Why do you work with a travel agent?
Written: Oct 22 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: I was able to use frequent flyer miles to pay for portions of my reservation.
Cons: Unflexible, rigid cancelation/modification policy.
The Bottom Line: Book hotels and cruises directly with the hotel, and or cruise line.
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| howardw2's Full Review: Delta Vacations |
I would say that I choose to work with travel agents for the additional service and support that they provide. I think of working with a travel agent like working with a general contractor to build a house. The more complicated the travel, the more valuable an agent becomes. IE: It will always be cheaper to call the plumber directly or go to home depot to get a bath faucet replaced, but remodeling the bathroom, it might be a good idea to use a contractor.
So with that caveat, the reason I chose to use Delta Vacations was that being a seasoned traveler with Northwest Airlines I thought I would use some of my miles to take the family on a long weekend.
That said if you want to make a simple change to an itinerary with Delta, they will have systematic issues that will keep them from helping you. Shortening or modifying a hotel stay if you where to work directly with the hotel, i find to be simple and painless. Most hotels give you up to 4PM on the day of arrival to make changes without penalty.
Not so with Delta, they will keep your pre-paid reservation and be forced to book a new one. Delta has little to no fexibility with that policy as it is apperently hard coded into their reservation system.
I called back and forth between the Hotel and Delta to try and make a simple 1 day modification to my arrival date. No cancelation, no refunds, just move the arrival date back one day. The hotel had no problems and plenty of rooms available. In speaking with the hotel directly, they agreed not to charge Delta for any changes. Delta simply couldn't make the change on thier side without payment on a new reservation. No flexibility in thier system.
So, in the long run, I am out the portion of the reservation that was not paid with miles, I am also out the miles, and there is nothing Delta can or was willing to do about it.
Delta said it was the Hotels problem, but I confirmed the hotels flexibility in the issue, they just wanted a piece of paper from Delta to tell them which days to charge them for, and would even charge less for the reservation. The fact is Delta already had my money for the reservation, and if they sent the hotel a request for the new dates, they would be invoiced less money for the booking.
I felt that having Delta blaim it on the hotel was kind of like buying a room addition from the general contractor , and having him tell you it is the plumbers fault that the sink leaks. I would expect the General Contractor to work that out with the plumber, not me.
Anyways, that is why you don't use Delta for small iteneraries :)
I would suggest booking hotels and cruises directly with the hotel, and or cruise line. They will almost always honor the best pricing available and are much easier to work with should you need to make modifications.
Recommended:
No
Tour type: Individual
Tour format: Various
Tour length: Several Days
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Epinions.com ID:
howardw2
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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