Best Travel Agency - How To Choose?
When choosing which travel agency best suits your needs, be it corporate travel management, events travel management or leisure travel, you should rely on a number of factors.
Financial Security
A travel agent should be AFTA bonded; ensuring recompense if an airline or tour operator goes bust. If you are not AFTA recognised how do you protect me financially should anything go wrong?
Expert Knowledge
A travel agent has access to information you don't. They should be able to tell you if that quaint fishing village in the brochure is now a building site full of high-rise apartments.
That Personal Touch
Ok so you're looking for a holiday, not a relationship. But once you find a good agent, try to develop a working relationship with them. They can be a great source of special offers tailored to your needs.
Why Concierge Business Travel?
To this effect, Concierge Business Travel stands above the rest of the crowd, with an impressive track record in quality travel management and unsurpassed travel service to its most important asset - you.
Find out more about why Concierge Business Travel is the right decision for you
How To Spot A Bad Travel Agent
Some simple measures can be taken to make sure you are not dealing with a poor travel agent. Be on the lookout for these tell-tale signs, and you could save yourself thousands of dollars.
Poor Product knowledge
A bad travel agent might as well be selling you a used car as a holiday. To them it's a question of shifting a product, not providing you with a service.
Selling you a Product they want to sell, not the one that's best for you
Travel Agents can be offered many incentives to move an airline or tour operator's product. Travel insurance is a wonderful case in point, you will frequently be told you need to purchase travel insurance, which makes sense, but you don't need to purchase the travel insurance offered by the Agent. Often you can obtain insurance far cheaper elsewhere.
Untrained Staff
How do you sort out the experienced travel agent from the agent who doesn't have a clue? One way is word of mouth, if your friends or relatives have had a good experience with a particular agency then that might be sufficient for you. Another way is to ask them for their travel credentials. How many years experience do they have selling travel? Where have they worked before? A good travel agent will have no problem with answering these questions, and more than likely will love telling their own personal travel experiences in your destination of interest.
Top 10 Questions to ask your travel agent
- 1. How and where do I get a passport? How long does it take to process your passport and what factors can stop you from getting one? How much does it cost?
- 2. Are you an AFTA Travel Agent? These agents are bound by a code of ethics and also have avenues to seek compensation should anything go wrong with your flight.
- 3. When is the best time to travel? Depending on the time of year you wish to travel, you can save money. Also, you'll want to visit your holiday destination at the right time of year to get the best experience
- 4. What do I need to know about currency conversion? What are the processes when transferring money overseas, how to avoid unscrupulous operators
- 5. Are there any particularly dangerous areas I should avoid in my chosen travel destination? Do I need to be aware of any hot zones in the country? Eg. Several parts of South Africa should be avoided due to theft, looting and murders occurring frequently
- 6. Should I buy travel insurance? Ask for a few packages, not just the one they suggest, because travel agents can be sponsored by insurance providers and will promote a certain product
- 7. Are there any flight/hotel/insurance package deals available? Big savings are to be had with these deals.
- 8. What vaccinations do I need? Before flying to some countries, you may be required to have a vaccination, so find out which ones apply, or ask the agent for the name of a good travel doctor in your area.
- 9. What are my flight options? Can I fly direct or do I need a connecting flight? Which is cheaper and who are the better carriers?
- 10. What facilities are available for disabled customers? If you need a wheelchair or other device, what steps are taken to ensure I am looked after throughout my entire journey?
Learn more about how Concierge Business Travel can help you
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