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How to Identify a Good Travel Agent
You are planning the “trip of a lifetime” and you know you will need some qualified assistance in making the arrangements and plans. You feel confident about arranging some things yourself, but this is a huge trip with a big budget and you want to make sure nothing can go wrong. So, you begin to look for a travel agency and a travel agent to assist you.
How do you know you are working with the right person? It all begins at the door. You really want someone who comes across as sincere and interested in your business. Any extremes in one direction or the other may be an indicator of problems ahead. For example, someone who is staring at their computer screen and does not make eye contact with you as you enter the door, but simply says “be right with you” is probably less likely to serve your needs than someone who politely asks you to take a seat and makes eye contact.
The next thing to identify if a travel agent is a good match for your needs is one that listens to everything you have to say and then begins to make their replies or suggestions. If you say you’d love to see Rio de Janeiro and they wrinkle their nose and tell you that it is over-rated is not really listening to your wishes and is not likely to give you the service you desire.
A good travel agent is going to ask many, many questions before they even begin to help you make choices and plans. They will also never expect you to make all of your plans with a single visit, but will want to instead supply you with brochures, printouts, timetables and options that you can review and decide upon at your leisure.
What kind of questions should they ask? Where air transportation alone is concerned a good agent could realistically have from ten to fifteen valid questions. They might need to know if you want a nonstop flight, they would ask what time of day you would like to depart, they may inquire if there is any flexibility in your travel dates or times, they would ask what your preferred airline would be and if you have any miles to apply to the fare, they would ask about seat and meal preferences and a number of other issues.
If an agent is fully engaged in helping you plan your trip to the last detail and offering the kinds of questions that might “fill in the gaps” they are more than likely the ideal candidate.