Five reasons to use a travel agent:
ANN RUPPENSTEIN
COVER PHOTO/ MARK MANDIC
In celebration of the 10th annual Travel Agent Day, Travel Courier looks some of the reasons why booking travel through an advisor is the right way to go.
PERSONALIZED SERVICE
For Amanda Clarke of Robert Q Travel in Woodstock, Ont., one of the key things she offers as an agent is personalized service.
“I ask questions to get to know my clients. By better understanding my clients wants and needs, I can be sure to offer options that suit those desires. It also helps to serve that same client when they are travelling — if I know a bit about my client I can better assist with flight disruptions, family emergencies, etc.,” she says. “I think there is great value in having a travel agent as you navigate the endless options for travel, saving time is a big one. This also means the great possibility of saving money as an agent can show you the value from one option to the next.”
Similarly, Charlene Altenberg of Char’s Hummingbird Travel in Saskatoon, Sask., says she it’s about relationship building and the human connection.
“I feel like my clients trust that I have their best interest at heart, and building that trust is very important to me,” she says. “When clients contact us for advice on planning their vacation, we are objective, and based on our research, and experience we can offer options for the best product suited to what they are looking for, whether it’s a quick five-day getaway, or a month long bucket list trip.”
Agnes Segeren-Pethick, Blowes & Stewart Travel Group, Stratford, Ont., who has been in the industry for forty years, says agents add so much value as true travel professionals.
“The other value we have is that you can talk to us on the phone or come into our office and sit down with us,” she says. “When they need anything extra to book or need more information or sometimes just reassurance. I offer my clients appointment time so I can sit down and get to know them and their wants and needs while staying on budget.”
PEACE OF MIND
Katy Sapsford, Marlin Travel, Vernon, BC, believes the main benefit for clients is peace of mind.
“I always tell people that I am there for my clients before, during, and even after their trip to help with anything that may arise,” she says. “I think the current situation is helping to show people the value in working with a travel agent and those who booked themselves online are having to wait for hours on hold (something travel agents are experts at) and try to understand all the new and ever changing policies and regulations relating to changing and cancelling their trips in these unprecedented times.
TRAVEL EXPERTISE
Darren Prashad, branch manager and corporate responsibility representative at Merit Travel, Ottawa, believes firsthand knowledge is one of the key reasons to use an agent.
“We can tell you the best restaurants to go, best times to travel and how to find unique sites that we’ve been to,” he says.
That knowledge, says Kerry Wirkkunen Intermediate Travel Consultant CAA North & East Ontario, is priceless.
“There is no price you can put on knowledge, using an agent gets you at the hotel city centre rather than five miles away. Using an agent, they will be able to tell you to go to this little hole in the wall restaurant and it’s the best and most authentic culinary experience you’ll have,” she says. “It’s not just my knowledge that they will benefit from. One of the best parts of working at CAA NEO is if you have a question, there are dozens of other agents you can reach out to.”
Tracy Fiala, leisure advisor with Vision Travel Solutions, Calgary, says that knowledge extends across expertise and experience in destinations, tour companies, with complicated airline routings, and more.
“Changing reservations is easier done through an agent,” she adds. “Help with refunds and when things happen that clients need immediate assistance, if there is an emergency. And just someone to talk to or meet with throughout the entire journey of the trip from the planning stage to returning home.”
TRUSTED ADVICE & ADDED VALUE
Not only do agents look for deals, Scott Waldron, founder and personal travel manager at Gravitate Travel, TTAND, says agents also have relationships with the suppliers and preferred partners through which they can offer deals or added value to a booking.
“We are like walking libraries of destinations of the world, if they Google something about a destination, they don’t know what they don’t know, they simply get what they ask for,” he says.
“About 15 years ago I was working with a polar company here in Canada, and a client didn’t know about the change of physical airports in Buenos Aires (from International to Domestic) to get to Ushuaia to board their expeditions cruise. This gentleman booked on Expedia, which didn’t advise him that he should leave time, and he only heard this from another traveller three days before he departed Canada. It cost him over one thousand dollars to rework the flights on a return basis to allow the time it took to collect luggage, go through customs, transfer to the domestic airport from the international one and allow for check-in time and get on the second flight. Distance was about 45 minutes to 1 hour in good traffic. It comes to first-hand experience and knowledge.”
WELL ROUNDED EXPERTISE
Maureen Beaulne, senior travel consultant and Virtuoso member with Bon Voyage by Maureen/TPI, says the services agents provide can’t be summed up in a single word.
Beyond personalized service and in depth knowledge of clients and the industry, travel agent have direct access to BDMs and sales team with tour operators and cruise lines.
“As a member of a specific consortium, travel agents have access to buying power which results in better offers for the clients,” she says. “A travel agent has the client’s best interest at heart, someone who will work hours and hours on research for the perfect place for the client, someone that will work countless hours to come to the client’s rescue in time of need, one that will find the best deal for the client or the best bang for their buck, someone that will take calls or answer emails promptly, someone who will go the extra mile to make sure the client is getting what the client paid for, a person that will take the time to explain the importance of being well insured with a reputable travel company, a person that will include that special gift with the client’s package, a person that will put together a sail away party just so everyone can get together before they leave if travelling with a group of friends, send a personal note when the client returns from their vacation and so much more.”
