Travel agent vs booking yourself: What’s the best deal?

Tracey* and her family had spent years dreaming of taking a holiday to Japan. They wanted to fly to Tokyo and explore Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan and the famed teamLab Borderless art trail. "Japan was always on our family bucket list," Tracey said.

Once COVID travel restrictions ended, Tracey, her husband and their three children were more determined than ever to go – even as travel costs continued to climb.

“You can’t plan all your holidays for when you’re 60,” Tracey said. “We just decided it was now or never, and we needed to have an epic family holiday.”

So, Tracey got in touch with a travel agent to help with booking their holiday of a lifetime.

The agency of agents

Tracey had always used a travel agent to help with bookings for overseas trips.

She liked knowing there would be someone to call on if things went wrong. “If … we’ve never been [to the place], we prefer that someone’s checked our accommodation [so we can be confident] it's all going to work out.”

This time, her usual travel agent offered to mediate their trip using Inside Japan as their preferred provider. With outlets in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, Inside Japan promises “tailor-made Japan holidays” that leave customers with “truly memorable” experiences.

Tracey told her agent what she wanted to do during the trip and what her budget was, and this was passed on to Inside Japan. “Our travel agent said: ‘Make a wish list of everything you want to do.’ Then they’d build your holiday,” she recalled.

Tracey’s budget was around $25,000. But when her 13-day-holiday itinerary came in, she found the cost was over that at more than $35,000 – and that didn’t include flights, one of the most expensive parts of any holiday. “We just couldn’t afford such a holiday,” she said.

Tracey asked the agent to send her a breakdown of the costs so she could sit with her family and decide which parts they could and couldn’t afford. She was surprised when she was told Inside Japan had refused. “They said, ‘We don’t do breakdowns. It’s just a [single] number.’”

This was something Tracey hadn’t experienced before. “It was quite odd because, when you go to travel agents, they tell you, ‘The flights are this; the hotel’s this.’ It’s always broken down … [Not having the breakdown] makes it harder to make choices.”

Tracey had already paid Inside Japan a $5,000 non-refundable deposit. After asking for an extra night of accommodation, and seeing a steep price rise in the total cost, she decided to go online and begin pricing out the different elements to see how much the holiday really cost and how much Inside Japan’s mark-up might be.

The real prices

Inside Japan had told Tracey teamLab Borderless art trail tickets were $250 for a family of five. But she found them for just $125 online. “[Inside Japan] blatantly doubled it. And this is after they knew we were inquiring about the price breakdown and that we weren't very happy.”

It’s a rough estimate because Tracey didn’t have the full breakdown. But when she costed out the rest of the holiday, she found she could book everything except the flights for $14,000 – far less than the price Inside Japan had given her. She says her travel agent was also surprised, and offered her a $5000 credit.

Tracey accepts that travel agents add a percentage for the service they provide, but she didn’t expect it to be that much. “You expect them to take a little to organise a whole itinerary like that – 10% to 20% maybe,” she says. “But this is … 100% mark-up on this one activity, and they're not giving us the financial information for the rest of the trip.”

When Tracey asked her travel agent her deposit back, she says Inside Japan refused. But they did offer her a A$3,000 (NZ$3307) reduction.

The not-so-bucket-list holiday

In the end, Tracey and her family decided to make a few concessions to their itinerary and take the holiday. And it all worked out, even if they couldn’t afford to do everything they’d wanted. “It was amazing, it was really cool and everything was well organised,” Tracey said.

But she was left wondering just how much Inside Japan made from her family’s trip. “It was the lack of transparency,” she said. “Surely you should know how much they mark up and whether it’s good value? I guess we’ll never know.”

Inside Japan’s response: “Our trips receive amazing feedback”

In a written statement to Consumer NZ, Inside Japan co-founder and director Simon King said most tour operators didn’t supply cost breakdowns. “We work with the customers’ budget and requests to get the trip price and inclusions right for them to deliver an incredible cultural adventure to remember,” he said.

He pointed to Inside Japan’s B Corp certification (businesses that meet the highest standard of social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability) and awards as proof the majority of its customers enjoyed their experiences when booking with his company. “[We’ve] looked after approximately 14,000 travelling customers this year alone,” he said. “It is massively important to us that all our customers enjoy their experience with us from beginning to end, and thankfully we also have a high number of repeat travellers.”

Those customers, King said, were offered a tailored package “tried and tested” by their agents, as well as travel bibles, 24-7 phone and email support, coordinated transfers, financial protection and guaranteed prices once a deposit was paid. “Our clients are always our top priority, and we are dedicated to working closely with them to achieve the best possible experience,” he said.

As for not including flights in their quotes, King said they weren’t included with any bookings departing from Australia or New Zealand. “We do provide advice on flight routes and options for customers so they can choose the right flight … and of course we make sure that transfers are all carefully coordinated,” he said.

“We are very grateful that the vast majority of our trips receive amazing feedback for both the quality of trip and the value for money, with thousands of positive reviews online.”

The benefits of travel agents

Julie White, chief executive of the Travel Agents’ Association of New Zealand (TAANZ), said travel agents should give travellers peace of mind. “When you go to a travel agent, what you’re actually paying for is their IP, service and support,” she said. Essentially, that means travelling with confidence. “It’s like going to a GP: you want their expertise.”

That means getting advice on the best routes to take, the best places to stay and the best things to do within your budget. “Some itineraries are really complex,” White said. “If you're crossing three different borders, you might need three different visas, for example.”

It might seem cheaper to book online, but White said some websites can be risky – and you may not be seeing everything that’s available. “We have worldwide access to reservations … through the global distribution system,” she said. “Some of the airline fares aren’t published as well. People think the internet’s got everything, but it hasn’t.”

White agreed travel agents should be up front up and explain how much they’re charging for their service, including an itinerary with associated costs. “They should be really transparent … that’s part of the consumer guarantee. It lets you know you’re booking with a credible agent,” she said.

That should include itemised breakdowns for a holiday. “It should say, ‘Here's what we pulled together; this is my service, and here’s how much it cost to transact this for you.’ Like all other service industries, there’s nothing wrong with charging for a service.”

If Tracey travelled to Japan again, she said she now feels confident booking the holiday herself, thanks to the knowledge she gained from her previous visit.

But if she were travelling somewhere new, where a different language was spoken, she’d still be looking to use a travel agent. “If I’m going to a country I’ve never been to before, I’m going to use a travel agent,” she said. “I do still trust them.”

How to choose a travel agent

• Check your travel agent's credentials. Up to 95% of travel agents operating in Aotearoa are signed up to TAANZ. TAANZ advocates for higher standards, customer protections and guarantees, as well as expert advice and comprehensive support.
• Choose an agent who specialises in where you want to go. Whether it be Asia, Africa or western Europe, there are travel agents who specialises in different areas of the globe and who will have destination-specific insights and strong partnerships with preferred suppliers in the country or region you’re visiting.
• Travel agents should ensure your plans run smoothly, preventing issues like booking hotels far from key attractions or mismanaging tight transit connections.
• Your travel agent should offer 24-hour, 7-day-a-week support. Make sure you have the emails and phone numbers to contact them, even during your trip.
• Having problems? TAANZ can be contacted via [email protected]. It doesn't pay compensation, but it may reprimand the agent if there has been a breach of its code of ethics or rules.

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*Tracey is not the subject’s real name.