Travel Advisor Why You Should Use Them
The reasons why to use a travel advisor
- Relationships with suppliers – you know when you’re visiting your neighborhood restaurant where the servers are familiar and give you a new dessert to try with your meal sometimes? Companies and people love to reward loyalty and the same is true about travel providers. Travel advisors have relationships with these companies and their staff and want to keep that relationship mutually beneficial! The suppliers know that if they can keep their travel advisors’ clients happy, they’ll be more likely to send more people their way. Sometimes this can translate into extra attention, free upgrades, or even things like chocolate-covered strawberries in your room!
- Knowledge about products – what’s the best travel insurance and should you get it? If something were to go wrong or there were any last-minute changes, which suppliers have the best cancellation policies? Ask your travel advisor! They treat knowledge about travel like it’s their job (because it is!)
- Better rates / added benefits – you won’t always get better rates booking with a travel advisor, but you’ll often get more value added. In the age of online booking, it’s easier than ever to find “deals” online, but when you go through a massive online booking company, oftentimes, you’re not seeing the whole picture. Is that hotel room so cheap because it’s on the side of the building next to train tracks and faces a brick wall? With an advisor, you know exactly what you’re getting and what added benefits are coming along with it. Travel advisors also stay updated on what kind of sales are happening. If they know you’re looking for a river cruise to Europe and a big sale starts, they’ll know to pass that information along to you!
- Translating dreams to reality – How do you take your vague notion about a dream vacation and turn it into reality? Ask your travel advisor! They’re able to translate your wants into real locations and help you identify what pieces of your trip will matter the most.
- Travel logistics – How much time do you need for a layover? Would it make the most sense to rent a car, hire a driver, or something else altogether? If even starting down that train of thought is giving you sweaty palms, take a deep breath and call your travel advisor.
- Peace of mind – In the unfortunate event that something does go wrong, having someone on your side to help you through it and advocate for you is invaluable. Instead of being stuck internationally frantically trying to track down all of the people you need to call, you can make one call to your travel advisor and trust them to figure out the best plan for you. Travel advisors have come to the rescue of countless travelers with travel plans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- They get to know you – The more you use a travel advisor, the more valuable they are. With each trip you take through them, the more feedback you’re able to give them on what worked for you and what you’d skip next time, making each subsequent trip even further beyond perfect. One sure way of getting a travel advisor to know you is by posting travel advisor reviews on social media platforms or on their blogs like this one, lol.
We were grateful we used Anthony from Lombardo travels. We had a trip booked to Turks and Caicos with our two little children. While we were checking in at the airport my husband realizes his passport expired. We panicked. Thankfully we were able to call Anthony right away and he did some research and we were able to get a passport and rebook everything within a few days. Had we used Travelocity or any of these other online companies tbe response would have taken so much longer. Anthony made a very stressful situation very manageable. I highly recommend him.
Thank You Tammy for your kind words. I look forward to helping you and your family plan your next vacation.