Travel Agent Or Book Online Myself ?

[peter991]

I travel regularly between Australia and Thailand - with side trips to Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, China, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

Most of my trips are planned up to 3 months in advance.

Should I use a Travel Agent or in this Internet-age, should I book myself? Do Travel Agents get better deals than the public?

Peter

[think_too_mut]

Should I use a Travel Agent or in this Internet-age, should I book myself? Do Travel Agents get better deals than the public?

Online - with reputable sites like Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas.

Hotels online are useless, there was a thread I started in October last year about that.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=145951

Travel agent is my pick, they go through all the frustration and present me with the itinerary.

[sweetchariot]

I didn't vote on this, because I would recommend both. Book your flights online (international or internal), but find a Thai travel agency to book your hotel.

For some reason the local travel agents get a huge discount on hotel bookings, which you will not get walking in the door with a handful of cash. Just packed my parents off to Koh Samui for a couple of weeks, the Thai travel agent saved 700 baht per night on the advertised price, which they have since confirmed that price was definitely not available for walk ins or internet bookers.

[Neeranam]

Travel agent - I used my regular one to book my family to Oz in March. They can also get visas and maybe cost about 1000 baht more.

[Samuian]

........ the Thai travel agent saved 700 baht per night on the advertised price....

So who is "the travel agent"?

Would you mind to let us know?

[RasiMike]

I travel regularly between Australia and Thailand - with side trips to Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, China, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

Most of my trips are planned up to 3 months in advance.

Should I use a Travel Agent or in this Internet-age, should I book myself? Do Travel Agents get better deals than the public?

Peter

I've been doing it online for a few years now and have saved a lot of cash, flying with Qantas, Thai, Brunei etc. In fact, after shopping around online, on foot and 'onphone' for a few weeks, I found a nice deal.

I just booked before logging on to TV today. A family trip (4 people) back to OZ in May and saved about 30000 baht on the agencies best quotes.... Better in our pocket I think.

Mike

[ClaytonSeymour]

Should I use a Travel Agent or in this Internet-age, should I book myself? Do Travel Agents get better deals than the public?

Online - with reputable sites like Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas.

Hotels online are useless, there was a thread I started in October last year about that. I have booked hotels online the world over and never had a problem.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=145951

The outcome of that thread was that doing it independently wasn't for you. Most people seem to manage quite fine, indeed I actually enjoy searching for hotels. Useless? For you perhaps, but not for the rest of us.

Travel agent is my pick, they go through all the frustration and present me with the itinerary. They also charge you more money.

[britmaveric]

Do it yourself... rarely use a TA unless work is arranging it.

[think_too_mut]

Should I use a Travel Agent or in this Internet-age, should I book myself? Do Travel Agents get better deals than the public?

Online - with reputable sites like Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas.

Hotels online are useless, there was a thread I started in October last year about that. I have booked hotels online the world over and never had a problem.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=145951

The outcome of that thread was that doing it independently wasn't for you. Most people seem to manage quite fine, indeed I actually enjoy searching for hotels. Useless? For you perhaps, but not for the rest of us.

Travel agent is my pick, they go through all the frustration and present me with the itinerary. They also charge you more money.

I never search for hotels, always know which one I want.

If an average professional is on 100US$ an hour, even if spent only 2-3 hours doing searches that return "sorry, not that room but try this one for 3 times the price" is not worth a fart, let alone burning 10-12K baht of own lifetime to save (only if very lucky) 200-300 baht (if that) on room per day.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Should I use a Travel Agent or in this Internet-age, should I book myself? Do Travel Agents get better deals than the public?

Online - with reputable sites like Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas.

Hotels online are useless, there was a thread I started in October last year about that. I have booked hotels online the world over and never had a problem.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=145951

The outcome of that thread was that doing it independently wasn't for you. Most people seem to manage quite fine, indeed I actually enjoy searching for hotels. Useless? For you perhaps, but not for the rest of us.

Travel agent is my pick, they go through all the frustration and present me with the itinerary. They also charge you more money.

