Book with a travel agent, why not just book it yourself?

Since the rise of the internet in the last 15 years, the world of travel has opened to more people than ever. Online hotel suppliers entice people in with their marketing, claiming to offer you the cheapest prices around, and it’s easier than ever to book direct with the airlines especially with the low-cost companies. So, what I hear more and more of, ‘is why use a travel agent?’, and ‘why should I get someone else to book my holiday when I can book it easier and cheaper myself?’.

To some people these are valid points, and it is for these questions that they ask themselves that they would never book with someone like me when arranging their own holidays. But here is what a lot of people still don’t know about what they get from booking with a travel agent such as myself.

• Peace of Mind – Travel agents have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to planning holidays, after all its what we do day in day out. Quite often people will visit a new destination each year, they can be visiting somewhere they have never been and have little or no knowledge of the area they will be staying in, and it can be very confusing when deciding where exactly you want to stay. Yes, I am not going to lie, as I mentioned earlier, we do have the internet where there is a wealth of information available for you to look through. And this can be a problem, there is sometimes that much information out there that is all contradicting each other, how do you decipher what’s fact from fiction? Well speak with your travel agent, I can quite often source you the correct information you need straight away as I have been doing this for 10 years and if I don’t I have many colleagues who will know what you need that I can refer to for back up.

• Exclusive Prices – As I mentioned above, quite often people believe that they can book their holiday independently themselves online for a MUCH better price. But this is not always true. Here at cruise.co.uk as we are the largest independent cruise agency in Europe, we have an amazing amount of buying power with the cruise lines, hotel supplier and airlines. They need help filling their ships, planes and beds and they know they can’t do this by themselves so they come to us here first as they know we will work with them. This means that we get deals that no one else can at prices that no one else can get you and you won’t be able to get if you book directly with them. For me personally, a lot of my experience is with tailor making your holiday, so with my knowledge and expertise I can get you the best prices for your flights, cruise, hotels and transfers.

• Financial Protection – In the last 5-7 years since that dreaded word ‘Recession’ has been flung around left right and centre, we have seen more and more travel companies disappear. When you think everything’s fine and dandy, BANG comes goes another travel company. Just a few weeks ago, the All Leisure Travel Company who owned cruise line Voyages of Discovery went bust leaving around 400 stranded abroad and 13,000 people who had booked with them and now won’t get their holiday and won’t see their money back for quite some time. Booking with us here at cruise.co.uk means that your money is fully secure with our government backed financial protection scheme of ATOL, giving you the protection you need for your money.

• We Take Responsibility – This is an interesting one and one that people done often think about, but came to light last week with one of my customers. I had a customer, who won’t mind me telling his story. He booked a cruise with me last year, and he was boarding the cruise in Marseille, now when he booked as I normally would with a cruise like this, I asked him where he would like to fly from? To which he replied, he would just like it cruise only as he could source the flights cheaper himself cheaper than what I could give him, and this is what he ended up booking. Now the customer returned from his cruise last week and contacted me, overall, he enjoyed the cruise, but it was at the end where he encountered several problems. As the cruise was leaving the last port of call before departure, the cruise line announced that they wouldn’t be able to call into Marseille due to adverse weather conditions and so would be moving on to the next port where they could dock which can be a more common problem than you think. The customer spoke with the cruise line and they were arranging transfers for him and his wife, to get back to Marseille for  them to meet their onward travel arrangements which was done. By the time the customer made it back to the airport his flight had left 2 hours earlier and so he completely missed this, and with no other flights back to his home airport, was forced to book a flight back with BA (this was a return flight, as it was cheaper than a one way) and when he got to Heathrow, hire a car to get him back to Stanstead where his car was waiting. All of this was done at his own cost. Had the customer booked his flights through me, I would have arranged everything for the customer and taken away the stress and more importantly, we would have covered all the costs of this. So, although he believed he saved money at the time of booking, in the end it came as an expensive lesson at the end of his cruise. Booking everything though me here at cruise.co.uk means I will take responsibility for you should something go wrong. If your outbound flight is delayed on the way out I will get you moved flights where I can so you can meet your cruise. If your return flight is cancelled on the way back, and there are no other flights that day I will arrange a hotel for you to stay in for the night and book you on the next flight the following day. I can often have this sorted for you before everyone else on your flight has even spoken to the airline to rearrange their travel plans, I won’t leave you stranded. And we cover the costs

I hope I have given you some key information for you to consider when you are booking your next cruise. Take some time, look round at my blog and read the reviews my customers have left me. Booking with me is an option you should always consider.
To discuss any travel plans with me, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and talk to me, or drop me an email, I am always here for a chat.
Direct Telephone – 0333 300 2457
Email: [email protected]

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