Good travel agent in the DC area?
May 1, 2003, 12:58 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: DCA
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Good travel agent in the DC area?
I'm getting rid of the travel agent that my office uses.
Most of our travel is simple roundtrips that folks do on their own. People I work with tend to be pretty savvy about getting reasonable fares on their own.
Unfortunately, when they have problems getting good fares they usually come to me to solve their problem. Eats up way too much of my time.
We don't have a competent agent who can do it for us.
We also run conferences where outside folks travel o nour dime. Our existing agent is uniquely bad at ensuring those folks are traveling on the lowest applicable fares.
And then, of course, there are just things for which a good agent can be especially helpful...
I'm not looking for any guarantees. Just some leads.
Does anyone have a good travel agent in the DC area who might be interested in handling an account of only a few hundred thousand/yr.?
Most of our travel is simple roundtrips that folks do on their own. People I work with tend to be pretty savvy about getting reasonable fares on their own.
Unfortunately, when they have problems getting good fares they usually come to me to solve their problem. Eats up way too much of my time.
We don't have a competent agent who can do it for us.
We also run conferences where outside folks travel o nour dime. Our existing agent is uniquely bad at ensuring those folks are traveling on the lowest applicable fares.
And then, of course, there are just things for which a good agent can be especially helpful...
I'm not looking for any guarantees. Just some leads.
Does anyone have a good travel agent in the DC area who might be interested in handling an account of only a few hundred thousand/yr.?
May 5, 2003, 2:03 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
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Posts: 15,716
When I lived in DC, I used to rely on Bob Pool of Travel Management to meet all of my business and personal travel needs. Friendly, efficient, professional - don't count on him to scour the internet for the lowest fares (I don't know any agents that are competent to do that) but you can count on him not to screw up your reservations.
202-737-9544
202-737-9544
May 6, 2003, 12:25 pm
#3
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Alexandria VA USA
Posts: 1
As a competent, almost former, travel agent in the DC area, I thought I'd answer you.
You pinpoint one of the problems yourself - travel agents are only used nowadays for itineraries that are too complicated for people to do on their own, which means more room for error. The airlines no longer pay us any commissions, and they no longer waive penalties for errors. You can see the problems there. And coupled with the fact that people are reluctant to pay for services they received in the past, this means chances of finding a competent agent still in the business (you get what you pay for) are getting slimmer by the day. We have had to institute a "research fee" for people who call looking for airfares to keep them from getting information from us and then going on to book reservations themselves to avoid the service fee. I used to spend a lot of time checking for the best airfares, but no longer unless I know revenue will be generated.
I've been in the industry for over 20 years, but am finally succumbing to the pressure we are being given by airlines and other travel suppliers to get out of the business. (Actually I went back to school a few years ago when things started the downturn and am almost finished, so should be pretty much out of the industry within a year.) I don't know whether or not the agency I work in will last. It is a small agency in Chevy Chase MD that specialises in leisure travel, although we do some corporate travel as well. We do mostly international travel, and the agency as a whole (but NOT me) does a lot of family travel. We charge a minimum $40 service fee per ticket, and more for complicated international itineraries, so you have some comparative numbers. My guess is you may end up needing to use one of the "biggies," since they receive special treatment from the airlines and may cost you less, but who knows.
And don't forget, just because they may be offered the lowest fares doesn't mean the travelers will take them.
Good luck.
You pinpoint one of the problems yourself - travel agents are only used nowadays for itineraries that are too complicated for people to do on their own, which means more room for error. The airlines no longer pay us any commissions, and they no longer waive penalties for errors. You can see the problems there. And coupled with the fact that people are reluctant to pay for services they received in the past, this means chances of finding a competent agent still in the business (you get what you pay for) are getting slimmer by the day. We have had to institute a "research fee" for people who call looking for airfares to keep them from getting information from us and then going on to book reservations themselves to avoid the service fee. I used to spend a lot of time checking for the best airfares, but no longer unless I know revenue will be generated.
I've been in the industry for over 20 years, but am finally succumbing to the pressure we are being given by airlines and other travel suppliers to get out of the business. (Actually I went back to school a few years ago when things started the downturn and am almost finished, so should be pretty much out of the industry within a year.) I don't know whether or not the agency I work in will last. It is a small agency in Chevy Chase MD that specialises in leisure travel, although we do some corporate travel as well. We do mostly international travel, and the agency as a whole (but NOT me) does a lot of family travel. We charge a minimum $40 service fee per ticket, and more for complicated international itineraries, so you have some comparative numbers. My guess is you may end up needing to use one of the "biggies," since they receive special treatment from the airlines and may cost you less, but who knows.
And don't forget, just because they may be offered the lowest fares doesn't mean the travelers will take them.
Good luck.