“The human world… it’s a mess”
I bet we are all feeling a little like Sebastian from The Little Mermaid right now, wishing we could be Under The Sea, am I right? With news of quarantines, social distancing, and closures world-wide, it’s hard to not feel down about the current state of things. Not to mention, it’s even harder to feel positive about the state of things when your vacation has been cancelled!
Disruptions to the travel industry are normal – expected even. We deal with disruptions every year during hurricane season! But there’s a first for everything – and the COVID-19 Pandemic is one of those firsts for all of us, here at Travel with the Magic. We have spent hours on the phone, making sure our clients are taken care of, staying up to date on the latest travel updates and policies and making sure we understand what these policies mean.
I recently had a guest contact me – her vacation was supposed to be for Spring Break this year and due to Disney World’s closures, she was forced into cancelling. She waited hours on hold just to get her trip cancelled and refunded. When she had picked a new date to travel, she contacted me, knowing she wanted to use a travel agent the next time around.
And this isn’t the only case of this happening! So today, I wanted to share a few reasons why a Travel Agent is good to have in your corner when traveling.
Vacations are expensive – protect your investment. Travel Agents know the ins and outs of a company’s cancellation policy and better yet, things can change quickly (and in the case of policies lately – they can change hour by hour!), in times like these, we stay up to date and learn the new policies so you don’t have to. We are able to tell you if you’re going to incur a cancellation penalty or a change fee, without you having to call and talk to someone in a call center.
We are your trusted source. Even in normal circumstances, it’s nice to have one person you can go to with your questions. Because we all know, when we call in to massive companies, we can talk to three different people and get three different answers! Trusting a travel agent with your vacation plans in turn means you have a trusted source for all of your questions, and in times like this – it’s comforting to have that in your corner.
Time is money. Your time is valuable – that’s why you wanted to work with a travel agent in the first place! During times of crisis (pandemic or not) we endure the phone wait times to make changes to your reservation and get the answers you need when we don’t know the answer. I don’t know a ton of people who have the option of being on hold with Disney 4+ hours during the middle of their work day – let us do the dirty jobs on your behalf.
We, here at Travel with the Magic, do not charge extra fees. How can you do this, you ask? Well, the travel suppliers we work with pay us a commission so that we are able to offer our vast services and knowledge to our guests for free. We do not charge cancellation fees or any fees for that matter, when you’ve booked a vacation with us. So even during all of this panic and crisis, we do not charge our guests fees for needing to cancel their vacations.
So during these uncertain times, we urge you to have faith in the travel industry and that it’ll bounce back better than ever when all is said and done. In the meantime, what can you do to help small businesses like ours? Reschedule your vacation, don’t cancel! And if you need to cancel, please use a travel agent in the future when you’re ready to book again! We can’t predict the future, but we do know that we will always have our clients’ backs, rain or shine, hurricane or pandemic – we are here for you.
I’m thinking we are all going to need a big vacation after this… Where are you going to go?
Haley@travelwiththemagic.com
Leave A Comment