Travel agents are considered a thing of the past, and this may well be true for personal travel -- but what about for business arrangements? It can still be advantageous to use travel agents to plan your business trips -- though they're usually only useful for flights and hotels, rather than specific arrangements.
1. You're Already Paying Someone
It's very likely that you're already paying someone to make your travel arrangements, whether they be your assistant or someone else in the company. Free them up to do what they do best by having professionals arrange your travel itinerary.
2. Travel Agents Get Bulk Deals
When events move through town, it can be difficult to get a room. Sometimes that's because they're all booked -- but it's also because agents often purchase rooms in bulk so that they can sell them. A travel agent may even have bulk flights. You can get these rooms and flights and better rates because they were purchased at a discount.
3. You Can Coordinate Complicated Bookings
Are you sending a dozen of your employees to a training seminar? Flying from city-to-city to hit up multiple trade shows and conferences? Travel agents are able to set up bookings that simply aren't feasible to plan on your own -- you simply don't have the tools. So if you're struggling to fit two dozen employees on a single flight, your agent will be able to help.
4. Travel Agents Are Knowledgeable
A travel agent will know, often off the top of their head, when the best time is for you to travel, which hotels are best, which areas should be avoided and the easiest way to get into certain areas. These agents won't just be able to book your arrangements for you, but also give you advice on where to go and what to see.
You're usually better off contacting an agent in the city that you're actually traveling to if you have an event such as a seminar or convention coming up. This is because agents within the city will have deals on local hotel rates. But most agents have a "network" they can contact to get deals in any town!
