This is probably a very dumb question, but how do the travel agents get paid for arranging your African travel.
I have not used agents since I retired from the work world close to 12 years ago.
After I retired, I made my U.S. travel on line, but Africa is another ball game.
Back then the agents got paid from the airlines and hotels, etc. for making your arangements. All of that seems to be a thing of the past, especially with the airlines.

Again, please excuse if this is a dumb question.

Mauser

Take a look at the African Travel section. I used Gracy. I am not sure how they get paid, but it was anominal difference when comparing what I could find online. People seem to have great success with Gracy, Kathi Klimes, and Steve Turner.

I still would use an agent going to Africa in the future.

I think Steve Turner (Travel with Guns) charges a flat fee of something like $75.00 for his services.

i used lori ginn from travel express, she specializes in african travel as well as booking hunts. i was checking flights on the net, and her price was the same as i was coming up with. she arranged my seating{ i neededleg room} and kept in touch with flight changes and took great care of my travel needs, as well as a last minute flight change to amsterdam. i am not the best on the computer and using her services provided peace of mind.

Within the recent past larger agents like Gracy would pre-purchase large blocks of seats at wholesale rates. They could then sell them to their clients at a rate that was still below normal retail and they would still make a profit.

I don't know if this is still the case and the airlines have moved towards booking from their own websites.

I always found that Gracy could get me tickets for less than I could find on my own, but I haven't used them for a few years.

Mauser K98:
You can't do better than Gracy Travel, I just talked to Debby this mourning on some fine points on my trip to S.A. this May. She is the BEST. This is my third time using Gracy and it won't be my last. Her number is 1-800-299-8558

Paul Kawczk

quote:

Originally posted by Paul K:
Mauser K98:
You can't do better than Gracy Travel, I just talked to Debby this mourning on some fine points on my trip to S.A. this May. She is the BEST. This is my third time using Gracy and it won't be my last. Her number is 1-800-299-8558

Paul Kawczk

Every single client I have ever dealt with who has dealt with Gracy has nothing but absolute praise for this agent.

I have used three travel agents. Each charge a fee per ticket for their services ranging from $50 to $250 per ticket.

There is no free lunch on this. The agent makes their money this way because the airlines do not pay them any longer.

When traveling to Africa or out of your "comfort" zone, an agent is worth the fee in case of a problem. I have had problems on one of my five trips. The fees paid for the previous four were saved by the help I got on the problem trip.

A caveat - go with an agent that works Africa - Gracy, Falcon Travel, Kathi Klimes, Africa Odyisee, International Journeys, etc.

I relied on my agent to refer a travel agent for the destination I was headed to. I recently used Barbara Wolbrink at International Journeys and was very impressed. Gracy does a fine job as well.

I have only been to Zim once, this year. I used Shawn at Gracy because my operator (Charlton McCallum) strongly recommended her. IMHO it was some of the best money I spent, especially for their meet and greet at Joburg, getting you through the firearm checks, and getting me on the plane to Zim the next morning. Everyone I communicated with prior to going echoed the fact that Gracy really knows what they are doing. They have employees on the ground in Joburg that know the ropes.

Mauser,

I use Gracy Travel and recommend them but for sure use an agent that specializes in Africa and travel with guns. If have not been before I just buy the meet/greet/gun permit service. Your trip will be as seamless as possible. Let some one else handle it and have fun.

Mark

I'm using Steve Turner for my trip to tanzania next year. And yes his fee is $75. For some reason after all the discussions on travel agents, no one actually states the fee they have paid for the services. I spoke to a few mentioned above and Steve was the only one who returned my email (quickly too). One I never heard from, and one emailed me 6 months later asking if I had any further questions and if I still needed help booking the trip. wth?

anyways, like everyone says it seems a very small amount to pay for that extra peace of mind.