FAQs

Using a travel agent offers a host of benefits that can make your trip smoother, more efficient, and less stressful. Here’s why booking through a travel agent might be the best choice for you:

1. Peace of Mind and Convenience

Booking travel on your own can be overwhelming, especially when it involves multiple components (flights, accommodations, transportation, etc.). We simplify everything by managing all aspects of your trip in one place. You won’t have to juggle multiple websites or worry about the logistics— we take care of it all.

2. Access to More Options and Better Deals

Travel agents have access to an extensive inventory of flights, hotels, and car rentals, including deals that might not be available to the public. With our specialised systems, we can often find better connections, lower fares, or alternate routes that you may not easily find on your own. This can lead to a more efficient, cost-effective trip.

3. Expertise on Travel Documentation and Border Requirements

One of the major pitfalls of self-booking is not knowing what documentation you’ll need for your trip—such as visas, vaccinations, or other border requirements. Travel agents have on-hand experts in these areas helping to ensure that your ticket is “fit for purpose.” We provide you with the necessary information, to avoid facing any last-minute surprises.

4. Handling Unexpected Changes or Problems

Travel plans rarely go perfectly. If something goes wrong—like a flight delay, cancellation, or last-minute change—a travel agent will take care of it for you. We have the industry connections and expertise to manage these disruptions quickly and efficiently, saving you the frustration of long hold times or endless emails with airlines and hotels.

5. Avoiding the Risks of Multi-Ticket Travel

When you book multiple flights separately (rather than as a single ticket), you risk losing your entire fare if you miss a connection. Travel agents can help you avoid these pitfalls by booking you on a through ticket when possible, ensuring you’re protected in case something goes awry with your schedule. We also inform you if booking separate tickets is risky.

6. End-to-End Support

A good travel agent doesn’t just book your trip—they stay with you every step of the way. If you need assistance during your trip—whether it’s a change of plans, an urgent issue, or simply advice—we are just a phone call or email away. This ongoing support is something you simply don’t get when you book through an online platform.

7. Time-Saving and Stress-Free Planning

Instead of spending hours comparing prices, reading reviews, and piecing together itineraries, you can tell us what you’re looking for, and we’ll handle the research and organisation for you. This leaves you more time to focus on the exciting parts of your trip, like packing and making fun plans for your destination.

8. Personalized Travel Experience

Travel agents take the time to understand your preferences, budget, and goals for your trip. We can then tailor your travel experience to fit your needs—whether it’s a luxury getaway, an adventurous trek, or a family vacation. Our recommendations are based on real-world experience and insider knowledge, not just algorithms.

Conclusion

While it’s true that booking travel online is easy, it’s not always the best choice, especially when you consider the time, effort, and potential stress involved in planning your trip. A travel agent offers a level of expertise, service, and peace of mind that can make your journey far more enjoyable and less complicated. From securing better deals to managing unforeseen changes, we provide a valuable service that can save you both time and money.

Many people worry about the cost of using a travel agent. The truth is, using a travel agent is often more affordable than you might think—and can even save you money in the long run. Here’s a breakdown of the costs and why working with us is well worth it:

1. Transparent and Reasonable Fees

Travel agents generally charge a fee for their services, but those fees are usually low. Our fees are usually capped at NZD$200 per adult (depending on the complexity of the trip). In most cases, you’ll find that the fee is much lower—especially if your trip includes a combination of hotel stays, tours, cruises, and activities.

Our corporate bookings are capped at NZD$400 per adult. That higher fee unlocks our corporate level of service that meets the high demands and enhanced efficiency of our corporate customers.

2. How Travel Agents Make Money

While fees for agent services are sometimes charged, most of an agent’s income comes from commissions paid by hotels, tour operators, cruise lines, and activity providers. When you book these elements of your trip through us, we receive a commission from the providers. The cost to you is typically the same as if you were to book directly, but with the added benefit of our expertise, time-saving services, and peace of mind.

In fact, many clients find that the value of the services we provide far exceeds the cost of their fees—especially when it comes to customised itineraries, trouble-shooting, and managing changes along the way.

