4 REASONS TO USE A TRAVEL AGENT DURING THE PANDEMIC

Whenever Americans start traveling again, they will quickly find that travel planning looks significantly different in the era of COVID- 19. Instead of scouring the Internet for the best deals and new destinations, they will have to study border restrictions and quarantine requirements.

To navigate the complicated landscape of traveling during the pandemic, people are turning to travel agents, some for the first time.

Intele Travel, a company that has independent travel agents working from home in the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico, says that before the pandemic, the travel agent industry had been on the decline since the 1990s. James Ferrara, the company’s president, says since the pandemic hit, travel agents are seeing an increase of demand. Since April, Intele Travel has added more than 4,000 travel agents per month, which is a 40% increase over 2019.

I spoke with Ferrara and Bahar Schmidt, the co- founder of the travel agency and resale platform Eluxit, about the appeal.`

1. While we’ ve been stuck athome, travel agents have been studying what’ s happening in the industry.

For many people, travel is something to do for fun. For travel agents, it’s work.

They’ re surveying when an airline releases new routes, watching for updates on passport services,monitoring when countries open their borders to Americans. Then they digest that information and share what’ s important with their clients.

“A lot of people are still kind of worried about traveling. It’s comforting just to hear somebody’s voice saying, it’s OK... this is what they’re going to serve you on the airplane, this is what you should prepare for,” Schmidt says.

2. Travel agents can fight directly for your refund.

At a time when many travelers are scrounging for refund son canceled flights, travel agents are better equipped to deal with those hassles.

“We have expert access. We have industry relationships. Thereare tools we ca nuse,” Ferrara says.

He says“when customers have had to sit on the phone, wait and wait and wait, and the system hangs up and nobody ever calls back, they call again.” His agents have special service lines that connect directly through to a supplier to resolve problems faster.

3. If something goes wrong, a travel agent can take on your travel problems.

Things go wrong all the time when you’ re traveling, whether you’ re a seasoned professional or taking your first big vacation. “Having a travel adviser, you can just text or call them right away, and they fix the problem for you,” Schmidt says.

Ferrara says disasters can be smoothed with an expert advocate on your side.

Part of how agents can help is because of their ongoing relationships with brands .“When you calla resort with a problem or a complaint, a good resort will respect you as a customer, but that’s not the same as hearing from a travel agency that has hundreds of booking sat that resort,” Ferrara says.“You just don’t have the same resolution power as a consumer that a professional travel agency has.”

4. You can find an agent for any travel style, and even free.

It turns out that while some travel agents charge for their services, many do not.

Travel suppliers, like hotel sor cruise lines, will pay travel agents commission once a trip is booked.

Some agents may charge a fee that is ultimately deducted from your trip cost, so that in case you don’t go on the trip, they still get paid for their time planning.

There are specialized advisers whether you want to plan an extreme adventure trip or just want to travel as cheaply as possible. “I’ve met travel agents who are just brilliant at budget travel, andthat mayb eis ... where you need even more help to truly find those best deals out there,” Ferrara says.