Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

AgentQ

2008-04-07 16:24:52

Howdo everyone.

I'm still stinging from a call I took this morning. Silly I know, but I'm feeling more and more like my job is on a hiding to nothing.

The call went like this:

Lady caller: Hello, I've been looking for a holiday on your website, but my internet's a bit slow. Could you look for me?
Me: No problem. I need a few details. When is it you would like to travel and how many people?
LC: Evening 23-25 May, 2 people from London or Stanstead.
Me: Ok, great... You are aware that is school holidays that week?
LC: Yeah, that's fine....
Me: OK, well, looks like the cheapest package to start with will be about 300 per person to Corfu, is that about the reigion you were looking at?
LC: Ah, well, that's what it is? Nevermind.. (goes to hang up)
Me:.. Wait, is that not what you were looking for? If you have something more specific in mind?
LC: I'll leave it til the last minute I think, they are only 150 the week before
Me: Yes, because that's not school holidays.. School holiays aren the cheapest time, can you go earlier or lat...
LC:I'll just leave it till a week before I think..
Me: You run the risk of not getting a holiday, are you sure I cant look more for you? Could you even go the week before.. I promise you, with 13 years experience under my belt you wont get anything for less than 150 in the holidays.. (I am actually starting to get upset now...my commission this month is dreadful, the prices are so high and we are really really quiet)
LC:(cuts me off)

See? I'm a good seller, top in my office and I almost finished that call in tears. I would have loved to have sold that lady a holiday for 150 for that week BUT THEY JUST DONT EXIST anymore. I remember I did sell a package to Zante about ten years ago for a family for about 150 per person for that week, but they had to get the train to Glasgow and flew back into Manchester.

Travel agents are made out to be the bad guys but many of us are trying to earn a living and to be honest there's not many agencies in the land that won't match your price with FC and the like online and give you a smile and a thankyou into the bargain unlike a website. Plus if things to go awry (like this TC fiasco with them never answering the calls) you have employed us, as your agent to do it for you! So many complaints I see on the complaints board could have been sorted so much more quickly if the customer had let an agent do it for them. After all... it's what we're paid for!

Thanks for reading...

Q
x

peakta

2008-04-09 12:36:18

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

I agree with you, working in travel is now very difficult and I have also worked in Travel for nearly 13 years and have huge amounts of experience not just in retail but overseas and in aviation. The experience and knowledge I have gained counts for nothing anymore as customers seem to 'know better than me', except when they don't and they end up on a website like this complaining that its all gone horribly wrong.
I work in a very specialist area now, because on the high street experience and knowledge and advice has become an irrelevence, some fresh faced youngster, wet behind the ears and not knowing wether Benidorm is in Turkey and to be honest they don't need to know because as long as they are cheapest, they will get the booking anyway.
I agree that TO's do charge a lot in school holidays, but it is a case of having to, they have to 'make hay while the sun shines' as they are expected to charge so little out of holiday times to be competitive, that the shortfall has to be made up somewhere. It's simple economics.

Bunny74

2008-04-09 13:22:24

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Depends which tour operator you look at though, I find deals like that all the time especailly on First choices web site and its mainly 3/4 star sc accom so they do exist. As a family of five we go away for a fortnight May/June half term and pay around 1150-1250 for five of us for two weeks in two rooms in four star sc accom. I have also seen one week hols sold for 150 or less on fc's web site even in school hols (May and June being easier than July/Aug).
I have even seen a twoweeks hol for five of us in two room (not in school hols) for 660 just over 100 quid each in quality accom in Costa daurada four star /Mojacar four satr sc accom.
If you look as much as I do you can find some.
Maybe the lady meant she would ring back later as normally the prices go down nearer to departure.
Unless you leave it too late and they start going back up again. :que

Also I always research where I am going so I go somewhere good and dont have to complain.

