Hi Darren.

I went into our local travel agent and the two girls were sat there chatting about their night out and I was stood waiting for them.

Do they think we have time to hang around waiting for them to finish gossiping.

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Honestly, trying to find places that take pets.

Those of us who are dog-owners consider our pets part of the family, and the idea of tossing them in kennels while we’re off hiking and biking and swimming somewhere they’d have a great time is a no-no. Sure, you’re not going to take your pets on a world cruise (if I ever achieve my dream of affording a cruise, I’ve already got Mom and Dad lined up for pet-sitting), but for the mountains or the beach, I want to take the dog with me. He enjoys it even more than I do!

A lot of hotels are getting better, but we’ve got a ways to go. Recently, I had to ask no less than 10 vacation rental owners if they took pets before finding one that did. We pet owners don’t mind paying a little extra if it means our dogs can come with us.

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Debbie’s comment about the agency where tow girls sat and chatted about their night out really strengthens the case for web-based travel sales where an enormous amount of information can be gleaned by the potential traveller before booking.

I really think the days of agencies being operated by young girls and guys, the traditional business model employed by a lot of travel agency owners, is fading rapidly.

If you have uninterested, disaffected employees running your business then your going to lose your business pretty quickly.

The travel business is even more cut-throat than its’ ever been as we, (I’m a working travel agent) have to not just face competition from other travel companies but also from other travel websites and the fact that travellers are more than confident to book their own arrangements.

I would suggest that a travel agent must defintely bring “added value” to the transaction nowadays. Not just on price but on knowledge, personality and enthusiasm.

If you can find all that in your travel agent AND get great prices then why should’nt you leave that “professional” to do the arrangements and the donkey-work, safe in the knowledge that if anything goes wrong (and often it does!) your agent, who will be bonded and licenced, will be there to help you, sort things out where possible and, in the main, make sure that you dont’ lose money.

Sorry about the long ramble here but I really think that, when required, a good travel agent, (web-based or in person) CAN be a really useful part of the travel transaction.

Colin

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I have the same experience with Debbie…what a waste of my precious time…anyway I really enjoy this blog. Thanks for sharing.

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@Colin – good comments. I think it’s always worth emphasising in cases like this though that these are just bad employees. It isn’t the agency model that doesn’t work, or employing young people that doesn’t work – it’s employing people who aren’t committed to doing a decent job. And that’s a challenge every retail and service sector faces.

Aaaanyway. It annoys me that most big online travel retailers assume I know *exactly* when I want to go away. Say I want to take a four day break at some point in November. In the majority of cases I’d need to run a new search for each potential date range in order to compare prices/flight times. On most rail booking sites you have a ‘find earlier/later trains’ tabs, and I’d like to see that when booking a holiday.

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In shop, unhelpful agents, but to be fair, that happens rarely.

Online, slowness of website, complicated to use.

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Darren what an excellent question.

I could be here all day but something simple annoys me.

I complete the search form — I get the results — I want to go back and search again, so I click on the go back to search link and I have to complete the search form all over again.

Annoying.

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Oh you have me started now

I hate it when the holiday has no photographs!

I’ve noticed it more on Travel Supermarket, there’s no photographs on alot of the holidays.

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I would like to see room lay outs with accurate measurements, when I book…..Hardly ever see them and find myself often crammed and cramped in a doghouse of a hotel room……

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