Jennifer Bailey asked:


When you decide it is time for a cruise, your best bet is to book it through a travel agency that has extensive experience in creating and booking travel packages for different types of cruises. Choosing to use a cruise travel agency has a number of advantages over trying to make the arrangements yourself.

Even if you spend days checking out online cruise offers and phoning different cruise lines, the bottom line is that the cruise travel agency can cover a lot more ground in much less time, ultimately making the planning process a lot easier. Within a matter of minutes, they can ask a few basic questions and access a number of options for your cruise experience. They can tell you what cruises are leaving from what ports, which ports are visited, and how long each cruise would last. Trying to find the same information on your own would take at least hours, if not days, to manage.

There is also an excellent chance that the travel agency will have information on cruises that you have never even heard of before. While you may have been thinking in terms of an ocean cruise of some type, the agency may be aware of cruises that make the most of a trip up and down a coastline, stopping at interesting ports along the way. There is a good chance a travel agency would be familiar with what is sometimes called boutique cruises. Boutique cruises are cruises that are tailored to a specific market, such as retirees, young singles, or faith based cruises. From this perspective, the agency can help broaden your possibilities for this exciting experience.

You are most likely going to be working with travel budget for your cruise vacation. The agent can take your maximum figure into consideration, along with the dates you have in mind for the cruise, and come up with practical suggestions that meet both criteria. Because travel agencies that specialize in cruise vacations are more likely to know how to claim the best deals, you have a much better chance of getting more amenities for the money you can afford to spend.

Travel agencies that routinely book cruises are also much more likely to be able to provide details on what types of shipboard amenities and amusements will be available. This also saves you a great deal of time, since you can compare the merits of more than one cruise line for your trip. The agency can provide information on the activities, on board shopping and entertainment options, and other key elements of life on board with ease. Since you can consider the options side by side, making a decision on which line to use will be a snap.

Even the most seasoned of travelers sometimes forget some details. This can create problems during the cruise. For example, you may have forgotten that you need a passport in order to leave the ship and do some shopping at a particular port of call. There may also be matters such as making sure you carry other specific types of identification, observe any restrictions on the items you can take along on the ship, and many other matters that may not occur to you until it is too late. A seasoned travel agent will know immediately what you need and what you can or cannot do in connection with a given cruise itinerary, and advise you in advance.

Unfortunately, there is still the possibility of something unanticipated happening on the cruise, such as a sudden illness or an emergency at home that requires you to cut the trip short. Making all your plans through the travel agency can be very advantageous in situations of this type. The agency can simply access your plans, cancel any remaining legs of the trip you will not be able to take, and process alternative plans to get you wherever you need to go, whether it is the nearest healthcare facility or a quick flight home. Since time is often precious in these types of situations, having a travel agency to handle all the details for you will get you where you need to go a lot faster.

Finding the right travel agency for your cruise may take a little time on the front end. If there are several agencies in your city or town, find out which ones are very familiar with cruise options. Visit each one and see how well you get along with the agents, and which ones exhibit the most interest in helping you plan the ideal cruise vacation. It should not take too long to settle on the right agency and begin making plans for your dream vacation.



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Josh Webber asked:


There are many reasons for you to decide to take a vacation. You may be traveling for a specific reason such as a graduation, wedding, or family reunion. Or, perhaps you simply want to take a relaxing and much-deserved retreat away from the stresses of your everyday life. Whether you are going away for business or pleasure, you will want to be sure that you can get a great deal on all of your travel accommodations. Your trip will go much smoother if you have all of the minor details planned out ahead of time, before you even take off. With help from a qualified travel agent you will be comfortable in knowing that your trip will be one of the best experiences of your life.

There is an abundance of ways for you to plan out every detail of your trip beforehand so that you will be left with little to no worry while you enjoying your travels. Either you can sit down with your computer and guide books for hours as you work on planning your trip out yourself, or you can relieve yourself from the stress of planning every detail and invest in the use of a travel agent to do the research for you.

