Travel with peace of mind by entrusting your trip to a travel professional.

Your travel professional will provide you with personalized travel advice in complete confidence.
They will independently create the best travel experiences tailored to your wishes.
They will support you before, during, and after your trip, ensuring complete peace of mind.

10 reasons to book with a local, recognized travel professional

A travel agency, travel agent, travel broker, tour operator, travel company, travel advisor, reseller, tour operator… Many different names, each with their own specific characteristics. We prefer to call them travel professionals. Booking your vacation with a professional is important. You can avoid many surprises. We've already listed 10 reasons to book with a local, recognized travel professional (with thanks to the VVR – Association of Flemish Travel Agencies for the text).

Safety and Trust

Machines are still not people, and they certainly don't offer the comfort that people can. It doesn't matter how reliable and secure a website or app appears.

Your travel professional is there to listen to you as a friend and to advise you accordingly. Together, you'll build a relationship of trust.

In addition, your hard-earned money is also safe. A certified travel professional is insured against bankruptcy. If you book with them, you won't fall into pitfalls like vacation homes that turn out to not exist.

Keep up with the latest news

Which country can you travel to?
What about the Covid measures?
Which country enforces which regulations? What certificates do you need?

But also:
When is the best time to visit which country?
Which hotel has been recently renovated?
Is my hotel easily accessible?
Are there special events in the country?
What are the must-sees?
And so on.

Personal shopper

With a certified travel professional, you always receive personalized advice. You are so much more than just another sale to them. As a customer, you are their complete priority. They listen to your wishes and needs. Thanks to their extensive experience, your travel professional can share tips and personal experiences. Through the human and personal contact with your travel professional, they make booking a trip a pleasant and personalized experience.

Follow-up

Online paperwork? Your travel professional will take care of it for you.
No hassle with filling out unclear online forms and follow-up.
Your travel professional will follow up on your booking and let you know if your flight is delayed or canceled. They'll also stay in touch with you in case of other inconveniences.

Saving money

Thanks to their extensive knowledge of current deals, discounts, and available packages, your travel professional will save you money in ways you could never achieve on your own. Feel like you're not saving any money? Then you'll undoubtedly get much more value in return.

Saving time

The holiday experience starts before the trip. For many people, this means scrolling through the internet looking for where to go on holiday and what great deal I can get. Just think how much valuable time this costs you! Leave it to your travel professional.

Thanks to their knowledge of various systems and extensive networks, travel professionals know exactly how they can benefit you.

Provides information

Your certified travel professional will continuously inform you about your trip, provide advice, and offer assistance. They'll consider details you might not think of:
– Is your travel and/or cancellation insurance in order?
– What about your passport? Do you need a visa?
– What about other formalities such as Covid measures?

Always on standby

Some things don't always go according to plan. Something can always go wrong.
Flights that are overbooked or canceled, lost luggage, no room available upon arrival.
You don't have to worry. The solution is just a phone call away. Your travel professional will arrange everything for you.

Benefits for frequent travelers

If you're someone who travels frequently for business, you don't have time to book your trip yourself. Your travel professional is your lifesaver. Share your personal preferences once, and your travel professional will save them for future trips. This means you're just one phone call away from your next booking.

After-sales Service

Naturally, we wish you a successful and enjoyable holiday.
However, if something goes wrong that can't be resolved immediately, your travel professional will handle any complaints and bring them to the attention of the tour operator. We always strive for an amicable settlement that both parties can agree on.
In the unlikely event that you can't resolve the matter together immediately, your travel agent will assist you in initiating proceedings through the Travel Disputes Committee. See the FAQ page for more information about GCR.

On the internet, you'll find virtually everything you need to create your own trip: flights, hotels, rental cars, excursions. Preparing for your trip, choosing suitable flights, and finding the right accommodations will give you that travel vibe. Often, there are also OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) that try to steal your attention with their competitive prices.

So why bother visiting a travel agent? Are they available after hours? Are you even getting the best price?

So, those are the advantages and the concerns travelers have.

