The first question everybody asks is: Why do I need a travel agent? I can book anything I want all by myself on the internet. Ask yourself how much time you want to devote to your project? Ask yourself if you're willing to risk not only the monetary value of your vacation but the only vacation TIME you have for at least the next 6 months? Then read below.
Top 10 Reasons to Use a Travel Agent written by Ruthanne Turrero
Here's an open letter to your prospective clients who are debating whether to use a live travel agent to book their vacation or to go it alone by using the Internet.
1. You've Googled "Mexico vacation," and come up with 17.8 million responses. Need a little help editing those choices?
2. Remember when you used that obscure website to book your hotel, and when you got there you spent your beach vacation overlooking a parking lot?
3. How many hours were you on hold with the airline when your flight was canceled because of a snowstorm?
4. Did you really mean to spend your honeymoon at that resort whose one tiny pool was filled all day with 12 screaming children?
5. Who knew that when you booked that "villa" in Tuscany, it would be a small room with a kitchenette and no air conditioning? Funny, it looked much better on your computer screen.
6. No one explained to you that in July, it's winter time in Rio, and so you showed up there with nothing but five Hawaiian shirts and three pairs of swimming trunks.
7. How about the time you really needed a restful vacation, and you ended up in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and someone threw up on your shoes?
8. Yes, I guess that hotel must have used a telephoto lens when they took a picture of those guest rooms that you saw on their website.
9. I suppose contacting the Attorney General to resolve the fact that that Internet site has billed your credit card three times instead of once is the only route to take at this point.
10. It was definitely odd that there were no cab drivers at the airport at 3 o'clock in the morning when you finally landed in Costa Rica, but booking a transfer to your very remote hotel would have been a good thing to remember when you purchased your airline ticket and hotel online.
So there are some good reasons. Also, if you have any dietary restrictions or conditions which will require special arrangements, it is best to use an agent. And best of all,
YOU DO NOT PAY ANY MORE FOR A VACATION THAN YOU WOULD IF YOU BOOKED IT YOURSELF!
So, remember, without an agent, you're on your own!
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