Siobhan Downes

Sits down with one to find out more.

With booking sites at your fingertips, travel agents might seem as obsolete as the printed map.

But even experienced travellers should consider sitting down with a specialist to plan their next adventure.

I talked to travel consultant Samantha Johnston of YOU Travel Taupo, who was named Rookie of the Year at the 2016 TAANZ National Travel Industry awards.

Tell me - why should I use a travel agent instead of the internet?

Travel agents have access to special deals and software that the public don’t. They can build an airfare by piecing together flights from different airlines to create one ticket.

‘‘Obviously you think if you’re doing it yourself, you’re cutting out someone else and must be getting the best deal - but it’s so untrue,’’ Samantha says. ‘‘Anything you can find yourself, we can find better.’’

I don’t know if I trust you guys…

But you think the faceless bot at the other end of your computer cares about your holiday?

‘‘Third-party websites don’t want to help you,’’ Samantha says. ‘‘You forgot to include your luggage? You’ll be on hold for hours. Nobody wants to answer your questions.’’

Travel agents should be as excited about your holiday as you are. They should know everything there is to know about your destination, including niggly bits like visas and time zones.

‘‘We get so many people who have booked flights to Rarotonga, but forget that when you fly to Raro, you go back a day. So when they book their accommodation, they’ve booked a day too late. They come in saying, ‘Oh my gosh, can you fix it?’’’

Travel agents are on call 24/7, and can be lifesavers if something unexpected happens before or during your holiday.

‘‘We might have someone whose mother has just passed away, so they can’t go anymore. They make one phone call to us, and we fix everything - cancel reservations, talk to the airline, get any money back we can.’’

Isn’t it more expensive?

Nope. Getting a quote is totally free. If you end up booking, you don’t pay any extra for the travel agent’s service.

But you’ve also got to remember that when booking a holiday, cheapest isn’t necessarily best, Samantha warns. ‘‘I could find someone a nice, four-anda-half star holiday package to Fiji, and they’ll want a better deal. Sure, I can give them a three-star package that might be cheaper but they might not end up enjoying it like they would have the four-and-a-half star.

‘‘It’s all about getting better value for your money. You want to have a good holiday, and you want to enjoy it.’’

How does that commission thing work, anyway?

Travel agents make money from the commissions they receive You might think you’re being economical with this dastardly plan, but there really is no advantage to doing it yourself.

‘‘We sometimes get people coming in for a quote, going home and using the information provided to book it themselves,’’ Samantha says.

‘‘I find it quite funny because we’re here to help. If they need to change something, or add on accommodation, we can do the whole thing. Whereas if you’ve booked on a third-party website, we can’t deal with it.’’

When you book through a travel agent, your funds are secure through a bonding scheme and protected by New Zealand law - whereas booking via foreign websites offers no such protection.

‘‘We have exactly the same prices, and with that, you get all the service we provide, free of charge,’’ Samantha says.

‘‘If you see a good deal, just bring it in, and ask, ‘Can you get this for me?’ Because 99 per cent of the time, we can.’’