Did You Know Travel Agents Are Free?

Travel agents are free to use. Travel agents are free to use. Travel agents are free to use. Say it with me…travel agents are free to use!!

 

Since starting my own travel franchise, I’ve quickly learned that the number one challenge in this business is getting people to understand that they DO NOT pay for our services. Travel agents, or travel advisors as we are now known, get paid by the travel suppliers that we use, not you. Therefore, not only will you not pay more for using a travel advisor, but more often than not you will either save money or get more value for your money.

 

There are still some old school travel agents out there that do charge extra for their services, but we’re not one of them. Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, wants you as a client for life, not just a quick buck. 

 

Here is a list of the top 10 reasons why you should use a travel advisor for EVERY vacation you plan:

 

10. One-stop shopping: When you use a travel advisor, you simply tell them where you want to go, when you want to go, and how much you want to spend. They will do all the leg work, researching the myriad of options, and present you with one neat vacation package with everything you need for your perfect vacation. It could include several elements, like air, cruise, and shore excursions. You only have to go to one place. We do all the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

 

9. We have access to resources you don’t: With the internet today, most people have the ability to book their own flights, cruises, and just about every other element you can think of that makes up a vacation, assuming you wanted to waste your own time doing that. However, what you don’t have access to are the various companies that have already pre-purchased the most popular travel elements in bulk, at greatly reduced prices, and bundled them together in vacation packages. As an example, I guaranty you that I can get a much better deal on a vacation package containing a roundtrip flight to Paris, your hotel stay, and tickets to the Louve than you can booking each piece individually. That’s a huge advantage that us travel advisors have over booking trips yourself.

 

8. We are a human element: Let’s face it - buying things online is cold and impersonal. Can you save money doing that? Sure. But wouldn’t you rather talk to and buy from a live person if you were guaranteed to get exactly what you wanted at or below the cost of doing it yourself? Absolutely! We are a social race. We like interacting with other people…at least most of us do. ;-)

 

7. We’re here when you need us: Have you ever bought something online and had a problem with the order that you needed to talk to someone about? How’d that work out for you? When you work with a travel advisor, we are here for you when you need us. You aren’t going to get lost in an endless phone maze of button options. You aren’t going to be on hold for an hour. You aren’t going to get a random person every time you call. Your travel advisor will be there to take your call, no matter what you need.

 

6. We don’t charge you: As I hope you saw above - travel agents are free to use. At least the good ones are. We get paid a commission from the various travel suppliers that we use. You will never pay a dime to use our services. Does that mean that we push a particular brand on you where we might make more money? Absolutely not. The commission rates paid are almost identical across the board for each type of travel we sell. That allows us to match the client with the supplier that best meets their needs without having to even think about what the commission rates are. All the suppliers are eager for us to book our clients with them, so they are constantly offering great deals that you can take advantage of. And we want to keep you as a long term client, so we’re always going to do what’s right for your needs, so it’s a win-win for everyone.

 

5. We are your advocate: Tying into #7 above, we are your advocate. Whatever you need, we’ll go to bat for you. You are our client, and we want to keep you as our client. Whenever you have an issue with travel we’ve booked for you, all you need to do is call us and we’ll do everything in our power to take care of it for you. When something goes wrong on a cruise you bought at Costco, who are you going to call? 

 

4. We offer perks and benefits: One of the biggest advantages of Cruise Planners is that we have huge buying power. We pre-book thousands of cruise cabins every year, as soon as the new sailings are announced, and we reap huge cost savings in doing so. We then pass those savings on to you, so you will often times get lower rates from us than you will find anywhere online. We also have amazing perks through our relationship with American Express Travel, not to mention onboard credits and other benefits we can offer on select sailings. The bottom line is that it’s hard to beat the value that you get when you book with us.

 

3. We are travel experts: Collectively, we have a ton of travel experience. The Cruise Planners family has been there and done that. We know the best places to go, when to go, what not to do, etc. You benefit from our collective knowledge. We’ve made the mistakes, and been to not so nice places, so that you don’t have to. We’ll route you around trouble spots to ensure your vacation is nothing but the best experience possible.

 

2. We save you time & money: There’s always that one person that insists that they’re the guru at finding the best possible travel deals out there. Can they package together a similar vacation for less money? Maybe. However, it’s probably going to take them 80 hours on the internet researching 200 different companies to do it. What’s your time worth? Do you really want to spend two weeks of your time to save $50 on a one week vacation? Your time is worth money. Leave the planning to us. If you don’t like the options we present, we can always tweak them to better suit your needs. That’s what we do, and it doesn’t cost you anything. Take advantage of our free service to save you time and money.

 

1. We work for you, nobody else: In my mind, this is the most important point to get across to a potential client. People still ask today “What does a travel agent even do anymore?” My answer is simple: look at items 2-10 above. But most importantly, we work for you. When you have an issue, we work hard and fast to resolve that issue to your satisfaction. If we don’t keep you happy, we lose a customer. That’s simply unacceptable and quite inexcusable. When you book online and have an issue, you call them. When (if?) you get someone on the phone, you have no idea who they are and they don’t know you. You’re nothing more than a credit card number to them. If they lose you as a customer, do you think they really care? Of course not! Not us. Even though we are paid by the suppliers, we will always do what’s right for you, not them!

 

I hope this helps clarify what travel advisors do and why you should take advantage of our services. There is nothing but upside to using a travel advisor. Even if you know exactly where you want to go, and how much it’s going to cost, book it through a travel advisor. Not only does it give you an extra layer of support should something go awry, but you’ll also be supporting a local small business, and that’s always a good thing.

 

Please leave any comments below. We’d love to hear your thoughts!