How to Find a Travel Agent

You've finally decided that it's time for a vacation. So, what's the first thing you need to do? Well, according to DisabilityTravel, you need to find a good travel agent. To be honest, that's pretty useless advice. After all, nobody wants to find a bad travel agent. Sarcasm aside, you need to understand several things before you go in search of that perfect travel agent.

First, you need to determine if you even need him. To do this, you need to understand how they work and what they can and can't do for their clients. In the long run, this will also help you work more effectively with your agent. You also need to know how to find best suits your needs. To do this, you need to learn a little bit about the industry, so that you will know how to recognize a good travel agent. Additionally, you need to be able to recognize a bad, along with some of the pitfalls and scams that seem to proliferate in this industry. As with everything else, it's definitely a case of buyer-beware.

According to Linda Garrison, Travel agents work in a variety of ways, but in the simplest form they book travel for clients and receive commissions from suppliers (cruise lines, hotels, airlines, tour companies). The products they offer depend on their business relationships and commission arrangements with the suppliers. So in theory, two different agents could work with a number of different suppliers and, as a result, offer their clients different travel options. I say in theory, because it doesn't always work that way. In practice, many mainstream agents only work with the suppliers that pay the highest commissions. Unfortunately, only a limited number of suppliers provide accessible services and, since most of them don't pay large commissions, they are somewhat unknown to mainstream agents. Those agents who specialize in accessible travel are ultimately those who are familiar with these specialty providers. The big problem is finding these specialist agents.

The truth is that many small accessible tour operators would like to be able to pay commissions, but they just can't afford it. So, these small guys are effectively left out of the booking loop. Agents and tour operators both need to make money. Travel agents can't afford to work for free, so they have to work with suppliers that can pay commissions. Small tour operators need to make a living, so most can't afford to pay out commissions. Sometimes it's a vicious circle. But it's not just the small tour operators that don't pay commissions to agents. Years ago, most airlines paid out hefty commissions, but over the years those commissions have also dwindled. Now, it's hard for many agents to even pay for their reservation software with the meager commissions offered by most airlines. The result is that some agents no longer work with air-only clients, while others now charge a minimal processing fee for domestic air tickets. Generally speaking, travel agents still receive a decent commission on international airline tickets, so most are still willing to offer this service.

Sources:

Linda Garrison, Finding A Good Travel Agent, About.com Guide