In the age of online travel agencies like Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz, many people have forgotten about the once-popular in-person travel agent. Sure, the convenience of planning your vacation at 2 o’clock in the morning while binge-watching your favorite show on Netflix is enticing; there is a level of customer service and attention to detail that cannot be matched with just technology.
In our article, “How Much Does A Travel Agent Cost?” we revealed how the professionals get paid and then discussed the many benefits of working with them. In this article, we will continue our exploration of the travel agent and share with you the process of how it all works.
Travel Consultation
The first step to working with a travel agent is requesting a free consultation. During this initial discussion, the agent will use this opportunity to learn more about the trip in question.
Common questions that you should expect to answer may include:
- Where do you want to go?
- What are your desired dates of travel?
- What type of activities are you interested in doing?
- How many people will be traveling with you?
- What is your budget?
- Is this trip celebrating anything in particular? If so, what?
- What type of accommodations are you seeking?
- What is your most memorable trip? What made it noteworthy?
The purpose of this meeting is to allow your agent to understand you and your preferred travel style. Once identified, your resident expert can get to work matching your vision with an authentic experience. The more details you can provide at this stage, the better your proposal will be.
Proposal
Once the consultation is over, your travel agent will begin creating a proposal based on the requirements discussed in the previous stage. The resulting document is a draft itinerary with multiple options laid out alongside prices.
Remember to be honest in your feedback to ensure that you get what you want from the trip. Express what you like about the options provided along with any selections that you don’t. This step can have multiple iterations while the two of you fine-tune the desired experience.
Itinerary
With your approval, the winning proposal now becomes a full-fledged plan (itinerary), and your travel agent immediately gets to work reserving the accommodations, transportation, and other agreed-upon details.
You should expect to share more private information about yourself and your travel companions by this time in the process.
Consider gathering the following information necessary to complete booking:
- Names
- Birthdays
- Address
- Telephone number
- Credit card information
- Frequent flyer or other loyalty membership numbers
Pre-Travel Check-In
After reservations have been secured and before your adventure begins, your agent will contact you to go over the trip’s details. During this time, the discussion may include:
- Necessary travel documentation
- COVID-related best-practices
- Travel restrictions
- Packing tips
- Final payments
The goal of the pre-travel check-in is to ensure that you are ready for the trip while also minimizing any potential issues or surprises.
Travel Support
Once the trip begins, your travel agent will continue to work behind the scenes on your behalf. The purpose of this step is to catch any problems before they happen or resolve them quickly once they do.
Can you imagine the frustration and stress that many feel while traveling, only to experience an unplanned event that has the potential of making things much worse? This situation is where your travel agent services as the primary contact and aids you in resolving any hiccups along the way.
Post-Travel Check-In
Upon your return home, the travel agent will follow up and conduct a short debrief. The aim is to identify what you enjoyed about the trip while also capturing any opportunities for improvement. Your feedback on the experience helps the team refine future planning and better match your interests and tastes.
Closing the Trip
The final step of the process involves sending invoices and filing receipts. As your partner, the travel professional will help you identify outstanding bills and organize them for easy payment and proper filing.
As we bring this article to a close, I hope that we have successfully provided a brief overview of the process many travel agents follow. It is important to note that there may be slight differences between one agency and another, but the general idea is there.
If, after reading this article, you would like to talk to someone about an upcoming trip idea, we at Experience Chasers would love to assist you in creating your dream vacation. To begin, simply fill out the free travel consultation form, and we’ll take it from there.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time.
