Travel Solutions Rip Of And Rude

[asiaj]

Just wanted to mention that since i have been in samui which is coming on 4 years now the first travel agency i got recomended was travel solutions in chaweng. <deleted>

I went into their new location with my girlfriend <deleted> inquiring about prices for flights back to the UK this month and the prices they quoted me were absolutely ridiculous (i had already had a few quotes before and i was using the same date and airline) <deleted>

//Edit: Deleted defamatory and trollish comments as well as nonsensical and irrelevant comments on the state of dress or undress of the OP and other customers of the travel agency, the physical appearance of the OP or his friend, the appearance of the travel agency’s staff and “attitude”. Changed the topic title from “Travel Solutions Rip Of And Rude” to “Different Prices quoted by different travel agencies”. - Maestro

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Maestro

[lazeeboy]

use them all the time .

//Edit: Deleted part of reply referring to deleted text in the OP. - Maestro

[Maestro]

After editing the OP in conformity with forum rules it became necessary to delete or edit also the replies that referred to the deleted parts of the OP.

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Maestro

[Maestro]

Asiaj, I understand that airlines have different fare classes for economy alone and it has been my experience that the seat availability for a given fare class for a given flight on a given date can change from one minute to the next. I remember looking up a flight on the internet one morning, did not book immediately, and after lunch the same flight cost me over a third more. Therefore, it would be wrong to call it a rip off if one travel agency quotes you a higher price for a flight than another agency.

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Maestro

[mattias33]

Asiaj, I understand that airlines have different fare classes for economy alone and it has been my experience that the seat availability for a given fare class for a given flight on a given date can change from one minute to the next. I remember looking up a flight on the internet one morning, did not book immediately, and after lunch the same flight cost me over a third more. Therefore, it would be wrong to call it a rip off if one travel agency quotes you a higher price for a flight than another agency.

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Maestro

I could´nt agree more maestro.

The option to book online has really been a eye-opener on how dirty the travel-agent-buisness really is. It´s pretty amazing how the price change on a few hours like you say. Whenever i seem to get an "unfair" qoute online, i just wait and log on the next day and the price is completely different! This goes for ALL airlines and ALL travel-agents. No reason to point out any particular one, it´s the whole branch that is dirty!

[Maestro]

It’s a new business concept that started some years ago. It makes finding a low-cost fare more difficult, but I would not call it a dirty practice. In the age of “last minute” booking I got the lowest fare when I booked at the latest possible moment, today I get it if I book almost a year in advance.

For a given flight an airline might make 2 seats available in the lowest fare class, 5 seats in the next higher fare class, 10 seats in the next, etc. It is a highly competitive business on most routes, many airlines incur huge losses and some will go bankrupt or will get bought up by other airlines.

The travel agent cannot influence seat availability and ticket prices, but there might be a difference between agents in the ability to find the best price for a client’s travel requirements. With the automated reservation systems any agent should be able to find the same price for the same flight at the same time but today it is the skill in using the complicated reservation system that counts and that can sometimes make a difference.

When comparing a ticket price you see online with the price quoted by an agency you must consider also that for the low online price you saw there may be no seats available for the flight you want. I speak from experience, because it happened to me. I got all exited by the low online price, clicked through to the booking, only to have the screen tell me that for this flight and this date this fare was not available.

Another consideration is that today many airlines no longer pay commissions on tickets to travel agents. The agent has to add his own fees for his work, the rental of his office, the subscription payments for the reservation system, etc. It's not easy to be a travel agent in today's world and soon they will be limited to selling package tours. The world is changing and we, the travellers, have to change with it.

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Maestro