When Should You Use A Travel Agent?

When Should You Use A Travel Agent?

The short answer is that you can use a Travel Agent (we’re sometimes called Travel Advisors) any time you travel. Why? Because we are experienced and have access to discounts, packaged deals and professional resources that individual travelers likely do not have access to. One example would be TA connections directly with cruise lines.

The longer answer is that whether you are a single traveler, or you have a group of 10 or more (up to hundreds of travelers), we can put together discounted all-inclusive packages that will likely save you at least a little money and lots of your time, up to saving you lots of money, time and could even earn your group leaders free trips. Did I mention that typically you pay nothing for a Travel Agent’s time? How can that be? It’s really quite simple. We earn our commissions directly from the hotels, resorts, cruise lines, car rental agencies and excursion companies. You may know that. But here is what you don’t know. If you, a traveler, call any of those places, they quote you list price. Even if you are a loyalty program member, you are still paying an upcharge. Even if you are a “Top Level” loyalty program member, you are still probably getting about the same price as a Travel Agent would get. My point is that there are price layers everywhere, and we will likely get you a better price, almost always, through packaged programs, than you, the average traveler will get.

But there are exceptions. One notable exception is airline travel. They are all squeeky-tight with their pricing. You get what you pay for in airline travel. I will get mostly the same prices you get, with the exception that I can see their entire inventory of flights, whereas you just see what you specifically asked for. So here’s the truth. If you are just traveling, with no hotels, no cars, no excursions or anything else, you can feel safe searching for and booking your own flights, if you want to. (You can even do that on your own on my website: https://evotravelagent.com/allenbeck. If you don’t want to hassle with it, I am more than happy to do it for you. In this instance, however, I charge a service charge for each person I book airline tickets for (unless air travel is part of the package I book for you). When you book your own airline tickets, you are on your own, and will likely be successful. People travel all the time by booking their own tickets. But if something goes wrong while traveling, like the weather or missed connections, that’s when you will appreciate your travel agent. (I know two families that traveled recently and were stuck for multiple days due to weather in their MIDDLE CONNECTING CITY of their flight – and one was traveling with small children…need I say more).

Let’s talk about times when you really should use a travel agent.

When you want an itinerary. When you have either a specific itinerary in mind, or you don’t have anything specific, but you would like one, those are ideal times to work with a TA (AKOR Services Travel of course). We specialize in putting them together (or making everything happen). An example might be a family trip to an amusement park. You need airline, transfers, accommodations, park tickets, other fun things to do while you are there and restaurants. We can put together the entire trip for you, day-by-day, and we can either itemize the trip, or give you one total price for everything, and for everybody. We can save you the trouble of doing all of that yourself. We specialize in wonderful memories. Now is definitely the time to be open and honest with your TA about your budget, dreams, likes, dislikes, preferences, loyalty programs and etc. We need to know all of that in order to exceed your expectations. Form an honest relationship with your TA, and you will be glad you did.
Family Events. Good examples would be weddings, bachelor/bachelorette trips, graduations, family reunions, birthdays, anniversaries or, sadly, memorial services. When families are spread out all over the globe, how easy would it be to say “We are working with AKOR Services Travel. Contact them. They know all the details and will help you make all your arrangements.” That could mean airfare only, accommodations all in a central location, even meeting rooms at the hotels or conference centers, transfers and more. That takes the load off of your shoulders and allows you to concentrate on other more important details. It can also assure that everyone gets the same information. Nevertheless, we can customize arrangements based on individual needs, and you won’t have to worry about any of it. We can even set up a special informational page on our website for all your guests to view or respond to. It’s all part of our white glove service.
Business Travel. Business travel needs to be reliable, precise, effortless and within guidelines established by each business. Once we have a working relationship, you just give me the specifics and I will make it happen for you and your team. But it goes beyond that. If you need “award” travel for your employees and their families, business meeting travel (including meeting spaces), or to set up business trips and entertainment (concerts, excursions, tours, events, etc) for you and your customers, I can do that as well. Lets start that business relationship. By the way, did you know that some cruise ships have spaces available for meeting rooms. One more thing. Did you know that cruises can be more cost effective overall than travel to a destination, including flights, hotel accommodations, food, entertainment and etc.? It’s true, especially if you live close to a cruise port.
Cruises. Speaking of cruises, they are one of our specialties. Lets briefly list the many different types of cruises we can book for you and your groups. We book cruises to nearly every country.
1. River Cruises
  1. Right here across the good ol’ USA.
    1. Historic paddlewheelers and traditional, modern ships)
    2. Themed history trips
  2. European (long boats)
2. Short hop cruises (e.g. from Seattle to Vancouver BC. and bay cruise tours (e.g. Seattle, San Diego, etc)
3. Ocean cruises (including nearly every cruise line in the USA and every continent)
4. Ultra Luxury cruises
  1. Yachts (some with submarines and helicopters)
  2. Scenic
  3. Expeditions
5. Pre/post cruise excursions and trips
Group Travel. I have touched on this above, but let me be more specific. There are significant discounts available to TA’s for group travel. This could be anything from chartering air travel for large groups, obtaining block/group bookings at hotels and conference rooms, cruises, bus tours, rail travel, transfers, and even up to private and group excursions. This could be a group as small as 10 people, up to hundreds of people serving conferences and conventions. Let me be clear. We are not event planners. We arrange transportation, accommodations and some meeting rooms. The line we don’t cross is for example, we don’t plan weddings, bachelor/bachelorette parties, entire conferences or the actual events. There are other people that specialize in those details. We will handle transportation to those locations, events, the accommodations and those types of services.
Entertainment. We are specifically equipped to be aware of tours, entertainment, excursions, concert and event tickets in destination cities and even in most foreign and international countries. We utilize our local resources in those destinations to find out specifics about travel and accommodations.

And remember the majority of our services are at no extra cost to you, our clients and travelers.

Where can you picture traveling to? What are your dreams? I can help you in ways you may have never considered, with trips of a lifetime that you may have never known about, to exotic locations. TA’s can help with creative financing solutions and special travel credits, sometimes with free travel for group leaders, and other perks for special occasions. That’s what we Travel Agents do. That’s why you should consider using us. It’s never to early to start dreaming and planning to make those dreams a reality. A large group traveling, or cruises, for best selection, should be planned more than 1 year in advance and booked at one year in advance.

Allen Beck
AKOR Services Travel
(503) 427-8553
Allen@akorservices.com
https://akorservices.com/travel

Flight Booker

Trip Planner