How Do Travel Agents Make Money?

[Ro_Laren]

I am just curious as to how travel agents make money. Do the travellers pay them? If so, is it just to look up travel info (plane tickets, vacation packages, etc.) or do they just get paid if we book a vacation? Or do they get paid by the airline, hotel, etc.?

Just curious. I would like to take a vacation overseas, but the location I want to visit can be difficult to get to & therefore it is super expensive. I would go to a travel agent, but don't want to spend a bunch of $.

 

[Scout101]

I haven't quite figured out how they continue to make money. Before the interweb, makes perfect sense. They get deals through the resorts, airlines, etc for booking, and then charge you a little more than that, so there's a profit margin. Plus, the convenience of not having to call a million places, or not being familiar with the area.

Now that Expedia or Travelocity can do the same thing, without paying the markup, how do they manage to still make much money? A little bit of help if you're arranging something complicated, or having a hard time finding what you need, but for the most part, the search engines will take care of it all for you...

 

[Franklin]

Long story short, you don't pay them. The vacation you book through them will cost the same whether you go through them or book it yourself. They work on commission from those whose products they are selling. If you want to package together an exoitic or unusual vacation, it may be best to go through an agent. The experienced ones can also give you tips and point out things that may interest you that you wouldn't have found yourself.
My wife consults one all the time when she travels.

 

[wew]

Would have to disagree, you can book vacations that might be cheaper than using a travel agent, you might get a cheaper price by using a travel agent. To many variables to make a blanket statement.

But a travel agent's services may be paid for either by commission or by flat fee. (Normally most do commission). Also you might check out zicasso.com; you input a proposed trip/itinerary and different travel agents will make offers.

 

[Franklin]

Would have to disagree, you can book vacations that might be cheaper than using a travel agent, you might get a cheaper price by using a travel agent. To many variables to make a blanket statement.

But a travel agent's services may be paid for either by commission or by flat fee. (Normally most do commission). Also you might check out zicasso.com; you input a proposed trip/itinerary and different travel agents will make offers.

I've never heard of paying a travel agent a flat fee, but then again, there's a lot I haven't heard of.

Since the OP wants to go somewhere that's apparently difficult to get to, I'd think going through an experienced agent would be the way to go. If I wanted to go to Chicago, or New York, or even Honolulu, I'd do it on my own. If I wanted to go somewhere off the beaten path, or book a bunch of activities, consulting an agent may be worth it. When you walk out, the entire thing is booked, hotel, flight, any extra activities for which you may need tickets, the whole nine yards. Also "competing agents" sounds fishy. A good agent will work with you to plan the vacation you want and do it within your budget. Otherwise, you're more or less buying a package they've put together for you based on trying to be the lowest bidder, not give you the best vacation for your money. Sometimes, it's best to talk face to face to a person.

 

[SmoothieX]

I don't know. I've only ever organized my own trips. The closest I got was booking a package deal through a B&B in Glacier Bay, Alaska recently. It included room, air taxi, ground transportation, and activities. The price I quoted was less than arranging it all separately.

The B&B claims not to charge to arrange this, which I can buy into. If they provide an extra service to me, I'll give them my money instead of the other guy.

 

[Mallory]

If I wanted to go to Chicago, or New York, or even Honolulu, I'd do it on my own. If I wanted to go somewhere off the beaten path, or book a bunch of activities, consulting an agent may be worth it. When you walk out, the entire thing is booked, hotel, flight, any extra activities for which you may need tickets, the whole nine yards.

That's exactly the way I use them too. Overnight business trip to Albuquerque with car rental and a motel room for the night? I'll do that myself. Seven day Alaskan cruise with shore excursions? Time for an agent.

 

[wew]

Actually, zicasso is more like a method of allowing an individual to see what different travel agents have to offer. You can actually put down exactly what you want for the trip.

It actually has gotten a variety of good reviews; its probably more like a clearinghouse for travel agents. I've independently checked out some of the travel agencies that deal with zicasso and they were all certified by the major travel insdustry associations.

Also, you can submit your request for free, you don't have to even accept what they offer. The exception is if you constantly requests trips/vacations and never ever purchase one.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I haven't quite figured out how they continue to make money. Before the interweb, makes perfect sense. They get deals through the resorts, airlines, etc for booking, and then charge you a little more than that, so there's a profit margin.

That's not quite true. Traditionally, airlines, hotels, cruise lines etc. paid fees to travel agents for every customer they booked. They didn't typically charge the traveler any extra money. Those fees have been greatly reduced in recent years, which is why most travel agents still in business do things like sell vacation packages to groups for an added fee, or work primarily on corporate accounts.

Now that Expedia or Travelocity can do the same thing, without paying the markup, how do they manage to still make much money?

Just FYI, Expedia and Travelocity are travel agents. They just happen to be operating online. The only way to bypass a travel agent is to buy your ticket directly from an airline's site (or on the phone from airline reservations or at an airport ticket counter).

But ultimately, the answer to your question is that once online booking became prevalent, most storefront travel agencies went out of business. And those who remain don't really do the bread-and-butter business of booking airline fares anymore, and focus on other aspects of the travel industry, like arranging cruises and other events.

 

[Guillo]

It depends on the travel agent, really. As it's been mentioned, with the Internet making it easier to research and book trips online traditional travel agencies have mostly gone under. However, a lot of them still do well by specializing in a certain niche, like taking care of business travel arrangements for companies or offering family packages. They also (ideally) offer some security by making sure your agent will be there when arrangements fail (and they do). Besides, plenty of people out there don't want to go through the hassle of organizing a big trip and would much rather pay someone else to do it and give them easy to follow directions. Arranging often feels like work for some folks, which is not what a vacation is about.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Please don't resurrect threads from the dead. Scrolling through it without looking at dates I thought it was a new thread and saw Mallory's av.

I miss that guy.