the problem is, for centurion customers willing and able to pay the $2500 per year, you would think they would have all of their centurion assigned travel agents who at least had the professionalism and courtesy to follow up on questions and bookings, without the customer having to continuosly call or write them asking for an answer. also if they give you a quote and you book it that should be the price, not some higher price that apparently was because they did not understand what they were doing. isn't the centurion travel agents job to understand the booking screens in front of them??
Agreed. I don't use a dedicated agent because I don't want to be confined to their working hours or wait 3 days for them to get back to me. I just use the queue. There is a wide range of professionalism among the agents. I've had remarkable experiences in the past, but lately, the customer service has declined severely.
I only use them for hotels, I book everything else myself. Some of my issues:
The prices I get quoted are usually higher than the hotel's websites. Usually, the FHR/Centurion benefits justify the price increase, but it's definitely not getting the benefit at zero cost.
The upgrades don't always work the way I think they would. For instance, I am staying at the Ritz in Tokyo. I wanted to stay on the club level. The website lists deluxe room, club deluxe room as the tiers. If I book the deluxe room, Centurion will upgrade me to the deluxe tower room. There is no mention of a deluxe tower room on the Ritz website. In order for me to be on club level, I have to pay for club level.
I frequently request the hotel limosine. About half the time, I end up having to call the hotel directly to confirm the reservation. I give up asking Centurion repeatedly for a confirmation.
If I had to rely on Centurion Travel to book all my travel, I would find someone else. But the FHR/Centurion benefits generally make up for the extra effort and frustration with dealing them.