Anyone Know A Good Travel Agent?
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I’m going a bit out on a limb here and quite off topic too, so please forgive me, but I thought I’d ask you my readers whether you have a good contact for a travel agent?
I’m presently looking to book my ticket to Canada and as per usual I’m trying to get a good deal by navigating what’s available online and offline. When you combine all the options from services like Zuji, Webjet, the airlines homepages (I’m currently checking Air Canada, Qantas and Hawaiian Airlines) and stock standard bookings via face-to-face or over the phone travel agents it can all be a bit bamboozling – too many options!
I’ve heard of people who work in the airline industry, in particular travel agents and people who work for the airlines, get fantastic deals on flights, sometimes as much as 85% off. If you are one of these people and you can help I’d love to hear from you.
If there are any regular travellers who read my blog and have some advice or referrals for good agency/people contacts I’m all ears!
Send me an email – yaroATblogtrafficking.com
Thanks everyone!
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[...] Hat Tip: To Yaro Starak of Entrepreneur’s Journey for asking the question, “Anyone Know a Good Travel Agent”? [...]
Hey Yaro
Have you tried http://www.kayak.com?
David
sorry mate. can’t be of help here. I haven’t left my coop for the last 5 years, I think I’m getting a bit ‘cooped up’
Travel Agents usually can’t compete with the online services. The online services after all are there as travel agents.
It’s nice to deal with travel agents since you can talk to them and ask for advice as well as get them to do all the groundwork for choosing your flights.
As for cheap seats – it would be nice if you actually worked with an airline… they get massive discounts and some even get to travel for free.
Yaro — be your own travel agent. Check out: matrix.itasoftware.com These are the people who put together the search engines behind Orbitz, Kayak, Cheap Tickets, etc. You can’t purchase flights from the site, but you can put your own itinerary together and then buy directly from the individual airlines — often at a tremendous discount. Once you’ve found your flight, click on DETAILS. Then choose Show Booking Details. Jot down the exact flight and fare codes, then call the airlines directly.
I haven’t bought a ticket for a long time in Australia, but I always thought flight centre or sta were the cheapest.
I would also recommend kayak.com
I have heard of a trick of the trade that you buy a ticket with a connection that runs through the city which is your actual destination. I dont know if this loophole has been closed or not.
Hey Yaro,
You should check out Flight Centre as over here in Canada they always same to have good rates. Cheers and talk soon
Lucas
I would definitely recommend Jetabroad. They’re a travel agency in Sydney with a fantastic online booking engine – fares just as cheap as on the international websites that won’t let you book from Australia.
http://www.jetabroad.com/
I don’t know, but perhaps you and I might meet up and chat once you make it to our temporarily unfrozen land?
Yaro.
A friend of mine Chris, who works for Harvey World Travel at Loganholme, got me a great deal to the UK for later this year. If you wish to perhaps investigate some deals, I’d recommend him. Email me, and I’ll forward you on his contact.
Darragh
Thanks for all the tips everyone. I’ll take a look at everything and see which is the best way to go.
Needless to say no “insiders” have offered big discounts yet
How about really cheap business class?
If you are looking for discounts on tours and cruises worldwide look at http://www.cheapertravel.com and just compare their prices to all the so called major online agencys for the best prices and surprising first class service. I know I have my name on the company. Craig Pavlus
Hello Yaro,
My name is Belinda and I read your blog “Anyone Know a Good Travel Agent” via another blog “Why a Travel Agent is Better than Expedia”. I was so impressed that I posted it in my blog, which I was careful to credit back.
I am an independent travel agent and wanted to know if you have received rates from anyone for your trip to Canada. I would be happy to assist you with your travel plans. Please visit my website at http://bbdestinationexpress.com or you can call me toll free at 888-378-5463. I hope to hear back from you but if you have already received a rate I hope I can assist you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Belinda B.
BB Destination Express
I ended up buying my tickets through an agency already because I wanted to buy before July for tax reasons. I did get a reasonable deal by avoiding Air Canada – thank god! That airline sucks. Hawaiian Air has a new Sydney to Vancouver via Hawaii deal which was a good $1000 less than Air Canada so I’m trying them out. It wouldn’t be hard to beat Air Canada…now there’s some word of mouth for you!
Unfortunately there just aren’t many options to get to North America from Brisbane. The Aussie government unfortunately blocked Singapore Airlines bid for the Aussie-US rout, which would have been so nice, Singapore Airlines is very good.
I’ve always found STA is the cheapest travel agent to deal with because it’s main audience in students
There are several ways of getting the right price for a ticket:
Book 2 single tickets NOT Return:
Tip #1: Make your reservation early.
Many discount fares require that you make a reservation 7, 14 or 21 days in advance, depending on the fare. The best international fares often require a reservation 30 days in advance. Making a reservation as soon as you know your travel dates increases your chances of finding a great fare.
Tip #2: Flying on a weekday usually costs less.
Flights departing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday usually offer the lowest fares. Fares are sometimes (but not always) higher on Monday and Friday than on other weekdays. Saturday flights occasionally have discount fares, but as a rule it’s more expensive to fly on a weekend than a weekday.
Tip #3: Stay over a Saturday night.
Most low fares require that you stay over at least one Saturday night before your return flight. However, some fares may only require you to stay a minimum of 3 or 4 days.
Tip #4: Did we mention you should make your reservation early?
Airlines sell only a limited number of seats at the lowest fares. When those seats sell out, the price goes up!
Tip #5: Consider an airport in the surrounding area.
You may enjoy significant savings if you are willing to fly into nearby airports. For example, when traveling to Los Angeles (LAX), you may want to consider flying into the Burbank (BUR), Orange County (SNA) or Ontario (ONT) airports. Similarly, the cost of a trip to San Francisco (SFO) might be CC0000uced by flying into San Jose (SJC) or Oakland (OAK), while travel to Miami (MIA) may be less expensive if you fly into Ft. Lauderdale (FLL).
Tip #6: Try an earlier or later travel date.
To get the lowest roundtrip fare, the same fare must be available on both the departing and return flights you select. If the fare is sold out on either of these, the price you end up with will be much higher. If possible, consider flying on another date.
Who said old posts are dead! I have been listening to your podcasts and catching up on tit bits of info as I slowly look to build a blog in a ever so crowded place. Could help but notice that you were looking for agent, well 12 months on since you posted this post. I can recommend bezurk.com espically if your travel is in the Australisa region.. Well worth checking out.
Try http://www.eflight.com.au
G’day Yaro,
If you are still in Aust trying to get somewhere then your best solution is to buy a share in a Trvl Agt. You will get up to 75% disc. off discount airfares. I can tell you how.
My friend Sandy Wolf, created a lens about Travel Agents. You can not only book travel but you can become your own travel agent and write it off as a tax deduction. Here is the link:
http://www.squidoo.com/TravelByPros/
Please let me know what you think.
another good place is http://www.lowfares.com it lets you compare differnt prices from expedia, orbitz and travelocity
I don’t know a particular travel agent, but my friend travels so much, he already got 4 round trip tickets to anywhere in the US!
Hi, Yaro! Here is my agent: http://touchoftravel.webs.com .Her name is Dorothy Moss and she can save you lot’s of cash on your next trip. I highly recomend her. Ok, hope this helps! Have fun!