stank@uiucdcs.UUCP (11/28/84)
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To give a happier story, my wife and I travelled over Thanksgiving from
Chicago to Minneapolis. On the flight there we took Delta's $60 (or so)
flight, while on the way back we took Northwest Orient's $150 (or so) flight.
All of Delta's flights were booked on the day we wished to return-- Hence,the
different airlines.
As it turns out, the ONLY difference between the flights (besides the direction)
was that Delta used a smaller plane (a 727 vs a DC-10). Both flights were
on time, and so forth.
Moral of the story: you sometimes do find an honest bargin.
Stanley Krolikoski
..pur-ee!uiucdcs!stankhosking@convexs.UUCP (12/01/84)
My own experience with travel agents is that there are some very good ones and some incredibly bad ones. A few years ago I was working for a major computer manufacturer which did so much business with the local travel agency that the agency was given an office in the computer company's lobby. When it came time for me to take a vacation, I decided to fly to the west coast, and tried to get tickets through this travel agency's office in the lobby, assuming it would be the easiest way to get them. Wrong!!! I walked into the office, and was rudely ignored for 10 minutes while the travel agent made an unimportant personal call. When she finally got off the phone, she told me that there was only one flight that would take me where I wanted to go. She didn't even bother to look it up; she "knew" that all the flights were booked, and of course nobody would even think of cancelling or changing plans. She quoted me a price of over $600, which I thought was a little out of line, so I didn't buy a ticket. A few days later I called another local travel agent. I told her what I wanted, and was told that she was very busy but would call me back in half an hour. I half expected her not to call back at all, but she called back on time, with several possible flights, depending on whether I thought money or time was more important. In the end, she wound up saving me > $200 over the other agent, and found me a much better flight. Over the next few years I had a number of other dealings with this company. I couldn't ask for better service. They never fouled up any of my reservations, and went out of their way to make sure that they got exactly what I wanted. Yes, there are a few bad travel agents out there, but there are also some mighty good ones. Don't assume that just because you found a few bad ones that they're all like that. If you can find a good one, they can save you a lot of time AND money.