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I remember using travel agents in the 1990s. Maybe it was just the particular ones I dealt with, but the experience was terrible. I was supposed to tell them wh
by bachmeier 9mo ago
I remember using travel agents in the 1990s. Maybe it was just the particular ones I dealt with, but the experience was terrible. I was supposed to tell them what I wanted, they would look it up, and then I'd write them a check for whatever amount they told me it would cost. Then along came the internet portals where you could easily see all of your options/prices, without a single sigh from a travel agent. To my knowledge, software developers have little in common with that industry.
- jordanb 9mo agoYeah by the 90s the travel agents had metastasized into a middle man. The airlines saw them as a necessary evil because they made bookings appear automatically in SABRE to fill up their planes without having to do any customer outreach or support. From the perspective of the customer you were a lamb to the slaughter. They could find you the best option, or they could just sell you the itinerary that made them the biggest commission. Finding an honest travel agent was a bit like finding an honest stock broker or car salesman. Airlines putting their availability online was easy (it was already digitized) and they didn't really have much reason not to do it. They had little loyalty to the agents, and from their perspective a booking coming through priceline was no different than a booking coming from an agent. Customer satisfaction was higher because the customer felt like they had more control and transparency.