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When I was living in Europe I always found advertisements of the few major travel agencies. In the UK they were the Thomas Cook, Thomson, First Choice. They normally had their own airlines and always offered very cheap last minute all inclusive deals to fill up their airplanes and pre-booked hotels.
Now I am living in California and planning on a vacation. Maybe Hawaii or Thailand or some other Pacific or South East Asian destination.
Who are the largest travel agencies with their own charter flights or airlines?
When I was living in Europe I always found advertisements of the few major travel agencies. In the UK they were the Thomas Cook, Thomson, First Choice. They normally had their own airlines and always offered very cheap last minute all inclusive deals to fill up their airplanes and pre-booked hotels.
Now I am living in California and planning on a vacation. Maybe Hawaii or Thailand or some other Pacific or South East Asian destination.
Who are the largest travel agencies with their own charter flights or airlines?
The ONLY one that I have been aware of over the years was Morris Travel which owned Morris Air. The travel agency was based in Salt Lake City, UT and had significant local clients including the LDS Church. The airline was formed in 1992 due to lawsuits from Delta Airlines and sold to Southwest Airline at the end of 1993.
Travel agencies (brick and mortar) are pretty much gone today. The few that are still in business generally handle either a lot of corporate clients OR a niche market that requires a lot of planning.
The ONLY travel agency that I am aware that owns properties is Carlson Wagonlit. Carlson controls the Radisson and Country Inn and Suites franchises. They also own the TGIF franchise. They also have an interest in a couple of cruise ships.
I do NOT think that this is really relevant. I do not think that MOST CORPORATE CLIENTS would allow Carlson Wagonlit to steer their business to Radisson as most corporate travelers are chasing thie loyalty points from Hilton/Marriott/Starwood/Hyatt.
The ONLY one that I have been aware of over the years was Morris Travel which owned Morris Air. The travel agency was based in Salt Lake City, UT and had significant local clients including the LDS Church. The airline was formed in 1992 due to lawsuits from Delta Airlines and sold to Southwest Airline at the end of 1993.
Travel agencies (brick and mortar) are pretty much gone today. The few that are still in business generally handle either a lot of corporate clients OR a niche market that requires a lot of planning.
The ONLY travel agency that I am aware that owns properties is Carlson Wagonlit. Carlson controls the Radisson and Country Inn and Suites franchises. They also own the TGIF franchise. They also have an interest in a couple of cruise ships.
I do NOT think that this is really relevant. I do not think that MOST CORPORATE CLIENTS would allow Carlson Wagonlit to steer their business to Radisson as most corporate travelers are chasing thie loyalty points from Hilton/Marriott/Starwood/Hyatt.
yes, most people who travel for business do insist on continuing using the hotels, and airlines that help them build up even more points. Our son travels about 70% of the time and always stays at one particular chain, or maybe a couple; he also flies one airline when he can. He doesn't care who books the reservations for him.
What the OP is looking for, is something in the past. In fact, as you mention, there are very few large Travel Agencies around anymore. Most are home based, even the large corporations. There are a couple I can think of, one being CruiseOne, which does a lot more than cruises, but they are not affiliated with any airline, hotel chain or anything else. There are other large agencies as well. With todays technology the store front agencies are a thing of the past.
What the OP is looking for, is something in the past. In fact, as you mention, there are very few large Travel Agencies around anymore. Most are home based, even the large corporations. There are a couple I can think of, one being CruiseOne, which does a lot more than cruises, but they are not affiliated with any airline, hotel chain or anything else. There are other large agencies as well. With todays technology the store front agencies are a thing of the past.
Most AMERICAN travelers want travel agents to book to THEIR preferences, not the travel agent's. Personally, I was forced to use Carlson-Wagonlit for a while and would not accept it if they steered me to a Radisson.
Now if I was booking a trip to Sofia or Kiev, I might be more amenable to a travel agent's recommendation.
In that I was using Eaasy Sabre as early as 1992, I do not think that I will ever use a travel agent.
The only big travel agency I can think of is AAA. They are not primarily a travel agency, but they do perform travel agency tasks like booking tours, motels, transportation.
It is much too expensive to run charter flight tours in the USA. Law requires a bond large enough to refund every penny of every passenger on the tour if there is any sort of glitch and the flight does not happen. Most travel agencies are not big enough to have those sort of resources.
Liberty Travel is a pretty big agency too. They just opened a location in Southern CA I think. They don't have planes of their own, but they do have last minute deals, all-inclusives, etc.
Liberty Travel is a pretty big agency too. They just opened a location in Southern CA I think. They don't have planes of their own, but they do have last minute deals, all-inclusives, etc.
Places like Funjet and Apple Vacations BOOK a lot of charters but they do not operate the actual flights which is done through a third party.
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