National Travel Agents Day is May 3, 2023: Celebrate by planning a vacation

#TravelBeaverton&Beyond

Organized by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), the holiday aims to spotlight the value of Travel Agents on both social and traditional media. Other travel industry organizations, including Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), and major tour operators, are celebrating as well.

To celebrate the occasion, here are reasons to book a cruise or vacation with a Travel Agent.

1. A Trip Tailored to YOU: Travel Agents not only handle booking travel but can also help find the best cruise or vacation for every traveler. Travel Agents can create a perfect travel experience based on preferences, tastes and travel ‘dreams’. They can also help find unexpected activities and destinations that fit your travel style to create a once-in-a-lifetime cruise or vacation experience.
2. Experienced Expertise: Travel Agents are experts in understanding and deciphering the myriad of travel information and codes. Travel Agents not only undergo extensive training and continuously visit different cruise ships and worldwide destinations, to stay informed; they also have a wealth of real-world travel experience. Agents work with a variety of cruise lines and tour operators so they can offer personal and professional insight on different accommodations, destinations, excursions, and more; as well as offer counsel on more complex issues like travel insurance, Wedding Destination groups, and even company incentive group trips. From tips on finding a romantic bistro in a port city and the best times to reserve onboard dining times. Travel Agents have the answers.
3. A Stress-Free Travel Experience: Our Travel Agents at Sun Connections Travel, LLC are certified cruise and vacation specialist, and can help you with the most stress-free travel experience. Many Travel Agents achieve certification credentials through testing modules or take courses through cruise lines and other travel suppliers to elevate their expertise in cruise and vacation experiences. These Travel Agents are committed to providing the best travel experience for every client, every time. This leaves the logistics to a professional, giving travelers someone in their corner if things go awry or if you missed a flight or an excursion is cancelled, a Travel Agent can help handle refunds and logistics to take the stress out of traveling.
4. Customer Advocacy: You have a personal Travel Agent as your go-to trip planner! We’ve been helping travelers for over 33 years. We help travelers get to know a little bit more about their planet and the many rewarding cultures and friendly people that can be found throughout our wonderful and amazing world. Travel Agents work for their clients – not for the cruise line or travel supplier. Your best interests are their priority. From initial planning through your final leg home, you have someone to call, who can help you through all phases of your trip.
5. Best Kept Secret: When you book online or book directly with the cruise lines or tour operator, the Travel Agent pay is ‘already built into the prices! YES, it’s already built in on all cruise lines, tour operators, and our many travel suppliers, but you are not getting the benefits of using a Travel Agent. In most cases, Travel Agents have access to deals and discounts not available to consumers booking directly. Travel Agents sometimes have the ability to book-in-bulk so clients are privy to lower pricing by booking through a Travel Agent.
6. Personalized Travel: In order to keep travelers as return clients year after year, Travel Agents may be able to use their personal contacts with various travel suppliers to get you upgrades or special amenities, that you would not be able to find on your own. Travel Agents are able to create a personal travel file, (profile) on each client and offer to input frequent flyer mile numbers, hotel rewards numbers, TSA/KTN numbers, whether they prefer an aisle or window seat and other important information to enhance their trip. Travel Agents can also arrange personalized travel details for your cruise or vacation, like gluten-free dining or post-cruise transportation home.

By Joyce Bates, owner of Sun Connections Travel & Cruises, the ‘go to’ travel agency for all occasions. For more info on this subject or to book your next trip, email joyce@sunconnections.com, visit www.sunconnections.com, or call 503-655-4850. Travel Layaway plans available!