Do Travel Agents Work for You.

For us...........NO. Why pay someone to do what I can do myself and save the middle man fee.

That said, I have a hubby who travels a LOT and for the last 25 yrs I have managed all of our personal and business travel plans. I am familiar with the ins and outs of air, car and hotels. I've managed international, Hawaii and US arrangements.

I work directly with American Airlines and Southwest Airlines websites. We like Alamo car and the Hilton family of hotels. I negotiated a corporate rate myself with Alamo and Hilton because we are frequent travelers. I do all my bookings on the websites.

If you do use a travel agent, they should be your advocate for the hotel, car and air...however in most cases, if you run into an issue you are on your own.

I see you are in Ft. Worth which is SW and AAir HQ. They are both easy to work with, most especially SW. I change flights all the time with SW.

AAir will change flights for you, for a fee MOST of the time. Sometimes if you check with the agents, find out if the flight is full and fly standby. My hubby does that with AAir. We've never paid bag fees or paid to go standby. Maybe it is because hubby is platinum member and as far as SW goes, we get a free ticket award about once every 8 weeks.

You negotiate a lot of things yourself , just do your homework, approach the representatives in a calm , respectful manner. Don't stop when 1 rep says no, call back get another rep....it is amazing how the reps differ on decision making...most of the time, you will find someone to negotiate with you.

If you feel uncomfortable making your own arrangements, then by all means, get help. I'd forgo the insurance... just more $ out of your pocket, unless of course you are not firm with your dates, etc.

Best wishes.

Travel Agents do work for you as they are suppose to be providing you travel services. Yes, her commissions may be impacted BUT she should be doing all the reserach for you and letting you know what airline change fees are involved as well as the hotel's ccancellation/change policies.

The $150 change fee per person is correct for changing a non-refundable ticket. This fee is in addition to any changes in the fare itself. For example, if your orignal non-refundable fare was $300 at the time of booking and the fare for the changed flight is $400, you would have to pay the extra $100 for the fare and another $150 for changing the fare. So in total, it would cost $250 to change to the ne flight. Again, this is all information the travel agent should know and provide to you.

As others suggested, you can easily book vacations for yourself through the plethora of websites. However, if you don't have the time, need some help in finding the best deals, need recommendations on destinations or activities, then a travel agent can be very useful. Also, there are good travel agents that DO NOT charge fees for their services. My mom happens to be one so in the future feel free to contact her at ____@____.com or visit her website at http://www.ytbtravel.com/home.aspx?wa=andthensometravel.

Hope you have a great vacation!

personally i think travel agents are a waste of time and money - and i used to want to be one! you can do everything they do by getting on the internet. and whatever they may save or special "deals" they find, is negated by their fees. next time i suggest doing it yourself. this time, however, it's too late for that. all you need to do is call the airline. it doesn't sound like you've traveled much or dealt with airlines, but to change your ticket now will most certainly cost you out the yin yang...unless you bought fully refundable tickets which are thousands of dollars. the airline will explain all of this, just call their 800 number. save yourself the stress of dealing with a middle man and get the answers yourself.

I am a Travel Agent so maybe I can help you make sense of what you are wanting to do. Let me ask you first did you take trip insurance? If you had taken it and it was cancel for any reason you could have done that and then rebooked the vacation however it would have been at today's prices. Then you would have just been out the cost of insurance.

As Travel Agents we work with the airlines but have no control over their fees Anytime whether you book it, or a Travel Agent books it the airlines charge to change a flight most $150pp. this is even if you use miles. Before August you could fly stand by on a same day flight but now the airlines charge you $50.

As far as the resort and coming home early if you book a package usually you are getting a much better price than booking in seperately so probably there will be no refund.

No agent wants unhappy clients but as consumers you need to be aware of what the airline rules and hotel rules are for cancellation before you book something. In this day and time of travel there are usually penalities for changes. Feel free to call the airlines or I will be happy to answer any questions that you have.
Thanks
N. Cox
WE ALL NEED Vacations
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I am not sure, I never use them. The $150 is about right to change a flight, but other than that it is always cheaper to buy yourself online.

Not sure but I stopped using them several years ago and don't miss them or the cost they charge.
Did you purchase travel insurance? If so you should be able to pull out of the trip with a refund, if not I think you are stuck with your trip.
Do it yourselves online next time would be my advice.
C.

Having worked for the airline for years in management, there was a switch in how the airlines paid travel agents. It made it almost non profitable for them to stay in business. Thus, many good ones left for another occupation. I haven't been able to find a good one myself for those times when you want an experienced person to help you find the right spot to go for you and warn you about the disadvantages, disadvantages, etc.

