4 ms·

Yep, travel agents can do that for you. I'll forward the suggestion of having this information (seat dimensions, extra legroom) more readily available to agent

Yep, travel agents can do that for you. I'll forward the suggestion of having this information (seat dimensions, extra legroom) more readily available to agents when booking (I work for the largest "traditional" travel agents group remaining).

mikeash 10y ago
Nice! I haven't used a travel agent in ages. What's the experience like these days? Are they something that would be good for the average Joe like myself to use, or is it more of a specialized niche now? I understand you may be biased, but I'd still be interested in the inside perspective.
- GFischer 10y ago
  I'm not really much of an insider, I haven't used a travel agent either ! I'm just a developer who has recently entered the travel industry :) What I do think is that you're not getting much of a discount going online (and agencies get their own exclusive deals too) - what you do get buying with an online travel agency (OTA) (and I personally like) is more control, but at the expense of advice and experience. If you're comfortable taking the risk of taking wrong choices and like setting your own itinerary, online offers more "freedom". However, it seems that customers 50 and over value the agents' experience a lot. Personally, there are several things I would have missed if I booked flights myself: legroom, connection times, the fact that you need to have a ticket be the same "segment" to get protected if things go wrong - although separate "segments" can be cheaper, etc., and, most importantly, someone to call if things go wrong (as they unfortunately often do in travel), who will have more leverage with the supplier than a mere customer. Of course, there must be good and bad agents, as with all services. Also, agents don't make much money (if any) on air tickets anymore, they rely on hotel and cruise and other ancillary services to make their money (or a service fee). I've been told that top travel agents are worth their weight in gold (and are paid as such!), the guys working for the Elite travel division make the lives of business and luxury travel a lot better, they know the arcane commands in the mainframe-terminal GDSs by heart and can do permutations that are simply not allowed in most web interfaces.
  - mikeash 10y ago
    You're more of an insider than I am, so thanks for the perspective. Stuff like "segments" and help when things go wrong certainly sound compelling.
- nunez 10y ago
  Travel agents these days are only useful if you're planning on doing a very complex trip (international, multiple stops) or if you need to make complicated changes to your itinerary. Most of the data they have is comparable to what's available on ITA.

mikeash 10y ago

Nice! I haven't used a travel agent in ages. What's the experience like these days? Are they something that would be good for the average Joe like myself to use, or is it more of a specialized niche now? I understand you may be biased, but I'd still be interested in the inside perspective.

GFischer 10y ago
I'm not really much of an insider, I haven't used a travel agent either ! I'm just a developer who has recently entered the travel industry :) What I do think is that you're not getting much of a discount going online (and agencies get their own exclusive deals too) - what you do get buying with an online travel agency (OTA) (and I personally like) is more control, but at the expense of advice and experience. If you're comfortable taking the risk of taking wrong choices and like setting your own itinerary, online offers more "freedom". However, it seems that customers 50 and over value the agents' experience a lot. Personally, there are several things I would have missed if I booked flights myself: legroom, connection times, the fact that you need to have a ticket be the same "segment" to get protected if things go wrong - although separate "segments" can be cheaper, etc., and, most importantly, someone to call if things go wrong (as they unfortunately often do in travel), who will have more leverage with the supplier than a mere customer. Of course, there must be good and bad agents, as with all services. Also, agents don't make much money (if any) on air tickets anymore, they rely on hotel and cruise and other ancillary services to make their money (or a service fee). I've been told that top travel agents are worth their weight in gold (and are paid as such!), the guys working for the Elite travel division make the lives of business and luxury travel a lot better, they know the arcane commands in the mainframe-terminal GDSs by heart and can do permutations that are simply not allowed in most web interfaces.
- mikeash 10y ago
  You're more of an insider than I am, so thanks for the perspective. Stuff like "segments" and help when things go wrong certainly sound compelling.
nunez 10y ago
Travel agents these days are only useful if you're planning on doing a very complex trip (international, multiple stops) or if you need to make complicated changes to your itinerary. Most of the data they have is comparable to what's available on ITA.