AgentQ

2008-04-10 17:45:48

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

I dont this that particular lady will be in any hurry to ring back, I promise you, she seemed very cross with me. :que

This is the thing, you do two weeks and probably fly out not on the weekend the kids break up in May. Not all people do that. Most will only have one week and can only do sat-sat or sun-sun and I challenge anyone to find me a decent quality package suitable for a family for less than 200 per person to any of the major package holiday destinations with a weekend flight for the spring bank week.

My other bugbear is this: First Choice now offer a 110% refund on the difference if you can get a quote on the same holiday on their website for less. The offer is not worth the webspace it is typed on. (In my opinion, of course).

Today, I beat a web price with FC by 16 pounds. Yeah, I had to discount massively, but I did it and was glad for the opportunity. I earned per passenger, the customer got her beat and her loyalty points and the job's a good 'un. Now, the FC price beat states you have to first book the holiday with them and then get a cheaper quote IN WRITING (no agent with a head on his/her shoulders will do that) on the same FC holiday, send it to them within 24 hours and they will give you the difference plus 10%. in this ladies' case that would have been 1.60 more than I had discounted. So, the phonecall on an 0870 number and the fax cost or the cost of her time to get the refund would have been for the grand total of one pound and sixty pence. There are allsorts of other terms and conditions, but that's how it always is.

I appreciate there are some agents that are useless.. pah, I work with a couple

but there are a lot of very experienced, fair and impartial staff out there who want to help and are happy for your business and just want to save you time and money while making a living in what can be, sometimes the best, the most exciting and the equally most soul destroying job anyone in retail can do.

lynwestie

2008-04-10 18:43:05

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Very informative and honest couple of postings there agentQ. :tup

Wish there were more like you out there that appeared to want the business because I would prefer to give it locally . Last summer when we were booking accomodation in turkey for this summer I did my normal research on the web for the best price . We had already secured cheap flights earlier and I knew the accomodation we wanted . 2 rooms for 6 of us A/I at the Aegean dream resort. The best accomodation only price I found was actually with thomson on line. I went through all my booking details on line until the last page where I found to my dismay they wanted all the £3000 there and then a year before my holiday . I wasnt happy and for the first time in several years I phoned the local thomson shop. The lady said she could match the price but also needed a £120 booking fee but I would only need a deposit .Despite the lady knowing I was ready to part with our hard earned cash she didnt really sound like she was that bothered if I booked or not . Hmmm I decided to ring another local thomson shop and what a difference . I spoke to a very helpful and friendly lady that also said she could match but only wanted I believe it was £70 booking fee but she could throw in 2 FREE sea view rooms . I was delighted and decided that was better than giving it to thomson a year up front and having the debt sitting on my credit card where I knew it would gather more than £70 in interest. + I had the sea view rooms . I happily gave her my business and would do so again . So guess where I will be phoning once I have done my internet research for my next holiday .

Lyn

AgentQ

2008-04-10 20:40:01

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Thanks Lyn, I appreciate that.

A few days ago I also had a lady on the phone who told me in no uncertain terms she was disgusted that people who had the internet could get cheaper prices than her "poor mother" who didnt have the web at home. This was after she had looked up flight prices at home on our website! I told her it was this way because consumers are demanding lower prices all the time and this is one of the ways that the airlines and operators have found to do it... Could she not look for her "poor mother" instead?

Sigh.. What's a girl to do, eh?

Anyway.. Yes. Don't be too hard on us, holiday-lovers.. we do the job because we love holidays too and if it was up to me you could all have them for free!

Bunny74

2008-04-11 08:33:02

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

I agree that the midweek flights are cheaper than the weekend ones generally most of the time, sometimes though there is still bargains around.
I know next year we wont be able to go in May/June as my oldest child will be at secondary school and she will only get one week compared with my other children at Primary School who will get two.
Although saying that I have found bargains still in August for the last two weeks of the school hols in decent accom too but it was maybe 1400 compared with 1200, and it is quite a rare find then!
I'll just have to wait and see, I havent even booked this year yet Im waiting for the prices to drop as usual.

doe

2008-04-12 13:00:26

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Don't be despondent agent Q. Your business is like many others there are both good staff and bad, I am sure the good agents like Lyn mentioned and yourself, will stay working for many years.