Like the others said, the fees for changing flights are from the airline not the agent. Also, I heard that some or one airline now charges a fee for stand bying on a different flight. I think the agent should have warned you about any fees and asked if you still wanted her to change your arrangements.

If you get one again, perhaps you can ask those questions up front: what do you do and not do.

One agent I used to help me select a train trip across the Canadian Rockies was a waste of time. She had no answers and didn't want to research them. She was mature and said she'd been in the business for years. (Painting her fingernails no doubt)

If anyone on here gets great service from an agent, we'd all love to know who it is and how to reach them for those times when we don't want to do all the research ourselves.

you can standby on same day in earlier flight without any charge.

I've never had a travel agent add fees for services. My sister used to be a travel agent. They make their money from the airlines and places they book you into. So really it's a free service for you.

However, your travel agent sounds like he/she isn't doing a good job. My agent always gets back to me right away and finds me the best deals. (The airline is the one charging you the fee for changing your flight. They do this routinely.) I think you need a different travel agent. Someone who is more attentive to your needs.

we paid full price for a cruise because we have medical issues and needed assigned seats on a flight and special room accomodations.
she did not give us any benefit. when there was trouble, we were on her own with each problem.
i will keep using vacationstogo and get my discount.

I took a 2-week trip to Europe this summer with my Mom who is 79 and has mobility issues. We used a husband/wife team of travel agents. They seemed to be able to filter out a lot of info we didn't need; they found us good places to stay that Mom could handle. I am afraid I would have goofed something up royally had I tried to do it online.

Some of the other responders make it sound like the agents charged them a fee. Ours did not. It is my understanding that agents make their money from the places they book you into, the airlines you take, etc.

Whether you can get a refund or not depends on what kind of trip insurance you bought, I think.

I do think your agent owes you a response to your emails, either to say "That's your problem, honey" or "I am working on it" or whatever.

The $150 to change flights may well be legit, especially since it is so close to your departure date.

I think next trip I would look up stuff online, then visit an agent with info inhand, and ask if they could do better.

I hope you still have fun on your trip!

K. Z.

"Travel Agents Do It Free" was a cute bumper sticker in the 80's. Because, like then and now................there is no charge to use them.
If you are simply flying from Point A to Point B, by all means buy a ticket online. But if you want the EXPERIENCE and KNOWLEDGE of someone who has traveled abroad for your 10 trip of Europe or Hawaii find a nice mature Agent.

The flight change charges sound legit, but your travel agent stinks!!! We always use one for our family travel, even when we're going to the same resort we go to every year and could easily book ourselves. We like the convenience of having someone else do the legwork and take care of the sort of things like having to come back a day early. You are NOT getting good service and you should absolutely be able to get an answer from her. I would put your questions in writing and fax it to her office. Address it to her supervisor if she has one, but even if she does not, she won't feel too comfortable knowing you are making a record of her lousy service. What makes it even worse is if you don't come out and say how bad her service is, just state matter of factly that you have e-mailed her twice about this issue, and you are still waiting for a response.

I think its incredibly sad how the service within the travel agency industry has declined. No excuse, but they most likely have an "I don't care attitude" since booking travel became more accessable to the public via the internet and their services aren't quite as valuable. This means they aren't getting the amount of commissions and trips and perks they used to, and without the trips, that isn't a job much worth having, because you certaintly don't make much doing it. There still is no excuse for bad service though. This lady sold you your vacation - she is responsible for following up on every single detail of the trip for you, and should be doing it before you even ask! That's how it was in the days I was a travel agent. I worked as an agent for about 8 years - worked for first a Mom & Pop type agency then for the much larger American Express, and I was a vacation & cruise specialist, so I know how things used to be. Honestly I got out when I saw things starting to go to the internet. I knew the industry was going to change for the worse.

I don't know what kind of agency you booked with - was it just this woman working our of her home, or is there a manager/supervisor around? If there is a supervisor I would ask to speak with them and not take no for an answer. You should let the supervisor know what the problem is, let them know about the service you are receiving from the agent and how unhappy you are about it. Worst case scenario he/she is as rude as the other one, but best case scenario you get your problem taken care of and could get a freebie like a room upgrade or something :)

And NO - you aren't supposed to be doing the research or calling the airlines. What the hec does she think her job is anyway? Definently find out who is in charge and speak with them - someone at that agency needs to handle this for you, and they need to know what's going on in there!

Good luck and I hope you get to have a good trip!

Let us know what happens :)