Benefits of Senior Travel Agency Planning

Upon retirement, most people look at life in a brand new way. Now that you have been freed from the hassles of work, you can focus on enjoying your life and the world as much as you can. Going on luxury cruises and doing some airline travel to different destinations are among the most common pastimes you can take up. To further enjoy the experience, you can save yourself from the hassles of planning for your trip by hiring a senior travel agency and letting them do all the work.

The truth is that you are perfectly capable of doing all the things that a travel agency will do for you -- booking airline flights, choosing hotel accommodations, planning an itinerary -- but there certainly are a few perks of hiring an agency to do the planning process for you.

First of all, if you hire an agency, you will be freed of the tedious task of calling several hotels and airlines until you find the best deal. Also, delegating the chore gives you more time to prepare yourself for the trip, schedule house sitters, and shop for things you will need for your vacation. An agency will also take charge of processing your travel documents, so this will be one less thing to worry about.

Although most senior travel agencies are really quite adept at what they do, it would be even better if you can get referrals or recommendations from friends and family members. There are many places where you can find great traveling tips and ways to save on costs and friends and family are often the best ones to ask. If they have had a great experience dealing with a particular agency, you might want to consider going there first. One of the most important things to look for is their sincerity in helping you find the best deal where you will be most comfortable.

If you are traveling to a new destination, you might benefit by having a tour guide who can take you through the most interesting sights in the area. Group tours are also an excellent option. Regardless of which you prefer, you can always ask your senior travel agency to make the necessary preparations.

Finally, you must carefully consider the price of the packages offered by any senior travel agency. There may be some extra amenities that will require you to make more payments, in addition to the basic travel package price. Make sure you understand all the inclusions of the package before making a final decision. There are always ways to save money, especially on air travel.

Joseph Jackson provides information and tips for anyone traveling, including senior travelers. You may be interested in how to save on airfare secrets or you may enjoy cruising and want to know how to lose weight on a cruise. Whatever your travel choices are, visit 'Senior Travel Reviews' for many more travel tips.

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Experience in Booking of Malaysia Hotel

Malaysia is a popular travel destination in South East Asia, possessing a wide range of attractions, like beautiful beaches, interesting diving/snorkeling spots, relaxing island resorts, cooling highland stay, fascinating historical sites, unique flora and fauna etc. Traveling from one place to another place is quite convenience, the best way is self driving. There are also huge varieties of food available, ranges from local Malay style, Asian style to International and Western style. There are many hotels, holiday apartments, chalets, bungalows and resorts available, ranges from simple "Home Stay" type of motel to luxury 5 stars Hotel. Unfortunately, booking of such hotel is not that convenience.

In 2008 October, during the "Ramadan Festival" public Holiday, we managed to book an apartment in Cameron Highland. This apartment is located at "Brinchang" Town, Cameron Highland, call "Honey Moon Villa". Honey Moon Villa is a mixture of residential and holiday apartments. All apartment units contain three rooms, with kitchen and cooking utensils provided. Living room is quite spacious, good for 10 persons. Apartment rental is also very reasonable; we enjoyed staying there very much.

In 2009 June, when we planned to book this apartment again, we were not able to locate the Apartment contact number. Try to search from internet, but failed. The only way to book was through a tour agency. As we were not familiar with any of the tour agency, we have to change our plan. We booked another apartment that my friend has its contact number, but it was smaller and price was higher.

In the beginning of 2009, my family and I planned a trip to Maxwell Hill, Taiping Perak, for one night stay. After searching through internet, no contact information of bungalow was available. No choice, we can't make advance accommodation reservation. We want to try our luck; we went directly to the bottom of the Maxwell Hill and asked the government officer over there. Finally, we managed to get the contact number for one of the bungalows, "Cendana Hut" and we were very lucky, there was still unit available!

From these two incidents, our conclusion is that in order to promote tourism industry in Malaysia, there is a need to provide sufficient hotel information to all potential tourists. I used to travel to China, they have very well established hotel reservation agencies like Ctrip and Elong, but in Malaysia, this type of industry is still young, it is difficult to find an established and famous hotel reservation agent. If we are not careful, sometimes holiday will turn into nightmare when hotel reservation is not done properly.

This website:
http://www.malaysia-hoteldirectory.com is providing a list of major hotels' website in Malaysia that may be useful to solve this problem.

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Negotiating Rates and Fares With Travel Agents

A whole generation of travelers, it seems, are so conditioned to use the Internet for travel booking that they're not even sure how a travel agent operates. These travelers use the hunt-and-pick method to find the best rates and fares online. And if that method doesn't reveal an affordable price, they might start wondering if a travel agent---a real, live person---could whip up a price reduction. Many an agent has received an anonymous phone call from a would-be traveler who wants to negotiate fares and rates.

