mauney@ncsu.UUCP (Jon Mauney) (11/30/84)
> After many bad experiences (of the sort you describe) with travel > agents, I ALWAYS make my own travel arrangements. > ... > Maybe an ultra competent travel agent would change my mind, but > for now, I haven't found one that can do for me anything I can't do myself, > and so travel agents head my list of useless professions. It is true that you have to look around and find a good agent. I have spoken to agents that didn't seem to know how to look beyond the first page on their computer screen to find anything out. But a good agent can do anything I can do, and faster. The agent I deal with now generally knows who has the best fares, without looking it up (he always double checks, though). Since he is in the business, he hears about new promotional fares that I might overlook. Since he is connected to a computerized reservation system, he can tell me instantly whether the flight I want is available. And since he doesn't represent any particular airline, he can search flights on several carriers looking for the best combination of fare and flight-time. It would take me a lot of phone calls and thumbing through the OAG to do all the things a good travel agent can do. -- _Doctor_ Jon Mauney, mcnc!ncsu!mauney \__Mu__/ North Carolina State University