Why is a travel advisor better than booking through my credit card?

I'm going to link you to an article about why using a travel advisor is better than booking through your credit card (specifically AmEx, but they are all the same idea), but I've got more to say below.

A cabin at Baron's Creekside in Fredericksburg, Texas

I know that it may seem strange to many of you to use a travel advisor (we rarely call ourselves "travel agents" these days, as so much of our job is really about advising). I was one of those people! Before recently, the only time I used a travel agent was when I lived in Japan and wanted to go places that were complicated if you didn't speak the language - China and other parts of Japan, mostly. And I knew the travel agency near me had all sorts of cool tours they could hook me up with, sometimes even in English. It made sense in that context to have someone else book my trips.

I love to plan trips! Why would I hire someone else to plan them for me?

Well, here's the deal: that's not what a travel advisor would do in my case. A travel advisor would do the actual bookings, which could involve waiting on hold or just navigating a complicated website for you, using the itinerary you gave us. We would find you the deals that you as a consumer just can't get. Sometimes that deal means spending less money; sometimes it means perks like room upgrades or free breakfast or a late checkout.

We can use your loyalty numbers to book for you, so you still get all of your points. In some cases, we can even book a trip for you where you USE your points. (Though, like the article mentions, the best use of loyalty points 9 times out of 10 is to convert them to mileage on an airline and use those points for upgrades for transatlantic or transpacific flights, not for hotel stays.)

If a travel advisor helps you with a trip, they can make sure you're treated like a VIP, get you perks and sometimes upgrades, and deal with issues when they come up. They also have a wealth of knowledge - both their own and that of their fellow advisors.

And they can organize everything in one place for you. Did you book your own flight? Great! Did the travel advisor book the hotels and a couple of local tours for you? And maybe recommend a couple of restaurants? They can put that all together in one big itinerary for you, with all of the information you need at your fingertips on your phone or ready for you to download and print out to take with you. Convenient and easy! Without you having to make large spreadsheets or print out 10 emails with all of your reservation numbers on them. You share your info for flights, for instance, with your travel advisor, and they include that information in the itinerary.

And the best part about all of this? Most of the time, our services are COMPLETELY FREE. You don't pay any more for your trip than you would if you paid for it yourself, and you get the bonus organization, perks, and a person to reach out to if there's an issue.

Of course, we also will completely plan your trip for you, if you are NOT one of those people who enjoys planning it yourself!! And that is still free most of the time. So, if you are interesting in letting EpiCurated Travel curate your next trip, fill out an intake form here.