Last year I went away with another family. I did an on-line booking with Eclipse (sorry), but the other families Mum had booked with a travel agent who had spent 2 hours on a Saturday searching out a good deal for them.

I never found out what she paid (to polite to ask LOL), but one night she said, how pleased she was when her travel agent said 'actually you can have two rooms in the hotel rather than just one for an extra 70 pounds'. She was really happy with her deal, plus her & other half not having to share with 15 & 13 year old sons in a so called family room. This was a good 4*hotel not a cheapie & over August bank holiday.

Unless you are very internet savvy those are the kind of things you might miss out on booking yourself, whereas a travel agent's experience can come into its own.

Doe :sun2

keepupwith

2008-04-13 16:31:37

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Sounds like there are good agents out there, but it would be so nice to have a 'directory' of who they are! Last year having done our research we thought that we would go to an agent and see what further advice they could give us and how prices could perhaps be manipulated. Well, having read up in we went and ended up telling the agent more than she could tell us- needless to say we went home and booked on the net,very disillusioned.
Pam

AgentQ

2008-08-02 16:11:22

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Just a quick footnote to my old thread.

If you want to leave it last minute please dont be rude to Agents when they tell you there is nothing in your budget. We would love to help if we could. I am currently having a small breakdown at my desk at the amount of snippy, rude and downright aggressive people I have spoken to today.

Kath

2008-08-02 16:22:46

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Couldn't have said it better myself AgentQ. Used to find it really demoralising.

Keep up the good work!

Kath HT Admin

brian_the_gent

2008-08-10 00:29:35

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

regarding holiday prices one thing that people foget is when buying any product you'll find 3/4 different prices for exactally the same
item...but if its a holiday people crack up...i'll give you an example...today i bought a litre of whisky in a local supermarket
for £ 12.95 the same bottle was also available at another supermarket at £ 17.95...
so if small itms can have such a difference in price almost 40% difference in price why can't different travel firms charge
different prices for exactly the same holiday...every item you buy in a shop you'll probably find cheaper elsewhere and thats life
but when people find 2 companies charging different prices for the same holiday its classed as a rip off !!!!

Bunny74

2008-08-12 12:34:13

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

I tell you whats a rip off when you normally pay 1200 for our family of five 2 week hol to halkidiki in May/June hols every year , then when you decide to try for august instead of Whit hols once (exact same flights, hotels ) and its 3K plus! When normally they go down to 1600-1800 in august but they decided not to do this year because we wanted to go! Either that or Thomson are just ruining First Choice by removing all the bargains.
Could have gone in May/june hols from Gatwick this year for 900 !! but was he was busy decking the garden :cry

P.S. Is this the same Brian the Gent of the Halkidiki forum?

AgentQ

2008-08-12 13:56:35

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Can I ask why you think it's a "rip off"?

AFAIK it's called Supply and Demand.

"Rip off" is bandied about far too regularly nowadays.

Bunny74

2008-08-12 19:34:58

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

Its not supply and demand at all its make as much money as you can in the school hols.
The reason I know it is such a rip off is because we know how much the hotel charges as we go there every year and its always on the back of the doors of our rooms and also we can get flights from between 500 to 1000 for all of us. No way is it 3k plus for 2 adults 3 kids self catering. That is some mark up I tell you!
Also I know for a fact that travel ops pay less for the rooms than someone booking off the street.

brian_the_gent

2008-08-12 19:44:06

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

supply and demand come into it....however you for example can check the price of an hotel in the uk/europe
for say 29dec and its £ 90 per night then check 05jan and the exact same deal if $ £ 50 per night....accm all over the world put their charges up by large amounts for peak dates but i'am sure their costs don't rise by as much there is a profierring process in all of this
we the public are not daft if you walk into a shop on Easter Monday or Aug Bank Holiday and buy something the price is the exact same !!!!

