Some people are in the business of selling dreams, and some help to become active facilitators who turn these dreams into reality. We all dream of going on wonderful holidays to exotic destinations, but if you seek the help of a travel agent, they can not only make the planning and execution of your trip easy, they can take your travel experience a few notches higher and make it truly memorable.
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Do we need a travel agent anymore when everything is available online?
A yes and a no! In this connected world, one wonders if you need a travel agent to help you with your travel needs. Any good travel agent worth their salt will tell you that they indeed know the business of travel in and out and pass on the benefit of this experience & expertise to you. They have the edge over other sellers of travel as they know to identify your pain points, needs & dreams; they speak your language and are there for you when you run into trouble.
Bona fide, professional certified travel advisers can be your greatest asset when planning a trip. So the question is, how can you weed out the others and zero in on one? Let us consider the following points when choosing a travel agent or travel company and the related questions to ask.
Tips on Choosing a Travel Agent
1. Are the travel agents IATA certified?
In India, travel advisers need to be trained and certified by IATA (The International Air Transport Association), a trade association for the world’s airlines, representing 290 airlines and controlling 83% of total air traffic. It supports many other areas of aviation activity and helps formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues. So, ensure the travel agents you approach to have this necessary training and certification with an instilled code of ethics that tends to keep the riff-raff out.
2. Can the travel agency or travel company give the cheapest airfares & best hotel rooms at great deals?
Online Travel Agencies usually enable the cheapest airfares and offer many benefits with added convenience with a self-service method. They give the advantage with their technological savvy to crawl & compare thousands of airline & hotel websites to offer you great customised options with the best fares.
3. Can travel agents help you get a stamped Visa or eVisa?
The new age travel agents and online companies can give you the best deals and fares on air tickets and hotel rooms, but if you have to travel international, can they assist you with getting a Visa or the more prevalent electronic Visa with the minimum required documentation? More importantly, can they remove the hassle and anxiety involved with getting a tourist visa? It is so much easier to just assign this task to the agent or travel company than to do it yourself!
4. Can travel agents curate a holiday package for you and assist during travel if needed?
Going a step further, see if they can curate an entire holiday package for you and take care of all the planning & booking from end to end per your needs and preferences to give the best travel experience within your budget. It will include your travel ticket booking, hotel accommodation, visa assistance, travel insurance, sightseeing & fun activities at the destination with transfers from place to place and provide in-person support during and after the tour.
5. Can travel agents help with Travel Insurance?
Most travel agents do not help with travel insurance. It is a very critical component for travel, especially for travelling abroad. Travel insurance can safeguard you against bearing heavy financial losses when you travel due to unforeseen illness, accidents, baggage loss, flight cancellations or missed flights. A good travel agent can give you an unbiased recommendation and suggest the one to buy to suit your needs according to the destination you are travelling to.
6. Does the travel agent or travel company have a transparent process to charge for their services?
Last but not least, check how much is their service fee. Is the agent or company upfront about it and let you know how much it is, or do you find out after they have sent you the bill? They should have a transparent process of charging you for it. It is essential to ask these questions before entrusting them with your money and assign them the precious task of booking your dream holiday.
Come, travel with Aertrip!
Now that we know, any good journey begins with a choice to find the right partner for your travel needs. Now imagine if this kind of personalised service is combined with an online platform, you have a winner at hand. Aertrip, a new-age travel company, has this double advantage of a fantastic online platform with iOS & Android apps and a great team of expert travel agents on their panel, giving them an edge over others.
Get friendly with Aerin
Another incredible feature with Aertrip is – Talk & Book with Aerin, your virtual travel assistant who can converse in more than 60 languages.
Just talk to Aerin in your natural language and have a two-way contextual conversation to let it know when, where and with whom you want to fly.
Simply ask Aerin:
“Fly to Dubai tomorrow.”
Or
“Travel to London with my wife and Bob.”
Aerin can identify and pre-fill passenger details.
“… fly on Christmas and return a day after New Year.”
Aerin knows all about the holidays.
“…non-stop morning flights via Emirates.”
Aerin can filter, show you precisely what you want, and speed up your flight search.
In addition, check out all the other built-in smart & innovative features integrated with a fantastic service model for online and offline services for travellers to help you dream more and travel easy!
