Comments on: Tailor Made Holidays & Travel to South America at a Discount

By: Henk

Henk — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:47:16 +0000

Hi,
Just came across this blog, crosslinked from flyertalk when I was looking for information on South American air passes.
I don’t think this particular blog post reveals any secrets - but I can understand that travel agents are worried. Chris Parrot puts a brave face on it, but the internet has made it easy for the independent traveller to find out about as much information as a travel agent. A travel agent has to be very good and very knowlegable to be able to compete. I have a Travel Weekly subcription, and just have to laugh sometimes at the mystery shopper series they run - the ignorance of some agents is just breath taking. I’m sure that JLA by the way is much better. And I like reading Papagaio.
But at the end of the day there are two types of travellers - those who do, and those who do it themselves. If you have the time and the inclination to book it yourself, you can - almost invariably just as good as most travel agents, and cheaper. Plus, you can really customise your trip, taking into account idiosyncracies of your travel requirements.
And you know what? I actually enjoy the trip planning. For me it’s part of the experience - researching options, making decisions, the anticipation of actually going there. I’ve done a several of these multi-country, multi-city, multi-whatever trips in four continents. Even in China it is possible these days and South America is relatively easy. And we’ve always enjoyed them.

Maybe I should give up my day job, and become a travel agent

By: ABIII

ABIII — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:09:05 +0000

I coincide with CP,

I would normally try to do it yourself travel, but now the internet has created its own trap.

when you are actually caught in real trouble, or something pops up and you need to make changes to your itinerary, good luck with Orbitz or Lan.com

the internet has helped bring down prices but it really helps simplify things for the corporations
since travel is never going to be a simple operation

By: Chris Parrott

Chris Parrott — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:48:14 +0000

Well, since I know who you are (I hope you’re well), and since you used to work for us, I can confirm that you did indeed leave us on good terms to go and live in Colombia, and that you do intermittently mention us in your blog. I have no embarrassment as identifying myself as Chris Parrott, one of the directors of Journey Latin America – based in Chiswick, west London.

Most of what you say is true, and the nature of tailor-making an itinerary is that we do a lot of unpaid work up-front in simply presenting ideas (brochures, websites). We do this in the hope that potential travellers will be impressed with our breadth and depth of knowledge book with us.

Much of the information which was simply unavailable to all but a few specialists is now accessible at the touch of the button. But making it all work together is where the skill comes in. Ask anyone who’s tried it. It’s very time-consuming. But possible.

You suggest that you also get the tour operator to do this planning bit for you. It happens more and more. We do the work, but lose the business either to a competitor or to do-it-yourself.

In an ideal world, I’d prefer you not to lift our skirts so that all the world can see up.

Magicians who reveal the “smoke and mirrors” secrets of their trade are vilified by the Magic Circle, but the public’s fascinated to know how the lady gets sawn in half and emerges whole again. But you wouldn’t try it at home.

It’s actually fairly common for people intending to do get us to do the planning to end up booking with us – up to us to demonstrate that we’re actually adding value.

And then there’s Consumer Protection.

If anything goes wrong with, or you’re unhappy with, the arrangements you book with us, we’re there to pick up the pieces. We have to conform to UK law, and EC law, and accept responsibility for the services we’ve said we’d deliver. We’ve also had (for 20 years) a 24-hour helpline for our clients.

In the last 3 months, clients affected by the collapse of Air Comet, the floods near Machu Picchu, and the Chilean earthquake have all had us on their side: not least in Chile, re-booking flights when not even LAN Chile could do it, and our own staff on the ground making contact with clients in person.

I know consumer protection usually comes lower than price in most people’s decision-making process, and I can go on about this, so if you’d like to know more, take a look at Journey Latin America’s website (click on AITO logo down at the bottom of the home page.)

By the way, I’ve no idea how consumer protection works in USA.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:12:22 +0000

Raul that’s a little harsh…. no I wasn’t “let go by my employer” - I’m actually still on very good terms with them, and promote them in various sections of this website. I actually quit, as I’ve moved to Colombia. As you are probably fully aware, there are cheapskate travellers out there, so this article is for them. At least I am promoting the tailor-made pre-planned form of travel, and sending potential enquiries to operators - after all, not everything is bookable online in a few seconds and this article would send business in operators’ direction anyway! Sorry if I offended you - all I do here is offer South America travel tips - have I not done that?

By: Raul Sanchez

Raul Sanchez — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:35:32 +0000

You are obviously wanting people, especially hard working tour operators who are in business to provide a service to comment on this with much fanfare and criticism. It is quite obvious you were let go from your employer and have some ill will towards them. How could you make the suggestion of asking people to waste the time of tour operators to plan out all the details and then they go run with it on their own. Anyway, a sensible client will probably value the service given by a travel agent or tour operator. No one is going to waste their time getting their brain picked. This is why most companies will or should charge a planning fee. This is one South America tip you could have written better. I had a lot of respect for this blog but today you changed that.