save us at least $1500. And we'll still back to BNE around the same time as if we'd gone via SYD.

 

[RAM]

I stopped using TAs in 1994 (yes pre-internet) as the journey maker/acquirer. I found even in those days that I could book flights for work (40+ rtn domestic yrly), accommodation etc at around 40-50% the cost charged (at the worst that is) and GET THE TIMES I WANTED. At first the senior mgmt (& HR of one of the 4 Banks) made it clear that although I was strictly not breaking any rules that they did not like it. Precedents are never liked in bureaucracies I suppose.

The arguments that came down the line to me we:
- what happens if you're delayed and need to change flights? I smile at the airport and ask politely if I have not rung the IVR already.
- You can't possibly get better prices than our corporate agent? Well, here's my travel costs for the quarter and here is my bosses (we always did a double act so there was someone at meetings to pull out our feet if needed). It had been a particularly good quarter - sitting on same plane, next to each other (just could not get away from him) and same accom etc - my costs were around 34% of his. Next quarter I did the bookings for him as well until he finally twigged that I always seemed to get the better rooms (same cost just better location).
- What if everybody did this? Think how much kudos you'd get for cutting costs without cutting staff (for a change - thought but not said).

So it was officially permitted secretly. Certain HR staff still got their free weekends away in Aust, NZ and a couple of overseas locations as corporate TA still got well fed.

Even before then, if in Finance and had a Bloomberg terminal you could beat ANY TA there was. It had a page (= function) called FLY. There were about 8 permutations of what you could do. Think of it as multi-city on steroi_s, was so user friendly (imho the online sites still do not do as good or as easy a job). It had every flight in the world that you could buy a ticket on (I never managed to find one that wasn't there). For US travel for example you could easily route the MC over days through the hubs you preferred without trouble straight from the start.

Modern times - since then I've used TAs as an error check and wholesaler access service. Provided there are sufficient seats available (on a itinerary I have created) I then call 2 or 3 to alert them to my incoming email with the Matrix booking codes, give them 30 minutes (easy I) or an hour (more involved I) and am totally upfront with them:
I can book this right now for $XCCC, I have emailed it to 2 other TAs and I would like you to get back to me by 10.30am with your one and only so make it your best offer please. I will not take a revised better offer as it is not fair to the other TAs.

On a couple of occasions (maybe 3-4 out of nearly 20 bookings) I have received a better offer (no not $1 or $10) but up to low hundreds (I think it was) better per person for Eur Rtn. With 5 travelling it is a great bonus equally knowing that they cannot beat your price feels good as well. Some of the other times the feedback I got was that the fare classes were not available to them (even though I was not going direct to the airline but through online non-airline booking site). One of the TAs also warned of the recent change to their company policy - charging a CC fee on the bookings (for V or M not just A). Makes their job of beating even harder.

If I had never been to a destination in a developing country then perhaps I would select one of them as the journeyman (only if AFF failed me I suppose).

 

[RooFlyer]

I stopped using TAs in 1994 (yes pre-internet) as the journey maker/acquirer. I found even in those days that I could book flights for work (40+ rtn domestic yrly), accommodation etc at around 40-50% the cost charged (at the worst that is) and GET THE TIMES I WANTED. At first the senior mgmt (& HR of one of the 4 Banks) made it clear that although I was strictly not breaking any rules that they did not like it. Precedents are never liked in bureaucracies I suppose.

<snip for space>
Modern times - since then I've used TAs as an error check and wholesaler access service. Provided there are sufficient seats available (on a itinerary I have created) I then call 2 or 3 to alert them to my incoming email with the Matrix booking codes, give them 30 minutes (easy I) or an hour (more involved I) and am totally upfront with them:
I can book this right now for $XCCC, I have emailed it to 2 other TAs and I would like you to get back to me by 10.30am with your one and only so make it your best offer please. I will not take a revised better offer as it is not fair to the other TAs.


If I had never been to a destination in a developing country then perhaps I would select one of them as the journeyman (only if AFF failed me I suppose).

If it works for you, then good. But its hardly a way to engender a relationship between you and the TA and if they are busy, you'll go towards the end of their 'to do' list and it will probably affect how much 'service' they give you.

I have a TA I've used for years; she knows my wants and dislikes, presents me with several alternatives for each journey, with prices (if, say I want to travel to Calgary, where there are permutations of connection times, airlines and routes) and I choose (if the client is paying, she knows the client's parameters). Even with domestic, if the client is asking for the trip, she gives me choices.

A couple of times she has suggested international fares which are a bit more than the other choices - when I query, there is always a good reason and sometimes, I've chosen it.

I don't get charged a booking fee - what I pay is the fare the airlines charge, and she takes her fee out of it. Mind you, she does charge a booking fee for the client I do work for

Travel is a complicated business; I think having a good relationship with a good TA (the person, not his/her firm) is a tremendous asset. And I mean a good TA - both the person and the firm; not the 'cheapest prices' bucket shop places.

 

[Foreigner]

I think having a good relationship with a good TA (the person, not his/her firm) is a tremendous asset.

I had a relationship which I thought was good. She worked for Flight Centre. She moved once to another store and I followed her. Then moved again. I wasn't bothered.

I reckon relationship should be with the business. Like a bank. I don't move my account everytime my relationship manager moves or leaves.

 

[MissBurrill]

I have a friend who is a TA. When Qantas grounded the A380 fleet he had a client who was booked in J on an A380 flight from LA back to Oz. There was a small window where the TA was easily able to switch the client to a 747. This client was able to get get back to OZ while his colleagues were stranded for days. The colleagues were impressed with the initiative my friend had shown and gained alot of business including increasing the number of CL members he looks after. This friend runs his own travel agency here in Qld.

 

[vmile]

I actually used 'our' travel agent two weeks ago for the first time in nine years.
I had found an 'interesting' fare on ITA Matrix, that would not come up on the airline's booking engine, or any of the usual suspects.
So I printed off the fare structure, and sent it to 'our' travel agent. (And she has always been a very good and helpful agent).
She got back to me, advising me that she had spoken to the airline concerned, and that particular fare was only available if purchased in France.

So no go, and I thanked her for trying.

But I had a think about it, had a play with a few different booking engines, and with playing around with some parameters using Orbiz, was able to book nearly what we wanted.

Now Orbiz have a short no charge cancellation window, so I told 'our' agent I had been able to make the booking and if she could get it for us she could have the booking.

Within 20 minutes she had us booked on exactly the flights we wanted, at the same price. I cancelled Orbiz (very impressed with their system) and she got the business.

It cost us an extra $250 in currency fees after cancelling the Orbiz booking, but we got exactly the flights we wanted, and our agent made a commission.

However i did have to explain to our agent what a positioning flight was and yes, we really did not want to fly direct.....