Cheers to Madness!

MANILA, Philippines - For those whose wanderlust is always running high, here’s a promise of a bigger and better tomorrow. And quite literally, tomorrow (July 4) begins the Travel Madness at the SMX Convention Center at SM Mall of Asia. The three-day Travel Madness will run until Sunday (July 6).

Travel Innovators Inc. is the group of travel agents behind this “madness.” “We have been doing Travel Madness for three years already,” Raymond Tee, president of the group, informs me. “We let the traveling market get up close and personal with the most reliable travel partners here and offshore,” he adds.

Joining the travel exhibition for three days are prestigious airlines and cruise liners, local hotels and resorts, travel insurance companies and, of course, reliable and credible travel agencies.

“Aside from the abovementioned participants, Travel Madness will also have different national tourism offices to strengthen the quality of the travel and tourism familiarization,” Raymond says. “Their presence in the exhibition will entice the consumers to experience the different wonders of the world.”

Travel Madness, say Raymond and Travel Innovators director Vernon Prieto, will help educate the consumers in getting the best deals when booking their desired trips. The best way, according to them, is always the old style: booking through a travel agent.

“I would like to erase the misconception that travel agents are here to rip off the clients,” says Raymond. “Because of that notion, they book their trips online, which, well, is not a bad concept.” He cautions, however, that since online booking is a do-it-yourself thing,  “there’s no one there to guide or explain to you some pertinent matters like the validity of the ticket, possible penalties to be incurred when the ticket is not used, or whether the ticket purchased is refundable.” 

“Sure, you understand the agreement before you purchase your ticket, but there will always be some queries in your mind that will nag you and there’s no one there to answer your questions right away. Online booking does not have after-sales service should you need such service and if it does, it will take days before you are answered. It might be tough luck if at the end of the day; you would be penalized for not understanding the conditions stated. It is in that context that the travel agencies-exhibitors at Travel Madness come into the picture.  The travel agent’s duty is to make sure you understand the conditions of the purchase before buying the tickets or the tours,” Raymond explains.

Vernon says that the after-sales services of travel agencies is just “a phone call away in the event that a consumer decides to rebook.  “The travel agents can attend to you immediately, and if they are not available, they can return your call.”

Raymond says the rates offered by the airlines are always the same as the rates offered by travel agencies because they are the representatives of the airlines.  “On some occasions, the travel agencies-exhibitors could be more flexible in offering additional rate reduction, which the airline does not normally offer after publishing the rate to the public,” he says.

For his part, Vernon adds, “Travel agencies-exhibitors can offer longer or at least a three-day ticketing option if you are still undecided on buying your ticket.  The queue will not be as long as the airlines’ should you decide to have yourself ticketed within the day or after the exhibition.”

Raymond and Vernon add that consumers get more suggestions and recommendations from travel agencies-exhibitors who represent the airline industry.  Travel agents will always be willing to waitlist a passenger and follow up the confirmation of his seat with an airline instead of the passenger doing it himself. They add that aside from updating the client with the status of his booking, the agent can even offer the consumer a better airline alternative.

The travel agencies-exhibitors, they say, can also discuss with the consumer land arrangement if the client so desires.

All these and more can be learned at Travel Madness, where, according to Travel Innovators Inc., consumers “will get mad, crazy with awesome travel deals.”

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Travel Madness will run from July 4 to 6 at the SMX Convention Center at SM Mall of Asia.