Travel Agents Say MoneySaving Is Immoral!

pippa_h

As an ex travel agent I can see it from both sides - it's really hard to hit sales targets (the *only* way for agents to make any money) when people are haggling, but at the same time, I'm an ex travel agent as I was sick of being forced to oversell and rip people off in order to achieve sales targets. It's a crooked industry and they deserve the backlash.

clearvisor

scottishlizzie wrote:

Go Martin! I'm 100% behind you and I'm sure all other MSEers feel the same. If I were the Queen I'd give you a knighthood. I wonder if she visits the site? She certainly should.

I second that, think we should send her a copy to get her online,
Keep up the good work ,
Rowena

TRAVELMAN_2

I hardly think 'the whole industry is crocked & they deserve the backlash?' is deserved?

I'm sure some High Street Agents (owned by the big Tour Op's) ARE on targets & oversell....but what about the many good independants who do not work like that or Agents like me who use their ATOL licences to make packages that can even be cheaper than DAY?

One thing to bear in mind....what happens to your Holiday WHILST you are ringing round? On a popular date it can SELL OUT-what use is a further £20pp off if holiday has gone?

I've had at least 10 people during the year who've played this game (& before i get shot down I beleive that all should try & get the best price-within reason!) & called back to book AND THE HOLIDAY HAD GONE UP!

Now this does happen (supply & demand/fluid pricing-the morals can be questioned but remember it's the Tour Operators/Airlines, NOT the Travel Agents who change the prices) in busy times or on a popular Hotel.

I had a lady who wanted a 5* Hotel in Morocco, she haggled & haggled (I only had minimal margin left to play with) & I eventually gave her another £10 off. She promptly said 'thanks-I'll call you back' (I knew she'd be ringing more Agents). She did so one hour later-flight had GONE UP by £90 pp!!!

She was furious with this 'let me speak to your manager' 'I'll call the Airline'etc, in fact she was quite rude. My parting words to her were 'was it REALLY worth saving an extra £10 pp for your dream holiday?? I think not!'

I agree all should try for the best deals but as the above shows there are 2 sides to the coin. To my shame I enjoyed the fact she'd lost her holiday (!!) having wasted so much of everyones time & losing her holiday!!!

Shame on me....(!)

ash333

Everyone seems to be argueing hugely. Can we PLEASE just agree to disagree?!?!?!?!?!?


Ash333

saveapenny

I think both sides have very valid points.
1 as a customer ...Yes I also want the better deal but hate ignorance and stupid comments from a travel agent heres a couple examples why I dont go to the high street anymore.
Walked into one of the big high street chain and asked the young girl for more information on the Azores she smiled nicely and said "what resort are they in?" I looked at her blankly and she repeated herself and said "I cant find out more information unless you tell me where the apartments are" I didnt say another word and walked out...Now I aint paying for that kind of stupidity.

Another high street chain which I used for many many years refused to cash back travellers cheques because I had no ID ...That was just plain rude.

Now for the Travel Agents side.

I think the companies put the agents under far to much pressure to sell one brand (the flavour of the month who's paying the best commission) and if they were to be left alone without massive targets the customers would get a better deal the customers would come back year after year targets would be met. The travel agent is so lowly paid it is untrue I completed 3 years a college doing the old speedwing 1 2 and 3 and then did my ABTAC, When I finished I was offered a job with TC at a little over £90 basic a week and was told that could be made up to around 200 if I sold well.
So the pressure would have been to send any Tom !!!!!! or Harry to any cr** hole as long as I got the booking. I refused the job and didn't go into travel agency.

Yes get the best deal but if your not like me and spend hours doing research of your own spend that extra tenner for the advice of an INDEPENDENT travel agent

budgetflyer

Show me a travelagent that can book you a weekend in Benidorm for £60 each per couple ((2 of ) and I'll resign.
Thats what self packaging gets.Flights Fri to Sunday-£22.00 X 4 APT X each 2 nights £45 car hire £40
PRICE BREAKDOWN
FLIGHTS £ 22 Return https://www.Ryanair.com
Accom. £43 for 2 nights https://www.find-rooms.com
car hire £40 https://www.carjet.com

TRAVELMAN_2

Budgetflyer-as we've discussed before packaging up (DIY) IS the way to go & consumers who use an ATOL Agent such as ourselves CAN get v.good prices with the full protection ATOL offers....here goes!!!

