The Internet and the evolution of the travel industry have made booking trips online convenient, transparent, and flexible. Given this convenience, why do some people still opt for travel agents instead? Or are travel agencies and agents facing a rapid decline?
This article breaks down the pros and cons of booking your next flight online or with a travel agent so you can make an informed decision.
- Booking With a Travel Agent vs. Online
- Factors Influencing Flight Costs
- Pro-Tips for Booking Flights
- Seasonal Variations
- Additional Charges
- How to Find the Best Deals
- Fare Comparison Tools
- Sign Up for Alerts
- Leveraging Credit Card Rewards
- Benefits of Booking With Travel Agents
- Do Your Due Diligence With Travel Agents!
- Benefits of Booking Flights Online
- When Not to Book Your Flight Online
- Who Should Use a Travel Agent?
- When Is It Better to Book Your Trip Online?
- Honest Opinions on Travel Agents vs. Booking Online
- Our Overall Thoughts: Travel Agents vs. Booking Online
- FAQs
Booking With a Travel Agent vs. Online
As it stands now, travel agencies remain in existence. Also, there are certain advantages to booking your flight and trip with a travel agent, depending on your needs and preferences. That said, there are also things you’ll want to consider beforehand. We've made the work easier and laid out the pros and cons of booking your flight and vacation with a travel agent vs. online.
- Access to exclusive deals and holiday packages.
- Expert insight and highly personalized services.
- More support with complex itineraries or larger trips.
- Extremely convenient in the case of possible conflict or emergencies during your trip.
- Travel agencies have a bad reputation for including hidden fees or additional service charges in your bill.
- They’re less convenient than booking online yourself.
- You might miss out on deals or discounts that high-volume travel sites are able to offer.
- More competitive prices due to high-volume sales.
- More flexible and convenient.
- Ideal for quick flights and/or trips.
- Having to do everything yourself (some see this as a positive).
- Planning complex trips can be stressful without support.
- Can be difficult to navigate travel sites and find the best deals.
Factors Influencing Flight Costs
Various factors influence flight rates, so consider these points when booking flights or trip packages:
- Flexibility with travel dates can result in significant savings on flight prices.
- Online travel booking sites may not always disclose taxes or additional airport fees, so travelers should be aware of these factors to make more informed decisions and save more.
Pro-Tips for Booking Flights
- Booking domestic flights 1-3 months in advance can save you 25% compared to last-minute booking (airlines often increase prices as the departure date approaches, primarily when more tickets are sold).
- Booking on a weekday is usually cheaper than on a weekend, as airlines offer lower air tickets on weekdays to attract more travelers.
The point is that the time of year you decide to book influences the retail price of flight tickets and vacation packages.
Seasonal Variations
To keep emphasizing the above, seasonal demand significantly impacts flight rates. Flight rates increase closer to peak seasons, including the winter holidays, spring break, and peak summer periods.
That said, there are ways to avoid the steeper fees. According to The Points Guy, "Historical data suggests that the best window to score low prices for domestic spring break airfare is almost upon us." So, right now, April is the best time to find great deals on flights for peak travel seasons.
Additional Charges
If you need to cancel or change your travel plans, doing so on a travel or airline website could add extra charges or cancellation fees to your cost. Look out for any taxes or airport fees not expressly advertised on booking sites. This will help you understand the total cost and identify any unfamiliar charges.
Aside from the base fare, most airlines charge extra for checking baggage, seat selection, and in-flight services. Budget airlines sometimes offer lower fares but compensate for the reduced sales cost by imposing huge fees for extra services like baggage and seat selection. Be aware of airlines' extra fees for checked baggage and seat selection.
How to Find the Best Deals
To find the best deals, we recommend using multiple booking platforms and staying informed of the latest rate changes they post. This requires a combination of strategies and tools, but (perhaps most of all) it takes patience. Using fare comparison tools like Skyscanner, signing up for alerts, and leveraging credit card rewards are all effective ways to get better flight rates.
Fare Comparison Tools
Fare comparison tools like Google Flights, Kayak, and Skyscanner can help you find the cheapest flights across multiple platforms. Most platforms let users filter search results by price, duration, layover time, and other information to make it easier to find the best deals.
Some travel agencies offer price protection plans that ensure a refund if the fare goes down after purchase, adding another layer of financial security. This is great for travelers who want to book the best fare without worrying about price fluctuations.
Sign Up for Alerts
Signing up for alerts on Google Flights or Kayak will help you stay up-to-date on the best flight rates and vacation packages. This time-saving advantage means quicker access to flight discounts and special offers, allowing you to track the rates of your most desired flights.
Leveraging Credit Card Rewards
Certain credit cards earn points on travel, dining, hotel stays, and car rentals. We highly suggest leveraging existing travel credit cards to earn points on various purchases. These points can be redeemed to save on flights, resulting in more affordable travel.
These points particularly benefit frequent travelers as more points mean more potential savings over time. Leveraging these credit card rewards can make finding and booking flights at discounted rates even easier.
Benefits of Booking With Travel Agents
As our pros and cons chart shows, booking a flight or holiday with a travel agency has benefits. The main advantages are access to premium deals and holiday packages, professional expertise on where and when to go, and personal assistance with planning and booking your trip.
Travel agents often partner with airlines, resorts, hotels, cruises, restaurants, etc., and sometimes get deals and discounts specifically for their customers. Hiring an agent might give you access to these exclusive deals and discounts.
Expert insight and highly personalized service are other benefits of booking your flight with a travel agent. Travel agents are professionally trained on where to look to find the best deals for flight rates, layovers, and accommodations and have the latest travel news. Nowadays, with so many travel websites on the market, knowing which sites to use to find the best rates and deals is a definite plus.
