In the changing world of the travel industry, some Travel Agents have begun charging consultation fees for their services. But is this cool? And will it work for or against them?
Last week I wrote a story about what the average consumer – in the form of a Reddit user – thought about Travel Agents who charge fees for their time. If you haven’t checked it out yet, definitely do.
To summarise the story, most Reddit users were happy to pay a fee to a Travel Agent for their time and service as it yielded some pretty significant dividends for the consumer, such as potential discounts on tours and hotels, having someone in your corner if things turn pear-shaped, and having someone to wait on hold for you and all that good stuff.
And our own KarryOn audience totally agreed, with the Facebook post of the story garnering over 90 likes and 20 shares!
True, some of the Reddit users citing these reasons were fellow Travel Agents, but some of them were also just your average consumer – which was definitely encouraging to find.
But it’s still relatively early days in this debate, and the question has only recently come to the fore. Not too long ago, Travel Agents could make a pretty decent living without having to charge a separate fee to customers. That was during a time when there was no competition from Online Travel Agencies (OTA) and visiting the Travel Agent was what most people did when booking a holiday. Ah, the good old days…
Obviously things have changed A LOT in recent years, and to ensure money in their pockets at the end of the working week and to discourage time wasters who take advantage of their time and expertise (only to book everything themselves online), some Travel Agents – both here in Australia and abroad (especially the USA) – have began charging consultation fees for their time and efforts.
But is this fair?
Some Travel Agents certainly think so, such as Sarah Tree. As you can see from her comment below, Sarah points out that service and knowledge aren’t free in any other industry, so why should it be any different in travel?
It’s a fair point to make. Travel Agents spend many months and years developing the expertise and knowledge required to create the kind of itineraries that satisfy every time, and suffer through many NEGS and embarrassing mistakes – aka “learning opportunities” – to get to the point where they are masters of their craft.
For example, it takes experience to know which hotel to book for certain clients, and it takes time to understand the intricacies of booking a RTW ticket. Why should Travel Agents who have put in the hard yards not be able to profit off their knowledge and expertise?
This is the case in every other industry…
Then there are those who feel strongly against charging any fees at all, usually based on the idea that in order for Travel Agents to remain competitive with OTA they need to offer their service for free.
Customers may be driven away from the traditional Travel Agent if they find them to be more expensive than what they can find online, they say, and Travel Agents need to hold onto their already diminishing market share.
Credit: Alex Kennedy-Andrews via Facebook.
It’s important to note that it’s not like Travel Agents don’t make money without charge a fee. In the vast majority of cases, there’s still some commission to be made in your average flight + hotel + tour booking.
But many of those on this side of argument have likely been burned a bunch of times by customers who have taken their expertise in creating a perfect itinerary and then either booked it with another agent or online themselves. And that’s totally understandable: these experiences can sting for days and even weeks (speaking from personal experience).
But if all Travel Agents began charging fees, would this revitalise the travel industry or cast another dagger through the heart of the traditional travel agency?
It’s a tough question, but perhaps now is the time to put such a debate on the table.