Gnopps

I'm tired of airlines' clueless callcenter agents and want to start dealing with a knowledgeable travel agent instead. Can anyone here recommend a good travel agent with reasonable fees and if possible personal service? Though I myself prefer one in Finland I think other Flyertalkers might appreciate recommendations throuhgout Scandinavia as well.

Thank you for any replies!

miikka

Well ... tough question ... I have only personal experience from private travel from American Express. From other circumstances I can recommend also KalevaTravel (www.kalevatravel.fi - apprently only available in Finnish) and Suomen Matkatoimisto (www.smt.fi - available also in English). You should note that SMT is actually representing American Express Travel Service in Finland so they are able to access the American Express negotiated fares, American Express provides their Travel Services by themselves only for their Platinum members in Finland with their own dedicated travel councelors.

Regarding personal service ... well, it depends what you mean by personal service. Of course most of the travel agencies are based on pools where someone will take your case and then serve you from the beginning to the end but the person will change from trip to trip. This of course applies when you contact them by phone or email.

You should note that at least in Finland the travel agencies are adding ticketing fees on top of the airline fares just to cover the service as airlines are nowadays demanding the same fees from travel agencies.


And welcome to this side ... the last time I have spoken with any airline was September 2005. After that just travel agencies.

henry999

As miikka says, it's a tough question. We had a close friend who worked in travel agencies here in Tampere (three or four places over the course of about 20 years) and she always tried to do her best for us. She wasn't the best travel agent I've ever known, in terms of being on top of the job, but the personal connection meant that if/when there were complications we could always trust that they would be sorted out. When our friend retired, our account was handed over to one of her colleagues with the injunction to 'take good care' of us but, alas, that apparently didn't mean much and we were disappointed with the service we received; after the second or third booking I started doing things more and more myself, online.

A good travel agent is worth her (or his) weight in gold. You need to have a photographic memory, the patience of a saint and nerves of steel. If/when you find such a person, cherish her.

cheers,

Henry

miikka

One important thing is also the profile stored with the travel agency - I do not know how many travel agencies actually keep profiles for private customers as it could be waste of time for many. It is helpful tool to help the agent to "remember" the preferences of the traveller so you don't have to always start with the basics (aisle/window, alliance, meal preference, preferred home airport, car rental company details, hotel chains etc.).

Some of the agencies might have interest to prefer certain airlines but usually they are very open for any airline, which of course understably isn't the case with the airline callcenters.

Gnopps

Thank you for your tips. I am a bit reluctant with SMT from a bad experience when I was told off for asking what booking class the offered price was in. I'll see what I can find.

Point_Chaser

I had a similar "interesting" experience with an online travel agent - travelstart.se - who told me I had to pay 250 SEK extra to know the rules of the ticket (as this is a part of their service package!)!
This cannot be compliant with consumer laws can it? I pay for a product, they already charge a service fee, but for me to know what the exact rules and conditions are for the tickets I will have to pay an additional fee? This is not good IMO!

miikka

Wow, interesting. I have never had that happening with me and in todays world it should be pretty ordinary question as it basically defines what kind of flexibility you have and also it has huge impact on the points. I cannot understand why any agent would have any problem to tell that simple thing.

And you definitely need to know the rules at least before you buy as it is actually telling what kind of contract you are about to make.

I must say that most of the people do not care about the booking class and that question might be a little bit odd for ordinary travel agent but they should be able to tell it very easily as it most likely is standing in front of them on the computer screen.

Olympic2008

I mostly uses American Express in Helsingborg, G�ran there is really good. On shorter trips whinin europe I book myself on internet, but he is superb to find good deals on more complicated trips...

He has a profile, always same seating...

radu

I would definitely recommend Kaleva Travel, which I have used for the last four years... I might have been just lucky, but the first time I used their services I was 'assigned' to an agent who spoke English - and she's really been worth her weight in gold (and probably more, depending on her dietary habits...)! I have always received personal service, and she has always managed to get me out of trouble (even when I once forgot my passport at home and had to go back to get it, and at the last minute she managed to change a non-changable fare and got me on the next available flight ).

The policy at Kaleva Travel also seems to be that they store your data if you allow them to (including credit card details), so no time wasted on repeating information - an e-mail with the desired routing will do.

The downside might be their fees - 45EUR/ticket issued on top of the airline fare. But I think I have saved much more than that over the years: no queing time on the phone, getting the shortest route and the cheapest fare that gives 100% EB points... In short, I'd recommend them at any time!

P.S. And if anyone wants the name of the particular lady, send me a private message - I'll try to be unselfish for once

cooling1

I would recommend Select Travel. It's an upscale travel agent with dedicated personal service (face to face or over the phone). You build a personal relationship and always book through the same consultant. Their office in Helsinki is on Bulevardi. They also have offices in Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen.

They are truly above the rest of the travel agencies in terms of know how and personal service. However, their main focus is leisure travelling. They still book just flight tickets as well though.

miikka

Their hotel list definitely only had luxurious hotels listed.

trsqr

My company uses Area, and so far I have been very happy. Their 24h service number is nice, when you are stranded somewhere at 2 am... They probably are not one of the cheapest ones though.