By David McGuffin
Everybody goes on vacation
from time to time. For some it is the
payoff for a year of toil. For others,
it is an adventure that was years in the making. Whether you are looking to let off a little
steam or you are an adrenaline junkie looking for your next fix, the difference
between a good vacation and a nightmare all comes down to choosing the right
travel agent and tour operator.
For this article, I’ll use the terms travel
agent and tour operator in much the same context. In fact, let’s just call them travel
providers, however, there is a difference.
Typically, a travel agent provides a varied selection of travel services
to the public such as: airline tickets,
hotel accommodations, automobile rentals, river and ocean cruises, packaged
tours and much more. Think of them as
your one-stop shop for all your travel needs.
Tour operators, on the other hand, specialize in one particular tour product
or destination. These can include
destination specific tours, cruises, adventure travel, group tours, themed tours,
and much more. For example, our company,
David McGuffin’s Exploring Europe, is a tour operator specializing in European
small group and independent travel.
The first thing you have to
understand is the travel business is so large that there is no single agent,
operator or travel provider that can plan the perfect vacation to all parts of
the globe. Today, travel providers are a
lot like doctors… they specialize in one area.
Some travel providers are experts in booking cruises, while others
specialize in group tours and independent travel. However, even within these areas of
specialization, no two travel providers have precisely the same
experience. What this means is that
unless you want to roll the dice and take your chances on picking an agent or
tour operator that can either make or break your vacation, you need to
understand how to weed them out.
Good Travel Providers
Begin your search for travel expert by
realizing that the lowest price doesn’t always represent the best value. So using online portals such as Travelocity.
Orbitz and Priceline isn’t where you should start your search, unless price is
your only consideration. Think of a good
travel provider as a consultant. He or
she has spent years learning about the industry and what it represents to
clients. A good travel provider has had
experience working with hundreds or even thousands of travelers and many destinations
as well. They have been in the game long
enough to know what hotels and tour activities are up to snuff and which are
not. They have had to make a call in the
dead of night to straighten out a client’s lost reservation or missed
connection. They form a bond with
clients that transcends a mere pay-for-hire relationship.
Make no mistake about it, the
bond between a travel provider and a client should not be taken lightly. Just as with any other business, good and bad
reviews can make or break a travel provider’s reputation. This is also a reason why you should always
perform a web search of any travel provider with which you are considering
doing business. Any travel provider worth their salt will have reviews
online. Start off by going to the search
engine of your choice and typing in the name of the travel provider followed by
the word “reviews.” You’d be surprised
what you can find out with a web search.
Next, go to the travel provider’s
website in order to look for blogs, videos and testimonials. This will also provide you with insight
regarding the travel provider’s experience and areas of specialization. Do the tours posted look like something that
you and your family would enjoy? Are the
prices a good fit for your budget, or are they out of your league.
Last but not least, pick up
the phone and give them a call.
Personality as well as experience plays a big part in choosing the right
travel provider. In fact, that is the
primary reason to work with a particular travel provider. No matter how good of a deal the website
promotes, if you feel that the agency is either too inexperienced, or too busy
to deal with your wants and needs, look elsewhere. That’s also a reason to avoid making your
decision based entirely on price.
Speaking of price, don’t believe that working with a travel provider is
going to cost you more than booking a trip on your own. Far from it.
Since good agencies have many contacts in the industry, they can many
times save you money since they receive information that is not posted to the
general public. (That being said, when
dealing with a travel agent, you’ll want to make sure to understand any
commissions or booking fees related to your trip.)
Bad Travel Providers
Bad travel providers either
don’t know or they don’t care. This
means that they either have had little experience and connections in the
industry, or they are simply a gun for hire that is more interested in selling
tours and travel products than building a lasting relationship with clients. While a number of travel providers are
overworked and underpaid, what’s even worse is when a travel provider is a
crook.
In a quote from an article on
frommers.com entitled, “9 Ways to Tell if Your Travel Agent is Crooked,
“As a
rule, most travel agents are well-trained, competent professionals who work
hard for you. But there are exceptions to every rule. Take Kathleen Rossano of
East Brunswick, N.J., who was recently sentenced to a 10-year prison term for
stealing more than $75,000 from her travel agency. Prosecutors had charged her
with offering luxury vacations to her friends, taking cash payments, billing
the expenses to her agency's credit card and then pocketing the money. It was the fourth time she'd been convicted
of taking money from former employers.
A month
later, her former agency, Cruise Value Center, collapsed without paying the
cruise lines what they were owed and leaving customers in the lurch. One of the
clients recently contacted me in a panic after her cruise line demanded an
additional payment of $2,544 for her vacation because the cruise line had been
stiffed by the agency.”
How many of her clients do
you think were lured in by low prices posted on her website? When it comes to crooked agents and thieving
tour operators, how hard do you think it is to set up a website that makes
offers that are too good to be true, only to take the money and run? That’s one of the reasons you need to check
out any agency before you lay down your hard earned money. The Frommers article goes onto provide
readers with the following 9 warning signs pointing to a terrible tour
provider:
1. Demands you
pay in cash,
2. Acts funny
when you bring up commissions,
3. Adds a
booking fee to your bill after you’ve decided to buy a vacation,
4. Has no
certification,
5. Doesn’t know
a thing about the place you are going to visit,
6. Has a Better
Business Bureau rap sheet,
7. Is
impossible to reach,
8. Doesn’t
listen,
9. I bought my
agency certification online for a few hundred bucks!
“Studly” Travel Providers
The best travel providers
stand out from the crowd. They are not
merely knowledgeable about a destination, they are experts. They have been to the places to which you are
looking to travel and know the lay of the land.
They can not only describe the places you are going to see, but they can
tell you about some of the people you will meet. Some travel providers will not only book a
cruise or tour, but lead it as well. They will be there to make sure that
nothing goes wrong. When it comes to getting the most out of a trip, having an
experienced travel provider and tour guide can make all the difference in the
world. Working with a superstar agency
may cost a bit more, but when you consider that a vacation comes but once a
year, travel satisfaction is priceless.
To summarize, there are good,
bad and “studly” tour providers. Commonly, these consist of both travel agents
and tour operators. A good tour provider
knows its clients, is an expert in its destinations, offers stellar customer service,
has good online reviews, is well respected in the community and offers a good
value for the tour experience. Bad tour providers
are interested solely in selling a product, often have little or no experience
in their tour destinations, may have poor online reviews and an extensive
Better Business Bureau “rap sheet” and typically, are not certified or
licensed. The “studly” tour provider is
a trusted friend who provides stellar customer service, fantastic travel
opportunities and is an expert in their specialized destinations.
If you found this article informative, please
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Do you want to learn more about traveling in Europe? There is a wealth of information and special discount pricing at my website. Visit now at http://davidmcguffin.com/.
Do you want to learn more about traveling in Europe? There is a wealth of information and special discount pricing at my website. Visit now at http://davidmcguffin.com/.
David McGuffin is Founder and CEO of David McGuffin’s Exploring Europe, Inc., based in Middleburg, Florida. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube. David spends his time in Europe organizing and leading small group and independent tours to European destinations. In business since 2001, David has provided exceptional travel opportunities to several thousand satisfied customers. You can find out more about David and his European tours at his website, http://davidmcguffin.com.