Travelers will use a travel agency for many reasons from wanting to book a cheaper flight to wanting to go on a bus tour of the country. Many times a travel agency can help their customers get great deals due to their established relationships with accommodators and connections they have within the industry. A travel agents constant communication with airlines, car rental emporiums, tour companies, and more will ensure that you are getting money saving deals that you might not be able to obtain by planning your trip on your own.  If you allow them to do so, travel agencies will be happy to help plan every last detail of your trip as they do all they can to make sure you have a memorable experience.

Traveling can sometimes be a hassle if not handled correctly. Unfortunately, there can be more details that involve your travel accommodations than you may think. Due to this, it is usually a good idea to start your vacation early by removing the pressure and one might endure from planning details of a trip. Let a travel agent help plan your getaway today.

What Can They Do?



If you have never used a travel agency before, you might be wondering what they can actually do for you when it comes to planning. A better question to ask would be “what will they not do?” In short, travel agencies can plan out every detail of a trip, from when you take off on that plane, train, or bus all the way through to when you arrive safely back to your home.

When you have a travel agency plan out your trip, you will be able to sit down with a qualified travel agent and thoroughly talk to them about what you are looking for in your vacation. You can tell them everything from what day you would like to leave to what day you need to return and where you want to go. You can also tell them what activities and excursions you will want to participate in while you are on your vacation. These may include sight-seeing the local area, taking day trips to surrounding locations, or getting tickets and reservations to great shows and restaurants. After you have talked with the travel agency about what you would like to do, you simply sit back, relax, and wait for them to plan a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.

While you are waiting, the travel agency will go into high gear, and get everything planned for you, taking in all of your preferences. They will take care of everything from your transportation to lodging, car rentals, and any and all other necessary amenities. In short, they purchase and organize everything for you with your best interests in mind.

A travel agency will then coordinate an itinerary for you to follow. This will include your travel plans, as well as activities you will be experiencing. You will not have to worry about a single thing during your trip when you book with a qualified and professional travel agency.

Many people choose not to go with a travel agency because they have a preconceived notion that a travel agency will be to expensive for them.  However, when you book your trip with a travel agency, you are investing in an agent that has access to many cant-miss deals and discounts that you most likely would not have received had you planned your trip alone. You will be able to take advantage of cheaper flights, better deals on hotels, and many other discounts and travel perks. Using a travel agency also enables you to pay for your entire trip ahead of time so that while you are on your trip you will not have to worry about having enough money to afford all of the exciting things you want to do.

Do not waste your time by planning a trip by yourself. With a qualified travel agency you can make sure that every aspect of your trip is planned out and perfect for you and your entire family.



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Thomas Carroll asked:


You can travel the world for free by becoming an “Outside Agent” or “Group Travel Organizer” for travel agencies.

Travel agencies usually have a wide range of domestic and international tour packages available. These tours typically last from ten to fourteen days, with groups of about ten to thirty people for each tour. Travel agencies constantly need people to sign up for their tours and most heartily welcome any help they can get in recruiting new tourists for their services. When you put a travel group together for the agency you can receive a free (all expenses paid!) vacation.

You can visit travel agencies directly, or locate them through internet searches. Contract with them for a free trip in exchange for you securing a group of people to sign up for a tour with the agency. For example, for a cruise, you’ll need maybe 9 to 15 people to sign up with the agency for you to travel for free. Make sure you find out exactly how many people you need to sign up for the tour so you can travel for free. Also ask if the tour will cover your airfare or not, and get all details related to the tour. Dates, times, schedules, costs, food, accommodations, transportation, sight-seeing, etc. Ask the travel agent if he or she can supply you with brochures or flyers, with your name, phone number and email address, to hand out to potential sign-ups.

When putting a group together talk to friends, relatives and co-workers. Visit churches and organizations with your travel proposal. Post and handout your flyers to everyone you can. Send emails to everyone you know, and ask them to forward the message. Let all of the friends you have in social sites like FaceBook.com know about the trip. You may even consider placing small classified ads in newspapers for more leads. Write an article about the tour’s destination and offer it for free to newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites as long as they include your contact information.

