Get away! Travel agents can be just as cheap as online deals

A lot of on-line travel agents it seems to trade under a group of different trading names, they then quote a price for a flight then invoice you with extra chargesi.e. I booked one at a price paid deposit later e.mail received added charges i.e. fuel surcharge + admin cost so the figure was not as agreed on, the airline asked me what surcharge I was on about as they do not have one, so face to face contact with High street agents seems to me to be the thing, not all on-line agents are using these methods, Their Boss informed that ! we make no profit from airlines, we have to make a small profit, so investigation found this:- 17.00GBP fuel surcharge (no charge really) admin charge 35.00GBP). just be warey.

I have to say, it’s been a few years since I last set foot in a travel agents. Back then the prices given certainly were as competitive as online but I felt as if I was being pressured into a holiday I didn’t actually want.

Their pricing in the window is often not the actual price either – ‘Oh, that’s gone up by £100 since this morning’ was a common phrase I heard. Of course, this is caveated by a small ‘From’ written on the poster.

There’s also not an awful lot of choice in my local travel agents, up until recently we had a First Choice and Thomson shop on our high street who both had exactly the same prices due to the same ownership. The third shop on our high street is Thomas Cook who are notoriously more expensive for no apparent reason.

Yes, you may be able to get the same deal in store that Thomson are offering online, for example, but I would actually find it more convenient to just book it there and then on the web rather than visiting the shop to haggle with them.

It’s a shame really, the high street travel agent is more about ‘How much commission will this make me?’ rather than ‘Is this the ideal holiday for my customer?’ these days.

Right about window poster prices, even recently in the Far East a Travel Agent shop there advertising a holiday for 4 days incl flight/Hotel/Transportation was quoted at 999ph in local currency, when tried to purchase the price was 4,984 ph as the price was from, so when asked when the price 999ph was they did not know, so false pricing is used as a come on everywhere then.

U.K. travel agent takes a booking as per verbal quote, you pay deposit, an Invoice arrives within 12 hours with ad-ons i.e. Fuel Surcharge GBP17.00 Booking Charge more money, you ring airline who states there are no Surcharges on their flights, complaints made, eventually slight refund given but told we have to make a profit, airlines do not pay commission, check airline site the cost of my tkt was as per original quoted – marked Paid, so a difference of some GBP50.00 to agent.

After all this I go to the airport to check in for the flight to be told !!sorry we are not checking in that flight yet!! so I say this flight is going to where I am suppose to be going and the time and ticket date states now, go to the back of the queue for now, watching the flight fill up to my destiantion I get a bit worried as I have a connection at that destination, eventually the man comes over and we see the supervisor to whom it is pointed out my ticke flight Number is in-correct yet destination/timing is correct & a connection has to be made, luckily for me a seat given to me, on investigation at a later date it transpires the Flight Number was for one of their flight to completly differnt destination.

I put a complaint (3) by e.mail to the Travel Agent – no response, so I sent a letter before action to them then I received a reply that is is the Airlines fault not theirs, I point out this is the 2nd problem on this booking and operator, and that they are paid commision to ensure the booking is correct and isue the ticket as the contract is between them and myself, NO Reply after sending the e.mail to them stating the 30 days LBA is still relevant as no complaints proceedure sent to me only hard luck not their fault, anybody else had these problems as no-body seems to want to know

I’ve just booked a family holiday with Thomson and agmy local travel agent matched the on-line price, additional services, such as airport parking, were offered but there was no heavy sales pitch. I found my instore experience very positive, speaking face to face to a member of staff is, in my opinion, far more preferable to looking at a computer screen!

I usually book online, but I’ve tried out a few travel agents recently as I wanted specialist advice on wheelchair accessibility, and have been disappointed. Both the High Street agent and the local Travel Counsellor listened to what I needed, promised to look into it, and then failed to get back to me. I did some online research, found something, and spoke to the company direct about accessibility in the end. I’ll stick to online booking I think.

My experience has been that , there are clearly specialist and expert travel agencies where a combination of knowledge and enthusiasm from staff offers a real added value. Using agencies like those makes sense for anything unusual or complex or , where the the holiday/trip involves multiple flights or destinations -anything bespoke.They are usually operating in a different part of the market and , probably have a different customer base.

At the risk of generalising that’s less true of the main high street businesses who are primarily selling an “off the shelf” package.In many cases I have known more about the place and the alternatives for getting there etc than they have. It’s probably wrong to assume a massive level of expertise so , if you do some research first the focus becomes on who sells at the cheapest price. The travel industry is such a (deliberately) complex one that comparing becomes really difficult – unless you know what you want or are the sort of person for whom the research is part of the fun.
At the end of the day the high street firms are primarily selling products rather than services -despite what their advertising may claim? What is best often really comes down to how much time and energy you want to invest in choosing your holiday.

