McGregor vs Aldo---December 12th **Main card 3am. Conor v Aldo approx 5am

Mellor

John_D80 wrote: »

I mean Travel Agents offer better guarantees than online booking companies can. And also the peace of mind I mentioned that comes from knowing that if something goes wrong at the destination, you have someone to contact that can fix it a lot quicker than an online booking company will do. In this regard I learned my lesson by trying to contact a booking site in relation to a messed up hotel reservation a few years ago. I was home in Ireland before they even answered my emails

I think we have had very different experiences with travel agents. That's probably why we're different views on it. I can't think of any sort of guarantee a TA has afforded me. For example;

1. I went with a TA for an month long american trip a few years ago. multi-city, some accome needed. Dates were flexible, the only requirement was that I needed to be in vegas on the first saturday night. They had said they'd book me flyout out on the sunday. All good, booked the trip. I noticed a few days later that the flight out was 1.30am sunday morning (aka saturday night). Went back to them and they wouldn;t admit their cock up. They said I agree to the flights etc, (i was reviewing times for 10 flights). They wanted $600 to change the flight, $150 for the airline, and $150 for them x 2 people. Eventually got the down to spilting the airline costs. But I pissed about it.
2. My GF was flying sydney to belfast. Stopover in london. We specifcally asked will it be all one one ticket. So bags are checked through, and that if a middle flight is delayed by airline that she won't be out of pocket. They said yes. Money paid.
   Tickets issued and nope separate tickets. Too late to do anything.
   She had no choice but to take the risk and hope not to be delayed.

Thats all well and good if you are booking flights only or single destination trips for a small number. But if you dealing with flights, stopovers, transfers, hire cars & accomodation, for a multi leg journey with many different destinations for different people in your group then this is where travel agents come into your own.

See above.
I live in australia, so virtually all my international flights involve stopovers/transfer. They've never been an issue booking online.
If I was booking for a large group, I'd give it to a TA, as I wouldn't want to take responsibility for other people.

Try booking a trip for a special needs traveller online, with the same peace of mind you will get from a travel agent.

My brother has special needs. If he was flying Dublin to Sydney, my confidence in TA's not to screw up his booking somehow is not high after my experiences.

Sometimes they can, sometimes they cant. Many of the Football supporters clubs have arrangements with travel agents that dont always include match tickets, but they can save a fortune on flights and accomodation as the travel agents quite often block book flights and accomodation as soon as they become available and pass the saving on.

If TA in dublin will ahve done that if they were smart. Then get tickets and flogg the packages when its selling out

babymanval

Mellor wrote: »

I really don't understand how travel agents are still in business in this day and age

Do you go and physically pick up a take-away every time you want one? Why not; it's more economical?

on the flip-side:

Do you buy all your clothes online? Or do you take advice from the oh so trendy people in the store instead of reading fashion blogs for hours?

Probably a narrow viewpoint on TA's your part. 90% of all industries have become more automated, competitive, and less profitable these days. I wouldn't imagine the TA industry is as big as it is for no reason, or that independents are doing it for the good of their health, although it's probably a much tougher gig these days. It's a relationships/old fashioned customer service industry. Another poster hit the nail on the head - it's peace of mind, added to the convenience.

Your experience with TA's probably differs to mine personally. I'm well traveled, have lived abroad, and have booked plenty of trips off my own back (pre-McGregor UFC trips included), but totally value the peace of mind attached to a good, informed, connected, responsive TA. Come back to me when you miss a connector through no fault of your own, or you're standing at a hotel check-in in Koh Phangan the day of full moon and despite you waving your confirmation printout from whatever 3rd party site at them trying to communicate in broken English, they still can't find your booking on the system and they're "booked out" along with everywhere else (it does, and has happened to me). It's handy to be able to call a 24 hour line in that instance and have it remedied while you're in the bar.

Looks like this has already been discussed anyway...

John_D80

Mellor wrote: »

I think we have had very different experiences with travel agents. That's probably why we're different views on it. I can't think of any sort of guarantee a TA has afforded me. For example;

1. I went with a TA for an month long american trip a few years ago. multi-city, some accome needed. Dates were flexible, the only requirement was that I needed to be in vegas on the first saturday night. They had said they'd book me flyout out on the sunday. All good, booked the trip. I noticed a few days later that the flight out was 1.30am sunday morning (aka saturday night). Went back to them and they wouldn;t admit their cock up. They said I agree to the flights etc, (i was reviewing times for 10 flights). They wanted $600 to change the flight, $150 for the airline, and $150 for them x 2 people. Eventually got the down to spilting the airline costs. But I pissed about it.
2. My GF was flying sydney to belfast. Stopover in london. We specifcally asked will it be all one one ticket. So bags are checked through, and that if a middle flight is delayed by airline that she won't be out of pocket. They said yes. Money paid.
   Tickets issued and nope separate tickets. Too late to do anything.
   She had no choice but to take the risk and hope not to be delayed.

