Travel Agency
 

The wife and I are looking for a travel agent. Someone we can meet with in person and lay out our basic vacation plans. Don't want any internet or telephone kinda thing. A real life warm body to talk with. Somebody in the KC/ Columbia/ Kirksville triangle. Any recommendations? Use these guys/don't use these guys, etc. etc.

Appreciate any advice/recommendations.

Well thats gonna be expensive!

Yea, we have already figured that much out :D

Used to be all the rage...and then the internet came along...

Why pay someone to do this for you? Very serious question.

I think in my limited dealings with making travel plans it’s significantly cheaper to book it yourself.

We both work full time jobs. We just don't want to put the legwork into the planning. Just want to vacation. We want to walk into a place and lay it on the table. We want to leave KC on x. Want to do y and z and return to KC on w. We just want to enjoy the vacation. Not sweat the details.

Travel Agency
 

Where are you wanting to go? I can certainly understand certain locations lending themselves to needing this more than others.

We are going to Japan. And I am wanting to squeeze in a stop at Pearl Harbor on the way. Time is the issue, we only have 2 weeks of vacation at work.

Yea, I know it's much cheaper to do it all ourselves, but we just want to enjoy the vacation. Just thought I would ask if anybody here had any recommendations :thumb:

People still make a living being travel agents?

For clients who need a little more than a flight from Tulsa to San Juan to board their all inclusive Carnival cruise: yes.

Buy an AAA membership and you get their travel agency for free. You don't have to be a member to buy flights but a trip like this it would be required. They beat the internet every time and internet seats never get upgraded.

Just call any location and they will give you the down low. For what you are doing you may need to drive to them but they are worth it.

I have been using them for 25 years.

I get it I guess, but putting together the vacation is part of the fun. Once you decide on the location, picking out things to do together lends itself to the perfect vacation. To each their own though. Good luck

You are so 90's


Meet the new illegitimate Priceline strong arm.

https://skift.com/wp-content/uploads...f4d6b10605.jpg

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If you gave "Shatner" orange hair.......ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL

Will it be better if you book your own flight then make your own itinerary. I find it cheaper that way. You can check Klook for some vouchers and Airbnb for accommodation if you are not a fan of the hotel.

My neighbors use these people. They seem happy with them.

https://www.adelmantravel.com/vacations/

Message sent.

We used them before. Interesting that the are based in MN and have 4 of 8 locations in MO. (3 in Mo One in OP)

I do the online thing for [personal vacations, but business travel is done by an agency.

And yes, by the time you're done comparing sites like bookit, expedia, and travelocity, it can be frustrating. And with all the diving we do, looking for get that all that booked adds a layer of complexity.

Hell, adding 50 dives (25 each for my son and me) to the last vacation really added some challenge (and opportunity) to the whole deal. For that part I just took it slow and played the dive operators off of each other.

The Tripit app is great for keeping track of your flights and hotel reservations. It will also do other things like sending you alerts if your flight has been delayed.

Travel agents are probably far fewer in number these days, but they still serve a purpose. I wouldn't use one to book a random plane ticket or anything, but if you want someone to put together a complicated trip for you with multiple stops and modes of transportation, it can be a comfort to know someone who knows what they're doing is making sure you don't screw something up.

I thought Tripit all but went away, I used to use that App endlessly. I use Flightview Elite now that Tripit.

Very true.

Like most in this thread, we have traveled most all our adult lives. Always doing the planning/scheduling ourselves trying to save a buck. Then 2 years ago, we took a trip and the wife said f-it, we are using a travel agency. I was like most, that costs money!!

When it was all said and done, we were BOTH tickled pink. No hassle, no headache. We have kinda chuckled about it every since. Why haven't we been doing it this way all along?

I don't suspect we would use one for a trip to Chicago or Denver or anything, but this is a little more than we want to take on. If we need something to frustrate us, we can just go to work. They pay us to tick us off :)

Responded. Thanks.

I know for diving Caradonna knows their stuff, but for trip to Cozumel they didn't save anything. But I totally get what you're saying.

And a hotel room that makes your wife want to peel the clothes off and get down to business over and over. My favorite suites seem to have Murphy beds in them...travel reservations for me come with Fri, Sat nights covered as far as dinner and a club table if we want one. I hate being treated like cattle when traveling.

So somehow you believe by dealing with a warm body in front of you, this will make you and your wife feel more secure making sure the trip is a success ??

I would've recommended Dupont Circle Travel. I hear Philip will work all night to help his clients. But they have seemed to disappear.

Your company doesn’t have a travel agency they use, that you can use? Like Carlson Wagonlit?

Heh. I never thought of that. They probably do. I need to talk to the wife tomorrow and ask her. Thanks :thumb:

Travel Agents serve one purpose IMHO-booking tours, either a set tour or custom.

95% of all other travel items can be handled by people.

Meh, for some it's not worth it. There's plenty to debate about money saved or money spent, but unless you're going to a place where it's a no-brainer (an all-inclusive on Cozumel where all you're there to do is dive), then it might be nice to let somebody do the leg work to setup your dream vacation to a place you don't already know. Plus, I have to think that these people might have ideas that you might not have thought of.