We ( myself and my wife) have used travel agents only since 1981.Why? its a package if anything goes wrong we simply talk to the local rep and let them sort it (no phone calls e-mails etc).Also prices are competitive.
For the last ten years we have booked only with an independent travel agent in Dorset mainly Thomson Holidays who both provide an excellent service at good prices. We have only ever had problems twice (1) Air Malta, on return business class flight from Malta no first class seats available owing to a industrial dispute, our independent travel agent arranged a full refund (not credit) of out and return fares received within a week by cheque. (2) Holiday with Thomson in Spain, on arriving at Malaga for our return flight air traffic controllers went on strike just as we arrived at the airport, within two hours Thomson had us in a local Hotel with all meals for two days at no cost to us.

There are still a few independant small travel agents on the high street and on-line that do add value still, long may they exist but it must be hard with the advertising might of the big boys.

We always check on-line before visiting a travel agent and have always found them willing to match internet prices. We prefer to use al travel agent so if we have a problem we can talk to someone face to face.

The internet has made it so easy to source accommodation and flights separately that a package holiday looks less and less appealing. It’s easy for us to book an hotel or a self-catering or serviced apartment, anywhere in the world, online, that it’s hard to see what travel agents actually offer nowadays.

I priced up a holiday five days ago with Sunmaster ie flight accom tfs, There was nothing about luggage so i phoned them,even though it was a package holiday the operator priced the flight ofcourse it had gone up and becouse the flights had gone up so had the accommodation the quote was £100 more than i had priced it. Ok the bag was £28 but take that off the £100 that is £72 but WHY. A package, should mean, That is the price and it should include everything inc baggage I am a pensioner and every penny counts.

Sometimes I find a really good deal from a small travel agency like Asia Wonders, they take worldwide hotel bookings. I recently booked Thistle Royal Trafalgar with them for 2 nights for £325 but most online travel agencies quoted £398.

Most online agencies are atol protected now, Thomas Cook and Thompson are just too expensive, they aren’t on the same page anymore. They rely on people who are green on the subject or loyal to them. I would pay a little extra for the service they provide, for me though with my family of 5 the difference is thousands…
I just booked Florida for two weeks next summer with British Airways including car staying a stones throw from Disney for the 5 of us. I got it for £3000. I was getting prices around 5-6k from agents in my high street. As for service they ask me where I want to go what hotel I’d like and what dates… That’s not finding me a holiday that’s finding me a price.
I can’t see how travel agents can survive much longer, except those working in niche markets.

You must understand that once upon a time the real travel agent existed. Where you could go and buy your airline ticket (not referring to the old bucket shop). The travel agent was professional, they could sit and work out manually without the aid of computers your whole flight itinerary and calculate the fare and finally write out the ticket for you there and then. A travel agents job was professional in all capacities from booking your package holiday, train tickets, ferry tickets and book your hotels. So all you budding on line bookers, think for a minute what you have lost because the net has in effect not saved you money, you are paying what the airlines want. They killed the travel agent to save themselves what was a mere 9% commission on what where regulated prices. The joy of going to a travel agent to sort everything out for you has now gone and so have the countless great tour operators of the 1970s and 80s. By booking on line we have shot ourselves in the foot and opened doors to a handful of airlines and tour operators who make their own rules and price structures. Shame really, just feel sorry for those real travel agents who wasted their time building a career in an industry which needed them and helped them to prosper. Thanks a lot to certain budget airlines in their infancy who took advantage of the humble travel agent only to shun them after using their services. The list goes on and on. So please if you have a need to criticise the travel agents which are left then get your facts straight because had it not been for them you would have nothing to book on line.

I have used our local Travel agent as I have always got a good deal…. Until last week I booked our holiday and knowing before where I wanted to go and where I wanted to fly from and also knowing the exact hotel I wanted to to…..I thought it must have gone up as I had left it until January, booked and paid over the deposit and when I got home the holiday was £800.00 cheaper online. I wasn’t going to do anything as I don’t like making complaints…. But all my clients said I had to do something about this….Feel really embarrassed…. What are my rights?
Please help.

If the holiday was identical in every respect ie: Flight times, Airport, Hotel Meal basis etc then give the tour operator a call as most offer some kind of guarantee like Find the same holiday cheaper and we will refund the difference etc. Remember, If it the same tour operator (or sister company) then you would be justified in complaining. Again, not your travel agents fault, They would have used a reputable tour operator who would very rarely offer the same holiday online at a cheaper price unless it differed considerably (usually flight timings)
Good luck

I booked a holiday on line – flights and accomodation. I was given seperate prices for each but the total at the end was less than both added together. Is this common?