Giving travel presentations is another great way to get people to sign up for the tour. Your church, retirement organizations, Veterans groups, Kiwis, American Legion and Rotary Club are all good places to give your presentation. Provide refreshments and have plenty of flyers on hand. Your home is another place where you could hold presentations. Invite family and friends, and ask them to invite their family and friends. You can speak about the tour, show a video, or have a travel agent that represents the agency give the presentation.

Once your group is organized collect deposits from each member as required from the agency. This ensures that the people are serious about going. Most deposits are refundable up to a certain date as prescribed by the agency, so little or no risk is involved for your group in paying deposits. Then make sure that each group member gets their travel vouchers and know the departure date, time and location.

You go with the tour group for free, and when you get back home you can do this all over again to have another all expenses paid vacation. Do this as often as you like to go anywhere in the world for free.



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Rayner Chandler asked:


The present economic recession has affected people from all walks of life. As their wallets grew slimmer, people started to postpone or cancel their travel plans and vacation plans to a great extent. Business travel is one of the main cash earner for travel agencies and this is certainly bad news for travel agencies. They are having a real tough time staying afloat during this time. As the common man is reducing or avoiding travel plans, the travel agents are the ones who are going to face the toughest financial crisis.

Business travelers form a significant portion of the business conducted by travel agencies. As the expenses are part of business expenditure, companies tend to make travel an integral part of daily business. Discussions regarding new deals, opportunities, strategies etc are formed during these trips. Many businesses offer paid trips for politicians and other wheeler-dealers for the favors received. In regular atmosphere, this is considered as part and parcel of doing business. No body frowns upon it or questions it. But during a recession, especially when the public and politicians are having a negative opinion on the methods employed by companies, paid for business trips are bad public relations for companies. Hence many of these firms avoided their travel programs or postponed them indefinitely. This hurt the travel agencies a lot.

Companies are the ones who are usually booking group travel arrangements. In this time of added scrutiny on their behavior, they are extra wary of engaging in these practices and kept away from their normal tour plans. Politicians who were ineffective in tackling the economic down turn has jumped on the business interests as a scapegoat in their attempt to score some cheap brownie points. As the scrutiny on each of their actions has increased, businesses started to keep their travel plans, be it leisurely or important business trips, on hold. All this has increased the burden on travel agencies again.

As of now, there is a decrease of a third of the average over all business travel during the last 3 months. Conferences and seminars are a major income source for travel agencies. As the vilification of corporate executives is going on, they are more than willing to avoid organizing or participating in any such functions. And this is not at all good news for travel agencies.

Politicians need to show some more statesmanship and avoid scoring cheap brownie points at the expense of such an important industry. There are a lot of people out there making a living out of travel and tourism sector. The government should do every thing to support the industry in this tough juncture.

As the recession is thought to stay here for this year and possibly in to the next year, travel agents need the support of the government machinery. Hyping and vilifying business sector and industry practices is not going to be beneficial for this industry for the near future and for the revival of the economy as a whole.



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Sumit Singh asked:


Ranking among the popular tourist destinations in India, Shimla experiences huge tourist inflow. It is the capital city of the state of Himachal Pradesh and attracts hundreds of travelers for its scenic beauty and idyllic charm. There are plenty of Shimla tour packages which are offered by the local tourist board and other travel agencies. They offer you the scope to enjoy various attractions of the city.

The most suitable time for undertaking trips to Shimla is between the months of March and October. The weather is this part of the year is pleasant. Those who wish to witness snowfall can come to the city in the winter season. The climate in Shimla is mostly temperate with mild summers and cold winters.

Being a popular tourist spot, there are plenty of tourist attractions in Shimla. They are an important part of Shimla tour packages. The city is home to a number of points of interest. Some of the popular tourist attractions in Shimla are The Ridge, Christ Church, Lower Bazaar, Jakhu Temple, Dorje Drag Monastery, The Mall, State Museum, and Photo Art Gallery and other places.

Adventure lovers can also undertake Shimla tour packages to enjoy to the fullest. One can embark on various trekking; mountain biking and cycling trips. River rafting trips are also organized on the River Beas. Expedition trips are also undertaken to places such as Manali, Kulu, Kufri, and Rohtang Pass. The local tourist board and various other travel agencies organize the excursion trips to these places.

