It’s the height of the summer travel season. So which is cheaper- booking trips over the Internet or using a travel agent? NewsChannel 5’s Ann Rubin put them to the test.
We’re pitting a travel agent against several online sites. The assignment is to book two trips from St. Louis: one to New York City, the other to London.
This experiment has specific rules. Everyone must search at the same time and for the same dates. The goal is to find the best possible price on airfare and a hotel for two people.
Our first volunteer, KSDK Web Coordinator Diana Melton, searched Orbitz. Production Assistant Jeff Corn checked Travelocity, and Administrative Assistant Georgia Key visited Expedia.com.
Meanwhile, an agent at Damar Travel and Cruise worked, too.
More: ksdk.com
Related Travel Information
Travel agents have proven to be far more resilient than they've been given credit for.
They've survived airlines cutting their commissions. They've weathered wars, SARS and economic downturns. And it appears they're holding their own against the biggest threat of all: the Internet.
With consumers booking their own travel online, conventional wisdom held the traditional travel agent was doomed to extinction.
The inroads made by big booking sites such as Expedia or Travelocity were surely the last straw.
But a study released this week shows the majority of Canadians trust their travel agent over their computer.
According to the Online Travel study by TNS Canadian
ICON Hires Former Travel Services Executive
John C. Graham has joined ICON International as Director of Business Development, Travel Services. Graham brings more than twenty years of experience in travel advertising, marketing, and promotion.
In his most recent position as Vice President, Travel, at Barter Advantage, Inc., John developed and managed multi-media advertising campaigns for travel suppliers. Previously, he was director and co-founder of the trade show division at Travel Agent magazine, for which he wrote a bi-monthly column. John holds a BS in Marketing from Mercy College.
With his strong background in travel, barter, and sales, John will further strengthen ICON's solid
Technology Travel Agents© book nationwide and worldwide Wi-Fi® laptop rentals the same way your travel agent books your airline and hotel reservations. Technology Travel Agents© schedule all types of technology rentals for conventions, trade shows, conferences, computer training, inventory or other corporate projects! Rent a single laptop or hundreds of laptops for a day, a week, a month, or any period of time.
Best of all, your Tech Travel Agent© can have your company software and data installed on all the rental laptop computers you order. Your equipment will be pre-configured as directed by you or your IT staff. Yes,
HIGH-STREET travel agents have been warned to change - or become extinct - as fewer holidaymakers opt to use their services for booking annual trips abroad.
Up to 50% of independent holidaymakers, those who book hotels, flights and other arrangements separately, are snubbing high street travel agents and booking breaks on the internet or via phone calls to tour operators.
The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) yesterday said operators must begin to specialise in areas like cruises or adventure holidays if they are to survive.
And although around 80% of us still use high-street operators for package deals, this too is changing
Singapore Airlines has announced travel deals for passengers travelling from Mumbai to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang (Malaysia), Australia and New Zealand.
The promotion is valid on the airline's daylight flight, SQ 421, from Monday to Thursday. Under the offer, passengers have the facility of making a change in their travel dates at a later point.
Tickets for outbound travel (planned by August 18) to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang are available for purchase from June 20 till July 2. A return ticket will cost Rs 10,699 exclusive of taxes.
Tickets to Australia and New Zealand will be available from
