cheryl
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Staff member
A World Of Knowledge: Reasons Why Smart Travelers Need Smart Travel Agents - Forbes
A few years back, I owned a travel agency in the small town in which I live. As small towns are, just about everyone knew me and knew that I had a travel agency. An acquaintance called one day and said that she had booked travel through an online discount booking agency. When she had to cancel the trip at the last minute, the online agency wouldn’t refund her money. She wanted to know if I could help get her money back.
Um, no.
She had booked through the online agency, so it was fully upon her to battle with the agency. Had she asked me to book her travel in the first place, I would have urged her to buy travel insurance in case she did have to cancel, a move that would have saved her the thousands of dollars she ultimately lost.
With so many online booking engines, travelers enjoy the option of the do-it-yourself, if not time-consuming task of vacation planning. Think: Google, Expedia, Kayak, TripAdvisor … well, the list goes on.
A few years back, I owned a travel agency in the small town in which I live. As small towns are, just about everyone knew me and knew that I had a travel agency. An acquaintance called one day and said that she had booked travel through an online discount booking agency. When she had to cancel the trip at the last minute, the online agency wouldn’t refund her money. She wanted to know if I could help get her money back.
Um, no.
She had booked through the online agency, so it was fully upon her to battle with the agency. Had she asked me to book her travel in the first place, I would have urged her to buy travel insurance in case she did have to cancel, a move that would have saved her the thousands of dollars she ultimately lost.
With so many online booking engines, travelers enjoy the option of the do-it-yourself, if not time-consuming task of vacation planning. Think: Google, Expedia, Kayak, TripAdvisor … well, the list goes on.