3. Specialised Support for Airfares

Airfares are a bit different. While travel agents generally are not paid by airlines directly, they provide substantial support when it comes to managing your flights—especially if there are changes or issues with your bookings. Airfare tickets often require more hands-on management, which is why we charge our higher end fee for flight-only bookings.

But the extra support you get when things go wrong—like cancellations, delays, or rebookings—can be invaluable. We help you resolve issues quickly and efficiently, saving you hours of stress and phone calls.

4. Value Beyond Price

The real value of using a travel agent often comes from the convenience, expertise, and peace of mind they provide. We manage all the details, including logistics, documentation, and problem-solving, which would take you hours of research and stress if you did it yourself. Plus, the travel industry is filled with nuances—rules about visas, baggage, connections, and refunds—which agents are well-versed in.

We also have special relationships with vendors—hotels, cruise lines, and airlines—which means we can often secure special perks like room upgrades, early check-ins, free amenities, or discounted rates. These perks can offset or even eliminate the cost of agent fees.

Travel Agents Are a Smart Investment

The cost of using us as your travel agent is quite reasonable—often less than $200 per person. The value you receive for that fee—expert advice, personalised service, stress-free planning, and support when things go wrong—often far exceeds the price. For complex trips, or when you simply want someone to handle everything for you, working with us can save you time, money, and a lot of frustration. Plus, our commissions from hotels, tours, and other bookings typically mean you won’t pay extra for the benefits we provide.

So, when you weigh the cost of our fee against the value of our services, the return on investment is clear.

Not usually. Remember we have access to deals, sales & packages which aren’t usually available publicly. That can significantly reduce your trip costs. Agent’s fees aside (see above point on fee transparency), if you are booking without a deal or sale then our airfares are usually just $10pp more than online (that’s the ticketing fee we are charged). Hotels and other land elements are usually the same or cheaper. Factoring in what we do, and what it costs you, we are white hot value.

We listen to what you want. Then email you options based on that. We refine as much and often as you like. When you’re happy with things then we book your trip and email your travel documents to you, including border requirements. If changes happen, we work to fix them on your behalf right up until your trip is complete. We are an end-to-end complete service.

Alex Myall (that’s me!) is the person who started CDT and the person who works with customers and books the services. I am a contractor of Travel Advocates who are an arm of one of New Zealand’s largest travel retail chains. Operating under my registered business (Chasing Dreams Travel), with all the protection you would expect through a high quality NZ retail chain. under a Still with me?

Travel Advocates is a TAANZ business. I (Chasing Dreams Travel) pay an annual fee to TAANZ to ensure that customers who books travel with me are protected by TAANZ. I also hold public liability insurance.

Because I am an agent through Travel Advocates and TAANZ it means you never pay me directly. Your travel payment is held in a trust account from which your hotel, airfares etc are paid. This protects your funds.

My travel qualifications are a Cert 4 in Travel, trained in Amadeus Airline Reservations & Ticketing, Diploma in Travel Journalism. If I still have your attention, then my career history before travel was in the exercise sector where I managed the profitability of gyms in New Zealand, Australia and London. For the 23 odd years that I worked in this field, my skill was growing customer facing, service oriented, businesses. And during my spare time, I travelled (I forget the number, but somewhere in the vicinity of 26 countries visited). Put these together and you have a human whose skills are combined customer service, business, and world travel.

So, yes, I am qualified. Yes, I am part of TAANZ so you are protected. I am a registered business. I have an extensive business and travel history.

Yes, we can book everything in relation to your trip (at least I think everything?), which means your entire trip is in one place. Airfares, activities, insurance, accommodation, transfers, rental vehicles… the list goes on.

Usually our prices are in NZD. But because our customer’s are typically both Australia and New Zealand based we convert to AUD regularly and can easily offer the AUD priced option too. If you want an AUD price on something that only shows NZD, let us know.

Chasing Dreams Travel is a New Zealand tax registered business operating from Australia. We quote travel in both currencies and payments are made in NZD. For payment ease, we offer a secure C/C link or direct bank transfer to customers.

When our deals include airfares they usually departing NZ ports so let us know if you want a deal re-packaged with Australia departures.

Great! Send us an email, txt or call – we’d love to answer your queries.