Why do you need a travel agent anyway?Now that you can book virtually any travel online, why would you need a travel agent? That just makes it more expensive, right? Not so. In fact, travel agents as experts can help you get the best value for your vacation, and indeed help you get the vacation that’s right for you – not just a cheap getaway you found on a travel site. Consider: booking anything more than a flight or hotel stay online and you are at the mercy of you don’t know what you don’t know. For example, each cruise line has its own personality and caters to different ages and tastes. There are thousands of itineraries all over the world, on big ships, medium-sized ships, small ships and yachts, each with an array of shore excursions included or extra. You don’t want to end up on a Carnival Cruise if your own style runs to Holland America. The same is true for land vacations. Do you want a leisurely pace or an active one? Travel on your own or with a group? Figure out how to get from place to place or have a vacation designed for you? If you’re booking directly with a cruise line, then you’re dealing with a reservations agent who may in fact have no experience cruising. When you book with a cruise specialist, you’re taking advantage of their knowledge and experience, and they are your representative with the cruise line. If anything goes wrong or you need to change something, you have someone in your corner if you work with a travel agent. Your travel agent can also suggest destinations and itineraries you’ve never heard of – remember, you don’t know what you don’t know. Cruise specialists, especially those affiliated with a travel consortium like Ensemble Travel Group, CAA or Expedia CruiseShipCenters, have access to amenities you won’t find if you’re looking on the web. So your cruise specialist may be able to get you onboard credit, a bottle of wine or some other perk just by booking through them. It’s also very time-consuming to do all the research into your vacation. And you can find yourself missing out on an important detail that you didn’t know you needed to know, like flying into one terminal at Heathrow and discovering your next flight in 50 minutes is in another terminal, causing you to miss your flight. Take the time to talk to the experts, in person or over the phone. They’ll ask you questions to find out how you like to travel and where you’d like to go. Then they’ll do the research, present some options, and have you on your way to your desired vacation. You’ll be glad you did. Julie Mikuska
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