Shimla tour packages consist of trips to the popular restaurants in the city. The restaurants and dining hubs serve various types of mouth watering local and Indian delicacies. Travelers can also shop for many beautiful local handicrafts and artifacts from the local markets and shops.

There is a wide range of hotels in Shimla where one can get lodging facilities of high quality. There are different kinds of lodging centers in the city where one can enjoy accommodation of high standards. Most of the hotels are based in the vicinity of the main city center.



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Vietnam Culture Tour asked:


Viet Culture Tour Co., Ltd. (Vietnam), is a premium local tour operator based in Hanoi Vietnam. It was founded in 2004 by Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung who has been working in tourism for more than 10 years.

From the beginning, Viet Culture Tour have been built our own culture service in purpose of giving to travellers the most memorial time in our beautiful country. Thanks to our strong and professional team, Viet Culture Tour have served thousands of happy customers and many of them travel with us regularly and become our friends. 

Our tours are focusing on culture and people, every tours including some highlights of people in Vietnam, from visiting houses in the countryside or having a local meals with local family or chating with famous historican will bring your trip a different experience and better understanding our culture and daily lives.

Our company is a fully-licensed and accredited full service travel agency, and inbound and outbound luxury tour operator. We are Vietnam’s Luxury Tour Company. Our company excels in business and leisure travel. We offer services not only for tour operators and travels agents, MICE planners, but also for leisure-free independent travelers worldwide.

Our Main Business

Luxury Outbound Tour Operator Luxury Inbound Tour Operator Full Travel Service Agency Online/Internet Travel Service Culture Tours Private Yacht Cruises Family Travel Sporting Holidays Romance Luxury Transportation Private Jet, Air Plane/Helicopter Charter Luxury Car Rental Wellness and Spa Golf Holidays Luxury Adventures Custom Tours Luxury Hotels/Villas/Boutiques Hotels/Resorts Reservation Service Private Travel Arrangements for VIP Stars and Celebrity, Royal and Government clientele. MICE: Meeting, Incentive, Cooperation and Exhebition. Business Travel and Conference Travel, Event, Meeting Plan…

With our award winning travel experts , our guests travel with the knowledge that their holiday has been arranged by travel experts, who have first-hand experience in each of the destinations we offer.

For your reassurance, we are partners with numerous travel agencies and tour operators around the world, serving discriminating travelers. Many of them become our referrers or repeated clients.

Viet Culture Tour is fully licensed travel company, we also are members of reliable organizations such as PATA, ASTA, Vietnam Tourism.

Viet Culture Tour now is having more than 20 full time employees in 3 our offices in Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh city. We own and operate our own travel services such as transportation, cruise, one hotel in Hanoi and other properties in order to secure our value service to customers.

Travel with Viet Culture Tour is easy and peace of mind, we will be promptly taken care by our friendly staffs, secured and simple payment methods, fair and flexible on service modify or cancellation. As also frequently travellers, we understand how nice to deal with an honest agency!

 



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Shawnthomas asked:


If you need to book a flight, working with an online travel agency might be the best way to find the lowest price. Agents often get better deals as a professional courtesy from airlines, and they may get even cheaper prices for booking a certain number of flights in a single month. As an added bonus, an online travel agent knows the industry secrets to finding inexpensive flights, so if you mention that you are on a tight budget, he or she can try to bring down the price as far as possible. Here are some great tips for finding the cheapest flights possible through your online travel agent:

Tip #1: Keep your dates and times of travel flexible.

Flight prices change from day to day, not just from season to season. If you want to find the cheapest flight possible, give your online travel agency options. In general, you will be able to find the least expensive flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with the most expensive flights on Saturdays and Sundays. Time also makes a difference. People generally want to fly during normal business hours. If you are willing to take and early morning flight, you could save money. Even better, if you fill a seat on a red eye flight (an overnight flight), you’ll save even more money. The more flexible you can be with your dates and times, the better.

Tip #2: Be willing to have layovers.