GloryDayz the optimist...

Pay me $500 and I'll tell you where I think you should travel

You could always hop a cargo ship. THAT WAS COOL AS HELL!!!!

Unless they book you into "payback" digs

Make sure to stop by the black and white TV repair shop along the way

I know this is intended as snark, and I can appreciate that. But we still actually have a TV repair shop here. They are pretty fancy because they can work on color sets too :thumb:

Out of curiosity, is their any particular reason you feel you need to belittle me about how I spend my money? I was simply asking for recommendations, not trying to preach to the crowd about how they should travel.

Did I word something incorrectly or come off as snarky with my question? If so, my humble apology :redface:






I've got an uncle that restores late 60's and early 70's Chevelles. Can you help me steer him down the path of the straight and narrow? How should I word it?

'If only cars had air bags and fuel injection' or maybe....

'Seems like cars these days should have a cassette AND cd player'

Just not sure how to word " Let me tell you how to spend your money" :hmmm:

(after the big gap, I got snarky :) )

You got way too triggered over an Internet post.

:)

You should go to AAA and get a map for every potential state you may visit. Then buy some travelers cheques.

But to be serious, I think there are better ways to go about it.

If you just want to take a trip and not **** with the logistics, by all means just spend the money and let them do it. It's whatever. Sometimes I eat out and it really isn't the best use of money or probably the best food qualoty but sometimes just **** it because effort.

I generally like to make sure I get the most bang for my buck, which is where the Internet comes into play and I'd shy sway from using an agent. Lots of great ways to talk with locals to get a view that a travel agent in another state wouldn't have any idea about and I personally feel I'd be more involved about getting the most from my own trip than someone else would be.

It really depends how you want to slice the cake, I suppose. There's a pretty good agency in a stripmall by DQ in Raymore.

Typically booking direct and booking through a travel agency is a wash, but could depend on the desired activity - if they have a relationship with the places they are booking with, they will save a small amount of money vs booking direct.

Without being too snarky/elitist, my opinion would be:

Domestic travel - Do not bother.
Domestic-ish travel (Cruises, Mexico/Canada/etc) - Do not bother unless you are wanting to string together multiple "experiences" such as guided tours/timed events.
International Travel - Could be worth it, especially if visiting a country where English isn't widely spoken.

Exactly. I have only used a TA once in the last 25 years, (two years ago) but it was worth it. I normally search and book myself, but I had spent several hours trying to figure out how to get a fight back from Belize that would get me back in a day, without having to overnight someplace.

They charged $75 to handle all the details, but in that case it was worth it. I ended up having to use 3 different airlines and fly to some out of the way places, but I got back in a day. It beat having to waste an extra vacation day, to hang out in a hotel.

I've been to 36 countries and traveled at least 600,000 miles and I've used a travel agent TWICE in life since 1985:

1. In 1987 I took a 10 week vacation to Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Barbados, Rio De Janiero and Cayman Islands. I used Liberty Travel located in a mall and my travel agent named Linda arranged everything. It was pretty complex with a lot of side tours and other things. Well worth it. She also booked some of my earlier air tickets before Al Gore invented the internet.

2. In March 2000 I snuck into Cuba for two weeks from Toronto Canada on Grupo Taca airlines and used a travel agent in Windsor, Ontario Canada to make all arrangements and give me pointers so I wouldn't get arrested. I also took the train from Windsor to Toronto to fly out. We had an office in Windsor back during the dotcom era.

Haven't needed one since.....

One tip for you... dont pay to extend your stop in hawaii... most airlines will let you have an extended layover... I myself did the same thing you want to do flying back from Palau ... took a three day layover in Hawaii on the way back... well worth it

Quality post, and I think the latter is exactly what the OP is attempting.

**** you!!!!! :D

Yep. Time is the biggest issue, but leaving the country is a serious thing we are thinking about, too. I would hate to end up rotting away in a Japanese prison because I wore a yellow shirt on a Tuesday or something. Of course, that's a joke, but the point is, different country, different customs and laws. Going through somebody that actually does this stuff for a living would be a big piece of mind issue. :thumb:

Biggest issue right here. I am burning most all the vacation time I will have left at the point we take this vacation. I did save back 3 days for "oh crap, something bad just happened" situations. But basically, want to consider myself wiped out of time off. If I end up in some screwed up situation where I have to use more time off work, I will be mucho unhappy :#

FYI: there are two airports in Tokyo and they are not close to each other. Be sure you verify which one you are using.

I just get Reerun_KC to fly me everywhere... At least until I can get my younger son to do the same...

Share a plane with PMII and his parents.

In 1988 you filed in US Bankruptcy court...

Hi all!

Well hi.

Actually agree. If you are going to visit a country for the first time it's better to ask a travel agent for help. But if you have been to the country for the umpteenth time teh it'd be reasonable to travel by your means ) imho.