Insider tips Travel easy with agents

Travel agents take a lot of the admin off your hands, and offer support when needed, says House of Travel’s chief operating officer

Because of travel agents’ relationships with suppliers and the scale of the bookings we make, more often than not we can get you a much sharper rate than what you would pay if you booked it yourself.

Sometimes we even have access to exclusive experiences to earlybird pricing that you can only access through House of Travel. We can also package bundles that give you great value.

But travel agents can do more than be logistical geniuses. More often than not, we have personal experience visiting the country you are planning to go to and, if not, one of the team will.

This means we can bring a personalised level of recommendation to your booking, above and beyond what you might read in guidebooks.

One of the downsides of booking yourself can be the sheer volume of information to sort through, and that the information you get served is only as good as your search.

Travel agents can not only access the major online sites as part of searching for the best deals, but they know how to access the right type of information that gets the best holiday for you.

And there is no doubt that travel can be quite complex at the moment, with last-minute changes.

We all know how frustrating it is when you are trying to sort out an issue and you can only find a generic email address, or you spend hours on a helpline. When you book through a travel agent, you have direct access to support, and if they have managed the complete booking for you, you don’t have to spend your time trying to liaise with multiple suppliers – your agent will manage any changes for you.

Do you have a travel question? Email us at travel@stuff.co.nz and we’ll get an expert to answer it.