Originally Posted by
emma69
I will disagree slightly on this. If you have people travelling who are not experienced travelers, don't know the ins and outs, then having a good travel agent to assist can make things a lot easier all round (especially for their poor secretaries!) The person I use for complex itineraries / group travel is fantastic, they don't let a computer make decisions, are widely traveled themselves so give real-life advice. They also apply common sense (e.g. an itinerary that is $30 cheaper but involved changing airports in London is not cheaper!) I totally agree with 'corporate booking agents' who are glorified call centre folk with no actual knowledge - we used Carlson at a former firm and I spent half my life explaining 'travel policy exceptions' to management for the department!
Indeed, short of having a "Travel Hacks" training program for newbies it can be wasteful with them..but then, with a
fixed budget, there is not much damage they can do. As I say, if they get to spend X, they can spend it stupidly..for example, paying too much for a flight and eating McDonalds the whole time as a result..and it won't matter, because so long as they stay in budget you were willing to part with that amount.
I do like that a PERSON does your booking though! It requires a human.