Do You Really Need A Travel Agent?

Do you really need a travel agent to find you the best flight offer. If you are simply taking a domestic flight what does a travel agent do for you? These days not very much, they simply click a few keys on their keyboard to locate you a flight and add on a reservation cost for doing it.

In the past before the net took off people did not have access to all the special prices and deals on offer. Now matters are very different and the airlines do not have to bank on leechlike travel firms to sell their flights for them. Travel agents have been bypassed as a cheap distribution option for numerous airlines and holiday firms. It was wasteful for airlines to open agencies everywhere so they paid travel agents a commission, which was added on to the fares.

Now umpteen flight companies no longer pay agents any commission as they have now deducted this portion of the fare to trim prices to help them contend better with the low cost airlines that do not give travel firms anything. So if you go to a travel agent they will normally be more expensive than an airline business would be by reserving direct with them as they will probably add on a booking fee.

Fortunately for some travel agents there are still individuals who are quite happy to just go into their premises and have it all done for them. There is a position for travel firms despite the arrival of the internet but not for simple trips especially on standard flight routes such as Las Vegas to Los Angeles or London to Edinburgh. These routes are simple to check and there is no need to get a travel agent to do it for you.

It is advisable to use a travel firm for complex journeys or for a specially designed journey visiting a few different countries and that requires a few different flight options. If you are planning a trip like this search for an agent that concentrates in this and check around as there will be a large deviation in prices.

Save yourself cash by simply going on the internet and find all the airlines that operate the itinerary that you want and compare the deals. Why give a travel agent extra just to input in your credit card details on your behalf.

Article Source: TravelFreeGuides.com

About the Author

Find the best Newcastle flights and travel deals with travel tips and advice from Brian Newton of travel web site Travel Snips

by: Brian Newton

Total views: 4 Word Count: 407 Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 Time: 12:33 PM - 0 comments

Publish/Share this article

To use this article on your site click here to get the HTML code |
Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.

Rating: Not yet rated