Contact multiple travel agencies to compare the service offerings and quotes before committing to an agent and agency.
Do Your Due Diligence With Travel Agents!
Travel agents have garnered a reputation for being slightly cunning or not the most forthcoming. Of course, this is a generalization (i.e., not all travel agents adhere to the stereotype). Some say travel agents may have hidden and/or booking fees.
Another alleged claim circulating the internet is that travel agents sometimes cost more because they earn a commission on the sale. This may be a speculation or rumor since other sources claim the supplier, not the customer, pays the commission.
This is all to say: Do your due diligence first! If you are going to book your flight or trip with an agent, make sure you communicate clearly. Ask them to itemize the breakdown of their quote fees and service charges before signing a contract or agreement. A good travel agent will have no problem explaining their cost breakdown.
Benefits of Booking Flights Online
Nowadays, the common consensus is that most people prefer to sit on their couches, open up their laptops, and look online for information on flights, accommodations, and everything else. The convenience and flexibility of booking a trip yourself are unmatched.
Most major travel sites are user-friendly, so you won't have a problem if you have basic computer skills and can navigate a modern website's search functions. Another thing is that high-volume travel sites, like Expedia or Kayak, usually offer higher discounts and competitive prices due to high-volume sales.
Ultimately, booking your flights and accommodations gives you complete control over your vacation, but with that comes more work and research on your plate. If you like to be in charge of arranging schedules and plans (you may want to consider becoming a travel agent yourself), you'll most likely prefer to book your flight and trip yourself rather than have an agent do it for you.
When Not to Book Your Flight Online
There are certain situations where it’s probably better to book with a travel agent. These include vacations like:
- Group trips
- Complicated or longer trips
- If you are a frequent flyer/traveler
If going in person is inconvenient, there are also online travel agencies (or online travel agents) you can check out, Kayak being a popular one. Booking through an agent may land you better discounts and deals for more extensive group trips and travel. Arranging group flights or activities during your trip (such as day trips or excursions) is also easier through an agent.
Planning longer or more complex trips can be stressful and complex. In these situations, the travel expertise and advice of a travel advisor or agent can prove invaluable, especially if you don’t have the time to research and make the reservations/bookings yourself. A travel agent will design your trip according to your desires and preferences; they’ll arrange activities and a travel schedule for you and your co-travelers ahead of time, doing all the work for you.
Who Should Use a Travel Agent?
Booking with a travel agent is ideal for trips that require careful planning or arrangements made ahead of time. Your agent can communicate these requests to the hotel staff if you want specific excursions or reservations. If trip planning is overwhelming, they’ll take the work out of your hands. Bigger groups traveling together also benefit from booking flights or accommodations with a travel agent (resorts often give travel agencies special group discounts and packages).
Lastly, if you prefer air travel, finding an agent you like could be beneficial in the long run. Travel agents can make personal requests to hotel staff on your behalf; they become familiar with you and your preferences and can ensure things are arranged for you ahead of time. Booking a trip can be as simple as a quick text to your agent.
When Is It Better to Book Your Trip Online?
Nowadays, with the number of travel websites online that let you book trips easily, all from the convenience of your home, it’s what most people prefer to do. As long as your trip isn’t overly complicated or filled with esoteric excursions, you should be fine booking your trip online.
Using an agent for quick, direct flights or short trips is typically not advised. Agents only get discounts for long-haul or international flights, so there wouldn’t be any benefit from using a travel agent for booking direct or short flights.
Honest Opinions on Travel Agents vs. Booking Online
The public consensus is divided on whether to use travel agents or not. Those that favor them do so with conviction—they’ve used travel agents for decades and were taught to do so:
My grandma (who traveled a lot) once told me that you should always book with a travel agent. If something goes wrong on your trip, your flight gets canceled, or whatever, they’ll deal with it, and it won’t put a damper on your trip.
This is solid advice! Agents can indeed help if things go wrong on your trip. Nevertheless, this opinion is not shared by everyone on the subreddit thread, as others say that they see no advantage to using a travel agent anymore, with everything readily accessible to us online.
Our Overall Thoughts: Travel Agents vs. Booking Online
To conclude this discussion, we’ll summarize our key findings on the most contested debate: whether to book your trip through travel agents' online booking sites.
As the article explains, booking with a travel agent and booking online have advantages and disadvantages. Like most things, either alternative has its strengths and weaknesses.
That said, the main takeaways of our research and exploration of this topic suggest that travel agents are ideal for particular types of travel or specific people (depending on their preferences). The types of travel I’m referring to are:
- Group trips, particularly to a hotel or resort (travel agents can bundle flights and stays, offering you and your group better rates on your stay).
- Long trips with elaborate schedules.
If you're averse to booking your trip or don’t know how to navigate travel booking websites, you'd also benefit from using a travel agent. Apart from that, many find it easier to book online yourself.
FAQs
t's not always cheaper to book flights online, as travel agents sometimes have access to exclusive deals and packages unavailable through online platforms. Compare options to find the best price.
A travel agent offers personalized service, exclusive deals, and valuable assistance with complex itineraries. They are especially beneficial for group travel and managing last-minute changes.
Use fare comparison tools to find the best flight deals, set up fare alerts, and take advantage of credit card rewards. These strategies will enhance your chances of securing the best prices.
Booking timing, seasonal variations, and additional fees are the most significant factors influencing flight costs. Understanding these elements can help you secure better deals on your travel.
Travel agencies are ideal for group travel, special needs, or last-minute changes to ensure a smooth and stress-free experience. Their expertise can help you navigate complex itineraries effectively.
