It’s finally vacation time, but before you can pack your bags, there’s much to do. You’ll need to find a charming bed & breakfast, book the flight, and decide what sights you’ll be visiting. If you’re traveling abroad, you’ll need to arrange for visas, exchange money, and figure out if the hair dryer is going to work in the outlets. There’s also life at home: arranging the pet sitter and holding the mail, not to mention tackling the portion of your to-do stack that just can’t wait until you get back. With all the work involved just getting away, why not get a professional to take care of the details for you? It saves loads of time – and can save a bit of money, too, if you’re working with a travel specialist. Still, finding a travel agent can be almost as time consuming as making travel arrangements yourself. A website called Tripology, which works like a dating service for travelers and travel agents, now makes the process a whole lot simpler. In fact, since it launched in June of 2007, Tripology has already matched over 18,000 travelers with travel specialists.
Tripology is not a travel agency, and the site doesn’t sell airplane tickets or cruise packages, like some travel sites. Instead, they refer users to travel agents. Once you’ve registered on the Tripology website, you can enter information for a specific trip, requesting help with flights, car rentals, trains, cruises, or hotels. You can also request information on activities at your destination, from museums to eco-tourism. Then, Tripology looks for up to three travel agents who can help you plan the trip. These agents will contact you, each hoping to be the one to take the work out of your vacation plans – and free your time for packing the sunscreen and flip flops.
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There aren’t other sites that link to travel agents, but here are some online travel planning websites
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My company, MyTravelAdvice.net ( http://www.mytraveladvice.net/ ) uses Tripology as the primary source for travel advice and information for our users. We chose Tripology, because their service is pretty much a no-brainer when it comes to researching a travel destination. In brief, they put you in touch with up to three travel specialists, all intimate with your destination, and all screaming to help you the best. In the end, you only pay if you purchase a trip or travel service. It’s all on the consumer’s side. We like it. A lot!
Hi Karen. I thought your article was very good up until the very last line ” although each agent will charge a fee for service”. This is inaccurate and would be a turn-off to people reading the article. Travel agents don’t normally charge anything for their service. They are paid a percentage by the travel supplier.
Thanks for ready my comment!
Sheila
Thanks for giving such a nice info.
Thanks for giving such a nice info.
I used tripology for our trip yo Puerto Rico, well the experience has been a nightmare. The travel agent was inexperience and did not follow through I ended up having to call the hotels myself to fix the problem plus I hope they didn’t screw up my airline tickets since they did not include my middle name. They also did not honor the airfare price quoted since they didn’t pit a courtesy hold on them and for the itinerary it took them 48 hours to get it to me. I left a comment in tripology’s web page two days ago and I am still waiting for them to reply so is clear that customer service is non existent plus their high quality travel agents is husk a joke. Beware do your own trip arrangement or look for a good local travel agent that you can count on
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Never ever use Tripology!!! 4 weeks after paying for a trip to Europe we are still waiting for confirming documents. The travel agent does no return ANY calls nor email. After contacting customer service no one there could help us either.
The amenities at our hotel were not included after we were told they were. We were promised transfer from the airport and this was also a lie. The agent is Brian Magrane in Massachussetts. Totally unreliable and deceitful. It seems the
home office does not vet their agents., so any inept person can be your traverl agent. . Beware Tripology!!
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