Consumers urged to haggle with travel agents
Which? is advising consumers to haggle with travel agents after its investigators found that many were willing to match quotes found online and some even offer a lower price to clinch the deal.
In 80% of cases, initial prices quoted by high street agents were higher than the web quote for the same holiday, but half the agents contacted went on to match the quote found online for a holiday in Majorca and three out of 10 offered a better deal.
However, only 10 out of 26 matched the price of a holiday to Jamaica and only one managed to beat the online quote.
Which? researchers contacted shops run by Co-operative Travel, First Choice, Thomas Cook, Thomson and Virgin. It found Virgin staff were the most reluctant to price match.
The full report, featured in this month’s Which? Travel, suggests customers should shop around online before booking with a high street agent. "Consider contacting a travel agent for suggestions and then going back online to see how much cheaper you can find the deal," it said.
However, it pointed out that holidays are not always cheaper online. A Co-op agent gave researchers a quote for a Flexibletrips package to Majorca that was lower than on the Flexibletrips website.
Which? advised customers who prefer to book with a high street agent to check online prices first "as there’s a good chance that staff will then drop their price to equal or better it – sometimes forgoing commission to make the sale".
Researchers also found that some agents were reluctant to sell holidays from other companies and one Thomson agent asked for a package to Jamaica incorrectly stated that Thomas Cook no longer sold long-haul trips, adding "they’re out of the equation".
* Do you think the advice from Which? could be damaging to your business? Have you had to cut your prices to match a price online? Did you forgo your commission to do so? Are more of your customers haggling with you?
Share your opinions and experiences with other TravelMole subscribers by clicking on POST YOUR COMMENT below.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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