Tips on finding a good travel agent/consultant?

June 13, 2023 7:45 PM

Our travel consultant retired during the pandemic and we're looking to find a new one. Any tips or resources for finding a travel agent/consultant?

Our travel consultant was an in-house agent for American Express travel. We liked her because:

• She was reliable. She followed up on things and got back to us when she said she would.
• She was adaptable. She wasn't a specialist in every location or every type of travel, but she was able to get the information we needed to have an enjoyable travel experience while avoiding potential pitfalls.
• Once she understood our travel style, she was able to quickly put together good itineraries.
• My wife says "There was no rigamarole with her. She was able to maximize our experience within our budget. She booked everything. She told us what we needed to do and when we needed to do it."

posted by braveterry to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

A lot of what the agent does is a function of the agency's resources. Is there a reason you can't continue with the Amex service? Otherwise she was likely a third-party contract, so you can just find out which firm it was, or just ask the agent directly.
posted by cendawanita at 11:37 PM on June 13, 2023

Response by poster: As far as I can tell, AMEX is only offering the travel services to platinum card members now. Our agent was a in-house agent with AMEX travel, and we lost contact with her once she retired. (All we have are her AMEX email address and phone number.)
posted by braveterry at 7:50 AM on June 14, 2023

I don't have good relevant tips then, I don't think, because of location, but based on this article, it seems Amex travel has been doing a round of acquisitions of these agencies so one roundabout suggestion could be checking out the retail services of these firms.

With the exception of the speed of her follow-up, in my experience the other traits mentioned would be expected in a typical travel agency at the appropriate price.
posted by cendawanita at 9:00 AM on June 14, 2023

I recently had to find a travel agent quickly and simply made a call to AAA travel. I was surprised, but the service I received was excellent. I didn't have an intricate itinerary, but wanted to travel on specific days, rent cars, and do additional travel and additional car rentals in other European countries. The agent was very competent, was easily reached, and called to tell me that if I traveled home on the date I had first specified, I would be paying $500 more per ticket than if I traveled home the day before. I appreciated the advice and changed my return date.

It took less than 5 minutes to obtain a international drivers licence, and they took the picture there. It cost $31.00. Because I'm a AAA member there was no fee for any of the bookings.
posted by citygirl at 9:34 AM on June 14, 2023

Response by poster: We did end up finding a travel agent by asking friends for recommendations. My wife found one of the recommendations satisfactory, so we're good for now. 🙂

We'll see how well the trip turns out. 🤞🏾

Thanks for the advice!
posted by braveterry at 8:24 AM on July 4, 2023