"Wait — people still use travel agents?" I hear it at parties, usually right before someone tells me about the vacation a booking site sold them: the hotel that was under construction, the cruise cabin under the basketball court, the 47 minutes on hold when the flight canceled. Yes, people still use travel agents. Here's what we actually do, and what it costs you. (Spoiler: usually nothing.)
The part you see: better matches, less homework
A booking site shows you ten thousand options sorted by whoever paid for placement. I show you two or three, chosen because you told me you get seasick, your husband hates buffets, and your mom needs a roll-in shower. The research you'd spend three weekends doing — reading reviews, cross-checking deck plans, decoding fare fine print — is my Tuesday.
That matching is most of the value, and it's the part nobody can automate: it comes from having sailed the ships, walked the ports, and listened to hundreds of travelers tell me what made or broke their trips.
The part you don't see: the follow-through
After you book is when the real work starts. Behind the scenes, a good agent is:
- Watching your booking. If the price drops or a better promotion appears before final payment, I call the cruise line and get you the better deal. Booking sites don't call you back to say you could pay less.
- Confirming the details in writing. Dietary needs, accessible rooms, celebration packages, transfer times — documented, confirmed, and reconfirmed before travel.
- Catching problems early. Schedule changes, itinerary swaps, passport expiration dates six months out — the things that ruin trips quietly, months before departure.
- Being your advocate when it goes sideways. When a flight cancels the night before your cruise, you call me — not a call center in another time zone with a 90-minute queue. I know who to call and what to ask for, and I don't hang up until it's fixed.
Are there trips where you don't need me? Sure — a simple domestic flight, a one-night hotel stay. If what you're booking is genuinely a commodity, book it yourself with my blessing. The moment a trip has moving parts — a cruise, a group, a special need, a once-in-a-lifetime destination — the math changes fast.
"Okay, but what does it cost?"
Here's the part that surprises people: for most trips, my planning services don't add to your price. Cruise lines, tour operators, and hotels pay travel agents a commission out of the same price you'd pay booking direct — it's their cost of sales, built into the fare either way. You pay the same; the difference is whether anyone is actually working for you in the transaction.
And because I often have access to group rates, agency promotions, and perks like onboard credit that public booking sites don't show, working with an agent frequently costs less than doing it yourself — before we even count the value of your weekends back.
What working with me looks like
No call centers, no ticket numbers, no "your call is important to us." You email or call me — the same person, every time. We talk about who's traveling and what a great trip looks like for you. I come back with a shortlist and honest opinions, including the option I wouldn't pick and why. You decide, I book it, and from that moment until you're home, your trip has a person.
That's the whole pitch. It's not complicated — it's just rare.
Try it on your next trip
Tell me what you're dreaming about — a cruise, a reunion, a trip you've been told is "too complicated." Let's find out together, at no cost to you.
Email Robin Or call 925-890-5837