Travel agent or DIY

[Our Aussie six]

Hello,
Another question from me (sorry)
When it comes to booking flights do you prefer to use a travel agent or book online directly with the air lines? What are the pros and cons? It seems to be cheaper to book direct, so that seems like a big plus to me

 

[lffam]

Hello,
Another question from me (sorry)
When it comes to booking flights do you prefer to use a travel agent or book online directly with the air lines? What are the pros and cons? It seems to be cheaper to book direct, so that seems like a big plus to me

I've always booked flights direct with airlines, though I'm often using points. Maybe if I have a complicated itinerary I would seek advice from a TA, but otherwise direct booking with airlines I think is the easiest.

 

[dabecs]

I have done both - but when I have booked through a TA I always go in knowing exactly which airline/date/flight time (and the big one - PRICE) I want booked. Once when I was young and naive I let the TA book the whole thing for me - I was flying to Ireland and ended up with a 10 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur and a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam. It was obviously the stoopid route no one wanted to take and she probably made a good commission off flogging it to dumb little ol' me! I learnt my lesson though

 

[viaggiamo]

I find the airlines are easier and cheaper to book direct with, but like luffa we often use points too.

For hotels, I only book through my USA travel agent when staying in certain brand hotels that she can get freebies/upgrades in. Otherwise we do this ourselves too.

 

[aussie shaz]

I usually book everything myself. Saying that, there are pros and cons to both. One of the cons is that you have to go through the agent, whether physical shop or online, for any changes, refunds etc.
One pro for agents I have really just become aware of, but may or may not help you. We were just in Bali and got caught up in the Tigerair debacle. Luckily they got us home with Virgin. But, for those who had yet to leave on their long awaited holiday, all Tiger would do was apologise and refund original fare. This didn't help when those people were to leave within days and had hotels etc already booked and paid for. I have read that Flightcentre actually booked flights to Bali for those people and will claim the extra cost of flights (as they were a lot more expensive due to being so soon) from Tiger themselves. The customer still got to Bali and enjoyed their holiday without being left with high airfare costs to pay. Those who booked themselves were left to either give up their holiday (and non refundable hotel booking) or pay $1000's more for airfares, with no refund from Tiger.
I may in future think about booking with Flightcentre, although as dabecs says, I always have exactly what I want them to book, and a price I want to pay.

 

[Our Aussie six]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I ended up booking directly with the airline. I'm very happy with the price as it enabled me to also purchase a seat for my
1 year old instead of her sitting on my lap the whole time. Although I am required to have an approved infant restraint, so will have to look into that.
But I'm so excited as it's finally official we are really going to Disneyland

 

[ssour]

If your little one is tall enough the Cares harness is great. I don't think any of our car seats will cut it on American domestic flights since they aren't FAA marked.

 

[Our Aussie six]

If your little one is tall enough the Cares harness is great. I don't think any of our car seats will cut it on American domestic flights since they aren't FAA marked.

Yes the CARES harness is what I have just had a look at. There is a lady a few suburbs away who hires them out for $25 per week. Have you flown VA with the cares harness without any issues?

 

[dollarmite]

I see you've already booked, but I just wanted to throw in my two cents anyway.

I've only used a travel agent once in the last 14-15 years - and regretted it. The TA herself wasn't the problem, but the circumstances we found ourselves in were an annoyance. For our last US trip in 2014 we booked the airfare only (Australia-SF and LAX-Australia) through a TA at a travel expo as it was cheaper than anything else I could find online at the time. All the domestic flights, accommodation, activities etc I booked myself as per usual.

During our trip my mother in law died. I immediately phoned Virgin Australia in the US to be told they couldn't/wouldn't be able to do anything as I had booked through a TA and she would need to alter flights. Cue days of emails across different time zones, including holdups on a weekend when the TA was closed, trying to change things as we received more information from home etc. It was ridiculous and extremely frustrating. In the end we didn't return home (a small part was due to it being too late to make the funeral due to all the holdups with going via the TA). The day before we were due to fly home I went online to check our flights to find that my husband was no longer on our booking. More panic. I immediately emailed the TA (middle of night at home), but then decided to give the airline a call just in case. Success this time. Lady at VA sorted it out on the phone, followed by more emails from me to the TA telling her to ignore my previous emails/please for help. Never again!

Contrast this with the previous year. We were going to Asia for Christmas and I had booked directly on the Singapore Airlines website (fabulous airline BTW). 24 hours before departure DH decided it'd be a great idea to injure himself at work. Our flight left at 9am on a Saturday morning. Long story short, I phoned SIA and told them the situation. We were in contact throughout day (they texted me new flight options as they arose). It wasn't until midnight (only 9 hours before departure) that I was in a position to call them again and tell them the exact final situation. They were fantastic - as I was on the phone to them they rebooked DH's flights, I paid over the phone, they emailed me all the new documentation etc. 8 hours later the kids and I collapsed onto the plane and couldn't believe the previous 24 hours had happened. In this instance a TA would've been of absolutely no use to me. They wouldn't have even opened shop until the time the plane took off, which would've been a bit late for them to do anything.

