travel thread for social board
travel agents are back, did you know?
ever used one?
no need if you’re just doing a quick city break in Europe, but if you’re doing something more complicated they really help
Is this for real? I was commenting the other day on how it was wild that there was a physical branch of Tui that existed in the city centre in the year of our lord 2025.
Why has it happened? Feels at odds with high street trends and money saving measures.
I can’t actually read either of these articles, cos paywall but still
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Was in St Albans recently and I noticed they had a physical tui branch
Peered in the window out of curiosity and it was absolutely jammed!
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We used InsideJapan to arrange our first trip out there - it was a 2-week, multi-centre stay that involved a lot of coordination of trains, hotels and luggage.
We’re confident and experienced enough that we can do all that ourselves now, plus my girlfriend loves holiday planning (and it’s a lot easier to do things online now than it was), so we haven’t used them on subsequent trips.
The past two winters we’ve booked short breaks at late(ish) notice through BA holidays to get a cheap package deal, which meant we could get a 4-star hotel for the usual price of a 2-star. Which was nice.
Sort of makes sense imo. Now everyone’s been stung a few times by the ‘convenient’ booking.com and Airbnb options turning out to be shitholes they want something that filters decent options and will give them a reliable experience even if it means paying a bit more.
I quite like doing the legwork myself with holiday planning but can see why people want to avoid it
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We’ve used one if they have a relationship with whatever holiday company we want to use and can offer better deals or added incentives.
For example, we went on a cruise last year. Booking (last minute) through the travel agent saved us about £500 and they added a whole load of onboard credit for free too.
Yes, I have one. He gets 10% of every trip I take
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I’ve not used one in nearly 20 years - back when they were the main option. As much as I like being an adventurous independent traveller there was something quite nice about having everything packaged and prearranged e.g. knowing that there was a nice coach waiting at the airport to take you direct to your hotel door.
So he comes out to the resort for 18 hours or something?
(That may have been the joke)
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I haven’t, but I have a pretty narrow experience of holiday booking and a general all-purpose thread for discussing travel booking might be a good thing if it doesn’t exist already?
Basically every holiday I took as an adult has been the same thing - a European city break for about a week usually with flights+hotel booked from lastminute or expedia, with the most complex being Italy when we booked the hotels separately for Sienna, Florence and a town in between. I’ve never used airbnb or had any kind of apartment, never hired a car on holiday never stayed in a resort. I’m now struggling a bit with the idea of a family holiday, as I now have kids of 8 and 5 who have only had holidays in the UK and can’t see an on-foot holiday in a central area of a city being the way to start with them overseas, but feel a bit anxious about booking something as expensive as a family holiday when I don’t really know what, where or how to book something that would definitely be good for all of us.
Probably. I’m not sure I really thought it through to be honest
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They have their place.
Also pretty good for work related reasons. One invoice from a travel agent with all travel, accommodation and whatever else on one invoice with clear VAT treatment, is better than an invoice from Trainline, an invoice from a hotel and supplier you never used or paid before, many many expense claims etc etc and on and on.
Travel Agents are still a thing in Italy. There are as many as there would have been in the UK say 40 years ago. Incomprehensible. Terrible stereotype here but think there is a pretty good chance a fair percentage of them are some sort of money laundering/other mafia front.
Tui and their free child places are excellent.
We’ve been two times (Greece/ Tunisia/ Greece again this year) with them as a family and it’s been excellent each time.
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My sister’s friend is one so we’ve got one for a family holiday and we’re all in a WhatsApp group and the travel agent chats to us. I’m not sure if that’s what they do if you’re not friends with them? It seems like an extra
Used one for the first time in… can’t remember to arrange a holiday in Italy last year. It was Tui and they were excellent for what we needed i.e. honest info and details on what our options were. They gave useful opinions on the different options which helped us choose the hotel and the right location.
This sounds like a TripAdviser review - sorry.
Travel agents = good
Edit: You do tend to get a shitload of salesy emails from them before/during/after your holiday though
Fine doing it myself and if something goes wrong just roll with it (i’ve turned up at an airport on the wrong day before)
However my lovely partner stresses about travelling so if we do a multi site holiday i’ll go through a travel agent so that if something goes wrong it’s deffo not my fault.
First day in iceland in septemeber i was in charge for the holiday and she was like what have you booked to get to the hotel and i said nothing, i’d not even looked.
Landed, got a ticket for a coach into town, 5 hours before we could check in, dropped the bags at the bus station, asked someone at the bus station how to get to the hotel, they told us, went for some lunch and some sightseeing and jumped on the bus to the hotel. Was really easy but she couldn’t relax until we’d checked in so now i know that she needs a plan i’ll get someone else to make one
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My parents love going to the travel agents to book holidays.
Can’t remember the last time I set foot inside one. Do look at the window displays every time I pass one. They always seem expensive.
Weirdly they actually opened a new branch round here about 12-18 months ago.