Tips on when you should use a travel agent

>>> this morning on today's travel , when to use a travel agent . you might think that booking your own flights and hotels online is the way to go but according to " u.s.a. today ," satisfaction using that method has dropped sharply in recent years. so when is a travel agent right for you? well, matthew upchurch is the ceo of virtuoso network travel . good morning to you. a lot of people have gotten used to using online services to figure out how to travel . why shouldn't they? why shouldn't we keep doing this?

>> besides saving you time, the other thing about a great travel adviser is they're going to get you the best value . and as warren buffett says, price is what you get, price is what you pay, value is what you get. but also, they will collaborate with you. they'll throw in ideas, they'll make travel planning fun. and most importantly, when things go wrong, they're there to back you up.

>> a lot of people don't use travel agents , because they have the sense they're going it charge us a lot more. you just talked about value. but can you actually save money still using a travel agent ?

>> a travel , a great travel adviser can save you money by making sure you got what you really wanted. you can pay a low price and get something that wasn't worth it. and they charge sometimes like as little as $35 for a simple airline ticket. and people that love their travel advisers put them on retainers, even.

>> you need to figure out the right travel agent . how do you do that? is there a place you can go or do you start building your relationship over time ?

>> travel advisers great professional passionate travel advisers are likeny other profession. you'll find a financial adviser or architect or something like that do you it through referrals, you find out people that have been taking trips and things like that. you look at their accreditations and make sure that they're part of a network. we know that you can't know everything about everybody. you wnt to make sure they're part of a network that supports them.

>> here's what i a good travel adviser should do. a, find the best deal. how do you know if your travel agent is doing that?

>> i think it's about the value. the whole emphasis on just the lowest price, they will make sure. and a great travel adviser, if you come in with an online deal, and they say, i can't match that they'll be the first to tell you.

>> they should help you if things go wrong. if you're on a trip and things go wrong, they should be able to help you.

>> we had one of our agencies in albuquerque that had a couple that was on costa. they had been evacuated to rome and the travel agent and adviser in albuquerque actually saw it was going to cost them thousands of dollars to get back to new mexico on short notice. booked them through barcelona, go the in overnight. got them there and back for thousands of dollars less.

>> that's an interesting point. so they can actually be your troubleshooter when things go wrong. that's an interesting story. they should be able to find options that you've not considered. in other words, options of where to go or how to get there?

>> well let's say that a great one. you want to be collaborative. you want to have fun doing it. you come and say, everybody loves to talk about travel . but for example, you're going back to europe. well you haven't considered for example, river cruising. river cruising is this hot new category, these beam ships have been, you pay in u.s. dollars , you unpack once, you get off and ride your bike, do all this stuff. it's fantastic. you may not have considered that. that's what a great travel adviser will do.

>> in this way, it can help you realize some dreams that you may have to travel . in other words that you don't want to get to the point where you have sort of didn't get done. don't have places you didn't get to go to. your travel agent can help you figure out where you really want to go.

>> that to me is the coolest part about having a great relationship with a travel adviser. every time you come back, you have a good one, you're going to get on the phone after you got back. what did you love, what did you learn, what would you do differently? you start to like plan the future and have a plan. how is it that we actually have financial advisers to manage money, but we actually don't have somebody in our lives to help us manage our most valuable thing, our free time and our time with our loved ones?

>> that's a good question. you've made a strong argument, we can save money, have more fun. we have to be careful about finding the right travel agent . any more tips on that?

>> i think one important thing, they are advisers. they're not order-takers. so sit down, understand what's valuable to you. tell them what's important to you and make sure they know how to listen. financial advisers do return on investment. we do return on life.

>> matthew upchurch, thank you so