PRICE BREAKDOWN-2 pax 2 nights (picked 12 December for Accom but same rate till March)

El faro Aparments-Benidorm (Poniente Beach)-32 euros nett-£28-20 (Marked up inc.our commision).
Flights-Murcia Airport-as per your example £42 total
Car Hire (Holiday Autos) £42 -less 10% (as we get good commision)-£37-80
£10 ATOL charge (towards ATOL licence)

Total-£118-ONLY £59 pp!!

So independant Travel Agents can in many cases BEAT the DIY prices &give full ATOL/ABTA protection with free Resort Rep/Office contact as well.

One of the main reasons we can better DIY is that the ATOL licence gives us access to ground handlers that give the lowest of the low prices (ie they supply Tour Op's with their bed stock) BUT the ATOL Agent will have to guarantee so many 'heads' during a business year to qualify for these rates.

I agree with Budgetflyer-DIY is one of the only ways to secure the best deals BUT if it can be done for the same/through an ATOL agent it affords a lot of protection.

As an example....wouldn't you feel safer if you'd been in Mexico during the hurricane if you had a 24 hour contact to your Travel Agent for help/advice?? Without this you'd feel quite vulnerable & scared. An extreme example BUT it does show the advantages. This is NOT a plug for business but it shows that a good ATOL Agent can still make their commision & get a better deal (in most cases) that gives you full protection!

Chris.... (to early for this-need cafeine!)

bazza1603

Hi,

I am a travel agent and the stories I can tell about people who attempt to book there own travel...

Only last week I saw someone pay nearly pay £1000 for a UK Copenhagen flight and our price was under £300 because she didnot know what she was doing.

I have seen people turned away from travelling and arrested because they havenot got Visa's correct. Visa rules can change depending on what way the tickets are issued for example.

I only deal with company travel. Only this week a huge company have started putting 100 percent of the travel via us, due to the amount of mistakes there travel bookers make when they do its themselves.

We also offer a 24 hour backup service to all passengers and will fight the airlines on your behalf when things go wrong. We have a specialist that knows travel law and rules inside out. For example I had someone booked Prague Amsterdam Humberside. They cancelled the Amsterdam Humberside flight and the passnger had a 8 hour wait for the next flight. We booked him into Leeds so he arrived about 30 minutes later and got him his taxi fare back.

I read stories here at Moneysavingexpert and honestly do try and help when I can and most of the time honestly believe the airline or company would not have gotten away with it if booked with me.

The Internet has made my job a lot easier and I agree that some great bargains wouldnot exist if it wasnot here.

I think too many people now looks to the cheapest price instead of quality. I have been like that myself in the past and have found the cheapest is not the always the best option.

Best regards

Barry

budgetflyer

TRAVELMAN wrote:

PRICE BREAKDOWN-2 pax 2 nights (picked 12 December for Accom but same rate till March)

El faro Aparments-Benidorm (Poniente Beach)-32 euros nett-£28-20 (Marked up inc.our commision).
Flights-Murcia Airport-as per your example £42 total
Car Hire (Holiday Autos) £42 -less 10% (as we get good commision)-£37-80
£10 ATOL charge (towards ATOL licence)

Total-£118-ONLY £59 pp!!

32 Euro? is that for the 2 nights total or is it per night?
can you do any Levante side for that price ? Alternately Price for hotel either Sol pelicanos ,Peublo or Melia . I can get the pelicanos for £18 pppn HB
Melia for £25
You may get some business yet from me

TRAVELMAN_2

Hi Budgetflyer,

Hotel prices we get are about the same as you get (Benidorm Hotels don't seem to reduce much!). Levante a touch dearer.

Yup-price was total for 2 nights.