I never search for hotels, always know which one I want. Well you shouldn't be so fussy should you! If I shared that view then I would expect to pay more and so should you. Try expanding your horizons, you may get a pleasant surprise & save yourself some money in the process.

If an average professional is on 100US$ an hour, even if spent only 2-3 hours doing searches that return "sorry, not that room but try this one for 3 times the price" is not worth a fart, let alone burning 10-12K baht of own lifetime to save (only if very lucky) 200-300 baht (if that) on room per day. I can assure you that I save more than 200-300 baht by booking online & it's nothing to do with luck.

[think_too_mut]

To Seymour:

I am not too fussy. Hotels within 1200-1500Baht that I know of and have stayed there (Jomtien Grand Palace, for example, true, nothing "Grand" there) are always sold out, even in October. I just gave up.

Being a family man, I just abandoned any trips out of BKK. There is Siam Park, 10 times bigger than Pattaya Water Park and my home in BKK is more comfortable than any 5* hotel.

Siam Park offers for kids more than entire Thai tourist industry combined.

[ClaytonSeymour]

To Seymour:

I am not too fussy. Hotels within 1200-1500Baht that I know of and have stayed there (Jomtien Grand Palace, for example, true, nothing "Grand" there) are always sold out, even in October. I just gave up. But did you try to book early? I've just done a search on planetholiday and the Grand Jomtien Palace is available in October, with instant online confirmation @ 938 baht for a twin/double room.

Being a family man, I just abandoned any trips out of BKK. There is Siam Park, 10 times bigger than Pattaya Water Park and my home in BKK is more comfortable than any 5* hotel.

Siam Park offers for kids more than entire Thai tourist industry combined.

[lomatopo]

There is of course no clear-cut answer. It all depends on the type travel (assume we're talking solely about airfares?) you do, and your particular requirements and preferences. There are so many variables it is impossible to make specific recommendations without a detailed understanding of your requirements.

I tend to stick with legacy/flag carriers (UA/TG/SQ/LH/NH) due to frequent flyer benefits. For trips originating in the U.S.A. (I string together USA-BKK-USA tickets) I use a consolidator (travel agent) who saves me ~ 25% or more as they have access to lower priced inventory which the airline itself does not make available (end of the alphabet fare buckets). For travel ex-BKK I use a local travel agent or the carriers' CTO.

[think_too_mut]

To Seymour:

I am not too fussy. Hotels within 1200-1500Baht that I know of and have stayed there (Jomtien Grand Palace, for example, true, nothing "Grand" there) are always sold out, even in October. I just gave up. But did you try to book early? I've just done a search on planetholiday and the Grand Jomtien Palace is available in October, with instant online confirmation @ 938 baht for a twin/double room.

It was last October, 2007.

And, why book early? The whole world has turned to booking on a whim. Should not hotels recognize that?

The problem is rather of a tectonic depth: the rooms are sold to agents or whoever once a year, on an auction. Then, go and try to book what you want, it's all sold out unless you are lucky to hit someone who has the rooms there.

That's the waste of time I am talking about.

[Ricardo]

Do your research on-line, via people like ebookers or expedia, as well as the airlines' own web-sites.

Then visit your preferred local travel-agent, armed with the knowledge so far gained, to see whether they can get a better quote.

ie have the best of both worlds.

[yorkman]

Siam Park offers for kids more than entire Thai tourist industry combined.

It certainly does Siam Park

[think_too_mut]

Siam Park offers for kids more than entire Thai tourist industry combined.

It certainly does Siam Park

Try again

[yorkman]

Siam Park offers for kids more than entire Thai tourist industry combined.

It certainly does Siam Park

Try again

hmmm odd.....

Siam Park

ahhh, slip of the digit, there you go

[mcfan]

I travel regularly between Australia and Thailand - with side trips to Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, China, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

Most of my trips are planned up to 3 months in advance.

Should I use a Travel Agent or in this Internet-age, should I book myself? Do Travel Agents get better deals than the public?

Peter

Hi Peter

I book on line with the airlines direct as i find it is a better deal, and pay by credit card.

I find booking from Thailand cheaper than from OZ.

