Using Travel Agents for Cheap Hotel Rates

The Internet has made a lot of things cheaper in general, and this includes travel. Many travel agents have gone out of business because of this growth. This does not mean, however, that travel agents have lost their usefulness. On the contrary, it means that it has made those who have survived more competitive. This in turns leads many travel agents to offer cheaper hotel rates for some accommodations. As such, you should consider using travel agents when trying to book a room in a specific city.

Many travel agents have arrangements with airlines and hotels that allow them to offer cheaper rates. If a travel agent has reached a specific quota with a hotel chain, they are often able to offer any additional rooms beyond that quota at a cheaper rate. In other words, if the agent brings enough business to the hotel, a lot of it is “kicked back” to the agent, which in return is “kicked back” to the consumer. Sometimes this rate will be dirt cheap, often times not. But it is by no means unusual to find this rate to be cheaper than what many of the online hotel sites are offering.

As mentioned in another section of this site, you should also consider booking vacation packages. When you book a flight and hotel as one, the savings can be quite substantial. Also, sometimes these vacation packages are cheaper with travel agents than with online sites. When you book these packages you’ll realize that hotel rooms can run as cheap as $50 per night when you book it with a  flight!! Quite a substantial savings. So if you’re confident in the trip that you are taking this is a great way to go. Another advantage with booking these vacation packages with a travel agent as opposed to an online site is that if you are traveling alone an agent still has the power to give you the regular rate if they so wish. Usually online sites give their best vacation package rates to those traveling with a party of two or more. If you’re traveling solo, you’ll end up paying more (per person, that is) with an online site. But again, a travel agent may still give you the same per person rate.

When you book vacation packages online they often keep you “blind” as to the details of your flight. They’ll tell you specifically which hotel you can stay in for the publicized rate but they won’t tell you which airline you’ll fly on and what time the flight departs. If there is a layover they’ll let you know about it, but they won’t tell you the name of the city or how long that layover may be. The full details of the flight will only be available to you once you have given your credit card information and agreed to the booking, at which point you’ve already committed to the purchase. This isn’t so bad if you’re flexible with you’re travel plans, but a pain if it is.

Priceline, which generally offers the best vacation package deals among most of the online travel sites, operates in this manner. The deals are great, sure, but being “blind” to the details of your flight can be a hassle. As with their “name your own price” mechanism, they do this to give travelers good rates but the airlines simply don’t want their bargain rates to be publicized without bookings so that customers will still be open to paying higher rates when the details of the flights are crystal clear.

Travel agents, on the other hand, will not disclose such information from you, even if you haven’t committed to the booking. Not only may their vacation package rate be cheaper, but you don’t have to make the booking on this slight leap of faith because you will already know what the full details of the flight are.

Latin America Specialists

Always consider travel agents – for both hotels and flights – when traveling to somewhere within Latin America. Specifically, turn to agencies that specialize in travel to Latin America. This is because many Latinos in the United States still turn to travel agents for their vacation needs. This is one sector of travel that hasn’t really died down with the Internet boom. You’ll find that by booking with them you can easily save money on your flight to Latin America. You can save on your hotel as well. And as mentioned, consider booking a vacation package if you want to secure the best overall rate.