Have you ever been stranded?
Flights cancelled due to weather or maintenance, problems on arrival with hotel, cruise ship stuck in the middle of the Caribbean with no functioning engines and no power, hurricane heading for your resort area, accidents while abroad…..these things could throw a gigantic wrench into your vacation plans and while some of them seem far-fetched, I assure you these are all real scenarios that have happened to people while traveling.
And they all add up to one big reason to use a professional travel agent when booking your travel.
Simply put, they can fix your problems.
When a volcano in Iceland erupted recently spewing volcanic ash into the sky for days and grounding virtually every trans-atlantic flight between the U.S. and Europe for days, there were thousands of passengers displaced and inconvenienced with no where to go. Those who booked through travel agents had someone working for them round the clock finding new flights to rebook them on, reissuing their tickets, and assisting them with hotels, cars and other required services while they were waiting for flights to resume. Passengers who booked online or directly with the airlines had to go it alone. They had hours of waiting in line and on the phone, no accommodations and no idea what was really going on.
This is why you need to use a travel agent. Although we may not be able to prevent a problem like the volcanic ash episode from happening in the first place, we’ll be there to help you when things start to go wrong. And we’ll stay there by your side until everything is back under control again.
Travel Insurance – Don’t Leave Home Without It
Traveling is pretty much a case of whatever happens, happens. In reality, stuff always happens these days. That’s just the nature of traveling. You have no control whatsoever over most of the services that you rely on while you travel. Airlines, hotels, restaurants, foreign countries…..you don’t control these things. So, whatever happens, happens! It’s how you deal with it when it happens that will make the difference.
Travel insurance is an absolute must for so many reasons, the least of which is that you might have to cancel your trip before departure. That’s certainly a reason for insurance, but there are so many others that the list is endless. Insurance will cover all the unexpected problems that you’re positive will never happen to you. Accidents and illness while abroad are probably the most important. Be aware that most personal health insurance coverage does not cover you when you leave your home country. That leaves you at great risk while traveling in foreign countries should you need medical attention for any reason.
A travel agent will direct you to the travel insurance policy that best fits your needs. There are many. They are not one size fits all. And if you need to make a claim, your agent will assist with providing you with all the travel itineraries, receipts and other info that will be required by the insurance company.
Welcome to the age of “The Airline Doesn’t Care About You”
Yes, it’s true. The bottom line today is that the airline you’re flying doesn’t care about you. They don’t care that you’re their customer, they don’t care if you’re never a customer again. When something goes wrong, you need an advocate to help you get through all the wrong answers, lack of information, unfair treatment, rude employees, and general disorderly situation that you will find if you’re dealing with it on your own. We travel agents know how to sift through the baloney and get the job done. Our clients will be rebooked, rerouted, reissued and on their way traveling again long before passengers who did not use a travel agent.
So do yourself a huge favor next time you travel. Let a professional handle your booking. It will be worth the servcie fee many times over.
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