Travel Agency Recommendations?

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

Has anyone used a travel agent in the area? Any recommendations? I'm going on a big trip at the end of the summer and want to check all my options.

Comments

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

It's been a while since I've used any travel agent but, when I did, I was always happy with Baker Travel on Highland Avenue - right in Davis Square.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll probably check them out.

[protogeek.livejournal.com]

(Disclaimer: I work for the company that runs this site, but I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't use it myself.)

If you're not looking for a lot of hand-holding and human interaction, and are simply looking for the best price, check out BookingBuddy.com (http://www.bookingbuddy.com/), which allows you to enter your travel info once (for airfare, car rentals, vacation packages, etc) and then search dozens and dozens of sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, Continental, etc. Obviously if you're not looking to buy your tickets online then this won't be useful to you.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

I didn't know about that. Actually my main reason for wanting to go to a travel agent is that I'm considering returning from a different airport than my destination airport; do any of the travel sites let you do that?

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

www.kayak.com lets you enter multiple airports. I have often found that with kayak, going through different cities can land you an unexpected bargain. I am doing just this for a 4th of July trip.

[protogeek.livejournal.com]

You can do that, but unfortunately they won't consider it round-trip (so you won't get round-trip pricing). You'll have to purchase it either as two one-way tickets, or as a "multiple destination" trip (some sites will let you set up this kind of search without too much difficulty using their advanced search options -- Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity all let you do this). I don't know if the multi-destination search is merely a search convenience or if it actually saves you any money; I suspect it doesn't but it's worth checking out. I've never used a travel agent, personally, so I can't speak to that; general belief among those of us in the online travel industry is that it's usually cheaper to buy online simply because you can compare lots of options, and it's a lot cheaper for the ticket-sellers to process it automatically in volume than it is for human agents to handle you personally (and they have to make a living somehow). If you're planning an expensive international trip then it's probably worth checking out the travel agent route as well (I'd be curious to hear what you find). As for the BookingBuddy tool, you can use it to search one-way trips but not multi-destination.

Good luck!

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I have never tried multi-city booking with anyone other than kayak, so I can't speak to those. However, it is VERY easy with kayak. And I have actually found really, really good deals doing that as well. I don't know why -- it seems like it SHOULD be more expensive. But for a trip I'm taking in 2 weeks, I'm saving almost $100 with a multi-city deal that happends to be more convenient anyway.

I have also never used a travel agent, so who know? Maybe I am totally missing out!

[protogeek.livejournal.com]

Cool, good to know there's a reason to do the multi-city search beyond convenience!

[ron_newman]

Along the same lines, check out ITA Software's search engine. You cannot book a flight here, but it will give you exact instructions on how to book them once you choose them.

ITA is located in Kendall Square. You may have seen their puzzling ads in Red Line trains or stations.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Leeanne Locke (http://www.travelcollaborative.com/pages/directory/index.htm) at the Travel Collaborative on Hampshire Street. Or Beacon Street. Anyway, just up the street from the Thirsty Scholar.