Do you always ask the question, why do people still use travel agents? Booking vacations are so much easier now with all these web-based travel search engines.

To a certain extent, I would agree that buying travel has gotten a lot easier than in the past. Before I became a travel agent I did exactly the same thing. I would spend at least 2-3 hours a day trawling through all the travel search engines for the best deals available to me before booking a vacation. This would last for a least a week or two weighing the pros and cons of each deal I found, reviewing the places on trip advisor and then eventually booking it.

Now that I have become a travel agent, as I sit back and cringe at the thought of many hours I spent researching. If it took three hours a day for two weeks to research and book that would be 48 hours in total I spent looking for vacations. Two whole days. What could I have done in those two days that I spent searching the internet? Hmm well I could have read a book, exercised more, visited and spent time with friends or family, watched my favorite show on tv, attended an event and many more fun things.

Having a travel agent is where all the above does not need to happen. Travel agents can make sure your time is not wasted. They have the time to do the research for you. That is their job. They can also get better reviews of places from other agents instead of using trip advisor. Talk to the people who have been there and done it. That speaks volumes than just reading reviews about a place. Travel agents are always being informed of special deals and promotions from suppliers so it is always good to see what they can offer.

Where travel agents have that edge is that they have the ability to customize trips to your personal liking. That is not the case with travel search engines. Take, for instance, booking a vacation for clients to travel to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. Expedia was offering, at a reasonable price, the couple flights and accommodation only. However using a travel agent they were able to get a better choice of an overwater bungalow, full board (all meals included), a honeymoon welcome package and a romantic dinner for two on the beach. Even though it was at a higher price more items were added to make it not only better value for the money, it meant the couple would have a honeymoon to remember.

Have you ever been stranded due to the cancellation of flights and how did that make you feel? Angry, annoyed?? Well in this situation your travel agent can assist you in getting to your destination. They are with you every step of your vacation in case an emergency occurs but without one, you are fending for yourself which can be rather draining and tiresome.

Now there is also some hesitation in using an agent as some charge an agency fee, and the question you might say to yourself is, why and is this worth it? We have shown that booking travel takes time. And as the saying goes, time is money. Consider the effort it takes to book that overdue vacation, honeymoon, or bucket list trip AND the peace of mind knowing you don’t have to worry if the perfect getaway is not so perfect. What you pay the travel agent is returned to you in freedom to pick out those outfits, get that body ready for the beach, brush up on your foreign language skills, or simply relax because you have someone taking care of all the details. Isn’t that worth investing in a travel agent?