Travel Agents Say MoneySaving Is Immoral!

bs7

out of interest (and getting completely off topic)
is an independent Travel Agent likely to be able to match or beat flight prices or are they pretty much standard?

jellyhead

we used one last year, a woman working from home. don't know how we found her details, word of mouth i think. she could get flights cheaper than elsewhere. probably not a great deal cheaper but still cheaper. same flights as advertised in the brochure, and we couldn't find them cheaper anywhere else. we saved around £25 each but it was better than nothing and she was really nice, we had every confidence in her, she went out of her way to be helpful.

karenj

And another rip off from these travel companies, is the increasing use of 0870 telephone numbers! They weren't around when I worked in travel - in fact I've probably still got some of the geographical telephone numbers in my little black phone book!! Stick to booking on the net, it's far cheaper, more convenient and as long as they are ABTA/ATOL bonded, there's no worries.

peejay67

bs7 wrote:

out of interest (and getting completely off topic)
is an independent Travel Agent likely to be able to match or beat flight prices or are they pretty much standard?

I as an independent travel agent can use any ATOL flight company including hundreds of consolidators. We dont have a great mark up on flights so the concept of price matching is not as easy. However, because we are able to use so many consolidators it does give us the edge over other high street agents.

PJ

darrell

Keep it up mate.
Darrell

saveapenny

I went into HolidayHypermarket Sunday and asked for a price on the Riu Palace in Jandia...No problem she said but it will have to be tomorrow I will call you as they are closed now.....so off I went home. Sunday checked out the web (riu site medhotels alpharooms and flights) I got it to 1038 seaview for the 2 of us for a week in May.
Monday morning I got a call from the girls as promised who told me she had found the best deal on the hotel we wanted and it was working out to 1682 standard room
When I told her about the price I had found it at all she said was I was paying for the personal attention on a travel agent.
Now I dont know about you but for 600+ she would have to come away with me and wait on me hand and foot, wash and iron all the clothes when we got back, do the shopping,clean the house (after 2 teenagers) and wash the car.
Its thanks to guys like TravelMan and my friend Cheryl who can package these holidays at sometimes 1/2 the price we can now all take 2 holidays (or more)

tonys_3

Far be it from me to defend Travel Agencies,but I am surprised that Ceylon's comments have gone unchallenged.

The price of any service or product is determined by the number of people prepared to pay the asking price relative to the number of items for sale..It is simple economics.

That is why the first early Jersey royal potatoes are more expensive-they have no competition.It is also why strawberries are cheapest in summer-they all ripen at the same time,so loads of them and a limited shelf life.And that's why they are dearest in January.The January price is not a rip off just because it is more expensive than in August.Their are more costs involved,like growing them under glass with heating etc

The same for flights during school holidays.The airlines are anticipating full planes,
so are not prepared to discount those seats that they were prepared in the weeks before, when the planes were less than half full.By discounting then,they hoped to attract people to fly earlier in the month. Same with the hotels-and they may have to take on extra staff to cope with the additional customers,as well as incurring more costs such as laundry and having to increase food and drink purchasing for example which affects cash flow.

I know that the government and the press have been making noises recently about
pricing of holidays during peak times.This from a government that charges around 80% in tax on each litre of fuel-now that is a ripoff since motorists do not have the choice of going elsewhere to avoid paying those prices.Before the greens jump in-the current price is all about revenue raising,nothing to do with saving the planet.
And the press?They still charge full price for their newspapers over Christmas
and Bank Holidays even though it is a quarter of its normal size.Is there less news
over those periods?When those two put their own houses in order then they can have a go at others.Let him who is without sin.....

So Ceylon,if you want to travel at peak times,and having three children myself,I know there is little option at times, you have a few choices.

Try and book earlier in the year before the operators know what the take up will be. Or leave it to the last minute and hope that not all the seats/hotels are full and be flexible in where you go perhaps.

Little_John

Wow
I just signed up for this place after starting to read this thread.
I am not a travel agent but I spend 95% of my working life in Travel agencies. I am the IT guy, installing systems and fixing problems. But I get to see and hear what goes on. Also with my job I use compters and the internet so I know what is available online too.

All the work I do is for Independent agencies like Advantage, World Choice and some others . The only experiance of the other agencies I have is from booking holidays in the distant past.

It is clear from my work that the staff in the independant agencies know what they are doing, you go in and ask for a flight to the middle of knowhere and at least one of the member of staff will know which airline flies there and from which airports because they have been doing the job for most of their lives and have traveled on "educationals" a great concept. If you visit the large high street chains Thomas cook, lunn poly and co they are tied in to what they sell and generally wont offer you the best deal for you but the best deal that gives them the better commision rate. Thomas cook and JMC for this example Thomas and James M Cook Thomas sells as many of James's holidays as he can because James pays 15% commision. all the others may only pay 7.5% this is how you can haggle for the best prices the agent just eats in to his/her commision James still gets his share Thomas just gets a smaller share. It all depends on how much or little the agency wants your custom.

When it comes to the Independents they group together (Advantage and World choice) to speak to the tour opperators to get the better commision rates. This then allows them to give discounts but you need to remember that they dont get the huge 15% rates like the opperator tied agencies more like 5-10% i heard.

Some people in this world prefer to recieve quality of service and choice this is what you get when using an independant I personally am one of them. I book my holidays at customers agencies as I know them and know that they work hard to get the best deals. They will also pass knowledge on to the customer, ATOL members will put a package together making it a custom holiday for you that the large travel agencies would never do because it is time consuming and they have targets to reach. It is a good feeling that should somthing go wrong while you are away you can contact the travel agent and they will do everything they can to sort it out. Book your flights with easyjet and miss the flight you cant phone anyone and end up paying for another flight.

If you want a bargain and have the security book with an independant travel agency. If you have a day to kill walk down the highstreet and visit every agency there is, they all use the same viewdata booking system and get the same details it is the user who knows how to get the best out of the system that getts the bargains. Even I can go in to the Thompson TOP system and search the late deals but it takes real skil and knowledge to get the real deals out it. Im sure PJ and Chris know this and that is why they get 95% repeat customers and the other 5% come from word of mouth recomendations.

I just couldnt stop typing.

Thanks for your time
LJ

shuey

can you get paid to go on holiday?

Quasar

The more hackles are raised, the more MSE is being effective and therefore is doing a good service to the consumer.

My family has always had shops and labs, and we know the dynamics of profit-making, but we have always believed that the "screw 'em for every penny" is ultimately detrimental for the supplier as well as the customer.

The mentality of "profit no matter what" is the bane of modern society, and is the ugly face of capitalism. Please note that I am not a left-winger and do support a capitalist society, but with due restraints. The needs of the corporation (read profit) should not override the needs of the consumer (read individual human being).

To this end, I hope websites like MSE go from strength to strength.