Layovers add hours onto your travel, but if you are willing to deal with them, you could save a lot of money. If you would be willing to fly out of a smaller airport, such as Newark on the East coast and Orange County on the West coast, you would likely have to have at least one layover, since each airline will only fly a very limited number of places.

Even if you are leaving from and going to major airports, if you are OK with layovers instead of a straight flight to your destination, you can find cheaper prices. Be carefully to plan at least an hour for each layover in case your flight is late or you need to navigate your way through a very large airport to another gate. Remember, most airports today have Internet access, and in many cases, it is free, so you can take your laptop and log online to pass the time between flights.

Tip #3: Stay open-minded about your destination.

One of the biggest ways to save money on your flight is to let your travel agent know that you and your family would consider alternative destinations. Sometimes, utilizing alternative destinations can be as simple and as easy as flying to a nearby airport and taking public transportation to your hotel.

You may want to consider changing your destination altogether. For example, if you are interested in a warm-weather retreat, why not fly to Florida instead of a Caribbean island? Or, if you want to vacation in the mountains, Aspen might be a less expensive choice than the French Alps. In general, keep your mind open about exactly where you would like to go. This might not always be an option, especially if you are flying for business reasons, but your online travel agent may be able to make recommendations for places that are just as beautiful but not as expensive.

Tip #4: Purchase an entire package from your agent.

Travel agents are not in business to book flights. They plan entire vacations, and by purchasing a complete package from them, you might be able to save money. If price is your main concern, do your homework first by researching hotel prices, flight costs, and other fees you’ll be paying to travel if you book the whole thing yourself. Then, ask an online travel agency to review your vacation needs and quote you a price for a package deal. Sometimes you are better off booking the vacation yourself, while other times, you could save money by going through the agent.

Tip #5: Start with a clear budget in mind.

Some common mistakes that you should avoid when working with an online travel agent is not giving him or her the dollar amount of what you hope to spend on the trip. You need to be honest from the start with your travel agent about what you can and cannot afford. Your travel agent may not look for the cheapest price for long because they think you’ll simply be happy with whatever price they find the quickest. If you do not have an unlimited amount of money to work with, make it very clear that you need to stick to a specific budget range. This way you and your travel agent can work together to find you a great vacation at a price you can afford.



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Suzanne Bradley asked:


With the current state of the economy, saving money is increasingly important to family, couples, and even individuals. That does not mean that you have to sacrifice your vacation, however. There are a number of online travel agencies that are offering discounts and low-cost vacations to people who may think they can’t afford to travel. In actuality, if you do your research, you can take a vacation even on a shoestring budget. Here are some tips to help you find a great travel deal from an online travel agency.

Be Sure to Ask for a discount

As the saying goes, “ask and ye shall receive” right? Actually, this tip really does work, whether you are working with an online store or brick and mortar travel agency. Plan the vacation of your dreams, and when you see the bottom line, ask how the price can be dropped. If you start with a very low budget, some agencies may not include some of the best features of a vacation, but by starting high and THEN looking for discounts, you might be able to get more bang for your buck.

Tip #2: Plan a group vacation yourself.

If you really want to save money, get a group of people together to go on vacation and plan the trip for everyone using and online travel agency. Many companies have a policy that if you’re the contact person for the entire group and ensure that everyone pays on time, you get your vacation for free, or at least get a very deep discount. Planning a vacation like this has a lot of moving pieces to keep track of, but can be a great way to travel on a budget.

Tip #3: Look for coupon codes.

When you’re planning a trip with an online company, you can often find coupon codes or deals to use to get a percentage off your trip. If you’ve worked with a company in the past, you’ll likely get rebates via email from time to time. If you haven’t, though, you can still get a discount. Simply use your favorite search engine to look for the name of your travel agency and the word “coupon” or “discount.” There are sites all over the Internet that specialize in collecting codes for discounts for different companies.

Keep in mind that you should always be wary of discounts you can only get after giving your credit card information to a third party. You may be signing up for a membership that bills your credit card automatically.

Tip #4: Book your vacation during a discount period.

Most major travel companies online have slow seasons when there are fewer people booking trips. If you book your trip during this time, you could save a substantial amount of money. Everyone books trips in the summer and around the holidays, but fewer people are traveling at other times of the year.

