Is it the end of the High Street Travel Agent?

[jane p]

I read something about high street travel agents could soon become extinct because people are booking online? Seven in ten Britons booked online in the last year.

what do you think? Do we need travel agents? Do you use one?

 

[PrestonLad]

High street travel agents will probably die... but I will miss them.

They offer a great service.

I do love surfing around the internet for holidays... and happily book my own trips on occasions, but equally I use high street travel agents for other trips... they have a lot of specialist knowledge, offer options I'd not thought of, and take a lot of the strain - especially when you're trying to work out all the prices/discounts / supplements, which can be rather opaque. They also respond to a bit of haggling too.

Thinking of the last half-dozen trips, I've usually combined the two. I take ideas from the internet to the travel agent, and vice versa. I booked via the travel agent on 3 of those 6 occasions... happy to support the high street where appropriate. Generally paid 30 quid more in total (a tiny percentage on pretty big bill.... but for that you get the piece of mind of knowing that if anything goes wrong, you've got someone on your side and you've got a rep in resort who, although I rarely use them, can be useful (they were very helpful in getting us a better room in my hotel last summer... if I'd booked independently, I might have been stuck in a rather pokey room... for the sake of saving 30 quid. (also, until recently, ABTA guarantees didn't cover you when you booked the flight/hotel etc independently... but there was some sort of rule change recently... that changes that, I think - I haven't read up on that yet.)

 

[Litherland]

i always book my holidays in the travel agents, thats just me. It makes it more exciting for me and i can talk face to face, ask any questions i have. Rather then go online and print out all the documents etc, id rather ask the experts and have them sort it all out for me so its all organised.

we will probably be able to book holidays on our iphones soon

 

[Talay]

When your average holiday involved nothing more than a trip to the Costas, going to the High Street agent was fine as they had been there and knew something about the place. Now, we all want to go deepest, darkest Peru but stay in a 5* with definably no trekking but Ms Travel Agent on a little more than minimum wage has only been as far as Bognor on her boyfriend's bike.

She gets her information from the corporate web which is exactly the same as you can do with a wider Google search. So why bother ?

The last time I used one was for an extended trip to Australia back in the late 1990s and after that I paid to use Wexas for a few years but gradually the net took over and since around 2000 it has been internet only.

If I wanted a hand holding trip to see the pyramids I might consider an agent but I guess they'd have never been and probably couldn't personally find the pyramids on the map !

 

[Ferngully]

I've been once to a travel agent so I wouldn't miss it but I suppose people who do will miss the personal touch

 

[GoPD]

I've never really found a 'personal touch' in any travel agents I've been in but perhaps thats just my experience so mostly I've used teletext in the 'old' days and now the internet.

 

[gr9ce]

I thought travel agents were where you went to get all the brochures to then check out your choice online.....oops mea culpa.

I also recall years back being naive and not realising that some travel agents were actually owned by tour companies and therefore the holiday 'deals' they found were not exactly 'independent'

 

[Laurenpears]

I would always go to book online, past experiences in travel agents are that theyre out for commission only and will charge well over the odds to get a decent bonus on it.

Will use comparison websites too!

Think there will always be a place for them on the high street though, for the older generation that arent internet savvy

 

[RichB0101]

Travel agents, like so many favourites of the high street will soon die out - I'm surprised they have held on so long. Look at books and record/music/DVD shops and followed closely behind will be a lot of estate agents and betting shops. Lets face it, all these things can be done better and cheaper online without the cost and inconvenience of having to turn up.
The main high street where I live probably has a quarter of the shops closed. Difficult to know what will take their place - probably things that can't be done well on the Internet where you ned some level of personal service, or where you physically need to see/touch the items or bulky products (don't see many online sellers of peat or firewood logs!).
Local councils don't help by putting every barrier in the way that they can think of to stop motorists turning up!

 

[Philip Hoyle]

What's interesting, in that the long established privately owned travel agents who survived Lunn Poly, AT Mays, Thomas Cook, Going Places, etc., are still there on the High Street and still going strong.

It was the chains, staffed mostly by youngsters who'd been no further than Ibiza, who edged out a lot of the small independents, who've now found themselves edged out by the internet.

We have two local independents. Both are exceptionally good and both are still doing well. They've seen out the Lunn Poly's and are competing well against the internet simply by being good at their job. Their staff are middle aged/older and very experienced. By knowing the market, they can come close to price and paying a little extra is well worth it when you need the expert knowledge.

AT May, Lunn Poly and Going Places were just a flash in the pan. They never had the proper experienced/trained staff, and were bound to be pushed out eventually as they were fur coat and no knickers.

 

[Laurenpears]

Its great to see small independents that are still doing well, theyre clearly putting the customer first.... i think people have grown tired of the hard sell in a travel agents and the "oh ive been here" - every destination in the book for a girl thats 24?
I always feel if i go in and dont book straight away....that they kind of push me out of the door!

 

[gr9ce]

Lauren, you may wish to hide your profile pic...time may come when you don't even get over the threashold

 

[Chipper11]

'Challenging' like many sectors that have competitiors on the web, so we do both high street and online to give our customers the choice!

 

[fairestcape]

I read something about high street travel agents could soon become extinct because people are booking online? Seven in ten Britons booked online in the last year.

what do you think? Do we need travel agents? Do you use one?

What is a "Travel Agent"?

 

[internetspaceships]

Oh Lord. Another "is it the end of" thread in the retailers' section.

There's no wonder it's all going bad. Have you ever heard the expression "misery loves company?"

Maybe you need to re-name this section the "Misery loves Company" section.

Come on guys......

 

[Matt1959]

I read something about high street travel agents could soon become extinct because people are booking online? Seven in ten Britons booked online in the last year.

what do you think? Do we need travel agents? Do you use one?

replying directly to this and havnt read the thread - we never use agents and always book online using self catering cottages/apartments etc. I have been a few times to agents to ensure we are not missing out on anything they have to offer and the overwhelming feeling I get is that travel agents are for those that want 100% safeguards that their hols go to plan and for those that want soemone else to do all the work re. setting up a holiday. (mind you reading about the kind of holiday experiences people put up with it does make you wonder as to this wisdom!) But for this service....you pay.

Maybe last minute deals are good from agents though...

We book direct with owners - yes theres the chance you can get scammed but it hasnt happened yet and until it does, i will not lose sleep in working this way. The only thing I would say in dealing direct with owners is that the accomodation can be iffy but generally I would say you get what you pay for.