Please contact your travel agent or destination specialist as soon as you know when and where you wish to travel, not last minute to your intended departure. That is even more important when you’re planning a trip to an esoteric, not very frequented destination, for example, Ladakh – Private Journeys and Independent Travel in Ladakh, Zanskar and Nubra, or Bhutan – Festival Tours and Trekking Adventures in Bhutan, the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon.
Don’t book your flights and hotels online and ask a travel agent you wish to help you in booking your trip to do the rest, namely the difficult parts, such as complex transportation connections. Give your agent to design the entire trip for you. Worst, don’t copy and email the same request to dozen different agents to see who comes the lowest.
If you’re trying to be you own travel agent, disclose it to the agent your are contacting for assistance, he/she may still be interested to help you. Don’t hide your intentions from the agent as agents don’t like to be used for information gathering purposes only.
Keep in mind that there is a difference between an average travel agent and a so called Destination Specialist. Destination Specialists pride themselves in really knowing their destinations; many of them have indeed not only traveled extensively but know the inside and out of a particular destination so that they can arrange travel logistics for you based on knowing, not looking it up in a brochure. Many Destination Specialists specialize in difficult, custom designed itineraries and do not sell travel packages. For ideas, see China Independent Travel – Taste the luxury of China tailor-made tours!
If you want to stay in 1 or 2-star hotels and don’t need any other travel services from an agent you may be contacting for other travel assistance, please arrange on your own as low-end hotels offer no commissions to agents and having to arrange such lodging for you would require the agent to markup the cost, making the lodging cost to be more than it may be worth. On another hand, when it comes to upper end accommodations keep in mind these hotels routinely offer discounts to agents that agents can markup and still offer you room costs below hotel rack rates. Genuine agent is not interested in selling you a higher end hotel in order to make a higher commission but to tailor in a better trip experience for you where he deems it desirable.
When emailing an agency, state at least your first name – don’t worry, most agents won’t spam you back. Without your name when you’re asking for a valuable travel advice most agents don’t take your request too seriously. Call if you wish but most agents prefer not to take notes, email is a way to go.
Do remember, many travel agents work 110 or more hours per week because custom-design travel is indeed very time consuming. Being good at travel logistics does take experience and many travel agents truly have it! Be patient! They do know more about travel than you, give them a chance, they can save you not only money but also many headaches and above all, they can assure you’ll travel worry-free!