Tip #5: Look for packages instead of building your own vacation.

When you shell out money for a vacation, you want it to be perfect. Though, if you can choose a vacation package rather than trying to create your own, you can spend a lot less money. Online travel agencies often have dozens or even hundreds of packages from which to choose. They are able to offer discounts because they get a deal from the airlines, cruise companies, restaurants, amusements parks, etc. when they book a certain number of vacations per month or per year. They pass that savings on to the consumer when they can, attempting to entice even more people to book trips.

Tip #6: Plan your trip in advance.

Last minute vacations always cost a lot more than trips that are planned months or years in advance. Although it may not be possible for you to know what you are doing three years from now, as soon as you are sure about your travel dates, make your reservation. You can save a lot of money, especially on vacation packages.

Tip #7: Look for a free vacation.

Some online travel agencies have offer different kinds of opportunities to travel. These “vacations” are more like education experiences, though, and you most likely will not find a relaxing beach in your future if you want to travel for free. Free vacations will take you to places like nature reserves, ranches, and farms, where you’ll do work in exchange for room and board. You will also probably still have to pay for your flight and a rental car. This can be a neat opportunity to see another part of the world, though, and to experience how other people live.

No matter what your price range, you can take a vacation. By using online travel agencies, there are a number of discounts available that make vacationing affordable.



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Josh Webber asked:


When you take time off and spend money on planning a vacation, you want it to be an experience of a lifetime. You want to be able to come back from your excursion and be able to tell everyone that you thoroughly enjoyed every moment of being on your trip and away from home. “Bon Voyage” is a French phrase meaning “good journey” and “have a good trip.” There are several ways that you can make sure you have an amazing trip, and booking your vacation through a cruise travel agency is a great way to start.

When you book a cruise through a cruise travel agency, one of the best things about the experience is going to be that you are able to sit back, relax, and enjoy your much deserved time off without worry. Whether you do it online or another way, many people in recent years have attempted to plan out each part of their trip on their own. Not only does planning your own trip often cause headaches and anxiety, but with all of the changes and expenses that have been added to taking a vacation lately, going through a travel agency seems to be a wiser and less stressful choice.

There are several ways in which a cruise travel agency can help ensure that you have a “bon voyage.” Cruise travel agencies have all of the contacts necessary to guarantee that they can find you the absolute best deal when it comes to flights, hotels, and various cruise destinations and excursions. Cruise travel agencies will usually have more information than you can find on your own, no matter where you look for your deals. They are going to be able to get into contact with places that you might not be able to, and come out with fantastic deals and promotion offers that you will be able to enjoy. For instance, with help from a good cruise travel agency, you could get a flight cruise package all for one low rate. If you tried to book this package on your own, you would not be able to come across a package deal of this nature and would be forced to spend more money by booking the flight and cruise separately.

If you have not been on a cruise before, it can sometimes be frustrating and a daunting task to book one. There are so many unbelievable different cruise lines out there that all seem to offer something different and exciting.  From different destinations to different types of cabins, entertainment, ports of call, meal seating’s and times, depending on what cruise line and ship you choose will decide what kind of vacation you will have. Therefore, negotiating a good deal based on all of the multiple variables on your own certainly is not easy. In fact, it can be very difficult to pin-point the perfect ship that will cater to your needs whether you are looking for a family cruising experience, or if you are going on vacation to meet singles. A cruise travel agency is perfect for people who do not have time to devote to all of the research and planning that should go into booking a cruise.

From Royal Caribbean, to Carnival or Norwegian, a cruise travel agency can do more than just help you figure out which cruise line is perfect for you. They can also help you plan out every aspect of your perfect cruise vacation so that you never have to worry about anything during your relaxing retreat. With help from a cruise travel agency, you will know everything from which dinner service you will be attending to all of the must-see on board entertainment and cant-miss midnight buffets.  Planning out your excursions is also something that a travel agency can help you with. This way you will be confident that you are visiting all of the great spots during your days at land. Whether you want to go scuba diving in St. Thomas or snorkeling it St. Maartin, with the help of a cruise travel agency you will not need to worry about missing out on anything.

