You may have heard that travel agents do not charge fees for their services. Instead, we get paid through commission earned from the different travel suppliers we work with. While this is 98% accurate, many airlines and other services have stopped paying commissions and the pandemic found many agents working endless hours with no pay.

Travel agents provide a professional service that saves YOU time.

On average it takes 10 – 12 hours of your time to research your vacation. Traveling to a new or unfamiliar place, double it.

On any given day, a professional and experienced travel agent will already have the answers to the questions you sat down and spent hours Googling. We know how to balance and tweak itineraries to allow you to enjoy your vacation to its fullest. A travel agent can make travel planning easier, enhance your vacation enjoyment and as we all know, within the last several years agents have also become crisis managers.

Travelers need an experienced professional on their side more than ever to prevent problems and advocate on their behalf. To add another layer of complexity, many countries and destinations have new Covid health and safety rules that change frequently.

Even before the Pandemic, some agents were charging fees before they did any research or itinerary work. So many people will contact a travel agent simply looking for free travel advice. The agent will spend their time, sharing expertise and then that prospective client books travel services directly. This means we are not paid for our work or time invested. Travel agents simply need to ensure we are not wasting time and are being fairly compensated for our work. Would you set an appointment with your doctor or lawyer and expect their services are free?

Cheaper isn’t always better

If you are just looking for the cheapest price, please do not waste our time. If you are looking for cheap, go to Costco. Just please, do not expect someone to answer or help when you have questions, are stranded somewhere, or hit a brick wall. You get what you paid for.

As an experienced travel agent, not only do we provide extra layers of protection and knowledge but, we also work hard to make sure your money goes as far as possible. A couple examples are:

• I may recommend you fly nonstop on a regular, scheduled airline. Yes, this will be more expensive. We are not recommending this to gain commission (airlines actually do not generally pay commissions). We are doing this because, we are trying to limit you and your companions/family spending 15+ hours in an airport and wasting 2 days of vacation time just to save $300.
• You may be dead set on a specific resort for your trip but, you need to make sure your rooms are connected. We have the knowledge of that particular resort and that there are only a handful of rooms that are connecting (and they may happen to be sold out for your prospective dates of travel). You could have booked this resort on your own without knowing that and showed up to disappointment. However, when working with an agent, we would have researched a comparable resort that accommodates all your requests (and maybe even more) and you show up to your vacation to an experience that has you and your family making lasting memories.

So, you must ask yourself what is better, cheapest or most value?

You have an advocate pre, during and post trip.

An experienced travel agent is not just there to plan your trip. They should be your go-to person during and after your vacation as well.

• Changes: If you need to change your itinerary while on vacation for any reason we can help or we can at least make sure you have all the appropriate contact information if we are unavailable.
• Cancellations: we would manage cancellations at your request.
• Travel Documents: We should have digital copies of all your travel documents so that if you lose them, we can easily provide you with copies.
• Emergency Intermediary: Should you have a medical emergency while on vacation we would be the intermediary between you and the insurance company.
• Lost Luggage Tracking: Should your luggage become lost, we can often help track it down on your behalf and make sure it is delivered to the correct location.
• Reconfirming Their Itinerary: We will reconfirm the key components of your vacation before you arrive and also let suppliers know if you are going to arrive early or late.

During your initial consultation, we will discuss any potential fees.