Kirsty Connolly

The She’s So Savvy Challenge

As a travel agent one of the biggest challenges I face is trying to compete with the online markets like Expedia & Travelocity. When I joined Flight Centre’s home based division, I thought this will be great travellers will have the luxury of a personal travel agent & the online feel so they don’t have to make plans to get to the mall before it closes or make an appointment to meet their travel agent. But to my surprise a growing number of people feel they can get a better deal online & waste countless hours searching for that perfect deal. Don’t get me wrong, doing research on where you would like to travel or checking out the prices online to see what you are looking at as far as budget is always a great idea. However, when it comes to getting solid prices, great advice & booking with confidence, dealing with a travel agent directly is the best way to go hands down.

I have asked many people, why do you book online? Why don’t you give me a call & I can see what I can get you? I get the same answers over & over again…

• It‘s easier to do it myself as a travel agent I do this all day every day & have endless resources to make the process much quicker saving you time & money.
• Travel agents just want you to buy what they like…I don’t like pressured sales, I want you to buy what works for you & I only want you to book when you have found what you’re looking for; if that means 3days or 3mths then so be it.
• Travel agents are more expensive…being part of such a large company like Flight Centre we have very competitive rates & am always confident we can either match or beat the prices out there.
• There are no benefits to booking with an agent…travel agents in many cases have more flight options available then online retailers, we have better room allocations & the biggest benefit, I am here before, during & after your trip to help & answer any questions.

I must admit though, I do get really excited when I find a great deal for someone, particularly someone that is great at finding deals on their own & has made a name themselves in the process; if you haven’t read the tips of Tiffany Mealia from She’s So Savvy you must check them out to understand why this was so exciting for me! So when I saw a recent post on twitter by @Shes_So_Savvy I knew I had to challenge myself & try to find her a better deal then what she was finding herself. I did manage to find her a great flight option & price but even more exciting I changed her view on travel agents in the process. I always want to save money myself & only want my clients to do the same, so when I saw that She’s So Savvy needed to be at 4 weddings in 1 month in 3 different countries I had to at least try.