For our 2015 trip to Europe I stuck to booking our flights online myself. It was a rather complicated itinerary, but I was more than happy with the price Expedia came up with. I actually doubt it would've been cheaper via a TA, and even if it was, I don't care! We did have one missed connection on that trip that was beyond our control, but the airline automatically rebooked us, so no worries there.

From now on if I find a price online that I'm happy with I'm booking it. A few saved dollars going via a TA isn't worth the stress if things go wrong.

In all my years of booking things myself I've never had an issue. That's in contrast to all the stuff ups Flight Centre and (the then) NAB Bank travel made in the days pre-internet.

 

[Our Aussie six]

Thank you for that, I had no idea the the TA had to be the one to make any changes. I'm glad I booked direct with the airline.
I'm sorry to hear about your mother in law what an awful situation for you to have been in. I can't imagine how stressful that would have been for you and your family.

 

[dollarmite]

Thanks, Our Aussie six.

After my helpful experience with the second VA agent, I did wonder if the first VA agent had been wrong and that we didn't need our Aussie TA to liaise at all. But with everything going on, I didn't go back and check. Nevertheless, unless a TA can get me an airfare to Europe for $1.00 I'll stick to doing everything myself.

I also like being in total control of every aspect of the planning (plus it's heaps of fun). It was also so frustrating not having all the flight paperwork from the TA until about six weeks before departure.

 

[elphaba91]

My aunt is a travel agent, so I don't really have a choice but to book with her! On our last trip we had a complicated itinerary and it was really really difficult to get her to work it all out (I still don't understand how someone reads 'we have tickets to Hamilton on the 28th so have to be in New York that day no matter what' and then books a flight leaving New York at midday that day!). Plus it took ages to get everything booked with countless emails back and forth.

It also meant that when I had an issue with a schedule change I wasn't able to get it sorted with the airline directly but instead had to wait for her, which took much longer.

I ended up booking our accomodation myself because it just wasn't worth the effort and I knew I'd miss out on specials if I waited for her.

I just booked another trip yesterday and went in knowing the exact dates and even airline I wanted and while it was much quicker and easier than previous trips, it still took longer than booking online directly would have.

That being said, I know that a travel agent can be a lifesaver if something goes wrong. Although by the sounds of it, not all agencies offer the same service outside of business hours as my aunt's does! I can't count the number of times that we've been at her beach house for the weekend and are about to leave for the beach and she's got a phone call that someone has broken their leg skiing overseas and she's then had to sort everything out. One of her clients was actually on the news a couple of years ago when there was the volcanic ash preventing flights out of Bali and one of her employees was able to get the client home via a very convoluted route.

 

[dollarmite]

My aunt is a travel agent, so I don't really have a choice but to book with her! On our last trip we had a complicated itinerary and it was really really difficult to get her to work it all out (I still don't understand how someone reads 'we have tickets to Hamilton on the 28th so have to be in New York that day no matter what' and then books a flight leaving New York at midday that day!).

That reminds me of my honeymoon. We had told the Flight Centre TA a million times (okay, about 60 times) that we were going on our honeymoon. Cue our amazement when we got to London and the hotel check in person told us our room with the single beds as per our travel agent's request was ready for us. The hotel receptionist was lovely and sorted it all out. But that did explain why all our hotel rooms in the US and Canada had had two double/queen beds in them, rather than just the one as we had each experienced as solo travellers in the past.

Added to that were the mistakes in the travel documents that I luckily picked up before we left (the tickets could've technically been used by my cousin as they were issued in her first initial and our mutual surname), the muck up with a transfer in LA and a hotel in Seattle - it's no wonder I do every single thing myself these days.

I don't mean to bash all travel agents as the majority do a great job, as evidenced by the family owned agency I often used prior to moving away from the area when I got married. But I have noticed that all the stuff ups have been made by TAs that are part of large chains.

 

[aussie shaz]

I remember having to explain to a travel agent that they needed to quote the accommodation from the date I left Australia (in the USA) even though it would take 14 hours to get there. She just couldn't get her head around time changes!
And then she tried quoting me until the date I returned home (2 days later) LOL

 

[AussieNSW]

I use a travel agent to book Disney cruises but do everything else myself. I have found in the past that travel agents are great for families of 4 who want just to use their suppliers. A family of 6 who requires only one room in the states I was told Was impossible likewise you can only get accomodation in Europe for a max of 3 per room. Doing you own research and reading forums can open up a world of possibilities. It was through these that I learnt of airlines such as Southwest Airlines an American airline that does a lot of domestic flights at reasonable rates about suite hotels such as doubletree and Homewood suites.