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kinda eye-opening. I book A LOT of travel and know quite a few tricks, but if an agency negotiates directly with airlines then there's definitely the possibility that they'll have better deals. I've never thought about it...I have a "certified travel agent" friend (full-time lawyer, part-time agent) who made it seem as all he specializes in are personalized, higher-end trips, but there's no way he's purchasing seats in bulk.
Anyway, I'll keep this in mind although most of my overseas travel is booked with awards. Thanks for posting!
All travel agents aren't created equal. I went in and got a price from one agent but it was too high. I went to a different travel agency and the price they quoted was less than half of the first quote.
It's nice if you can find a good travel agent and stick with them, but nowadays, the travel agencies are a revolving door for employees. You never see the same agent twice.
Did the writer actually BUY the tickets for the flights that he wanted quotes for? I cannot count the times that a travel agent has quoted a fare and a few minutes later when I have received the authorization to book the fare, that fare is mysteriously gone and ONLY fare available is comparable to the on-line sites.
Oregon, correct that all agents are created equal - but is anything? All supermarkets aren't created equal, either.
JLawrence, obviously we only know what the writer tells us. But one trick I've learned from talking on the telephone to airlines, is to ask the code basis of the fare, so that if the next person can't find it, it helps track it down.
Thanks for this thread! I always forget to check brick and mortar travel agencies when traveling. For my next trip, I'll definitely work better to compare prices.
just yesterday, I an across this interesting analysis of domestic Turkish air fares. It shows that the lowest fare quoted in on-line fare searches can be as much as ten times as high as fares sold over the counter in Turkish travel agencies.
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