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Despite the sluggish job market, higher energy prices, rising inflation, and global jitters for international travelers, many Americans are ramping up their vacation plans this year.
And they’re tapping travel advisers to do so.
While there are scads of travel sites to search for and book travel on your own, travel advisers are making a comeback. It turns out that after decades of do-it-yourself online trip planning, the human touch might very well be the best travel hack out there.
In a recent survey of American Society of Travel Advisors members, about a third said that more than half of their clients are using their services for the first time.
“If anything, that trend is accelerating this year,” ASTA vice president Michael Schottey told Yahoo Finance. “Boomers are driving the demand for advisers, but millennials are the generation that’s rapidly turning to advisers. They hate planning a trip. They just want to go. They don’t want to have to think about it.”
Freebies and hand-holding
The real reason travel advisers are making a comeback: less hassle and better deals.
DIY planning is simply not that straightforward these days. It’s become a complex, time-consuming task, and it can be tough to decipher which offers are real and what’s a scam or AI-generated.
Plus, a savvy adviser can typically snag hotel freebies like room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, spa credits, and even a box of chocolates or a bottle of champagne in your room.
Read more: Find the best travel credit cards for free flights, hotel stays, and more
Alexandra Kerr is heading from her home in Los Angeles in mid-June for a two-week trip to Paris and several towns in Turkey with her husband, teenage daughter, and 85-year-old mother.
Kerr, 59, has utilized an adviser for several trips, including jaunts to Japan and Hawaii.
“We like knowing that if something goes wrong with our flights, or our hotel, he is just a phone call away,” she said. “Only a human being can provide that level of handholding and reassurance.”
Kerr is a convert. “I have historically always planned our trips, but I’m living a busy life,” she said. “It’s very easy for people to get kind of caught up in the ease of doing everything by themselves online. But there truly is nothing like having a human being to plan with.”
That load-lifting is not the only upside.
It’s also having someone weigh in on her destination choices. “Sure, there are a million places you can go and vendors that you can research on your own, but are they really being vetted in the way that a travel adviser can do?” she said.
