@musicprnt Ok, so itnis finally passing away.
Week ago should have been on the list.
Decided to fire up one of my 2 VCRs last night, it still works and the picture quality was not too bad.
Given these things were built to last, no need to make new ones, and they will be around a while longer.
People sell vcr tapes and players at garage sales and online. VCRs were popular just at the peak of
manufacturing quality driven by Japan. Well bulit used models will keep this alive a few more years.
I see older people still buying tapes, since they are cheap and their vcr still works.
How you choose to receive the fax is your choice. The Drs office follows HIPAA regulations by the way they transmit it. Not the way you choose to receive it. And they don’t care how you transmit your records. You don’t have to be HIPAA compliant. They do. And for those offices/facilities that use EMRs, not all use the same EMRs, and they don’t all communicate with each other. Stop with the mocking already.
One of the problems in discussions like this one is how exactly you define what these are. What is a fax, anyway—is it still a fax if it ends up in your mailbox, or has it ceased being a fax and started being something else? Is an automated travel portal (whether company-sponsored or something like Expedia) a travel agency, or is it something else?
Much of the friction on this thread can be laid directly at the feet of the definitions of forms of tech being at least slightly slippery.
Now that my kids are out of school I expect to write fewer checks. When in school, there was always something that had to be paid - sports fees, field trip deposits, and so on, that there was no way to pay electronically. Especially if it was something like a parent collecting donations for a gift for coach, it was cash or check - they weren’t taking electronic payments.
Now I still keep checks on me as there are some small business (like my hairdresser and often at craft fairs) that will accept checks. I usually try to have enough cash on me, but always prefer to not use a debit/credit card when interacting with a small business since they have to pay the transaction fee.
Don’t know if Expedia does corporate travel arrangements. One I am familiar with (and don’t particularly like, but that’s another story) is Egencia. It’s all automated. If you have to speak to a human to help with travel arrangements, they charge the employee’s company for the agent’s assistance.
The frequent Dr. bashing on threads is more than tiresome. Especially when the ones doing it in this one don’t seem to want to understand HIPAA regulations and just want to complain or criticize or mock or whine. Ignorance is no excuse for being rude.
Egencia looks like a travel agent that caters to businesses and their travelers. It is owned by Expedia.
http://www.expediainc.com/brands/egencia/
Didn’t know who owns Egencia, but that’s interesting. Again, though, it’s an online “agency” that is accessed electronically by the employees. If the employee has to actually talk to an “agent”, they charge for that service. Otherwise, it’s simply an online portal/service.
Don’t travel agents have to have some sort of certification? Perhaps we are using the word “agent” differently. I am referring to a person as an “agent” Sounds like you are using the word “agent” to refer to the company providing the travel website.
Doing it all electronically does not mean that it is not a travel agent.
I pay online to everyone, even when it is an individual who is collecting money for something. I just go online, put that person name as the payee, and have the bank cut the check and send it out on myself. It doesn’t have to be paid electronically. It saves me the postage fee and I have the record online.
UCB- Again- you are referring to the oversight corporation- most of us here are referring to an individual person as an “agent”. From the article in post #1
UCB, it is clear you don’t book actual travel. Expedia (etc) is not a “travel agent” any more than the person who rings up my groceries is a “chef.”
Travel agent implies someone who has some knowledge and expertise in travel above and beyond what a lay person can get. In the olden days you needed a travel agent to get tickets. My parents would call a travel agent to book my flights to and from Chicago because the flight info wasn’t readily available online because duh, there was no such thing as online. The travel agent would make me the reservation and send me a package of these things called tickets. Rinse and repeat. I don’t need that now because obviously I can go online and book whatever flight I need to and pay and receive confirmation online.
Nowadays the only need for a travel agent is in very specific situations - such as booking safaris or exotic travel where you need someone with specific experience and expertise. If I call United and say “agent” because I’m trying to redeem miles and am running into a problem, I’m not talking to a “travel agent.” Just a United employee. She can’t advise me on whether I should go to Madrid or Barcelona and what I should do there. All she can do is tell me when the frequent flyer miles open for each destination.
You’re using the word travel agent in a way that no one who actually travels uses it.
“Some travel agents specialize in certain destinations or types of trips, so you can get a custom-made vacation without doing any of the customization yourself, and with the help of someone who knows places that might be off the beaten path”
Ucb, this is how people use the word travel agent today. You’re planning a safari in South Africa, you call a place like Abercrombie and Kent who has expertise and can make arrangements for you. No one uses it to describe Expedia, Kayak, etc. Those are simply aggregated sites. There is no “expertise” there. Kayak can’t tell me anything about where I “should” go. Neither can a corporate travel agent; they’re just there to get the cheapest price on your visit to Newark.
Exactly, @Pizzagirl. The only time DH had to talk to an “agent” at Egencia was when he discovered their negotiated rates with hotel for corporate travel prevented DH from getting his hotel points :-q This person was not a “travel agent”. They were glorified tech support.
I do miss my real travel agent…who worked at a travel agency with a bunch of other travel agents. And yes, I know I can do most of it online. But geez…he bailed me out more than once when I lost tickets, or needed to make itinerary changes and didn’t want to get fleeced.
But I’m coping fine.
Totally agree that using a travel agent for very specific travel is sometimes necessary.
But as an example…DD went to Macchu Pichu this summer. She arranged the whole trip, including guides, lodging and transportation by herself.
OTOH, some friends of ours made the same trip…but they used REI and really theirs was more a “travel agent” booked trip with lodges, and the like. And they also didn’t want to deal with it on their own.
Right. That’s a travel agent - who listens to your needs, makes suggestions, knows the area, can put you in touch with local guides or adventures that are off the beaten path.
No one, UCB, uses the expression “travel agent” to refer to Expedia or Priceline or Kayak or your corporate travel person ensuring you get the cheapest rate at the airport Marriott or the “agent” who you get transferred to if you call United Airlines. No one. You have a lot of information to impart that we value, but it needs to be tempered by how we use terms in the real world.
I still say part of the problem is definitional, and it’s worth remembering that the originally linked article was a quick-hit (and at times tongue-in-cheek) look at things that didn’t provide clear definitions. A quick bit of googling, for example, once I figured out which terms to exclude, quite easily showed that while most people place Expedia and travel agents into different semantic bins, some group Expedia in with travel agencies.
This is not surprising, of course, since this is the way definitions generally work in language.
You are incorrect.
I have booked travel through human travel agents, online travel agents, and directly through airlines and hotels.
Travel agents still occupy a niche market, older, well-heeled travelers who don’t want to go on tours. They have relationships with good hotels and other tourism vendors that can get you a better vacation than if you tried to book it yourself online.
Regarding checks: my hair salon only accepts tips in cash or check. I rarely have cash, so that is what I use my checks for! That and the cat sitter.
Interesting article about the online travel search engines. They have merged/been gobbled up by bigger vendors. http://time.com/money/3707551/expedia-orbitz-impact-travelers/ Most folks refer to a travel agent as an individual person handling personalized travel.