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Show I Travel agents can save time and money work in cooperation. Sometimes you can save money by buying a package which includes room accommodations ac-commodations and airfare. Travel agencies often have their own personalities, just as people do. Shop around for different agencies to see if the types of tours they offer of-fer fit your interests. A good way to find out about agencies is to talk to I people who've recently been on tours. Find out with whom they worked, and how they felt about the service they got. When you're choosing an agency, look for CTC certification. cer-tification. This certification, which comes from the Institute In-stitute of Certified Travel Counselors, means travel agents have gone through extensive classwork. They've taken exams and written papers, attended seminars, learned the economics of travel, studied psychology and travel stress. Many good agents do not have CTC certification, but you may want to look for it. Travel agencies provide excellent help; they're worth talking to before you hit the road. I by Carol L. Clark Utah consumer education . specialist There are few things in life that get me as excited as the prospect of travel. Unfortunately, my income and my love of travel don't correlate too well, so when I J plan a trip I need to look out f for the best buys and the best 1 seasons of the year to visit places. If you are in the same category, seeing a n travel agent might be a good idea. Recently I visited with Bryce Spencer of Murdock Travel who explained to me that there is seldom a service ser-vice fee when you work with a travel agent. The only circumstance cir-cumstance when you're likely to encounter a service fee is if you had a specialized itinerary which required an inordinate amount of work by the agent. Ordinarily, commissions for airline tickets, tours, and hotel if reservations are paid by the companies, not the travelers. A real advantage of using a travel agency is that it will have brochures and pamphlets pam-phlets on file suggesting sight-seeing tours, costs, and time frames. Having to gather that information on your own might take much more time. Additionally, agents often travel themselves; they have access to information informa-tion from others who also have been on recent tours. They keep up with the latest airline schedules and can tell you which airlines offer the best prices. A major factor for me is the time it takes to call the airlines. I'd much rather go to one place where someone could answer my questions immediately rather than having to make 10 or 12 calls to different airlines. Travel agents also know which hotels and airlines |