Travel agents: Why it pays to shop around

10 Jun 2010 06:30p.m.

Travel Broker wrote:

As a travel Broker myself, I see no point in quoting people something that is not available, I will always offer an alternative that is available even if this is more expensive. What is the point of someone getting their hopes up and then being told it is not available.
When shopping around, you should always check all the details, inclusions are often different especially when travel insurance is involved.

09 Jun 2010 03:07p.m.

Alyson wrote:

I would much rather pay for service when it comes to booking travel. I realise some of these quotes were very different, however what happened to paying for good service and the quality of the travel agent? People dont often think of what happens when things go wrong. The cheapest prices are always the most restrictive and have higher change and cancellation fees compared with paying a little more and getting more for your money - as the saying goes 'you get what you pay for'!

09 Jun 2010 02:44p.m.

ANITA GATLEY wrote:

As a Travel Broker it is important to build a relationship with your agent so they are aware of your specific needs. Often we aren't comparing "apples with apples". I notice in your story that travel insurance was included and this is an extremely subjective product to include. The job of an agent has become a lot more difficult because there are now so many other things we need to check. Also rest assured if you do book with an agent at the end of the day you have someone to go back to should anything go wrong - a booking engine won't allow that!

09 Jun 2010 02:23p.m.

Traveller wrote:

I saw this article last night and was left wondering just how fair the comparison was - don't get me wrong I don't have any particular allegiance towards any of the companies named, however it did strike me that it was particularly unfair to highlight the difference between two branches from Harvey world, yet portray the results from both House of Travel and Flight Centre as if the same price would be returned by any of their branches! Also I note that Flight Centre came out looking bad because they said that there was no availability for the particular hotels chosen on the particular dates specified. What was not clear was whether the other three agencies had actually confirmed availability on those dates or were simply quoting the current price. I know from experience that many travel agents only take the additional step of checking availability once you have confirmed that you wish to book as they must actually make a booking to ensure that they can guarantee you the price quoted - often when you say that you do in fact want to go ahead with it at that price they tell you that the price has gone up or that you must settle for an alternative property -otherwise when they go back to make the booking the price can have fluctuated considerably as explained in the article last night . C'mon Campbell Live this doesn't seem to be up to your usual standard!!!

09 Jun 2010 08:57a.m.

Westie wrote:

Agian on Air New Zealand, Try pricing a holiday for 2 adults Auckland to Tahiti 25/3/10 rtn 27/3/10 (is 3 nights). $2916.48 at le Maderin. price the separate components ie hotel and flights and total is approx $2731 - where is the extra going- difference is even higher with business.
This happens a lot with ANZ so really pays to shop around and look at the separate components and it can be cheaper to book hotel and flights separately.

08 Jun 2010 08:11p.m.

Linsay wrote:

Try pricing Air New Zealand AKL-LAX return then compare Air New Zealand SYD-AKL-LAX return. Seems were subsidizing the Aussies. Melbourne, Brisbane, or Sydney to San Fransisco, Los Angeles or Vancouver, cheaper for Aussies on Air New Zealand. Why is that?