When attempting it on your own, planning a cruise can be something that takes up a lot of your time. Usually, no matter how much you work on it, you will not be able to find as good of a deal that a travel agency would be able to find for you. If you really want to have an amazing voyage, let the professionals help you plan it. If you are looking for that perfect trip and the best “bon voyage” possible, finding a cruise travel agency will help you attain it. You will be very glad that you did, and the memories from your trip will prove to everyone your satisfaction.



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Suzanne Bradley asked:


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Choosing a travel agency to handle your next vacation as opposed to dealing directly with an airline presents numerous benefits. Here are a few of the benefits you enjoy:



Wealth of information



Because of their experience and wide connections with people in the hospitality industry, travel agencies are in the best position to provide sound advice when it comes to the following points: off peak and peak travel times, budget travel, hotel and meal deals, excursions, shopping bargains, and other tourism-related topics. Much will depend on your preferences. For instance, are you interested in a golf holiday, a fishing trip, a museum jaunt or a spa type of vacation?

Discounted fares

Travel agencies and online travel agencies are great for bargain hunting and usually get the best deals from their network of contacts. They also purchase air tickets on volume, consolidated tickets, enabling them to buy air tickets at considerably higher discounts.

Extended network of suppliers and providers



Given that travel agents deal every day with hotel managers, restaurant owners and managers, bed and breakfast supervisors, tour operators, limousine companies, and other people who offer a specialized service, they know who and what are offering better prices and when. So travel agents have a wealth of information on just about anything related to travel, and because they network with other travel agents, they get to exchange valuable tips. Consider yourself fortunate if you happen to be dealing with a travel agent who seems to know “just about everyone” in the travel industry and who can offer you the discounts that she reserves for preferred clients.

Group discounts

If you tell your travel agent that you and your friends want to travel together or that you’re taking your family of four on a Kenyan safari, he or she might be able to slash off more dollars from your air tickets because you will be travelling in a group. Sometimes, when you buy three adult tickets, travel agents will let your four-year-old travel for free or at a much lower price. Travel agents can, at their discretion, extend courtesy discounts to groups. The more seats are bought and the more rooms are booked, the higher the discounts they receive.

Perks

Travel agents also have access to suppliers and service providers who hand out “bonuses” or perks. These are the nice extra incentives that say, hotel managers would give to agents so that the next time the travel agency has a large group of travelers, they choose the same hotel. Meal vouchers are another example that travel agencies have a constant supply of to give to loyal customers. For example, if you and your friends like to visit Las Vegas a lot, your travel agency may give you slot chips worth $50.00 to use on machines, or free passes to a stage show or concert. So you see, it does pay to develop good relationships with travel agencies especially if you’re a frequent traveler.

Specialization



Some travel agencies specialize in certain types of travel and cater to a certain age group or specific professional groups. Some travel agencies have more strengths and capabilities than other travel agencies. One travel agency may know the ins and outs of Eastern Europe or may know what the best budget restaurants in Tokyo are. Other travel agencies may cater specifically to retirees, students or government officials.

When a travel agency handles a large account like a mid-size company whose executives travel weekly, you can be sure that travel agency is in a position to offer significant savings on plane tickets or hotel reservations. If you have a friend who works for a large company and his company uses one travel agency, you could ask him to request the travel agency for special deals. Because travel agents are grateful for the continuing patronage of their company clients, they will most likely share tips on how to travel on a shoestring budget for the executives’ children.

Don’t let one unfortunate experience with a travel agency discourage you. Find another. If you deal with the airlines directly, you’re just another caller to them, whereas if a travel agent calls the airline on your behalf, the airline will recognize the travel agency as a regular customer and hence would be more inclined to extend courtesies.

What you need to do before calling a travel agency is to decide:

· Specific travel dates

· Where you want to go, where you want to stay and whether you’ll need a car or rail passes

· If you’re willing to travel on a restricted ticket or as a standby passenger

· What activities you’d like to do once you arrive in your destination

By giving your travel agency complete information, she can be more efficient in helping you plan your next vacation.



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