While agents do have access to unpublished discounts and pre-negotiated travel fares, most do not have the ability to negotiate pricing. Agents do not set travel fares; they quote them. When they find a better price, it usually isn't because they lowered the fare to get your business; it's because they literally found a lower price.

There are exceptions, of course. Every agency has different policies, and some agencies allow their agents to make a case for offering discounted fares in certain situations. To get the lower fares approved, the agent would probably have to present a competing bid that's lower and make a strong argument for why the fare should be discounted. To be clear, this type of discount comes out of the agent's and the agency's commission. So the agent and agency would need a very good reason for even considering it. At a minimum, the standard commission on the vacation in question needs to be sizeable and the customer must be strategically important in some way.

In other words, a $29 hotel rate is not negotiable.

When you ask an agent to negotiate, you are essentially asking the agent to subsidize your vacation---the same way a newly engaged couple might ask the groom's dad to fund part of the honeymoon. Many agents will respond to these requests by saying, "I'll see what I can do." And then the agent will search, often successfully, for a lower fare.

Real stories from the trenches

Every agent has her own set of stories involving customers who misunderstand how travel agents operate. Here are a few of ours:

1. Customer finds a below-market rate for a hotel room during an event weekend through our online travel agency. The customer books the room online, but does not select the right room type. The customer calls the week before the event and asks to switch the reservation to a larger room at the same room rate. Unfortunately, the hotel did not have any larger rooms left. We could not remedy the lack of rooms at the first hotel, but we did locate another room at a different hotel.
2. Customer calls and asks for a discounted rate on a hotel in Cabo. The dates and hotel choice were not flexible. We find the discounted rate, at a prepay rate. The customer says great, he'll take the rate, but not a prepay basis. Hotels, like airlines, do offer discounted rates for prepaying customers. Generally, an agent can't book a prepay rate for payment-on-arrival.
3. Customer calls and says she's found a travel agent rate at a resort and would like us to book her vacation at that rate. Travel agent rates are for agents traveling; anyone booking under such a rate would have to show agent identification to the hotel or resort upon check-in. An agent cannot book a travel agent rate under someone else's name, nor can an agent buy the room at that rate and then resell it to a customer.

The gist of it is this: agents can save you money on your vacations and business travel, but sometimes there are limitations to what they can accomplish.

(c) Catherine Brock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catherine Brock operates BrockComm Travel, a full-service and online travel agency backed by MTravel.com, the full service host agency division of Montrose Travel, a Top 50 travel company nationwide. Established in 1956, Montrose is a reputable, financially secure, $100 million company with the products, services and unpublished travel discounts that enable BrockComm Travel to plan and book high quality trips at the right price. BrockComm Travel also produces online travel destination guides.

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How To Find A Reputable Travel Agency

Most travel agencies are honest and reputable. Using a travel agency not only has the advantage of taking care of all your travel planning for you but it also there when you need assistance during your trip.

A good indicator of an agency's reliability is if it is a member of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). ASTA has strict rules and regulations regarding a travel agent's membership. If, by chance, you do have a problem with the agent or agency it is by far easier and more likely you will have your problem resolved with an ASTA travel agent.

In addition, reputable travel agencies list all of their contact information. If an online agency only lists an email address this may be a red flag. A reputable agency will have not only an email address but have a mailing address and a telephone number where you can reach a real live person to talk to in the event you have questions or concerns regarding your booking.

Hidden fees may not be evident with agencies that are not reputable. A trustworthy agency will spell out all the fees and surcharges involved with your vacation booking. You should get all the fees in writing. Be wary of too good to be true low rates for a vacation. This could be a lure to get your business and then you have the extra fees presented to you after it is too late.

A reputable agency will go above and beyond to satisfy your needs for your vacation. If needed, a reputable agent will make sure handicap access or other disability accommodations are available, to make sure the trip is enjoyable. A disreputable agency is only interested in collecting your money.

Another factor to consider is if the agent provides some sort of travel tips and guidelines to make your trip enjoyable, especially if you are planning to visit an international destination. Before traveling to a foreign country one should be prepared to deal with that country's culture and have some sort of understanding on the do's and don't s to not only to make the trip more enjoyable but to also as a safety factor . A good agent will alert the traveler to dangers as far as weather or crime to prevent injury or worse.

Carole Gardner is a Successful Level 3 Coastal Vacations Director. She enjoys helping others achieve their goals by working from home and offers Free Coaching and Consultations for anyone interested in a home based business at: 828-582-1965 http://www.YourBestCash.com After 20 years of searching for the right home based opportunity and trying many types of businesses - she finally found success with Coastal Vacations. She's worked at home now full time for years and loves the money and the freedom. She understands that her success is due to several facts. First, that Coastal Vacations has a good product with real value and it's Travel...which is something people really want. It's a well established business with a solid 14 year track record. The business model has a high profit margin. It's not an MLM and... what's extremely important is that there is a proven marketing system in place the anyone can use and the training and support is second to none. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carole_Gardner

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