Can someone advise a good travel agent for Europe and a general idea of what fees to expect?

[Anonymous]

A friend who is well traveled (lives in Philadelphia) told me what she paid for a travel agent and I was shocked. I had no idea, used to use one many years ago but have not in a while. We want to plan a fairly large European trip and I need someone who knows what they are doing. Any suggestions? And approx fees to expect?

[Anonymous]

Bethesda Travel. I think they get commissions. Europe is their specialty..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda Travel. I think they get commissions. Europe is their specialty..

I am a travel advisor. Normally you should not have to pay a fee. We get commission from hotels, cruises, etc.

[Anonymous]

Why do you want a travel agent? Using them is like an MLM...

[Anonymous]

Travel agents tend to quote prices higher than what you can find on your own.

When planning a trip to Italy, the travel agent quoted higher rates for hotels and transfers than what I found myself.

Tip: select hotels then connect with the concierge for pricing on transfers, guides, etc. We saved thousands by doing it this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel agents tend to quote prices higher than what you can find on your own.

When planning a trip to Italy, the travel agent quoted higher rates for hotels and transfers than what I found myself.

Tip: select hotels then connect with the concierge for pricing on transfers, guides, etc. We saved thousands by doing it this way.

How do you go about doing that?

[Anonymous]

We never use a travel agent for Europe. I have used one for an African safari. What we do is search for high end travel tour companies online and looked at their itineraries, hotels, activities. And then I just booked the same hotels and used the concierge to round out the activities and tour guides and transfers. Also Ubers are easy all over Europe. We travel a lot and everyone we travel with is easy.

I would only use a travel agent if I had a wide range of needs/ages/group that was challenging to travel with (the person with 14 bags; elderly grandparent; toddlers; etc) or I had a really tight schedule with specific things I wanted to see or if I had never been out of the country before. Or… I had unlimited cash and no interest/or time to plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We never use a travel agent for Europe. I have used one for an African safari. What we do is search for high end travel tour companies online and looked at their itineraries, hotels, activities. And then I just booked the same hotels and used the concierge to round out the activities and tour guides and transfers. Also Ubers are easy all over Europe. We travel a lot and everyone we travel with is easy.

I would only use a travel agent if I had a wide range of needs/ages/group that was challenging to travel with (the person with 14 bags; elderly grandparent; toddlers; etc) or I had a really tight schedule with specific things I wanted to see or if I had never been out of the country before. Or… I had unlimited cash and no interest/or time to plan.

In this case who is the concierge? Hotel/airline/tour connected? Or independent travel agent, or…? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We never use a travel agent for Europe. I have used one for an African safari. What we do is search for high end travel tour companies online and looked at their itineraries, hotels, activities. And then I just booked the same hotels and used the concierge to round out the activities and tour guides and transfers. Also Ubers are easy all over Europe. We travel a lot and everyone we travel with is easy.

I would only use a travel agent if I had a wide range of needs/ages/group that was challenging to travel with (the person with 14 bags; elderly grandparent; toddlers; etc) or I had a really tight schedule with specific things I wanted to see or if I had never been out of the country before. Or… I had unlimited cash and no interest/or time to plan.

In this case who is the concierge? Hotel/airline/tour connected? Or independent travel agent, or…? Thanks!

Hotel concierge.