Author Topic: Do I expect too much??? (Read 4547 times)

TMJ · « **on:** July 08, 2006, 01:45:30 pm »

I am sorry, but need some opinions. I am trying to get details on our Vegas trip from our TA. I have sent 3+ messages to her, over the last few weeks. Thinking my email was wonky, I resent them on Monday, I finally got a reply yesterday, from another TA, in the same company. SHe informs me, that Carmen, my TA, is away until the 17th. I know we are all due vacation time, but am I being unreasonable by expecting to be informed, or at least given someone else who can help me? I would think, especially in this, or any industry, when away you would forward customers to co-workes, so they do not feel like they were left hanging, and are taken care of SHould I look at a different Agency?
THanks for letting me vent.

Hot Tub Forum · « **on:** July 08, 2006, 01:45:30 pm »

anne · « **Reply #1 on:** July 08, 2006, 07:12:10 pm »

How soon is your trip? If it is months away, and there are no important deatails that have to be arranged now, then I'd be a little miffed that she did not let you know of her absence, but I would not consider it too horrible. If you are leaving in a few weeks, and there are loose ends to tie up, then she is at best a flake, and maybe just plain unprofessional, if she left you with nobody else to contact.

At a minimum, if she has a professional email address, it would have made a LOT of sense for her to have one of those automatic "Sorry, I'm gone" replies.

tmknies1 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 11, 2006, 09:05:33 am »

I agree with Anne, at the very least there should have been an automated response letting you know the person would be out of the office.

It never hurts to shop around. I would also recommend pricing things on your own via the internet with airlines directly and sites such as expedia.

96SC · « **Reply #3 on:** July 11, 2006, 01:13:48 pm »

I agree with tmknies 1, you can do all your booking yourself over the net. If I can do it to Vegas (airline, car, and hotel), so can you. I didn't use Expedia or Travelocity, either.

anne · « **Reply #4 on:** July 11, 2006, 09:46:38 pm »

We're planning a trip to Italy and Spain (

) and initially looked for airline deals online (travelocity/expedia/orbitz). I then contacted an aquaintance of mine who is a travel agent to see if he could beat the prices we were getting. It took him a few days to get back to me, and the the best he could do through his "supplier" was about $100 more per person than we found on our own. Orbitz always beats anything else I ever find, and I'm rediculously persistant about looking for the lowest fare I can possible get.

Brewman · « **Reply #5 on:** July 12, 2006, 08:22:14 am »

The pricing of airlines and hotels is very annoying. You can use 10 different methods to book the same hotel for the same date and get 10 different rates.
I've seen times where the best rate I got was direct on the hotel or airlines website. I've had times when Orbitz or similar was the lowest, and other times just using whatever pops up in a Google search be the lowest.
I've never had a travel agent beat anything. They don't get commissions on airline tickets anymore so most of the ones I've asked add a service fee on for that.
I think the last time we went to Las Vegas I spent more time trying to book the trip than we spent in Vegas.

wmccall · « **Reply #6 on:** July 12, 2006, 09:21:03 am »

Brewman is dead on. Another annoying practice, is I use to fly to Atlanta a lot. The flight cost around $378RT. The plane went on to Tampa. If I booked the flight to Tampa it cost $210. I used to book the flight to Tampa and only check my bags as far as Atlanta.

After 9/11 that probably isn't a good technique

96SC · « **Reply #7 on:** July 12, 2006, 09:52:16 am »

Granted, it does take time and some effort to do your own booking. I found the cheapest fares were dealing directly with a carrier or hotel.

When we booked with the Luxor, it had a few additional perks that no other 'pricing' sites had and we could pick which type of room we wanted (pyramid or tower) most other sites just said 'standard'.

Our flight was on Delta, I found that booking during the week (Tues-Fri) for some reason was cheaper than doing so Sat-Mon. Sadly, the same ticket we had in April is now $100 more expensive. We could select our seats and print our boarding passes on the 'net. (Our local airport GSP was happy we had preprinted boarding passes whereas the folks in Vegas made us print another set at the airport.)

All of this does mean if you screw up something YOU screwed up. There is no one else to blame.

No matter how you get to Vegas, have fun. It's hard not to.

drewstar · « **Reply #8 on:** July 12, 2006, 10:15:00 am »

I've always had good luck booking through Triple A. (Complete vacations though: airfare, hotel, car). If you are a triiple A memeber, you might ask them to provide you with a quote too. My agent has been great.

Brewman · « **Reply #9 on:** July 12, 2006, 12:01:26 pm »

For Vegas last time, the best deal that still met our desires was when I booked directly with the Mirage on their website, and directly with Sun Country.
We were a little bit picky on certain things that probably cost us, like not wanting to fly in the middle of the night, and I wanted a hotel located in the near vicinity. We'd no doubt saved a few bucks by being more flexible, but that wasn't the idea on that trip.

Hot Tub Forum · « **Reply #9 on:** July 12, 2006, 12:01:26 pm »

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