3rd
my friend dr. jordy writes an interesting composition on the dying breed of travel agents. it’s a fun read of how things don’t always go as planned.
I am in JFK airport at the moment awaiting my AirBus which is delayed 3 hours before my flight to Mexico. I am taking my wool to the Riviera Maya section for her 30th Bday. We are staying at the Royal Hideaway in Playa De Carmen for a little over a week. How did this happen?
We were planning on going to a Caribbean island like Grand Cayman, Aruba, St. Maarten or Turks and Caicos but decided against it. After speaking to my well-traveled friends, especially, Chad, we had it narrowed down to Antigua, Virgin Gorda and Jamaica. Having done my web research I decided to go to the travel agent. I know what you are thinking. “Do travel agents even still exist anymore”? Well, I am not really sure how, but they do. Especially in affluent areas. My tactic is as follows. After doing my research, I head to the travel agent pretending to book a trip with them but really, I have no intentions of using their services rather I am looking for 2 things. (Ruth from Liberty Travel in Manhasset, I hope you are not reading…sorry). First I try to learn about the locations which I have researched and second I see if they can beat the prices which I get quoted from expedia, direct hotel and flight websites and edealinfo.org prices. Typically they cannot and I walk out of these the husband, in control champion! At least that is how it went in my head.
After arriving we were assigned Ruth. A middle aged soft-spoken, almost un-informed lady. Not the typical sales interface I am accustomed to. She seems like one of those employers who really would rather be doing something else. And I don’t just mean that day, I mean with her life….husband, career, kids. Secretly wishes she married that guy from college that told her all those nice things that night.
Immediately after sitting down with Ruth she switched her focus from the green eared couple in front of her to her Dell LCD. After talking us out of all above island locations without even giving me prices to compare to my personal research, she recommended the Royal Hideaway in Playacar, Mexico. After her incredibly descriptive first hand account of the resort with the umptuous cuisine, pampering spa and Caribbean Sea, Mayan ruins and Yucatan location we were sold! It happened quick and hard. We were almost hypnotized. Like an aaaaa bomb from aaaaaaaaaa ROD!
Being a skeptic, I do realize that using a travel agent only adds one more middle-ho…or one more person receiving my money for this trip. So how could this possibly save me money. Before the days of the web it made sense to use one of these but although I have no evidence source for this, I am sure they are a dying breed. Knowing that, I did my research on Kayak, TripAdvisor, and SideStep. I also use Lonely Planet and a new site I found iGouGo and then headed to the trip broker only to learn from them and compare rates. I had no intentions of going into my pockets. But, within 5 minutes I took out my charge and we were paying for not only the hotel and flight but also she had me saying yes to the romantic package, all-inclusive meals and booze and spa treatments for deux. Not only that but this resort previously was unbeknownst to us heading to a city with a similar lack of familiarity and not even on our list.
In the car ride home, we were dead quiet, with an eery feeling much like you feel after laughing your guts out form being tickled half to death. I was red in the cheek. My wife turned to me and said…”what just happened”. Of course I replied with complete confidence projecting a sense of control, despite feeling a deep confusion and regret. What a douche.
There is a happy middle (ending will come on after I get home). When we got home I immediately checked tripadvisor and was pleasantly surprised to see great reviews. See for yourself —-> Royal Hideaway Reviews.
We’re going to MeHEEko!!! Holiday Rooooaaoooaoooaooooooad Holiday Rooooooaooaooooaaoooo’oooooooad!
