However, the questions I've been getting lately are about survival. Many people want to know how we are surviving due to competition from the Internet. I put on my best travel agent smile and answer, "We are alive and well and ready to help you with all your travel needs because our specialty is service with knowledge."
In all honesty, booking travel on the Internet does have its place. Airline sites are definitely user-friendly and the prices are competitive. If you need an airline ticket to fly from point A to point B, you can go online and with a few clicks be printing out your electronic airline reservations complete with seat assignment and boarding pass (within 24 hours of your flight time). The prices are competitive and are usually the same prices we see in our computers at the travel agency.
What I don't understand is people who book entire vacation packages on the Internet. Most large travel companies such as Classic Vacations or Princess Cruise Lines do have Web sites, and you certainly can book a cruise or purchase a week in Hawaii with a click of the mouse.
However, are you really getting the best deal? Did the company Web site mention that July through October is hurricane season in the Caribbean and the weather is hot and humid in the summer months? Or, that the hotel in Maui you just booked as part of your Hawaii package is on a rocky beach or under construction through March 2007 due to renovation of the north wing?
The computer usually doesn't offer you that information, but your friendly travel agent certainly will. If you're not getting the product you want, is the "Internet Special" really that great a deal?
Personally, when I spend several hundred dollars or several thousand dollars on a family vacation, I want to talk to someone, have my questions answered and know there is someone I can go to if I have a problem.
Case in point: You want to take a trip to Morocco. You can go to any one of a dozen Web sites and get information and prices on airline tickets, hotel accommodations, automobile rental, rail passes, tours, etc. But the Web just doesn't measure up to personal experience.
I did my homework before my trip to Morocco with my family in December 1998. I went to my trusty computer to learn about the culture, the food, the towns I wanted to visit, distances between cities, important landmarks, etc.
My research, combined with my years of travel experience should have made the trip a breeze.
We rented a car in Tangier and planned to drive the 200 miles to Fez. I had a road map of Morocco and knew there were no major highways. I figured the trip would take approximately seven hours. Eight hours later we were only three-quarters of the way to Fez.
No one had told me how atrocious the road conditions were, how the police love to stop unsuspecting tourists and, most importantly, how insane the Moroccan drivers are.
After being passed on a blind curve twice and just about run off the road when the car passing was forced to move back into the line of traffic or be hit head on, I knew I was in a life-and-death situation. I wished I had paid more attention to my defensive driving instructor in high school. In the nine and a half hours it took us to drive to Fez, we saw three major traffic accidents and at least one fatality.
So, when clients come to see me, wanting to visit Morocco, and are considering driving, what do you think I share with them? I love Morocco, but I would never again rent a car and drive. The same goes for India. You can read all sorts of hype on the Internet, but believe me, hearing it from my mouth would convince you forever.
On our trip to India last March, I saw no foreign drivers. I can understand why.
Seriously, most travel agents are in the field because they love to travel. Take advantage of their knowledge and travel experiences. Find out if anyone at the travel agency has been to the places you want to go. If you're planning a trip to Bora Bora (Tahiti) and want to know if it's worth $800 more to buy a meal plan, talk to the travel agent who's been there and can tell you about the $5 Coca-Cola, $30 breakfast and $60 dinner (per person).
That same travel agent can probably tell you that the over-the-water-bungalow is nice and romantic, but is often a far walk to most other areas in the resort and you might want to save your money by getting a beach-front bungalow instead. Or even split your time between Moorea and Bora Bora, getting an over-the-water-bungalow in one place and a beach-front bungalow in the other.
Travel agencies are in the business to sell travel. Over the years they form relationships with representatives from the different travel companies and cruise lines. Because of that relationship, travel agencies often get special consideration for promotions or special offers.
Recently I got a phone call from Norwegian Cruise Lines regarding clients sailing on the Pride of America (around the Hawaiian Islands). The clients were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and the cruise company offered them an upgrade to a penthouse suite for a nominal fee. The official difference in price, from what they reserved to the penthouse, was more than $1,800 per person. I can't wait to hear all about the penthouse suite, the butler, the concierge service, etc.
There is no doubt that the Internet has changed the way travel is sold.
Airlines no longer pay commissions to travel agencies. In fact, beginning Sept. 1, the airlines are charging the travel agencies per segment to book airline tickets in their airline computers.
All travel agencies now charge a ticketing fee for airline tickets. Many agencies have also added a "plan to go" fee for the travel agent's time and experience in planning time-consuming and complicated itineraries.
When I talk to other travel agents, I'm still amazed at the number of people who expect a travel agent to give them all sorts of information, taking their time, asking questions about particular destinations, or want suggestions for their ideal vacation, and then go home and book it on the Internet. In this economy, no one can work for free and survive.
The Internet is here to stay and has changed our way of life. Use it to your advantage. But please, don't compare me, or any other travel agent, with your computer. We're the ones who offer service.
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