Personally, I have always enjoyed traveling outside of my country but I know many people that have never even left the state they live in and always vacation locally. Fortunately, there isn’t a corner of the earth that doesn’t have a travel site dedicated to it so it is easy obtaining information on the internet. Many people use the internet now to plan even complex travel plans, never seeing a travel agent. Gone are the days when travel agents were popular and sought after as websites have popped up everywhere and promise all of their customer’s extraordinary savings.
This ease doesn’t always hold true however, and I have never been one to trust my entire vacation to a computerized travel site; it just seems a bit too strange to me. Being form the old school, it is nice to sit down and talk to a person who will actually listen to what I am saying. There always seems to be much more flexibility with a travel agent and you are able to ask for more details and change your mind with much more ease. Travel sites on the other hand tend to just be computerized and it is rare that you actually get to speak to a person and then if you do get to speak to a real person, you have no clue where they are.
The difficulty comes with the aspect of trust and speaking to someone on a phone, who knows where, does not instill confidence. With a travel agent they are real and I can always go back to them and clarify points especially if something goes wrong. Whereas a good friend of mine only ever books her vacations online and always those advertised at the last minute; probably from cancellations. There are always huge savings to be had by waiting until the last possible moment to book but you have to be flexible with your travel arrangements to do this.
It would be nice to do this but my career does not allow for impulsive travel arrangements. Using a travel site does have other advantages as well because while you can save money on the vacation itself, there are also savings to be made on additional excursions and trips as well if pre-booked. Now I know I said that I book my vacation using a real travel agent but that doesn’t mean I do not take advantage of the internet to carry out research on my chosen destination first. I take that information and then see a travel agent because at least I know that if my vacation turns out to be a nightmare, I have someone to come back and yell at.
