Stress-Free Vacation Planning, Courtesy of Expert Travel Advisors
Complex trips call for the guidance of professional travel advisors. Here’s how they can save you headaches, time, and—yes!—money
Millennials and Gen Zs have always been perceived as the digital generations. They grew up with devices like smartphones and tablets to interact with the world online and, as a result, are now the ones to digitally plan and book their vacations, from tours and hotels to airplane tickets and restaurant reservations…or so we thought.
A recent survey by the IBS Software Hospitality Business found that 38 percent of millennials and Gen Zs are turning to travel agents and advisors to plan their trips. On the contrary, only 12 percent of Gen Xs and 2 percent of baby boomers used these traditional services.
The numbers even astonished the survey team, said Steffan Berelowitz, vice president and head of IBS Software Hospitality Business. “The most surprising finding from our survey was the fact that younger travelers, millennials, and Gen Z prefer to book with traditional travel advisors at a higher rate than the older Gen X cohorts.”
In fact, only 22 percent of younger respondents said they booked lodging and airline tickets directly through vendor websites, preferring to interact with a human.
What spurred this seemingly unexpected renaissance of travel industry experts? We asked AAA Travel Advisor Cacki Jones, who shared her thoughts on why it pays to work with a travel advisor.
Time is precious
College students may be able to spend hours searching for cheap flights, but those with full-time jobs and a family have much less precious time. It takes a lot of energy and resources to plan an exciting and sophisticated trip. The more destinations or activities you’d like to fit into a trip, the more complex it will be. So, delegating the travel planning makes things easier.
“There’s only a certain number of hours in a day,” says Jones. “By letting a travel professional plan your trip, you can spend more time being excited about it rather than stressing about organizing it.”
Agents answer all of the hard questions
If you’re about to leave on a month-long dream trip, you’ll likely have a bunch of questions before you set off. Are you changing planes? Does it make sense to island-hop? Will you be driving in a country where you don’t speak the native language? Do you need an international driver’s license? Is your airline connection too short? Do you land too late for the airport shuttle to pick you up? Will you need to go through customs? A travel advisor will answer these for you, Jones says. “If we’re recommending something, quite often we have already traveled that route, so we know exactly what to expect.”
Travel has become more complex
Younger travelers, in particular, often embark on more complex trips that involve visiting multiple countries, trekking in remote locales, or glamping in the wild. “It’s one thing to book a flight to Florida for a weekend getaway,” Jones says—most anyone can do it. “But if you’re camping off the grid in another country, that’s a different story.”
Travelers will want to know what to expect, how to get there, what to do in case of emergency—and what travel insurance to buy. If anything goes wrong, instead of having to call the airline, the hotel, and/or the tour operator, you’ll only need to reach your travel advisor. “We have faster ways of getting in touch with vendors and airlines than the general public does,” Jones says.
Multigenerational trips require more planning
Rapidly growing multigenerational travel demands more research. Everyone in your travel party, from toddlers and teens to college students and grandparents, will need something to do and be happy. And if you’re traveling with extended family members and their children, you’ll likely need even more planning. Travel advisors will help create a custom itinerary for you and guide you from start to finish so that everyone can relax, rejuvenate, and enjoy.
Travel advisors can access special discounts
AAA Travel advisors know what and when to book to get the best price. They also have access to special discounts that are typically not accessible to the average traveler. And they can get you extra perks, upgrades, and other exclusive AAA benefits, too.
“As travel advisors, we get better rates on things that you can’t just book online,” says Jones. “When AAA members book with us through our preferred vendors, there’s always some kind of AAA benefit. For example, you may get a shipboard credit with a cruise or an activity credit. If you book a tour, you get a special discount at a hotel. And then, if you bundle a lot of things together, you may see significant savings, too.”
Pondering a dream trip? Whether you’re going abroad, planning a hiking honeymoon, traveling with a baby, or bringing grandparents along, travel advisors can help to avoid common mishaps and make your vacation one to cherish.