The main function of any travel agency is to, of course, act as an agent. This includes selling tickets and travel products, reservations, and so on, on behalf of one or several suppliers. Travel agents generally work with no charge to the traveler him or herself. Rather, the travel agent takes a small commission from the overall cost. Again, this isn’t added on top of the sale or anything like that. Rather, their commission is taken out of the advertised price.
So why go through a travel agent? Well, besides the simplicity and convenience, the main draw is that travel agents receive tickets at significant discounts.
This is pretty much how travel agencies work the world over. However, there are a few different types of travel agents&
General Sales Agents for Foreign Travel Companies
A general sales agent is something like a tourism ambassador. A company with its headquarters located in, say, Japan, might set up travel agency offices all around the world to encourage tourism to the country where their headquarters is located. The travel agent will still seek to find better deals for their customers (as, after all, that’s what turns a customer into a return customer), so they are not indebted to any one airline or hotel, but, they do tend to focus strictly on travel to, and within, the country where their headquarters is located.
Business and Commercial Travel Agencies
Most travel agencies have a department of business travel and a department of leisure travel. The needs for one traveler and the other tend to vary in a few significant ways, and so, splitting up the duties amongst a couple of departments can help to allow either department to specialize, finding better deals for business travelers on the one hand, and better deals for leisure travelers on the other. However, there are also travel agencies that specialize strictly in business and commercial travel. Incidentally, there aren’t a whole lot of agencies that restrict themselves solely to leisure travel.
By Class
In the United States, there are several main types of travel agencies: corporate-owned national chains, national/international franchises, membership associations — such as AAA — and independent, locally owned travel agencies with no brand or corporate affiliation. National chains will have the most consistent policies and pricing not matter where you go, and often the best international “hotline” customer service, but not always. Big-name franchises offer similar perks but different local owners can opt out of certain promotions and pricing specials. Membership-based associations are often less commission-focused since they rely on member fees. Independent agencies tend to cater to niche markets, such as assisting sports teams, church and school groups looking for inexpensive travel, and large group options.
Cargo Travel Agencies
A few travel agencies specialize in shipping cargo. Of course& that’s not entirely relevant if you’re looking to fly for business or personal reasons. Still, this should go to show how many different areas an individual agency can specialize in.
Online Travel Agencies
One of the real boons to the travel agency industry has been the use of the internet to allow travel agents to let their travelers compare a wide variety of options for hotels and airline tickets. Ironically, there was some fear for a period of time that, by selling tickets directly to travellers, the travel agencies would go out of business. However, a handful of travel agencies have proven that, even if you can find good deals yourself, there are still instances where a travel agency can find you an even better one. Many traditional bricks-and-mortar travel agencies now have full-service web sites so that you can get the best of both worlds: convenience of self-serve online booking with the benefit of talking to a real person when you need it.
Multi-Destination and Niche Agencies
If you want to split it up into just two types of travel agency, you have multi-destination and niche. Multi-destination out-bound travel agencies are usually larger, offering flights to just about anywhere. Niche agencies are usually independent, and focus on one specific part of the world. If you’re flying to say, Greece, you might find a niche agent who knows the area very, very well. Most of these niche agencies cater mainly to people with family in that country, or who do business there on a regular basis.
Consider your individual needs, preferences, and trip objectives when choosing your travel agent. Different types of agencies provide different levels and types of services. If you are a frequent globe trotter, you may want to use a large corporate travel agency with many branches in countries all over the world. Or you may view travelling as a treasure hunt or puzzle, where researching and finding the most off-the-map places is half of the fun. If this is the case, a niche operator may be just the right travel partner for you.
In more than 25 years of international travel, I have never purchased special trip insurance and, so far, I’ve never needed any. Though I would have to say many people still manage to travel without any insurance.
There are already many happenings concerning insurance that travel agencies can vouch for. An American met an accident after visiting one country and because they did not have adequate medical care, he had to be flown back home. One person in this case may need to spend thousands of dollars.
There are many insurance policies in the market today and one of which would take into account medical evacuation and the cost you incur when a nurse or doctor comes with you during the transfer. However, the most important insurance programs that travelers should at least consider fall into two basic categories, medical assistance and trip cancellation cover.
In case you meet an accident, contract an illness or need medical evacuation when you travel, medical assistance insurance will be cover you. The company that provided you with you insurance will also help you get the medical assistance you need through a hotline which you can call. Terminating your trip or moving it to another date will warrant airline companies to charge you extra for it at which you can use your Trip cancellation insurance to cover the expenses.
Say you already have a trip planned but you then just days before you meet an accidents or your loved one does forcing you to let go of your trip. The extra fees you will be incurring will be covered, either all or part of it, by this type of insurance. There are many ways one can avail of travel insurance and these are either through your travel agent or insurance companies.
Make sure you are familiar with how the insurance policy you are getting will help you. Do research beforehand on travel insurance policies so you will know which to get during your trip. Apart for these two basic insurance policies there are other kinds that will also provide extensive coverage.
One travel insurance agency offers a full range of medical assistance services plus optional trip cancellation or interruption insurance. Purchasing this insurance policy will ensure the coverage worth $10,000 in emergency medical coverage for an individual and $20,000 for a family including parents and dependent children. The coverage you will get for medical evacuation is unlimited. A 9 to 15 day trip will cover medical assistance worth $49 for an individual and $97 for a family.
Other companies would offer clients coverage worth $100,000 including a hotline they can call. This will only cost around $3 for one person a day or $15 for 45 days. One nonprofit organization supplies travelers with a list of various English speaking doctors that have been trained in many parts of the world who can help in case of emergencies. Vital information on immunizations, malaria prevention and weather and climate conditions will also be provided to the tourist. The organization hands out the directory and packets for free though they would gladly appreciate any donations.
An insurance company will give you only medical evacuation coverage though assures you that they will pay for any medical fees incurred and collect from you later. One person will have to spend about $25 and $45 for a couple which will last for two weeks.
