Set up transportation from the airport to your hotel through a shuttle or van service online prior t

This question, posed by The New York Times , got us thinking. According to the piece, nearly one in three leisure bed breakfast inns burlington vermont travel agencies is hiring, and in 2011 travel agencies experienced a second bed breakfast inns burlington vermont consecutive year of growth; in fact, their bookings bed breakfast inns burlington vermont accounted for a third of the $284 billion U.S. travel market.
The first thing we learned? Travel agents usually don t charge customers for their services! Their payment actually comes through the hotels and wholesalers, meaning that we can simply tap into a free service. That also means using a travel agent should never be  more  expensive than booking by yourself online and these are experts well-versed in where to find the best deals.
Of course, booking your flights in 30 seconds with a few clicks sounds a lot easier than playing phone tag with a live person, so it pays to know when a travel agent can help the most, and when you might as well DIY it. Vong let us in on the best times to call an agent, and some money-saving travel tips she s picked up in her line of work:
For group bookings that involve coordinating travel for multiple people, it s usually easier to use a travel agent, says Vong. I just had a bride call me because one of the groomsmen booked his own trip through a discount bed breakfast inns burlington vermont travel site, and he wanted to add someone to the room, says Vong. The customer service representative from the travel site he used told him they couldn t do it, but they were probably just being lazy. This is a great example of when you d rather hand the responsibility of changing that booking to a travel agent, bed breakfast inns burlington vermont rather than trying to fix it on your own.
Reading online reviews of a specific resort or city can take lots of time and effort. If you re booking a getaway for your family, but your destination is still a question mark, an experienced travel agent can help steer you toward what you re looking bed breakfast inns burlington vermont for. (Family friendly? Beach town? Non-touristy?) What I ve noticed is that often our suppliers have better rates than what discount sites are offering, even when they advertise for cheap last minute trips, says Vong. Plus, if you start working with the same agent over and over for your travel, they become familiar with you and your needs, which makes it easier for them to help you pick out a spot you ll enjoy. (As a side note, check out our editor s review of one new personal travel service that could help you plan your next trip.)
If you re planning to travel somewhere out of the country, and you ve never been there before, it might be a good idea to go through a travel agent. When you use an agent to book international travel, bed breakfast inns burlington vermont you ll be able to ask a million questions, says Vong, and your agent will be sure to gather all the information you ll need to make sure you re traveling safely.
Let s say you re visiting a friend in Arizona bed breakfast inns burlington vermont and all you need is the flight out there. With all of the discount flight sites available, it s usually easier, and generally about the same price, to just book it yourself. (Check out our rundown of popular travel sites to see which one might work best for you.)
Travel agents aren t able to use your points or rewards bed breakfast inns burlington vermont card miles to book a flight or hotel for you—you ll have to book on your own if you d like to use them. You also aren t able to use points or miles to buy flights on sites like Expedia or Orbitz, either, only directly through bed breakfast inns burlington vermont the site of the company who is giving the points or miles, says Vong.
Go ahead and book a travel deal that you find on a site like LivingSocial , Groupon or Travelzoo . Just remember that you ll need to be flexible with the travel dates (most deals are offered for off-peak times, like travel on a weekday bed breakfast inns burlington vermont only, or for a Sunday night at a hotel), and be wary of expiration dates.
If you can, avoid flying out on a Thursday or Friday, or flying back on a Sunday, when Vong says flights tend to be the most expensive. It s hard to say exactly how much a traveler could save, as it depends on the specific flight and how much space is available on it, but you could find yourself saving up to $50 or more for longer flights, says Vong.
Set up transportation from the airport to your hotel through a shuttle or van service online prior to arriving at your destination. Local taxis in some countries have been known to charge more to foreigners traveling bed breakfast inns burlington vermont to and from airports. If you re working with a travel agent, she should always be able to book transportation for you from the airport. If you re booking on your own, try calling your airline for suggestions, or searching on the tourism website for the place where you re going (most major tourist cities have a tourism bed breakfast inns burlington vermont website.) If you re booking a tour on your vacation, most tour operators also offer transfers with the purchase of certain products, says Vong.
The Go City Card is available in nine U.S. cities (including Boston, Chicago, New York, Orlando and more), and it allows you to pick and choose which sightseeing you want to do and to buy those activities as a bundle, which will be much cheaper than buying them individually.
