Do you really save money when you plan a trip on your own and not through a travel agency?

[kitty71]

Or at the end is it similar?

What do you think are the pro and cons of planning your own trip without guidance from a travel agency?

CONS of planning through an agency

1. Agency charge you some commission for the whole package (flight ticket and the tours)

2. If you go with an agency, your time for sightseeing places are reduced as the tour has a schedule to follow for the whole group.

PROS

1. You dont have to organize anything and spend weeks doing it so, the agency does everything for you most of the time.

On Your own

CONS

1. You have to start planning in advance and that takes time as you have to look for your own (cheap flights, train or bus tickets, lodging, tours, etc) therefore all your planning has to match

PROS

1. No commission

2., You have more time on your own to spend the time you want at tourist place or landmark without a travel guide telling you, "times is up" at this place and "time is up" at this another place.

What are the best days to fly cheap to Europe? Im planning a trip with 5 cousins but the only time we could fly is in summer ( I know the prices are not cheap this time of the year) but it is the only time one of my cousins can travel. We will be going at the end of August.

[Jaximus-Lion]

A yravel agency? 😐 This is the first time i hear about such. But it sounds kind of logical. But that will take away my own exploration curiosity. I have been to over 20 countries and i never took any kind of agency to help me with anything. I ask the locals, i love to walk and explore, read their history and see their country. So! You Ryan air, Norwegian, SAS can have some cheap flights, KLM too. It depends where you are traveling, i worked at Stockholm Arlanda airport for almost 6 years and traveled a loooot.

[kitty71]

What do you mean it is the first time you hear of travel agencies?

[Jaximus-Lion]

Never heard of them before, i never knew there is such thing. I do my own research before i travel , i ask the lokals, i buy my flight tickets, then look for a hotel and so on. Everything by it self, not all at once

[Jaximus-Lion]

And! I take busses and trains or taxis. In the States! I took my cousin's car and went to places.

[kitty71]

Even in the USA there are travel agencies in all over the world there are travel agencies that specialized in organizing trips or excursions for people.

[Jaximus-Lion]

Yes! That is true, i found out we have soooo many here in Sweden but i never had the need for a travel agency. Me and the wife go on the internet before we go to any country, we check the things that are the city we are in, go out and explore... We never went to a travel agency 🤷‍♂️

[richardcory]

Its almost always much cheaper to do it yourself. I travel a lot and I only use agencies in places that are very difficult to manage on your own (like wildlife parks in Africa). Long ago travel agents were useful, but today everyhing you need to know is online and you can make all the reservations online.

by the way - for hotels and airlines, its usually better to book directly not through sites like booking. com. Those sites are unreliable - and for some hotels, they aren't really bookign you into the hotel you think you are getting. (happened to me twice until I stopped using them)

[weysally]

don't know about saving money, but you have something tzo fall back if things go wrong, lucky I have only had to cancel one holiday

[Tyrael]

I've only ever planned trips online myself. If you take your time and look around you can find good deals, but it does involve more effort on your part as everything is booked separately. So you need to keep track of all your bookings but it's really not that hard.

The major benefits to using a travel agency is that you can generally pay it off over time, and you have an extra layer of insurance should something go wrong with your booking.

[Likes2drive]

I think a travel agent gets better deals on plane tickets and tours than you would and get more to do, but if you do it yourself you might not see as much that’s why it would be cheaper but less things you do

[gorydetails]

I’ve never had a need for a travel agent. Planning the vacation is half the fun.

[AimeeKyle]

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Do your homework / plan first and then get a quote package.

[Jennz6]

No, it’s easier to do it yourself “Online”