Phila Airport Parking Vacations

My travel agent is a crook and other horror stories!

There was a recent article on CNN where a women listed all the various ills she experienced in her vacation because of a “bad travel agent”. The airplane ticket she bought wasn’t upgradeable or refundable. The hotel wouldn’t upgrade her to a better room. Her car didn’t have unlimited mileage. She said the travel agent had done all these things in order to earn a bigger commission. And the list went on…

My first reaction as a traveler is that she had a good right to be angry and upset that her vacation wasn’t fantastic. My first reaction as a travel agent was – hold the fort – did she ASK for any of those items when she met with the travel agent?

Travel agents aren’t mind readers. We do are best to screen our clients to find out likes, dislikes and preferences. However, the client DOES pay a large part in the process.

To understand how best to utilize a travel agent, you should understand how a travel agency operates.

In “the good old days”, travel agents receive commissions from airlines, hotels, cars and resorts for travel purchased on behalf of a client. With the advent of the internet, these commission checks began disappearing. Regular airfare (without hotels or car rentals) is generally not commissionable. That means when the travel agent does the research for your best fare, s(he) isn’t going to receive any money for the time and effort spent on your behalf. Booking airline tickets alone is actually a money loosing proposition for the travel agent. However, many good agents will continue to book these flights as a gesture of goodwill in hopes that you will bring them your other travel.

Your budget determines the type of airfare and accommodations you will receive. If you are on a tight budget, you will likely end up with non refundable / non changeable plane tickets and hotel rooms that won’t allow you to upgrade. Make sure to discuss your budget options and the pros and cons associated with your airfare, car and hotel before you make a purchase. Keep in mind that your travel agent is likely to receive a higher commission on the refundable / upgradeable fares so buying non refundable / non changeable tickets really doesn’t benefit the travel agent.

If you want to use airline or hotel points for upgrades, make sure and tell your travel agent up front. That way s(he) can find you the best upgradeable bargain.

Your travel agent can be an invaluable asset when planning your next trip or vacation. You, as the consumer, do have certain responsibilities to volunteer information if not directly asked.

Questions to ask your agent.

1. Do you charge any research or other fees?2. Will you work with me if there are any issues?3. Do you work with any companies that allow me to pay out my vacation?4. Is there a 24/7 phone number in case of critical issues?

Questions your agent should ask you

1. What areas of travel interest you?2. What kind of budget do you have?3. What types of travel do you like – air, cruise, all inclusive etc?4. Do you have airline seating preferences?5. Smoking or non smoking hotel rooms (if applicable)?6. What level of service do you expect – budget, 5 star etc?7. Ask about visas and passports for international travel.

Fantastic vacations start with detailed planning. So, get together with your travel agent and start planning your next dream trip.

Air Travel-Pros and Cons

As the decades have passed air travel has continually grown in popularity.  One can attribute a number of reasons for this increase in popularity and these are convenience and safety.  The following are some of the positive and negative factors involving air travel.

Disadvantage: Airplanes Cause Pollution.

The major shortcoming of air travel is the pollution caused by it. Greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere by the aero planes and these gases are responsible for global warming. Global warming increases the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and people who want to avoid such a rise in temperature are alarmed by this effect.  Many airlines are becoming friendlier to the environment to prevent the effect of global warming. One of the ways in which this is achieved by many of these airlines is to retrofit winglet devices that make the aircraft fuel efficient.  In addition, many airlines have started upgrading their fleet of aero planes to modern fuel efficient aircraft by spending millions of dollars.

Disadvantage: High Cost

High cost of travel makes many people avoid traveling by air. It is cheaper to fill up gas in your car and drive to your desired destination instead of going by flight. By flying on discount
airline it is possible to overcome this disadvantage of high cost. You can decide to fly in case you get a very good deal on your airfare.

Disadvantage: Fear of Flying

There are a number of people who just don’t want to fly.  For anyone that has ever been on a flight that has experienced extreme turbulence or some type of other event it can be rather terrifying. 

Advantage: Speed of Travel

traveling by air is much faster as compared to other means of transportation as long as these places are connected by air. Flying between two destinations in United States which are connected by air takes a few hours whereas going by car between these destinations might take a number of days. This gives you extra days for enjoying your vacations because you save a number of days by traveling by air.

Advantage: Easy to Travel Long Distances

Another major advantage in traveling by air is that you can travel to far off destinations which are difficult to traverse either by road or any other means.  We can fly to any destination around the world. Although many of these flying times are very long you will still find that the total time taken is much shorter than the time that would have been spent by using alternate modes of transportation.

Advantage:  Safety

With regards to other forms of travel, air travel is considered to be one of the safest.  Every year you will find a lot of fatal accidents occur because of car travel. Even train derailments causing deaths are also being heard of very frequently. As regards to air travel related accidents you will find that the frequency of occurrences is relatively minimal. For many people safety is the prime consideration for choosing air travel as compared to other form of transportation.

Choosing air travel is a personal decision, based on the factors discussed above along with a multitude factors not discussed here.  For most travelers safety, speed of travel and cost are the over riding factors.  As long as cost remains affordable air travel will continue to grow in popularity.