Travel agents have been around for years helping travelers book flights, hotel rooms, cruises and other vacation packages, but now travel agencies have some competition in the world of afternoon departures and docking cruise liners in the Caribbean.
Online agencies like Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com and Expedia.com are some of the world’s larger online travel agencies. They can do everything that their human counter parts can and are convenient for busy travelers.
Jill Harrison of Travelocity says that their agency helps millions of people a year globally. She says that Travelocity offers great packages and special offers that a travel agent wouldn’t have.
Customer satisfaction is something that Travelocity takes pride in.
“We take care of our customers the whole trip,” said Harrison. “It’s an entire experience that we help people with. If you go on your trip and something doesn’t work out the way that you expected it to, you can call us anytime and we will try to make it right for you so you can enjoy the rest of your trip.”
They also continue the contact with their customers long after the trip with evaluations of the locations and the opinions of the people that experienced the vacation. Harrison said that people enjoy the convenience of doing things online. She said with Travelocity, people can look through pictures and videos of destinations they might be traveling to using “Experience Finder” or plan itineraries, and they can do it all from the comfort of their own home.
She said that a great function they offer for college students or just friends living in different locations is called “Meet Me In.” When using the “Meet Me In” program, two friends can plan a trip with two different starting locations and meet at the same destination to have a fun and exciting reunion or just a vacation.
Kevin Knudsen, a rocket scientist for Boeing, said he uses the Internet no matter the excursion. “I always use the Internet.
Our family lives in Norway so I try to visit them as often as I can, and every time we do go, I find better deals on the Internet, and it’s faster.” He also said he uses online travel agencies for things like concert tickets and amusement park tickets for his nieces and nephews.
His sister, Kandi Knudsen, a businesswoman who travels frequently for work, said that she prefers to use the Internet to book flights and hotel rooms because it is more convenient.
“I used to use a travel agent because they have good deals. Now it’s hard finding the time to go down there and set everything up; whereas with the Internet I can do everything when I’m not busy, which is usually late at night when travel agencies aren’t open,” said Knudsen.
She said that for business the convenience is in the Internet, but if she were to plan a vacation with her family she might use an actual agent.
Travel agencies have felt the decline in business over the last few years, but people like Karen Blockley of Air & Sea Travel continue in the business of making people’s vacations a great experience despite their online competition.
Blockley, who has been a travel agent for about 32 years, said that Air & Sea Travel helps a couple of thousand people a year plan their vacations and trips.
Blockley said that although there may be service charges at a travel agent, the outcome may still be cheaper and more thorough than using the Internet.
“I would like to say that we probably would get you a better price,” said Blockley. “We may charge a service charge, but your price may be less because we will give you the best.Our fingers are on the pulse of travel. It’s what we do all day. People don’t think about all of the details. There’s a lot more to it.”
Blockley said the boom in online agencies has affected her business a little, but she said, “.the more complicated things, they still like us to coordinate for them.”
She knows that a lot of people use the Internet for the convenience. “A lot of people think it’s fun to do their own travel [planning], and it’s convenient. They can do it when the teakettle is boiling.”
But she said that if the project is a complicated one with different starting locations, and a whole family of people traveling at one time, then you need a travel agent to watch over it.
As a travel agent, she can offer you more firsthand knowledge about destinations and vacations.