Once i booked with a company that advertises cheap airfares in the Bangkok Post, however by the end of this experance their fare was over priced by a 1/3 more, with hidden taxes and charges.

Hotels no book here.

Cheers

[onzestan]

Hi Peter,

Having spent a lot of time searching for the best airfares for my regular trips to Europe (3 to 4 times a year)

my findings are that ticket wholesalers (as expedia and orbitz and the likes) are NEVER the cheapest way to go.

The airlines websites are often the cheapest if you're flexible with your dates like Qatar for example, however having said all that, I find that many times the airlines don't publish ALL their promotions, and the trick is to find a travel agent that does know all the promotional fares, and most of all is WILLING to offer them to his clients. I have found only 2 in the whole Pattaya area that do so, if you want to know which ones pm me.

Furthermore if you're traveling for a short period of time there's no need for 1 year, 6 months or even three months tickets, all factors that define the price, and that you CANNOT discuss with airline's directly, especially on websites, they don't have the time to cater to your individual needs. A GOOD travel agent can, but be sure to let them know you're well informed.

cheers and good-luck.

onzestan

Edited January 13, 2008 by onzestan

[Zpete]

I travel regularly between Australia and Thailand - with side trips to Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, China, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

Most of my trips are planned up to 3 months in advance.

Should I use a Travel Agent or in this Internet-age, should I book myself? Do Travel Agents get better deals than the public?

Peter

Logically, travel agents will save ya the hassle.

Planning way in advance is fun, I do it all online.

Once in Bangers, I travel using Air Asia, which actually based in Kuala lumpur.

AirAsia is like getting a bus, great, no hassles.

Go to their site and join, get their specials, some you just pay the taxes, travel sumplace.

Recently for example Hanoi 0 Baht + taxes.

I gave up on hotels, stay at backpackers now, people more human.

I am an old guy, but still fit in.

Gofrit Pete.

CYA round,

Zpete

[wileycoyote]

I use the InterNet ,but then to qualify for an ITX fare ,have to use an agent for the intercontinental flights.

To be honest ,I value ,booking my own Thai flight on the phone to TG

Wiley Coyote

[enyaw]

Do your research on-line, via people like ebookers or expedia, as well as the airlines' own web-sites.

Then visit your preferred local travel-agent, armed with the knowledge so far gained, to see whether they can get a better quote.

ie have the best of both worlds.

This is quite simply the best solution. With booking engines like expedia, ebookers and opodo and such, airlines own websites and travel agents, tour operators and consolidators who are able to offer IT (inclusive tour) and discounted net air fares we have never had it so good.

[onzestan]

Do your research on-line, via people like ebookers or expedia, as well as the airlines' own web-sites.

Then visit your preferred local travel-agent, armed with the knowledge so far gained, to see whether they can get a better quote.

ie have the best of both worlds.

This is quite simply the best solution. With booking engines like expedia, ebookers and opodo and such, airlines own websites and travel agents, tour operators and consolidators who are able to offer IT (inclusive tour) and discounted net air fares we have never had it so good.

Except for the prices they are going up and up and up...........

cheers

onzestan

[zink]

The best option for hotels and some flights is to book online yourself through a travel agent

For rest of flights the best option is to book online yourself without a travel agent.

[niggle]

Book online yourself. I have never found a travel agent that could beat the fares on line - they are in the main tied to airlines

[Felt 35]

25-30 years from now and travel agencies are history.

[onethailand]

25-30 years from now and travel agencies are history.

That's what they said about newspapers and radio when the Internet became public.

Travel agencies won't be history - however, only the strong will survive, and they will have to provide a superior standard of service compared to the indifferent service you find at most agencies these days.

[onzestan]

I just booked through a travel agent BKK/FRA/BKK Business class with Qatar for june at Baht 72.890,-

Try finding that fare on the internet. BTW this is NOT a promotion.

cheers

onzestan

[Felt 35]

If you can travel a few days before, the price is Bath 66670, - with Qatar online, and the best thing is that I don’t need to contact the travel agency to find it out.