5 Outrageous Ways Travel Agents Use To Get You to Buy That Flight


It’s no secret that travel agents want you to buy a flight. There are so many flights out there to choose from, how do they decide which one is best? How can they convince you to book the one they think is best?

We’ve put together a list of 5 outrageous ways travel agents use to get you to book a flight. These are not true but if you know any travel agents that do these things, let us know in the comments below.

1. They Listen To You

Seems obvious right? They want you to tell them where you want to go and what your budget is so they can show you flights that meet your needs. Don’t be fooled, this is just a clever ruse for them to find out what your weaknesses are. If you say “I’m looking for something cheap”, they’ll find the cheapest flight on the market even if it makes 2 or 3 stops and takes 2 days. Watch out for that trap! If you say “I need something quick”, they’ll find the quickest flight even if it costs an arm and a leg! This is evil!

2. They Ask Questions

Again, this seems innocent but don’t be fooled. Travel agents will ask questions like “what kind of seat do you like

The travel industry is big business. In fact, it’s a $7.6 trillion industry in the U.S. alone. With that much money at stake, it’s no wonder why companies are coming up with some pretty crafty ways to get your hard earned cash. Here are 5 outrageous ways travel agencies use to get you to book that flight:

1) Make you feel like a loser for booking with anyone else

2) Offer you “exclusive” deals

3) Charge you for their time and expertise

4) Create FOMO

5) Giveaway loyalty rewards or frequent flyer miles

There are a few ways travel agents get you to book that flight.

Crazy prices: One of the most common ways we get you to book a flight is by offering you a price so low you think it’s a mistake. In fact, the price is so low we tell you it’s going away in 24 hours. Of course it’s not. Flights are never priced according to the amount of time left to book. Even so, this gets people to book and come in our shops.

Bait and switch: We also get you to book flights by offering incentives like free flights or hotel nights with your booking. The thing is, we don’t offer those promotions for every flight. Those deals are for specific destinations that no one wants to go to. What do we do? We entice customers with the freebies and then tell them it doesn’t apply to their destination of choice. So what do they do? They book anyway because they have been “convinced” that hotel room or flight is a good deal.

Lying about dates: One way travel agents get you to buy that flight is by lying about when they need full payment for your trip. Often times we will tell customers they have until a month before their trip

What’s the one thing you hate about booking a flight?

That’s right, it’s the hours of research and decision-making that go into picking the perfect flight. It’s an important decision. And travel agents know that. So they try to take advantage of that with outrageous techniques to get you to book your flight.

Here are the 5 most outrageous techniques travel agents use:

1. The double-speak crawl

2. Showing you only last year’s prices

3. Promising a world without check-in lines

4. Saying it takes just 2 minutes to find the best flight

5. The old bait and switch

Travel Agents. Some of them are trustworthy, others not so much. But just like any other industry, there are some agents that will bend over backwards (even if it means breaking the rules) to get you to book that flight. Here are some ways they might try to trick you into booking something you don’t need.

1. They tell you a flight is already full even though there’s still plenty of availability left.

This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, meant to scare customers into booking a flight immediately. Scarcity works – if people think they’re missing out on something, they’re more likely to buy it right away. So don’t be tricked by this tactic! Instead, politely point out that there are still plenty open seats available on other flights and times – because there usually are.

2. They won’t give you the airline’s customer service number directly.

If your travel agent is unwilling to give you an airline’s customer service number, there’s a good chance that he or she doesn’t want you calling them directly because it could jeopardize their commission payout. This means that your agent may not be looking out for your best interest and instead looking for ways to turn a quick buck off of you.

3. They mark

Have you ever wondered why a travel agent is trying so hard to get you on that specific flight? Or if they are really trying to benefit your trip when they book you on the red-eye? It can feel as though we are being misled, but in reality, there may be some important reasons for these recommendations.

1. The transaction fee: When a travel agent books two roundtrip tickets on the same airline, the agent will earn a $35 transaction fee. If the flights are on different airlines, they’ll only earn $25. This difference may not seem like much, but it will add up over time. In fact, this difference is why many agents will try to book all of your flights on one airline.

2. The carrier fee: Some airlines pay more than others for their agent commission. It’s more profitable for an agency to book a ticket on Delta than it is for Spirit Airlines. Many times, agents have incentive bonuses with certain airlines too! So, if you have a choice between two different airlines and one offers more commission or incentives, agents are going to recommend that flight based off money earned from that airline.

3. Frequent flyer miles: If you want to earn some frequent flyer miles or

Flight: the act of traveling through the air; “flying was still an exciting adventure for him”

It’s really hard to find a flight that meets your needs and can be trusted with your money. That’s why it’s great to have a travel agent like myself help you with your flight.

What are some outrageous things I can do to get you to book your next flight? Let’s get started!


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