Why Use a Travel Agent - "Without a travel agent, you're on your own"

Recently, I was approached by a potential customer who said, "You know I usually book all my travel by myself online. Nowadays its easy and I can research, why would someone want to use a travel agent?" That was a great question, which I actually never had to answer yet since I'm still new in the business, so I wasn't prepared, however, my recent experiences gave me several GREAT reasons to tell her.

One was the problems my customer would have encountered if she made the name mistake on the ticket on her own. There's probably no a very slim chance the airline would have worked with her.

Two was the booking of a hotel I did for my client at the last minute, within 24 hours. After booking it, I did some follow up ....And read some info on Trip advisor on the hotel and wow, every single review basically stated this need to change immediately. However, most hotels also have strict cancellation policies, this one in particular, you had to give 48 hour notice and some of those reviews I read said that the guests could not get their money back, that the hotel was very difficult. I was able to cancel the reservation without the penalty of a one night stay.

So I offered some of those suggestions to my prospective client who was impressed with my response and said she never thought of those things....This lead me to looking up and finding more info...

heresy a few more reasons...

"Without a travel agent, you're on your own"

• Good Reasons to Use a Travel Agent Read More

• 'I bought my ticket cheaper on the internet' has become a common catch-cry amongst travelers. But, how does a person ever know, for sure, that they truly did pay the lowest price for the itinerary that they wanted? They don't! Read More

• Travel Agents - Obsolete or Essential? Read more

PS...
Today I got a box of chocolate goodies in the mail as a thank you gift from one of my new clients. She was so impressed with the time I put into her trip. Wow, that was wonderful. Initially, she wanted to go to Aruba with her son. So I did comparative research for her and after all the work, I happened to mention in the email about keeping her son busy. I was keeping him in mind, which prompted her into deciding to change the whole trip to somewhere else where her son would enjoy the trip and not ask her if she's finished tanning yet...(smiles).

Contact me....for help booking your next trip. I'll do everything I can to make it a great trip!
www.onlinetravelguru.com

Family Vacation Hot Spots!

Disney World and Universal Studios - Orlando, Florida

Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone, Wyoming

Jellystone Campgrounds - Greater Midwest

Six Flags Fiesta - San Antonio, Texas

Wisconsin Dells and Noah's Ark - Madison, Wisconsin

Legoland - San Diego, California

Pikes Peak - Colorado Springs, Colorado

Carlsbad Caverns - Carlsbad, New Mexico

Hershey’s Chocolate World - Hershey, Pennsylvania

My Favorite:
10. Atlantis - Paradise Island, Bahamas
Offers best if both worlds, Beach for the parents and water rides for kids. This resort also has a club for teens.

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know if you went to any of these places or of other great places. Thanks for visiting.

Name Change on Airline Tickets

Well, I surely am learning many lessons with my first 3 customers alone. I assisted one of my customers by booking a vacation package for her 16 year old son and herself. AFter doing research and many conversations she decided on a wonderful trip to Atlantis on Paradise Island, in the Bahamas. (Im jealous) Anyway, I booked the vacation as a package thru my site for her. I have noticed some clients prefer it that way. They have very busy schedules and feel confident in my ability to do so for them.

Today, two weeks before the trip she called me and notified me that the name for her son was incorrect on the itinerary. RUT ROH! Not a good thing. I booked her son with her last name, however he has his fathers last name. Not only will this present a problem, but the fact that it is an international flight was even more trouble.

She called the airlines they said to call the vendor. She called me, and I called our vendor being travelocity. Travelocity, by policy can not make name changes to airline tickets. I even researched it on the net via google. I read so many articles of people having problems making name changes. I was dreading calling the airline, Continential.

The service person I was speaking with kept me on hold for quite a while and finally came back and said she tried everything she could, but normally they don't do name changes. My heart was growing more and more nervous, but I kept keeping a positive and polite attitude, making sure to thank the rep very much for her help. She then said she was transferring me to executive group..something or other. I asked her did she think I had a chance, and she then went on to say...they "sometimes" made exceptions. I got Richard (another rep) on the line, and was expecting to have to have a very long drawn out conversation. I explained my mistake, and that the boy was only 16 years old and the correct spelling of his name was on his ONEPASS (miles program I entered during booking). I also mentioned that I was a travel rep with YTB.

I was put on hold for a short while, and Richard and I small talked for a bit, found out that was a special line for agents only. Finally he came back and said, OKAY, his name is now changed!

HOLYYYYYYYYYYY cow..I did not expect that much and was so grateful, I couldnt stop telling Richard how grateful I was almost to a tear, I spent a lot of time and was succesful. I called my client and they were so pleased and understanding of the initial mistake.

Lessons Learned: Always make sure the names of all parties ARE CORRECT and confirm tickets immediately. I was told that if the name problem was caught within a few days that the trip was orginally booked, it would have been easier to change.

Also another lesson learned: Make sure all Cancellation policies are read prior to booking and the information is explained to clients.

Another Happy ending!
Need help booking a trip, call the GURU!
www.onlinetravelguru.com