Why Travel Agents are Crucial during COVID-19 Era

A travel consultant is your best advocate when things go wrong, helping you through covid restrictions and making cancellation easier.

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned from this pandemic, it is the indisputable importance of a travel agent who has become more relevant than ever. Before covid-19, people preferred booking their holidays online as the internet made it easy to research destinations, compare costs, find hotel availability and book. Over the last few months, we’ve come across several horror stories in terms of travel from social and mass media where things go from bad to worse – both leisure and business. Call hold times to online travel agencies (OTA) and airlines exceeded 3-4 hours only to be disconnected later. Customers were unable to get hold of anyone to cancel their bookings in case of flight restrictions. 

Travel agents are proving their worth over the OTA during covid era with people demanding refunds, seeking guidance over travel restrictions or needing help during rescheduling. It is better to book with a single agency that takes care of all your bookings. Your trusted local travel agent usually shares close relationships with travel providers and can often get the best deals which are also easier to cancel.

Here’s why booking with a travel agency makes sense right now and does not need to cost more:

Travel Consultants can help with last-minute changes

You might need travel support for a variety of reasons – storms delaying a flight, new covid-19 guidelines at your destination or disruption due to illness or injury. Travel agents often have personal relations with the suppliers who keep them in the loop in case of any changes. They are your best advocates when things go awry and just a text or call away to resolve it. 

They are more familiar with ever-changing travel restrictions

One of the primary jobs that travel advisors do right now is to help their customers through a range of travel restrictions and policy changes. Unsure about COVID guidelines or PCR test rule of your destination? Does airlines mandate masks for toddlers? Confused about different rules for different countries during an indirect flight? Your travel agent is likely to know about these things and if not, they will do the work to find the exact information.

They know where to go and the best way to get around at your destinations

Another reason to use a travel agent is they get intel on new destinations and which countries are open for travel for different citizens. Just brief them about your travel dates and what you’re looking for in terms of a holiday and they’ll customize a comprehensive itinerary without any extra planning charges.

Planning a trip need extensive research about flights, tourist attraction timings, airport customs on top of covid protocols – certain flights certain days of week and some places are open for a few week days – all these information would take a while to figure out on your own. Travel agents usually have ties with the local guides, which could be a real help during foreign travel. 

Travel agents can get you the best upgrades & save money

Because of close relationships with travel companies, travel agents can get you deals that you can’t get yourself or find on any large OTA. They have access to additional perks that you can't find if you book directly with them and proactively apply coupons or benefits that may come along when you book with a travel agent.

They can organise complicated itineraries and plan special experiences

Taking two separate flights and a ferry to get to your overwater bungalow in the Maldives? Travelling with your grandparents, parents, in-laws and cousins for a special occasion? An agent will not only help you in organising the entire trip but also getting you back on track in case of a delay or coordinating the schedules of all members so you can spend time together. In case of a special occasion, they can even help you in setting up a special surprise for someone. 

The bottom line

Travel agents have established their dominance over the past few years, especially when travellers experienced unexpected changes like flight or holiday cancellation whether it was an airline measure or a personal decision due to sudden illness. As the world is starting to open for travel with new norms or covid guidelines, booking through a travel agent is the best way to travel who could save you from ordeals should your itinerary change.