weblet

Disclaimer - I am a TA, and no, we haven't gone the way of the dodo .

But FTers are a breed apart. Usually much more sophisticated travelers, able to handle situations less experienced travelers would find difficult at best. Unfortunately, most travel journalists have to have a much more generic approach in order to get printed. And some tend to take their celebrity status a little too seriously.

Chris used to be fairly anti-TA, but in recent years has found that we TAs do have some redeeming value. You also need to qualify whether he's dealing with an online agency such as Expedia, Hotline, Orbitz etc, or if he's dealing with a flesh and blood agent such as myself. And as a TA I could probably point out where the passenger went wrong as many times as you could point out where the supplier or agent went wrong.

I do take exception to the statement
I take my job seriously. Yes, I charge. Are there things anyone with any sense can book themselves? Yes, and I do point that out before I do any work. I see my relationship with my clients as a partnership. Do I know everything? No. Do you know everything? No. So rather than approaching a TA with an adversarial attitude, it works much better if you qualify who you are working with. Just like working with any other professional. And then you need to build that relationship.

joyfulheart, I'm sorry your experience was not a good one. When someone comes to me as a referral, I try to do the best I can for them. And remember, with the internet, you don't have to be in the same town as your agent - many agents deal with people they have never met in person or even live in the same state.

FWIW.

bzbdewd

Wow! No wonder Chris Elliot is so out of touch these days.....he spends most of his time at Disney World. Travel Troubleshooter article here.
Quote: "Full disclosure, here: I live in Orlando, I have three kids under five, and I take them to Disney World almost every weekend."

idealflyer

Before criticizing, I have always tried to put myself in someone else's shoes. However, I really can't understand what Chris Elliott aims to get across in his columns except to simply tell news, but give no new information.

I have wondered as well how his writing has become boring. He should just be a news anchor and read from a script as we really don't see much sense of style or personality in his articles. Much like the "love him or hate him" Joe Brancatelli, his rants and takes on situations are actually pretty insightful. It is enterainment as it makes me think or provides a new take on something. He gives good analogies and yes I admit some of his articles or ideas expressed have been way out there, i.e. use all your frequent flyer miles now as they will no longer be valueable etc. But at least his articles are interesting as you can see his writing has his own personal touch. I think Chris Elliott just tries to write for a mass audience who only flies twice a year generally around Thanksgiving and only on Southwest. If you are looking to learn something new or interesting articles, see another travel expert.

On a last note, sorry to hear about the TA referral who was not helpful. Regardless of seeking the cheapest flights and being turned away, the referral should have at least made attempts to do business. Sure there is much more money to be made on larger budgets or corporate travel, as the clients are busy and easier to deal with sometimes as they make the call and book the ticket without all the calling back and forth to change dates, request different routings, etc. But then again, let's look from the view of the travel agent. Imagine the reaction you would get if you walk into a bar and ask the bartender what is the cheapest drink you can buy? How would his reaction in serving you be?

Sure you can book your own travel just as with other service related industries you can also do it on your own. You could trade your own stocks without a broker or defend yourself in court. However, most people don't have as much time to deal with reading into it on their own and would prefer to go someone more knowledgeable. I have never been to India but I would rather employ the assistance of a niche market travel agency who can provide the best service for my trip. That way I don't have to worry about what to do, where to go, surprise costs, etc. And if soemthing goes wrong, I have someone on my side who I can call and they can assist in getting this resolved. That peace of mind is worth it!

bhatnasx

I thought threads about FT'ers werent' allowed...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/member.php?u=53400

iahphx

Well, then he should defend himself. I think my original criticism of his column is still spot on.

Indeed, after re-reading it, I decided to fact-check his implausible assertion that the average economy hotel room had risen to $164. After exhaustive research that took less than one minute (I googled "average cost hotel room"), I found a USAToday article which says the average hotel room in the US (not even an average "economy" room) is $102.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotel...l-prices_N.htm

Do his editors simply allow him to make stuff up? Do they not have access to google?

bigguyinpasadena

The latest nonsense from Chris Elliot has to do with "following the herd"mindset when travelling.
Hopefully all of the fools who read his column and belive him to be an "expert"will take his advice.
This guy is a hack-and one wonders if he ever travels on anything other than paid junkets.

idealflyer

Surprised to see he is a member of FT.
But don't think he is a true flyertalker, his last activity was.....
Last Activity: Jun 29, 07 1:36 pm

We know true FTers log on 20x a day!

bzbdewd

I think his occupation would put him beyond the TOS in this regard but I may be wrong on that. However... if he is an active FTer than he should certainly be more with it than he seems to be in his columns....

SemiElite

Well, Chris has done it again!!! Now he's encouraging travellers to be gate lice in order "to speed up the boarding process." "Even if you’re assigned a seat in the last zone to board, you should make every effort to be the first member of your group....The savviest air travelers stand in the boarding area at least one zone before they’re called. As that zone winds down, they move in closer, anticipating their number will be next. And they’re at the gate before it’s their turn."

Great thinking, Chris! Create a bottleneck at the boarding gate in order to move the lines faster! Whatta genius!!! And MSNBC is giving him a big salary to dispense that kind of brilliant travel advice???

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24525193/

MisterNice

I am of the opinion Chris Elliot is one of the "travel writers" who never or ever or rarely travels but frequently churns out travel crappy advice for a paycheck overheard from Joe and Mary Sixpack who faithfully take one (1) RT each year ro visit Aunt Tilly in Idaho.

MisterNice

BNA_flyer

I think the overlap between FT and whatever camping-enthusiast forums there are (and I know they're out there) is fairly small. People who go camping, generally go camping because they like camping, not because they want to save money on a hotel. I have done that once, when I was in college. My girlfriend (now wife ) and I camped outside DC and managed to see a lot of sights by taking either public transportation or a car into the city--worked pretty well, but I wouldn't do it now. I also wouldn't stay with friends unless the point of the trip was specifically to visit those friends, or, again, if I were about 20 years younger.

At least the comic actor Chris Elliott would be more entertaining than the travel writer Christopher Elliott, if I had to pick someone to go camping with or at whose house I might stay on vacation.

Athena53

I think Elliott is writing for a different audience. And if he can save Joe and Jane Sixpack from holding us up at "security" because they didn't know about Freedom Baggies and they've got suntan lotion, perfume, duty-free liquor and shaving cream in their carry-ons, good for him. I do get tired of reading the travel "advice" written for the general public- not just Elliott's. Don't try to connect on the last flight out in the evening. Fly early in the day. Don't check bags if you can avoid it. Please- teach me something I don't know.

I'm one of Brancatelli's paid subscribers. Yes, sometimes he rants, but he's the first one (other than FT'ers) to ferret out the problems when they come up, such as a particular airline suddenly jerking mass quantities of planes out of service for inspections, for example. He uses flightstats.com prodigiously to refute the PR releases that under-estimate the extent of cancellations and delays. It's always funny to see him catch these probelms before they're on the airline's web sites and then see the airline hustle back and post information. He's also got a sense of humor.

I agree, though, that the FT community as a whole is a better source of information than any of the professionals. My professional society's VP-International e-mailed me once from Rio when she was booked to fly DL home and a strike was threatening. She had limited access to e-mail, didn't trust her corporate TA, and wanted to know what here chances were. I got the answers here (strike unlikely before she was due to return home). It's a ringing emdorsement of FT that she figured I'd have the best information!

redbeard911

All of his recent posts link to his own site.

I'll take FT over any of these other guys any day. I think Greenberg is the king of fluff.