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