Everyone has heard horror stories about people who’ve booked their trips and ended up spending hundreds or even thousands more than they would have if they’d just paid the extra money to let an agent take care of it for them.
It’s true – travel agencies can save you a lot of time, stress, and money when planning your vacation. Even better, many agents are well versed in all types of destinations, so finding someone specializing in where you’re going is less important than knowing what kind of trip you want.
They can take care of making hotel reservations (freeing you to focus on getting time off), book flights at the best price possible (making sure there’s no stone left unturned in your search), send you updates with information about the destination that you didn’t even know existed (saving you hours of research time), and so much more.
However, there are some things to think about, especially if this is your first time working with an agent or agency.
To help you on your way, here’s a short guide to choosing the right travel agency for you:
- Get recommendations from friends, family members, coworkers, etc., then do online research. The internet is full of sites where people leave reviews for their favorite travel agencies – see what others have had to say before spending any time speaking with these places face-to-face. Suppose someone has had a great experience with one particular agency, but another person they recommended it to had a terrible experience. In that case, it’s best to think about this before making any commitments.
- Look at the agency’s website for things like testimonials, press releases, and awards that they’ve won.
- Visit their office in person (assuming it isn’t located next door to your house – which might be kind of awesome). It’s always better to meet someone face-to-face anyways, but if you can’t make time for that, then at least give them a call.
- If possible, book an appointment with each agency you’re interested in working with before committing to anything (especially airfare).