Many people mistakenly think they save money by not engaging with a travel agent when booking a trip. They choose to do the planning and booking themselves through online websites.

Unfortunately, few come to realise they could be doing themselves a massive disservice by booking travel this way! We’d hate for you to do that because you don’t fully understand the value of booking through a travel agent so please give the following facts your undivided attention.  Here’s why booking a trip through a travel agent is more cost-effective, efficient and a lot more fun!

1. Travel planning with a travel agent saves time and money

We live in a busy world and let’s face it; time is money. Unless you are a seasoned traveller, it can be incredibly time-consuming to plan every aspect of your trip yourself.  To try and save costs, you would have to meticulously search the internet to compare flight, hotel, activity and transport prices – all of the aspects that could make or break your trip. Even if you could spend that much time planning, there is a good chance that you would miss out on a great hotel or experience that only travel agents would know of. Through their connections in the industry, travel agents stay up to date with the latest flight, hotel, activity and travel deals available and often have access to it long before it appears in online search engines. Travel agents provide up-to-date advice and service that could spare you from having regrets later.

2.  Avoid the hassle with language barriers and time differences

Some of the most exotic countries to visit are those where we get to surround ourselves with different cultures and languages. If you were to book a hotel or experience through a website that provides little information about it, trying to get your questions answered by the hotel can be a daunting task – especially if there is a language barrier to cross! Plus the time difference between the countries might be so vast that you could be left hanging without an answer for many hours and miss out on a deal. Skip the hassle and let us organise it for you.

3. Don’t risk having to rely on expensive tourist traps

Even if you save money on booking your hotel or activities through an online website, your trip can work out to be more costly if you find yourself having to rely on the advice of highly experienced tourist trappers during your holiday.

An example would be finally arriving at your destination of choice only to discover that there’s a beautiful island closeby with activities that are of interest to you.  If you don’t speak the local language, you will have to ask the hotel staff to organise a taxi for you to the ferry and possibly the ferry itself. It’s very likely that you will end up paying not only for the activity but a commission to the hotel, taxi driver and service provider for organising it for you.

If you book each aspect of your trip bit by bit, you might end up wasting time and money unnecessarily trying to find the best way to get from one hotel or activity to the next. You might save yourself money booking one or two amazing highlights, but we can save you more money by efficiently planning, optimising and booking your dream itinerary from start to finish.

4. Trustworthy recommendations

Hotel or experience booking websites don’t always provide much information such as whether the hotel you want to book is in a safe suburb or which amazing attractions are nearby. Your travel agent can provide you with more information so that you are better prepared, safe and not missing out! We base our recommendations on genuine reviews and experiences – you can trust us because our livelihood depends on it!

5. Personalised, friendly service and optimised travel itineraries

The difference in booking through a travel agent instead of an online website is you would have an enjoyable discussion with an expert about where you’d like to go and what your interests are. If you choose us to be your travel agent, you’ll be having this discussion over the phone or where you are comfortable to do so – you are welcome to enjoy a coffee with us in our cafe, or we can even come to you. Through combining what we learn about you and our extensive knowledge of the destination, we’d come up with an itinerary tailored especially for you.  Our personalised travel plans are streamlined to ensure you get the most out of your time travelling – a skill that takes years of practice to master.

6. You’ll have a backup when you need it most

Missing a connecting flight or dealing with a last-minute flight cancellation can be stressful and overwhelming. If you didn’t book through a travel agent, you could feel stuck trying to solve issues on your own. It doesn’t help that these types of unfortunate situations tend to happen at the worst of times. That feeling of relief that comes with knowing your travel agent is available to assist you 24/7, seven days a week is truly priceless.

So go on, forget everything you thought you knew before that made you wonder why you should book with a travel agent and call or email us today – we look forward to helping you make your next trip your best yet!

Happy Travelling!

Barrow & Bear