Of course, we think it’s a very good idea to have a travel advisor—especially because we are travel advisors, otherwise known as travel agents or even travel consultants, and we are a travel agency. For us, we prefer to be called travel professionals because what we do so much more than giving advice and booking reservations. Like anyone working in a business they love, we advocate for what we do, and we also advocate for you.
For many people, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has more than proved that having had a true travel professional in their corner was a wise decision. There are endless travel nightmare stories of people left high and dry, and those with a pro in their pocket, they were better off. Not surprisingly, we are absolutely seeing an uptick of people who are now believers in the benefits of having a travel advisor.
Are you the type that plans your own travel?
If you answered yes, you would be among the many people who like to do it all themselves. We do too. That is really one of the things that led us to becoming a travel agency.
We think planning travel is fun and we are seriously gitty about getting to make a living doing it! Still, there are a few reasons why people want to do it themselves and we understand that.
You are in control of your own travel destiny and it is much a part of your travels as the actual traveling itself. We agree, but we still think you should work with a travel professional anyway. We don’t like to take any of the fun away and feel that we actually add to it, but the biggest reason why is that we are your travel advocate and have your back from hello.
Quite often, we find that clients are very engaged and we love this. Bouncing ideas and talking shop with clients is a large part of what we do. It’s hard to find people as engaged in travel as we are, so getting to chat with kindred spirits who are excited about traveling is the best part of the day.
We truly are passionate about our jobs and we love to be a part of what we see as one of the best things about living…creating wonderful memories. So, when you choose to work with us, don’t think you are relinquishing control, you are gaining a travel assistant!
Does using a travel advisor cost more money?
There is a notion that it will cost you more money to have a travel advisor or travel agent. Well, quite often, it will not cost you any additional money to use a travel advisor. Infact, it may even save you money.
Travel agents / advisors can also save you time. We know the tricks of the trade, have established relationships with travel partners and know where to go to accommodate a client’s budget for travel. There are other ways that we can add to your experience too. Learn more about that here.
We make a living by selling. Generally, we work on commission basis and some travel agencies/agents do have fees associated with their services, but not all. We do have some fees are they are detailed on our services page. It all really depends on what your travels entail.
Travel agents/agencies are typically paid by the travel companies that are providing accommodations, vacation packages, vehicle rentals, cruises, tours and some excursions. In rare cases an airline might offer a small commission. For this reason, many travel agents don’t center their business around airline tickets and if that is all you are interested in, they are more than happy to let you surf for yourself. We are too. It’s alot to go through for nothing so we would rather let you deal with the airlines when things go awry, unless of course you have paid the fee, and in this case we are more than happy to takeover and do our magic.
What About Hotels?
At Soul Free Travels, we do things a little different with respect to accommodations. Many travel agents will not work with smaller, locally-owned and operated hotels and vacation rentals. There are a few reasons for this, but the primary one is that they do not pay commissions, mainly because they are not set up for it.
We are taking a different approach to this. As part of our business model, we absolutely support locally owned small businesses, even the ones that cannot pay us commissions. If the property is right for our clients, we will still refer it. Same with local guides and other services that we have vetted ourselves.
Online Travel Agencies
There are a couple of reasons we do this. One, because it is the right thing to do. We feel the more than the tens of billions of dollars that the Booking.coms and Expedias of the travel world made in hotel commissions last year is a bit more than just greedy. They are NOT travel professionals. They are a tech giants with really crappy client / customer service… just ask anyone who was traveling during Covid about their experience.
As for places like Airbnb (their money making model is charging you money) and there are reasons why you should reconsider them too, but that’s for another blog post. We’ll just leave it at cleaning fees, hidden fees, and once again, not travel professionals but a giant tech company that also never answers the phone.
Case in point; a small property in the middle of the Sumatran jungle really can’t afford the 15% to 30% these so called Online Travel Agencies charge. It takes away from guest services and amenities and it encourages travelers to be lazy by booking everything in one spot. They are getting richer and richer off the backs of local entrepreneurs who are going belly up because of Covid. We think there are better ways to book the properties.
We offer ways for you to book direct easily with these sort of properties whether you use or services or not. We feature many of them here on our site. We will still charge our fees (if trip entails that), and it will still be likely that we are saving you money. You don’t think that booking.com and Expedia work for free do you? Just checking.
Customer service with online travel agencies vs client relationships
Customer service is one thing and client relationships are another. When you call one of the big online travel agencies, who are you talking to and where exactly are they? How long were you on hold and how many buttons did you have to press to get there? Did they even solve the problem or have anything to contribute? Are they an actual travel professional or do they wear a headset and take a hundreds of calls a day?
With a travel agent, you’ll know who you are talking to and you will develop a relationship with them that is beneficial to you. They get to know you, what you like, what you don’t like, what your travel personality is and so much more.
Having a great relationship with a travel agent is akin to your having a realtor, a personal banker, your doctor. You wouldn’t go to your banker for medical advice would you? One of the best things that a travel agent does for you is to serve as your advocate in all things travel.
Are you still wondering why you need a travel agent?
When the you know what hits the fan, a travel professional has your back. They are as invested in your travel as much as you are. Your amazing vacation all of a sudden might not be so amazing if you miss your plane, or a villa you rented on your own doesn’t actually exist, or something horrible like the Corona virus hits the planet. Wouldn’t you rather have someone in your corner to help you sort it all out and bet yet, ensure that sort of stuff doesn’t happen?
We hope we have given you some food for thought toward working with professional travel advisors and encourage you to “interview us” for the job by having a complimentary consultation with us. While we are based in Austin, Texas—you can be anywhere in the United States. We meet with clients in a variety of ways, whether virtually or for locals, we treat at Starbucks.
We are confident that Soul Free Travels will make a positive difference in your travels and we very much look forward to hearing from you.