AgentQ

2008-08-13 15:00:04

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

That's not actually true. Holidays are priced seasonally.. Haha, like veg, I suppose.. during the winter when there are not so many about then a fresh corn on the cob will cost you twice what it does this time of the year when there's plenty.

With other goods the same applies.
Take, for example, the Wii Fit. They should be £69.99 in the shops. They are sold out.
You can get one from Amazon for over £100 if you are willing to pay. Supply and Demand.

If you wish to holiday at peak season, you should expect to pay peak season prices.
After this season I am really running out of patience with people who think it's a RIGHT and not a Privilege to have a holiday abroad. It's NOT a rip off. You have the choice, either buy, or not buy. If people dont buy, the prices may come down, but at the end of the day the Tour Ops are in business to make money, not give charity.

If you can get holiday cheaper by DIY and the like then go for it, (I know I have done many times in the past) but if you can't I'm afraid it's a case of take it or leave it and don't shoot the messenger.

lppwrth

2008-08-13 19:12:43

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

I have in the past 5 years booked holidays for a group, which has go successively larger each year. It has gone from 17 of us 5 years ago to 46 of us this year.

For the last 3 years we have travelled long-haul. 2006 Dom Rep (North) 2007 Mexico (Playacar) 2008 Dom Rep (East).

I do all the research on hotels and the resort myself. I will usually look up prices online. Of course being a group booking it is impossible to book more than 9 people online.

I am dissappointed on the amount of times I phone or call in at travel agents, only to be told they cannot match a price I have found online.

This year I did manage to get a Portland holiday, cheaper through a Thomson Shop than I did through Portland itself.

Now the search starts again. Obviously I feel a great responsibility to find the very best deal I can for everyone. I just wish I did not have to "barter" for the best price, as it is something I hate doing!

This year I collected in £44,000 for Thomson. I feel all my hard work deserves a good price.

Lorraine (Varadero 2009, hopefully!)

Bunny74

2008-08-14 21:23:21

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

So agent Q are you saying its ok to make a profit of 1k + out of me because its the main school hols , and i have no right to go on holiday?
Come on ! We are talking about quite a big profit margin and you know it. Anyway in general Im referring to the prices being a lot more expensive for First Choices hols in particular this year , possibly as a result of the merger with TUI. I know what they go down to normally every year and this year has seen a lot of expensive prices. I mean would you pay 3k plus to go on holiday for two weeks self catering ? I dont know many folk who would.

AgentQ

2008-08-15 08:39:05

Re: Rarrgh.. School holidays and why Agents hate the prices too.

At no point did I say you have no right to go on holiday. I said it is not a right to have a holiday ABROAD.
One can have a holiday sitting in a back garden. I've done that many times.

I'm already booked with the rest of my family for next year. There are 13 of us, we are going the same weeks to the same apartments we went to 4 years ago. Only difference is my sister's daughter is considered a child now, rather than an infant. 4 years ago we paid 5.5k for all of us, two weeks SC with Manos. Next year it is costing 8k. We knew where we wanted to go, we knew when and we had no choice but to book with Manos so we have to pay it. We either pay it or we dont go. We could go somewhere cheaper but we want to go to those apartments and are more than willing to pay what it takes to get there. I dont like paying 2.5 k for my family of four, but that is how it is.

If you are going to rail against companies making massive profts out of you then look to your utilities, fuel and food companies you use. These are necessities. We have to eat, have to keep warm and most of us need to put petrol in our cars. These are things you NEED to buy to live. There is no need to go abroad for a fortnight each year with kids clubs and on site entertainment.

If you think I am being harsh then please refer to the post I made above. If we could give the holidays free to our nice customers then we could, but sadly we have to earn a living too, many young agents are pretty much living on minimum wage, much like many others in the country. I remember not having a holiday abroad for 5 years when my children were tiny, purely because I couldnt afford it and all the time I was working in travel.

Edited by AgentQ 2008-08-15 08:49:10

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