Travel Agent for Overseas Trip

NinaBella

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
I am open for recommendations for a Travel Agent for an overseas trip this summer. It's to South Korea. If a travel agent could save me money, I am open for it. I have enough airline miles for one free ticket on Delta and there will be 4 or 5 of us going. I am trying to convince DH to go.

If he doesn't go it will be:
Me
DS who will be a month shy of 26 years old.
DS age 16
DD age 15

I have also been trying to convince DS (who would be 24 by summer) to go but he doesn't like to spend money and doesn't like the idea of a long flight. He's not the sight seeing type of kid either.

The relative we would be staying with is my dad and step-mom. Step-mom is Korean. Dad can't get out and do tourist-y things anymore. He would probably only go to indoor a/c places. The days we would be out sight seeing and exploring, he would not come with us. He would probably just go to work on those days.

Heads up, I lived there for over 5 years and have relatives there, so I am EXTREMELY familiar with the country already. I use to fly out of Inchon every six months for several years and have worked about 6 weeks (over the course of several years) at the airport for military exercises, so I am also familiar with the airport.

I have hotel reservations at Dragon Hill Lodge on Yongsan Army Installation in the middle of Seoul for part of the trip and the other part we will stay with at a relatives house in Daegu. I am thinking of staying one night in Busan at the beach. I went on a MWR trip one weekend and we stayed at a hotel across from the beach, but there was a nicer hotel we went to eat at on the beach. We would also plan a DMZ trip through the military base. My oldest DS has been to the DMZ twice already, once in 5th grade, one age 18. I have been once. The two younger ones haven't been to Korea since age 18 months and 4 months, so of course they do not remember anything. They were both born there (in the military hospital in Seoul), so this should be a interesting trip.

But if a travel agent wants to see what they can come up with and assist with, I am open to a discussion. Or, with theses details, would a travel agent not even waste their time. LOL. I am thinking I would know more than a Travel Agent. Still open to suggestions.
 
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It sounds like you don't really need a TA, unless you need help figuring out the transfers and timing (imo the most difficult part of any multi-stop trip). But it already sounds like you have a handle on the things you want to do and see and also the lodging. The TAs I've dealt with in the past don't really specialize in saving money but rather just work with the budget you give them. They certainly won't be any cheaper than anything you can arrange at Yongsan MWR.
 
It sounds like you don't need a TA. It seems like you know what you want and have put the plan in motion... having said that ...

I am a travel agent. There are lots of reasons to use a TA. When preparing your travel itinerary, sometimes they can save you money. Other times they can advise you on travel rules that you may not be aware of. They mostly save you time and give you a personal contact in the event of changes, problems, and can monitor price drops and price increases. Those things alone can save you time and trouble. They are also a valuable resource and have access to information you may not have. Try calling the Costco help desk when you or on an island or a cruise and a hurricane is soming. Get in line.

I own my own business and am a one-person shop, but I am part of a network of over 1000 agents. When I need advice I go out to that network and invariably, there is someone who has sold it, been there, sent people there, had clients who enjoyed it/hated it. Aditionally, TA's tend to travel a lot and see a lot and experience a lot and therefore have oodles of valuable information that you can't get from Expedia or like sites. Not knocking those site, there is room for everybody. But there is something to be said for personal attention vs calling a call center.

For example, when I book a cruise for someone, I put it on a watch. If the price drops I get back to them and let them know their options: get a reduced rate, or go up in a booking class, like from a window to a balcony, or they can take an onboard credit.

Another example: My college-aged niece was booking a trip with her 3 roommates, and wanted cheap so she went to Expedia. I ended up getting her the same trip for $20 less, lol, but the real benefit with me was the installment payment plan and the cancellation policy--neither of which she had with this particular trip through Expedia. She would have had to pay-in-full and it was a final sale.

When someone gives me the parameters of the type of trip they want, budget, etc. I do all the work: the research, the comparisons, evaluate the best bang for the buck. I present them with choices, and sometimes they pick one of the choices presented to them, other times they learn a few things and decide to make some changes and I go back to the drawing board.

Some people like to do their own research and travel down the internet hole, and that's great. But for others that may want a professional perspective and don't have the time or the knowledge, a TA is definitely the way to go.

Public service commercial over.
 
I'm sure there are travel agents who could work deals for you with hotels. I'm not sure they could do better on airlines for you, specifically, if you are a frequent flyer, but they might be able to do something for a group of tickets.

Just remember that anything you do not book yourself means that any changes must go through the travel agent.
 



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