If you book all the trip components yourself, you're responsible for everything you've booked. You can't always expect service, or there's an extra cost involved. Spending hours on the phone with an airline or online broker in a faraway country is no picnic either.

Booking a package holiday, travel arrangements, or travel services through a travel agent does give you that extra protection. After all, a fully licensed travel agent is required to carry a number of insurance policies that provide maximum protection for the traveler. A travel agent is also insured against professional errors, such as entering incorrect flight dates, misspelling names, etc. As an online booker, you don't have that.

Our advice is to do some research (if you enjoy it, of course) and share your findings with your travel agent. They might have plenty of suggestions for your ideas, and they can even check the prices. Travel agents sometimes offer tour operator or hotel rates to create a competitive package.

Also read our 10 reasons why you should book with a travel agent.

Our terms and conditions are those as drafted by the Travel Disputes Committee.

You can find the Dutch text here.

You can find the French text here.

Traditional, mandatory health insurance, for which you are affiliated with a health insurance fund, is usually insufficient to obtain the necessary care abroad should anything happen to you. It is recommended that you check the terms and conditions of your mandatory insurance.

In addition, some credit cards offer additional travel insurance. The condition for this is usually that you have paid for the trip with this credit card or, in some cases, the account to which it is linked.

PLEASE NOTE: Credit card travel insurance offers limited coverage, and this is almost never sufficient to travel with peace of mind!

For more information about the cost and terms of travel insurance, please refer to our travel insurance pages. However, we would also like to provide the following information:

The 3 types of travel insurance:

a. Assistance insurance: this covers you if something happens DURING your trip. Here too, there are different levels of coverage. You can expand the coverage according to your needs (Europe vs. worldwide, sports, etc.). This insurance "supports you," but is not the same as cancellation insurance (see next point).
b. Cancellation insurance: this covers you both BEFORE and DURING your trip, but only for the paid travel costs. It does NOT cover any illness or medical expenses, property damage, etc. However, if, for example, you or a close family member becomes ill a few days before the trip and you cannot depart, or you become ill during the trip and have to return early, you will usually lose your travel money.
c. Baggage insurance: this covers your baggage up to a certain amount in case of damage or theft.

If you travel several times a year, it is recommended to take out an annual contract. This will usually be more cost-effective.

Combined contracts (which are more affordable) are also available. Your travel agent can provide more information about this.

First of all, we recommend that you always carry copies of your travel documents with you. This will help you present a copy to the relevant authorities in case of loss of the original travel documents.

Furthermore, you should contact the local police to have the loss of your travel document confirmed.

The embassy or consulate of your local country will help you obtain a temporary travel document that will allow you to return.

If you have travel assistance insurance, the insurance company's emergency center will assist you with the administrative process.

Please note: the situation varies from country to country. Not all countries have an embassy or consulate in your country of nationality. In such cases, you should consult the embassy or consulate of the country that handles the affairs of your country of nationality.

As a traveler you have a number of responsibilities:

• Provide the travel agent with accurate and correct information. This includes:
  
  • The correct name and spelling are as stated on the travel documents. If the traveler provides incorrect information, this may impact the accuracy of the travel services ordered, and the traveler is responsible for this.
  • The correct nationality, so that the travel agent can provide the correct information regarding administrative formalities (e.g. travel documents, visas, etc.).
  • Information regarding your physical and health condition that could impact the correct execution of your trip.
  • Provide all information that could influence the correct execution of the trip.

• Be in possession of the correct travel documents and have them with you upon departure, during the trip and upon return.

• The correct travel formalities have been completed, both regarding travel documents and additional formalities such as visas, vaccinations, health documentation, and so on. The ultimate responsibility for this lies with the traveler, even if the travel agent has assisted with completing the travel formalities.

• Pay the travel sums on time.

• Please be present at the place of departure on time.

• Follow the instructions and rules of airlines, train companies, bus companies, and local service providers to ensure your journey is carried out correctly and safely.

• Report any aspects of the trip that were not carried out in a compliant manner to the local tour operator, the tour operator and the travel agent in a timely manner.