Why You Need a Travel Agent for Your Next Trip

Roll call!

Where are my ‘go-with-the-flow’ people at? Where are my ‘I don’t care what we do just let me pay and show up for it’ people? What about my ‘I want to have a say but I don’t have the time to research and plan it’ people?

Now, how about my ‘I want to plan but I want to make sure I’m getting the best options’ people? Or my ‘I know exactly what I want to do but I want the best deal to do it’ people?

I think that covered everyone right? But those groups cover two different sides of the spectrum. What if I told you that those groups of people could all benefit from the same answer? Hear me out.

I may have split you all up, but you all have something in common: you need a travel agent!

What Is a Travel Agent?

A travel agent is an experienced professional planner. Their expertise is finding and scoring deals to match you with your ideal vacation. They have the education and the tools to save you money while simultaneously meeting your wants and needs for your trip.

How Does Using a Travel Agent Work?

Let’s put it into simple terms. Imagine you’re back in high school and you’ve just been assigned a group project, ugh. But instead of collaborating and dealing out roles and having a hand in every part, you get to help with the fun part only: dreaming up the ideas. You get to say what you think would be best and your partner, aka your travel agent, takes everything you say and makes it a reality. You don’t have to lift a finger!

Then, your partner comes back with the completed project with one last final look of approval from you. You get the final say too! I don’t know about you, but that’s exactly how I wanted all of my group projects to go. And in this case, you can trust the work your partner did. You don’t have to go in there the night before and clean it all up yourself.

What Does a Travel Agent Do For Me?

Working with a travel agent gives you peace of mind. Although we wish vacations were nothing but bliss, a lot of the time leading up to them is anything but that.

Gathering yourself and whoever you’re traveling with, getting time off of work, making sure your house is in order, and even just the travel part of it can be stressful. Having someone step in to relieve some of that stress is more helpful than you can imagine.

You can focus solely on enjoying your trip. Nothing ruins a vacation more than having to worry about the small details and making sure you’re not missing anything. The travel agent takes the plans into his or her hands and returns a completed itinerary to you for your group to follow.

You already went through your desires for the trip with the agent, now you get to reap those benefits without the ‘wanting to pull my hair out’ thoughts!

The Secret Benefits of Using a Travel Agent

Travel agents are your secret weapon! Oftentimes they know deals that you could never find. They have developed relationships with different travel companies, and you can benefit from that. There could be room upgrades, flight upgrades, and recommendations from places their previous clients enjoyed that you would’ve never discovered on your own.

They are also the experts. You hire a tax man to do your taxes right? Sure, you could probably do it yourself, but it is extra time and frustration you don’t need to add to your life. You trust someone with the expertise to help you do your taxes, and this is the same thing. Why waste the time trying to plan your own trip, when there’s a perfectly capable expert that wants to help you?

And guess what? They’re GOOD at what they do.

The Cost of Using a Travel Agent

Let’s talk money. A topic I am always concerned about. We know that vacations typically cost a pretty penny. But you deserve to take them! So you might be thinking, why would I pay even more money for someone to do something I could do for free? Well, what if I told you that the expert could also do it for free?

This might not be the case with every travel agent, and it’s less likely if you’re planning the most extravagant trip anyone could go on where you need help with all aspects, but it’s still possible.

Loads of travel agents do not charge a fee because they actually make commission from their partners in the industry. The best thing to do when inquiring about a travel agent is to ask what their fees are. And if there are none…well what are you waiting for?

But I Can Plan My Trip on My Own. Why Do I Need a Travel Agent?

Yes, I see you, you nonbelievers. Maybe you have already planned many vacations for yourself and your family, and not once have you ever needed a travel agent to do so. First of all, hats off to you. Because that is a stressful thing to do. But let me offer you another perspective.

You know what you want in a trip and you know how you could get it. You stay up a little later each night so you can do the research and compare prices between potential hotels. But you’re not relinquishing any other responsibilities in your life, so you’re just losing a little more sleep than normal. But it’s exciting!

But it’s also frustrating, right? How many options can there possibly be? How are you supposed to narrow it down? What if you rule some out because you’re tired of having too many options, but you should’ve ruled some of the others out instead? There are too many paths you could’ve taken. How are you supposed to know which one is right for you?

That is why you call in the expert. Not because you can’t do it on your own, not because you’re incapable of eventually finding the right vacation for yourself, but because you value your own time and respect those who do this as a career.

But Technically I Don’t Need a Travel Agent

And where are my prideful people at? Yes, I know you’re out there. And trust me, it’s not a bad thing. I probably fall under this category too.

You think that since it’s something you can do yourself, it is weak to allow someone else to do it for you. But by freeing up that time and removing that stress before it can affect you, it helps all other areas of your life. So don’t think of it as letting go of something, but think of it as adding time and energy back into other aspects of your life you have responsibility for. And who wouldn’t want time and energy back?

Okay, I Think I Need a Travel Agent

Booking with a travel agent might not have been the first thing that came to mind when planning your next vacation, but it should be now!

Trusting an experienced planner to gather the research for you while you get to avoid the stress and frustration that come with planning a vacation sets you up for success. Instead, you get to focus on all the best parts of a trip and enjoy them as they come.

How Do I Find a Travel Agent?

Travel agents can be found online or through word of mouth. Find one that you can trust by talking to friends and family who have used them in the past.

Check out their previous clients and reviews to see which one works best for you. And get that time and energy back before you lose it!