Today's Travel Agencies

Written by CTE employees

From booking reservations to seat selection to last minute changes, in today's air travel environment travelers have learned to expect service that is detached, depersonalized and deficient. For travelers attending conventions, however, there is good news.

Some travel agencies specialize in obtaining contracted fares to the selected convention cities with discounted and flat rate fares and generally meet and beat the lowest fare provided by the airlines or discounted websites, and many times, even provide a further reduction.

The benefit of using such an agency is the luxury of having a live contact to assist in searching ut low fares, finding correct seating and even help change a booked itinerary. The attendees and exhibitors are given the option of booking online or calling a travel agent live. This particularly benefits the exhibitor key contact who is responsible for booking and coordinating a number of travel itineraries. Individual travelers can be guided form the registration and housing process directly to the travel page where they too have the option of booking online or calling and receiving the council of the travel agent.

The show organizer itself will receive the bulk benefits of volume ticketing, usually complimentary airline tickets based on the number of tickets sold. Travel agencies and their online booking sites account for the vast majority of ticketed air travelers in the domestic market. Although these sites have fees attached to the booking services, the cost is the same or lower than using the airlines online booking sites or calling their toll-free numbers. The service provided by these travel agencies for exceeds any service provided by the online booking sites or the customer service received directly from the airlines. These agents stand ready to offer competitive prices and itineraries and are eager to speak with the traveler whenever necessary.