If you re traveling within the U.S., sign yourself up for emails from deal sites like Groupon  or  LivingSocial from the city you re traveling to for potential discounts. In other words, if you live in Chicago but are traveling to San Francisco, subscribe to the San Fran deal sites shortly before your trip— you can always unsubscribe later.
If you ll be traveling to a country where you ll need a different bed breakfast inns burlington vermont currency, Vong suggests exchanging money at your hotel. They usually have the best rates, they don t charge bed breakfast inns burlington vermont a fee and you can put any extra money you don t need back in the safe deposit box in your room as soon as you get it, she says.
LearnVest Planning Services is a registered investment adviser and subsidiary of LearnVest, Inc. that provides financial plans for its clients. Information shown is for illustrative bed breakfast inns burlington vermont purposes only and is not intended as investment, legal or tax planning advice. Please consult a financial bed breakfast inns burlington vermont adviser, attorney or tax specialist for advice specific to your financial bed breakfast inns burlington vermont situation. Unless specifically identified as such, the people interviewed in this piece are neither clients, employees nor affiliates of LearnVest Planning Services, and the views expressed are their own. LearnVest Planning Services and any third parties listed in this message are separate bed breakfast inns burlington vermont and unaffiliated and are not responsible for each other’s products, services or policies.
Great tips, especially about factoring in transfers. I would also add factoring in renting a car at the airport vs renting it off site, and factoring in airline baggage fees when comparing carriers. For dining out and sightseeing, I also recommend buying an Entertainment Book and/or Groupon and Living bed breakfast inns burlington vermont Social deals ahead of time for your destination. I write a money-saving bed breakfast inns burlington vermont site called More With Less Today (dot) com and have websites to fnd kids eat free deals and where to find food festivals all over the country -one of my favorite things to do when travelling.
I travel abroad regularly, and have NEVER found a hotel to exchange currency more cheaply than ALL alternative sources, including banks, traveler s check exchange services, and American Express offices.  The exchange rate offered at most hotels is totally non-competitive with walking down the street to a bank.  But my travels have focused on North and Central America and Western and Eastern bed breakfast inns burlington vermont Europe; perhaps it is different elsewhere.
As a travel agent, I would only add that sometimes bed breakfast inns burlington vermont I can assist with flights, like when you are flying for a cruise. We have access to cruise airfares that people don t have access to. Great article!
Why is this news to anyone? Getting professional help is the best way to save on almost anything from travel to cars to insurance. Brokers, which include travel agents, get paid to earn your business; and to do so,they must offer only the most cost effective options.
I never stopped using my awesome travel agent, even when things got bad and he had to charge me a $25 fee for airline tickets he always more than made up for it in good fares and saving me hours by finding the best flights and schedules for me.  And when I got stuck in Peru he was the one making phone calls back home to get me home again.  A good travel agent is worth his or her weight in gold.
Get a Charles Schwab checking bed breakfast inns burlington vermont account and use their ATM card to withdraw money when traveling abroad. (You ll get the best exchange rate using your ATM.) Schwab doesn t charge an ATM fee and will reimburse any fees charged by foreign bed breakfast inns burlington vermont banks!
As a travel agency manager, I can see that this article is coming from money saving angle however our agency strives to create long-term relationships with our clients (like a lawyer or hair dresser or a doctor). For us, it s not about the one-off booking.  Loyalty bed breakfast inns burlington vermont comes from offering excellent service to our clients at a great value and finding experiences that they might not have access to on their own. The cost of a trip is only part of the equation.
FYI, at least 75% of travel agencies charge a fee for service to book vacation and cruise packages. This can range from a per trip fee for service to a consulting fee depending upon the complexity of the trip.
I don t agree with your 75% number. I own an agency as well as work with a lot of other agencies and not one of us charge a fee for any of our services including airfare. Your agency might do so, but I can say with certainty that most agencies, especially bed breakfast inns burlington vermont smaller ones do not charge additional fees.
As a travel agent, I think this article hit a lot of things right on the mark.  My primary goal is to create a relationship with my clients by ensuring that I am around to answer questions, book trips, and add some magical extras as possible.  We often have advanced notice of special offers, and know where to look for the best packaged deals.  If better offers come along after a trip is booked, often times a travel agent can work to get that offer applied to your vacation, without any has