Why Travel Agents Matter
Never, ever trust package prices you see online.

by Sheri Leigh

If that’s the only good piece of information you ever get from this web site, we’ll have done our job.

My friend Amy recently looked on the Internet for a package that would fly her and her new husband to and from a three-night stay in Jamaica. Finally, she found a $795 package on Expedia that seemed to fit the bill.

But I know as a travel agent that there can be all sorts of hidden costs that an online source simply won’t mention. Things like departure taxes, taxi fares and hidden extras at the hotel.

So I told Amy to contact an expert. In this case, the expert was P.J. Ott at Wildside Destination, an experienced travel agent who specializes in island destinations. (P.J. has also written several articles for this newsletter.)

Amy called P.J. and asked her if she could do better. P.J. looked over the Expedia package and said its cost was about $200 short of what Amy would really end up paying. Amy also learned that P.J. not only knew Jamaica extremely well, she’d personally visited the hotel Amy was interested in and could vouch for it.

Because P.J. knew how to get the best deal, she was able to get Amy’s room upgraded from one facing a courtyard to one overlooking the ocean – for the same price.

The final cost? Amy paid about the same for the package P.J. put together that she would have for the Expedia package and additional taxes. But the difference was that P.J. laid all the cards on the table about last minutes extra charges, got Amy a room upgrade and could reassure her about the hotel.

Internet travel packagers are selling a commodity. It isn’t in their interest to give you any information that might make you hesitate buying from them. It isn’t in their interest to take the time to treat you as a person or to answer your questions.

So, do what Amy did. Do research online until you find a package and price you think are the best available. Then call an expert – a travel agent – and ask her to put together a similar package. Because you’ve already done your homework, you’ll be more inclined to trust the agent when she answers all the questions an online packager won’t.

Ask friends who’ve traveled a lot to recommend an agent to you. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many of them will be happy to steer you in the right direction.

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