Planning a holiday is exciting, but to the unseasoned traveller, it can be an enormously daunting task. This person might get advice from their friends to visit websites like Booking.com or Tripadvisor. Sites like these help travellers find the best accommodation or flights at the click of a button. But the amount of information available could very easily confuse rather than help someone with minimal travel experience.
An inexperienced traveller could benefit much more from a more traditional method of booking a holiday – the travel agent. These professionals are still plentiful in their numbers, despite the presence of the internet, and they can assist you before and even during your holiday. Pick the right one and you’ll have an incredible resource.
Finding a good travel agent
The most obvious clue as to whether you are dealing with a reputable agent is official certification of some sort. This could be a degree or diploma, a document to prove that they are affiliated with a travel and tourism body, or any other documents vouching for the fact that they are indeed qualified and endorsed.
Aside from checking an agent’s credentials, the most sure-fire way of ensuring that your agent is the real deal is to ask friends for a reference. If you can deal with an agent that a friend has dealt with, and had great service from, you can hand over money with complete peace of mind.
Other than that, use common sense and trust your gut. Don’t, for instance, hand over cash and be wary of surprise costs cropping up.
Travel made easy
Once you’ve gotten into contact with a reputable travel agent, you can start planning your holiday. You’ll begin to realise the value of the travel agent fairly quickly, because:
You’ll be able to access a wealth of information. Just like other professionals, a travel agent does their job because they are trained in it and passionate about it. Travel agents like to travel themselves, so your agent has most likely been where you’re planning on going. This means they have first-hand experience, which will prove invaluable when putting together your itinerary. Ask them for ideas and suggestions; they might bring an attraction to your attention that you have been unaware of.
Travel agents are connected. Because travel agents deal with hotels, resorts, cruise ships and the like on a daily basis, they’ve built relationships with these suppliers. These relationships mean your travel agent can negotiate better deals and rates than you ever could have. They’ll also know about specials on flight prices that are not available to the average person, not even on the internet.
Travel agents can help with the nitty-gritty. International travel is not simple. At the very least you’ll need a passport and insurance. But you might also need a visa, health documents, an invitational letter…and that’s just the start. Each country has their own requirements, but with a travel agent at your side, you don’t have to do the research yourself. The agent will be able to tell you exactly what’s required to gain entry into the UK or Australia, or any other popular international travel destination.
A travel agent can help you during the holiday too. Very few holidays are without an emergency of sorts, but a travel agent can help when one strikes; you’re not left alone. They can assist when flights are delayed, hotels have lost a booking or dispense advice on hospitals, should it be necessary.
There really is very little you have to take care of yourself when you’ve enlisted the help of a travel agent. This leaves you to concentrate on the easy tasks, like ordering duty free liquor and deciding what to wear while on your holiday. You’ll enjoy the experience so much that you’ll book your next trip the minute you get back home.
Terrence is a reader, writer and researcher. He’s also an avid traveller and visit faraway countries as often as he can.