We could call ourselves frequent travelers. We don't come close to the ten million frequent flyer miles George Clooney's character in Up In the Air accumulated during his career, but we have added up some miles over the years. We know how to pack a bag, make it through security without any fuss, which airlines offer non-stop service to our frequent destinations, and which airports offer free parking. The boy is well traveled as well, experiencing his first flight at three weeks. So, when it comes to making travel arrangements, we rely on our travel professional, Shauna.
Often, Shauna and I work as a team. I look one place for good prices and she looks in another. Travel agents have access to information that the rest of us may not have access to. Or, I get the e-mail with the discounted PIN code and forward it to her so she can make our reservation. I have e-mailed her with our dining requests to be e-mailed back a list of our dates/times and confirmation numbers. I have called to see if we can change our dining time on our cruise because we want to book a Port Adventure that returns to the ship later and voila, it's done. She keeps track of our frequent flyer account numbers for various airlines so that when she makes a reservation for us she can attach it to the appropriate account.
When we take advantage of re-booking specials while cruising, we give her credit for the reservation and then she helps take care of the details. "Bounce back" offers at the Walt Disney World Resort, work the same and we give her credit for the booking. Then, if another offer or special comes along from Disney she can check to see which deal is the best and change our reservation. One year in March, there were three Disney discount specials happening simultaneously. We wanted to make sure we had the best deal. Shauna checked for us and indeed we did have the best deal saving us 42%. We couldn't have done that or known that without our travel professional.
In the days of internet and mobile devices, we can find ourselves working for the various businesses we are purchasing services from. For example, when I print my own boarding passes for an airline, I am now working for them instead of them working for me. Same holds true for making travel plans and reservations. That's one of the many reasons we use a travel agent. OK, I must admit, I love our travel agent, Shauna. She has helped us during winter weather warnings, delayed flights, and travel insurance claims. She has offered us just the right amount of assistance each time we have needed it and found us travel deals that we maybe couldn't have found for ourselves. Sure, I could go on-line and do it all myself, but I don't want to. My time is valuable just like everyone elses, so why not have a skilled travel professional in my corner?
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Interesting article! I have been wondering about whether to use an agent or not, and this certainly seems to make sense. Thanks for another great post.
ReplyDeleteMelanie,
DeleteWe have always been pleased with our travel agent and could not imagine booking travel without her. A friend of hers asked why after so many Disney trips that we are not able to do it on our own--basically, why do we still use her service. She quickly replied that we like the service and the discounts. So true! And, you are welcome! Thanks for reading!