Travel agents and travel advisors have partnerships in the travel industry all around the world that allow them to open many doors for you to offer you different experiences, reservations, activities, upgrades, and amenities that you might not even know exists.
The answer may surprise you! Yes, they do still exist and yes, you need to use a professional travel agent now more than ever. We live in a time where we all have instant online access to unlimited travel information at our fingertips. When you google your ideal travel destination, what do you see?
Professional travel agents make the majority of their money on commissions paid to them by hotels, hotel chains, resorts, airlines, tour operators, vacation package companies, rental car companies, and cruise ships that are already factored into the published price that you pay.
**Their commissions don’t cost you any more money out of pocket.**
Wouldn’t you like the commissions to go to a professional travel agent that will be there for you every step of the way and who has your back rather than doing all the work yourself so that an online website or company would just pocket the commissions?
“““Investment in travel is an investment in yourself.”
— Matthew Karsten
Many professional travel agents no longer try to sell their services on promises to save you money, instead, they sell their services for the best value for your money, not just the best price. In the long run, their added value could potentially save you hundreds of dollars because they have access to special rates, deals, discounts, promotions, and perks that you may never be able to find online by yourself. If you do happen to find a price that is better online, you can let your professional travel agent know so they can compare apples to apples to make sure you are truly getting the best bang for your buck. If you book a cruise through a professional travel agent, they can monitor your reservation to let you know if the price goes down, which could save you money or get you a fabulous room upgrade.
Professional travel agents may charge you a fee if they do any additional a la carte services like booking your airline tickets, making restaurant reservations, or making a hotel reservation with a small independent hotel because professional travel agents aren't usually paid commissions on those types of services so they most likely will have to charge a fee for their time.
They may also charge professional fees for all their hard work in researching and planning time that goes into booking your perfect group vacation or destination wedding. After all, they need to make a living to stay in business just like every other professional, right? We know you have plenty of options for booking your All-Inclusive Resort online by yourself but would you cut and color your own hair, do your own taxes, fix your wrecked car, design your house, fix your computer, shampoo all your carpets, sell your own house, represent yourself in the court of law? Most of the time you would hire a professional to help you because you value your time, and would like expert help, right? So why not hire a professional travel agent to help you with all your travel investments too?
