Travel Agent/booking agent

I don't see why you need an agent to travel around Bali. Why not just find a driver and pay him, not sure why you need an agent for that.

You mention comparing a local Balinese travel agent to Agoda, Booking.com etc. This is for flights between Australia and Australia? Seems weird, but why not just compare the prices offered by the travel agent and compare them to the online travel sites? We use Indonesian travel agents but usually for things like Visas for the UK and Europe, Japan, Korea etc but rarely buy tickets from travel agents. Also, why not book your flights directly with the airlines?

I don't consider those booking sites as sharks. We use Agoda, Ticket.com, Booking.com quite often. But for flights we nearly always book them ourselves directly with the airlines.

Hi

Thanks for replying but i may not have explained myself properly so ill try to this time.

Firstly a travel agent for bookings at hotels within the Bali island area eg:  i live in Lovina and have for a period and want to visit say Kuta area for example, i need to use a Local travel agent to give me a variety of hotels and prices, i cannot phone directly to many places because of the language barrier and of coarse once they know I'm a foreigner up goes the price unfortunately I'm not yet savvy enough with the language to communicate at a local level.

Secondly you may not be aware as i have travelled the world extensively over many years and have been involved within the tourism sector for a long period before retirement and learnt many of there tricks, and those airlines, and booking agents you mentioned above all have an ALGORITHM built into there booking and viewing sites to monitor your ip address and as you may have noticed the price always goes up upon second viewing ? if you haven't noticed this maybe you should try this theory that's why i do not like booking with agents amazing ha ? i usually try an incognito window to try to alleviate this problem or have a separate computer or ip address, it was brought to consumer affairs many years ago in Australia but obviously has not stopped this practise, now that's why i want to try and do it locally and that is why i posted on this site, and now i hope i have explained myself better as to why i want to do it this way and would like your feed back on this information.

Thanks

Daryl

@wyngrove60 Hi

Thanks for replying but i may not have explained myself properly so ill try to this time.

Firstly a travel agent for bookings at hotels within the Bali island area eg:  i live in Lovina and have for a period and want to visit say Kuta area for example, i need to use a Local travel agent to give me a variety of hotels and prices, i cannot phone directly to many places because of the language barrier and of coarse once they know I'm a foreigner up goes the price unfortunately I'm not yet savvy enough with the language to communicate at a local level.

Secondly you may not be aware as i have travelled the world extensively over many years and have been involved within the tourism sector for a long period before retirement and learnt many of there tricks, and those airlines, and booking agents you mentioned above all have an ALGORITHM built into there booking and viewing sites to monitor your ip address and as you may have noticed the price always goes up upon second viewing ? if you haven't noticed this maybe you should try this theory that's why i do not like booking with agents amazing ha ? i usually try an incognito window to try to alleviate this problem or have a separate computer or ip address, it was brought to consumer affairs many years ago in Australia but obviously has not stopped this practise, now that's why i want to try and do it locally and that is why i posted on this site, and now i hope i have explained myself better as to why i want to do it this way and would like your feed back on this information.

Thanks

Daryl

Yes the price goes up on the second viewing, everybody knows that.

How would I be aware that you had travelled the world over many years and were an expert in the tourist industry? You've only just mentioned that. Personally I would just research hotels online and book it myself. I also would want to pay the hotel directly or through a reputable booking site. I'd know exactly what I was getting and all the conditions that went with it.

I can't give you advice on whether or not to go through a travel agent in Bali because there are likely some crooked ones amongst the honest ones. You just need to speak with them and see what they propose, and then compare it to what the online sites are showing or make a call yourself. You'll know soon enough if the agent it scamming you.

I have no experience in the travel trade but do travel extensively in Asia. Some interesting points raised above gents.

I'm a Brit and when booking travel (accommodation, airlines etc) with my credit card am protected by UK consumer legislation. If the product/service sold does not come up to a reasonable standard that would be expected you can go to your credit card issuer and request a refund. But the purchase needs to be directly with the supplier of the goods and services. I stayed at a 5 star property in Bandung (Hotel Papandayan). I booked it through Agoda who are very price competitive.

The hotel facilities were being renovated for 4 days while I was there. Half the facilities were out of action. My credit card was not liable as Agoda and all these other online booking sites are classified as 'aggregators'. The contract is with the hotel who I would have had to claim from directly. If I had booked the hotel directly with my credit card as opposed to Agoda I could have claimed a refund (make sure you have photographic evidence of the building work) Agoda just offered the minimum of $25 compensation - yeah right & the hotel would not play ball so I gave them a diabolical review on Trip Advisor which would have cost them as foreign travelers prefer foreign reviews.

Booking accommodation online is a much more transparent process now than pre internet; remember those tour brochures with the glossy professional photographs? I will still book with the aggragators as they (particularly Agoda) are very good on price. I often go directly to the hotel websites but more often than not they cannot match the aggregators price. Always book with the airline directly as mentioned above. If things go wrong (as they often do) with online airfares aggregators it can be a more complicated process to get refunded or receive an acceptable remedy for disruption to your travel plans. Also the ticket type is a higher level than from an agent so more likely to get upgraded.

I note that the above contributors are French & Australian nationals. You may wish to check your consumer rights that apply under your own respective laws. The UK has some of the best laws in the world protecting the consumer. Plug over.

The Papandayan is a bit dilapidated and run down so if they have done some renovations that is good. They are mostly known for having live jazz music and good food. I'd call it more of a 4 star hotel than a 5 star though. The furniture is all old style, but the rooms are comfortable. It's considered in town, although there is nothing much to see in the area and no decent restaurants unless you enjoy street food which I do.

Anyway the OP is in Lovina and I think if using an agent can get you better prices then go for it. Just be wary of scammers and make sure that you get what you have booked. And compare the prices offered to ticket.com and Agoda to make sure you are indeed getting a better price. I often call hotels or email them in advance to make sure everything is as booked.

@wyngrove60  Alls good just thought i would put it out there in case somebody knew a strait agent trouble is not many in Lovina i have to expand my search,once again thanks