Travel agents are booming because people forgot how to use the internet.
This headline wants you to believe a credit card with a $695 annual fee can replace a person whose job is to Google flights and forward you confirmation emails. The card offers 24/7 concierge service. You know what else is 24/7? Your f*cking phone. It also has Google. It also costs less than $695 per year.
The premium travel credit card provides booking tools. Booking tools already exist. They're called Expedia, Kayak, and that website where you pretend you're going to Montreal next weekend but never actually book anything. These tools are free. They do not require proof of income.
Travel agents charge a fee to perform a service you refuse to do because you're too lazy to compare three flight times. Premium cards charge a fee to provide a phone number you'll call once to ask if your hotel has a gym. Both industries thrive because consumers treat basic research like it's advanced calculus.
The valuable travel protections include trip cancellation insurance and lost baggage coverage. You will never use trip cancellation insurance. You will lose your baggage exactly once, file a claim, receive $47.32 after eight weeks of correspondence, and decide the entire process was designed by someone who hates you personally.
The real story is that travel agents are booming at the same time credit card companies are selling products that allegedly make travel agents obsolete. Both businesses are correct. They serve the same customer: someone willing to pay money to avoid spending eleven minutes on a website.
The average American will spend $695 on an annual fee, call the concierge line zero times, and then renew the card because the lounge access made them feel important at LaGuardia once in 2024.
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
Leave a Comment