Travel Quotes

Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” Maya Angelou
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....................."One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching." Unknown..................

I would like to welcome new readers to my travel blog. If you are reading this for the first time, then I suggest you first read my introduction which I wrote last November when I started this. It explains why I am writing this and it gives you a little about my background. And most importantly it explains about my list and how it works. To go to that post, click on the following link - http://havelistwilltravel.blogspot.com/2011/11/have-list-will-travel-introduction.html


Saturday, April 7, 2012

Booking on the Web vs. Travel agent

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give. To roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live.” Hans Christian Anderson

Tahiti
I was a travel agent for 15 years. I know that in todays world the internet is a fact of life. I certainly wouldn't want to be without it. But should you book your travel on line, or should you book with a travel agent? My answer – it depends.

For simple things, like hotel reservations, car rental and flights, why not book online?  I do it myself, and even recommend it to my friends and family. Should you book a tour or a cruise online? I would say no. First of all, a travel agent is probably going to have a lot of information and choices for you, that you might not see online. You may be looking at one cruise line and the agent may have something that would be the same cruise, only better, and the price could be the same or better.

Montenegro
And what if something goes wrong, is there someone to turn to if you've booked it online? No! But a good travel agent is with you from beginning to end, and if you have a problem, they will assist you. Quite often they can get you exactly the same price as the online price, and they will give you personal service as well. Many travel agents will also have a gift for booking with them, such as a bottle of wine in your room when you board your cruise. You won't get that from the internet.

If you are going to travel to a foreign country on your own, a travel agent usually has personal experience that is invaluable, and will certainly have experience in booking different segments of the trip. At the very least you should go and talk to one and get some ideas of what they can or cannot do to help you with the planning. When I was an agent, my favorite thing to do was to help clients plan independent travel. Sure, there was not really any commission involved, so it wasn't helping my goals (which we all have), and it took up lots more time then a tour or cruise did, but it was FUN!  So you need to find an agent who feels that way also, and talk to them.

For those of you who are very internet savvy and just want to do it on your own, there are lots of websites available. I am listing a few of them here, with links. They are all great for booking hotels, cars, and flights.



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