Television networks and scheduled programming.
At a time when you can watch any show, documentary, or movie, on-demand, wherever, whenever, why bother with regular TV?
We recently used a ‘real’ travel agent when planning a trip to a somewhat remote destination. It was hard to get info on transportation, accommodations etc. It was even more difficult to incorporate this side trip into the bigger plan of a cruise and subsequent other travel.
The agent was extremely helpful. We received a little faux leather document holder which included all air, ground and water transportation vouchers. It included the hotel (bungalow) accommodations and other info relating to the local environment. Yes, it was a bit more expensive. But…we stayed in a ‘resort’ with a maximum of 60 guests that is still difficult to find via standard googling.
Now…as to what I HOPE disappears…some day I hope to open a letter from the IRS that doesn’t look like it’s in a pre-1950’s font with the print quality of a mimeograph copy. Whenever I read one of their missives there’s a part of my brain that is making telex sounds.
I have a friend who specializes in Italy. She’s been there 30+ times. She knows guides, hotel owners, places for cooking lessons, etc. she takes a group of women to different destinations in Italy yearly.
Of course, she plans cruises and other trips, too.
Well, UCB, go ahead and tell people you’re using a “travel agent” for your trip when you’re using Expedia or Kayak to compare prices, or when you wind up speaking to a customer service person at United. It’s a free country.
One of our friends is also expert at Italy and speaks fluent Italian. Maybe one day we will ask her if we could journey with her.
I have to agree with @Pizzagirl here on the travel agent. For simple trips - fly from point A to point B, stay in point B for x days, then fly back to point A - using a site like Expedia is fine. However, for more complicated trips that involve multiple stops and itineraries, a travel agent can be very valuable. Figuring out the logistics of a more complicated trip is a PITA when you are doing it alone… There are no websites that I am aware of that do full-on trip planning for you, therefore, travel agents are not really obsolete.
The real travel agent for my last overseas trip was really helpful. She could get my tickets and urgent visa for the next day. I also asked her to change the return flight from a different city on a later date. Without her it would be tough to talk to an online “agent” in emergency situations like that. The ticket cost from her was about 20% higher than the regular online cost (if bought ahead of time. The online tickets probably would cost a lot for emergency situations).
I bought online tickets several times. But I bought them ahead at least 2 weeks to get cheap tickets.
By the way, I was not able to book hotel via Expedia in Asia. The transaction could not go through. No explained reason. I am an Expedia gold member.
Real travel agents are really needed for business travel.