In this day and age of AI and “do it yourself” online booking, not only do many travellers miss out on the huge benefits of what Travel Agents can do for them, but even seasoned travellers who think that they are experienced enough to go it alone are sometimes surprised by what they don’t know when certain situations arise. The fact of the matter is that Travel Agents can only do as much as they are supposed to do to ensure seamless travel, but some things are simply not in their hands, and one of these is something I would like to draw attention to in this article.
Delays can be costly!
Travel is fraught with the possibilities of things that can go wrong, which is why I recommend using Travel professionals, but they can’t be there at every moment. A typical case in point is something that probably plagues seasoned travellers many times, and that is travel delays. On a recent trip with my son, our first flight was late in departing, which then caused us to miss our connecting flight. We were re-booked onto the next available flight, but being on standby and an overbooked flight to begin with, meant we didn’t make that flight either. Whilst we did receive our appropriate compensation from the airline – I wonder how many travellers are aware of their rights for compensation under this circumstance? This got me thinking that we had been lucky and did not suffer the irritation of having to book a new flight, possibly having to stay somewhere for the night and of course knowing that our baggage which had been checked through to the next destination may never be returned to us – but what if this had not been the case? I started to ponder how many people in a situation where they had missed the flight would have been compensated for the aggravation of going through this scenario. In addition, we had booked a through-fare, which meant we did have the protection until our end destination – which is not the case if you book separate flight tickets from separate vendors, or combine full fare and Low Cost Carriers – as there would be limited to no interline agreements. Does the travel insurance cover you take cover all the permutations of missed flight, lost luggage, delays and overnight stays or even delayed luggage arrival. Well, unfortunately, it comes down to knowing what your policy covers you for – even the “free” insurance offered by most credit card companies requires some action on the part of you as a traveller. It is entirely in your hands to know what the difference is and make the decision to take one or the other.
Check and log your travel insurance
I realised that even seasoned travellers may not know their rights in these situations – and people forget how important Travel insurance is. The bank gives you insurance, but you also need to register your trip with them and they in turn will tell you to log it with the insurance company. Some policies only cover medical emergencies but not lost luggage, missed flight costs etc. What many travellers are not doing is examining their restrictions when generating a policy so they can ascertain if they need a paid policy.
In your hands
As I said before, Travel Agents cannot advise you what insurance to take as they are not an FSP, and the onus sits with the traveller to know this and what risks they are taking, but they can advise people to make sure they have the right insurance – and they usually will. They will also advise you of another important thing regarding cover and compensation which is when you take it upon yourself to book different airlines for connecting you will be responsible for any delay issues as you are not booked on an interline ticket. Interline agreements, however, when your whole route is booked through an agent give you better cover. Many people book long haul with their agent but then book low-cost carriers themselves in between which is not an interline, so you would be seen as a “no-show” on your independent tickets if there is a delay on one and you are late for another. Rather use an agent to avoid the risk, inconvenience and ultimately the cost. When all is said and done, taking the right precautions, being aware of your risks and choosing to work with an agent are all choices you need to make so ensuring hassle-free travel is in your own hands!
LIDIA FOLLI
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER