Be Your Own Travel Agent

               Gone are the days of Airline Travel Agents' strong grip on airline travelers. I remember that in the early eighties, we used to call this travel agent in New York City who specialized in travel to Bangladesh. He had absolutely no competition. Everybody had to go to him if they wanted to travel home.

               This travel agent never returned any phone calls from the customers; he did not have the time. People could not go to the other agents because they were not discounters and this guy was. He was the only game in town.

               Anyway, few years down the road, a competitor emerged. Service provided to customers improved a bit but not so much.

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               Fast forward to today. Travelers have so much choices now. They can still book their reservation with travel agents. But they can also do their own bookings online. And buy the tickets themselves with credit cards. And there are quite a few reputable online travel companies.

               Competition is fierce among travel agents and the online travel companies. Yet some brick-and-mortar travel
agents take advantage of the unsuspecting traveler. For example, some unscrupulous travel agents will charge 1% to 3% credit card surcharge if a traveler decides to pay for the ticket by a credit card rather than by cash or a check! That adds about $30 to $50 per ticket! And then there are some travel agents who refuse to accept American Express becasue in a dispute, American Express acts very fairly, and makes it less burdensome for the cardholder to file a complaint. I, therefore, always buy high ticket items with American Express. And airline tickets fall into that category for me.

               Anyway, by refusing to accept credit cards for the purchase of tickets, some of these agents deprive the travelers to accrue bonus miles or bonus points as well. And not only that, when an airline ticket is purchased with a credit card, in most instances, if not all, travelers get automatic accidental death insurance and lost/delayed luggage coverage. If they cannot pay by credit card because the agent charges them sur-charge, the traveler then loses these benefits accorded free of charge to the card holders by the credit card issuing companies.

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               Fortunately for the travelers, things have changed quite a bit. Travelers now have a choice to book their own flights online at their own convenience. And not just for domestic flights but for international flights as well. Travelers can pay with credit cards without being penalized by as much as 3%. And since no paper tickets are issued no hassle either.

               I buy all my domestic travel tickets online. No ifs and buts about it. No exceptions. I did not, however, had the opportunity to buy international ticket online yet. But my friends have. They bought New York City (USA) to Dhaka (Bangladesh) roundtrip airline tickets.

               They used the online travel company CheapOAir.

               Now that I know, the next international flight I take, I know I will buy my ticket online, or at a minimum, check out the prices from my own computer while I sip my favorite drink :-)

               Does this mean that there aren't any reputable travel agents? Of course not. But if your travel agent fits the mold above, you know that you have a choice to be your own travel agent. At a minimum, nothing beats the convenience of booking your own flight at the time you see fit, and that includes outside of the normal business hours. These online travel companies are open 24/7.

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