MooNoi Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 Yesterday I was talking to a mate about an airfare to Bangkok and he told me that he'd got a few prices from a travel agent. I asked if he'd looked on-line and I couldn't believe he hadn't. He did this afternoon and found a fare on a website that was $150 cheaper than the cheapest quote from an agent. So he booked it straight away. Today I was checking in for my flight tomorrow on-line, for a flight which I booked on line. That got me thinking how long it is since I booked a flight or accommodation through a travel agent. It must be close to 3 years now. Does anyone here actually still use a travel agent or do you book on line for everything? I realise there are other scenarios than the ones in the poll that you may use a travel agent, but these are the main ones I can think of. In Australia, there are travel agents closing everywhere recently - going out of buisness. The internet, increased competition from the big chains and very low or zero commission from airlines has hit hard. I used to be a travel agent and made good money from it... not these days. I would think a lot of older people (maybe 55+) still use agents as they are not as net-savvy as the younger generation, but I can only see travel agents shutting there doors more and more as time goes by. Is there any need for travel agents these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 Would use them for specialist knowledge or access to package tours, but not for somewhere I was familiar with. If I go to Egypt or go on safari, I'll go through an agent. As for BKK, I could just about be an agent for all the research I have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumsoda Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 Piggy, I have to use the "Corporate" Travel Agent for Biz related trips (which are always routed via Bkk 555) Funny, my MD asked me why my trip Melbourne / Auckland was routed via Bkk...lol... I used the George Mallory defense....Because it's there !!! But, seriously I tend to get better deals through our Agent....admittedly our combined "Company Exec" combined flying, prolly clocks up half a million miles + a year I guess as long as I get "Home" regularly, I don't really care....but we do get some really good deals Cheers DS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiHome Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 Should have had a selection for "will continue to use for business travel". I don't see corporations getting away from them. My company spends on the order of $20 million a year on travel, we have to use a specific agent, who at the end of the year gives a rebate. TH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 I'm still using them but their days are numbered. I never met one yet who gave me the "best deal for me". It was always the "best deal for him". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 My next door neighbor has a travel agency business and I book thru them, 90% of the time as they have good prices. They also drop the ticket off at my front door :grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
was_usvirgin Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 I pretty much agree with everything posted above. The zero commission thing has made travel agents irrelevant for domestic travel in the US, but for cheap international tickets it's still worth checking with consolidators - even the US based carriers still give them deals. Exit Asia, and Thailand in particular, I'd go through an agent for sure. The marketplace has been slow to adopt the zero or low commission concept. As for corporate travel, I don't see agencies going away any time soon. Most don't want to operate an in-house agency; better to farm it out. The company negotiates a deal with the airline, and the airline loads the fares to specific AMEX (or whatever) travel agency locations. The corporation establishes a travel management policy that saves them the most money (and hopefully, for the traveler, is reasonable), while the airline measures market share, which highly influences the deal. A deal often hinges on the agency's particpation in a system like PRISM, which reports market share for the agency locations for each journey. MEL-AKL via BKK is probably not what anyone had in mind, but I'd do it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 my agency is part of a large franchise ...we get good prices through consolidators and the commission is higher than ailine dirct sales. We have a large corporate base and this is our bread and butter. Ansett going under was a big blow add Bali 9/11..the list goes on. We still do well from our strong and loyal customer base and personal service. Also do well from Travel insurance and other add ons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 If it was a franchise office ...they have to use what we call preferd suppliers. so will always start with those brouchers..and then move around to non prefered wholesalers... Reason: commission is better and we get a incentive payment if targets are met...can be 100k that is why it is done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Pax still want to see a human...and service is what keeps those left in business...imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.