See above.
I live in australia, so virtually all my international flights involve stopovers/transfer. They've never been an issue booking online.
If I was booking for a large group, I'd give it to a TA, as I wouldn't want to take responsibility for other people.

Of course its down to individual experiences, but for me, knowing that I have someone I can count on to make sure everything is in place is worth the extra they might charge. Without getting too much into it, a typical journey for us is a group of 4/5, transatlantic, with 2 destinations 1 overnight stopover, accomodation for 3 or nights, and hire car in at least one if not two cities. And we do this trip 5 or more times a year. All it takes is one thing to go wrong and the whole thing unravels. We are lucky in that we deal with the same travel agent often enough that we can trust them and can also contact them directly if we have an issue while we are away and it always gets sorted quickly.

Mellor wrote: »

My brother has special needs. If he was flying Dublin to Sydney, my confidence in TA's not to screw up his booking somehow is not high after my experiences.

Well then Im sure you realise how difficult it is to travel with someone that has mobility issues. I dont know your brothers circumstance obviously but for example a guy we had travelling with us recently needed two seats for himself and also for the two seats in front of him to be folded forward. Not many online booking sites have the facility to arrange something like that from what I've seen. If something goes wrong there is a better chance of being compensated by your travel agent than there is by an online booking company.

Mellor wrote: »

If TA in dublin will ahve done that if they were smart. Then get tickets and flogg the packages when its selling out

Its very unusual for the packages for sporting events to include tickets to be fair, as the likes of supporters clubs have their own sources. What they can quite often offer though is very reasonable rates for the flights/accom when booked as a package.

Saipanne

Emm, I also enjoy fighting...

martyos121

Will a travel agent take a fight against McGregor on two weeks notice though?

Saipanne

martyos121 wrote: »

Will a travel agent take a fight against McGregor on two weeks notice though?

I dunno, there's a chance the travel agent will gas in the second (layover).

John_D80

martyos121 wrote: »

Will a travel agent take a fight against McGregor on two weeks notice though?

LOL as opposed to someone you could book online?

martyos121

John_D80 wrote: »

LOL as opposed to someone you could book online?

Well I'd like to imagine Dana didn't go into an office somewhere in California and ask for the "Chad Mendes Country Boy Package". :pac:

John_D80

martyos121 wrote: »

Well I'd like to imagine Dana didn't go into an office somewhere in California and ask for the "Chad Mendes Country Boy Package". :pac:

He certainly didn't book him online either ;-)

Mellor

babymanval wrote: »

Do you go and physically pick up a take-away every time you want one? Why not; it's more economical?

on the flip-side:

Do you buy all your clothes online? Or do you take advice from the oh so trendy people in the store instead of reading fashion blogs for hours?

Fairly ridiculous examples tbh.
Maybe if it was 50% dearer to call in and pick it up it would apply.

Another poster hit the nail on the head - it's peace of mind, added to the convenience.

As I said above, I don't see how it added peace of mind to a flight+hotel combo.

Come back to me when you miss a connector through no fault of your own,

That's happened to me.
If the airline misses your connection and it's in one ticket they have to reseat for free. If it's separate tickets, your screwed. A TA won't change that.

or you're standing at a hotel check-in in Koh Phangan the day of full moon and despite you waving your confirmation printout from whatever 3rd party site at them trying to communicate in broken English, they still can't find your booking on the system and they're "booked out" along with everywhere else (it does, and has happened to me). It's handy to be able to call a 24 hour line in that instance and have it remedied while you're in the bar.

You would need to ring them if they didn't cock it up in the first place. A lot don't have 24h lines, certainly the Irish smaller one.


One of my good friends owns a chain of travel agents here in sydney. He books a lot of back packer trips, and in those cases he probably beats online prices. But for the likes of trips to vegas, he couldn't get close to the price I managed for myself.
He's basically said to me that a large part of his income is people who couldn't ne bother checking online.

Saipanne

:rolleyes:

BigFatGiant

I thought I clicked into the UFC 194 thread but somehow ended up in a thread about the pros and cons of Travel agents!!!

BigFatGiant

So what ticket price range are people aiming for when tickets go on sale ? I heard somewhere the presale starts 9th September for UFC Fight Club member. A few of us thinking of going for the nose bleed section due to budget constraints! Judging by the MGM interactive seating chart they don't seem too bad.

PM me nudes

BigFatGiant wrote: »

So what ticket price range are people aiming for when tickets go on sale ? I heard somewhere the presale starts 9th September for UFC Fight Club member. A few of us thinking of going for the nose bleed section due to budget constraints! Judging by the MGM interactive seating chart they don't seem too bad.

I'm hoping for P5 tickets at $275, but being a poor student, I can't afford Fight Club, doing Vegas on a budget :pac: Probably going to have to rely on the Newsletter Presale and plenty of prayers

martyos121

PM me nudes wrote: »

I'm hoping for P5 tickets at $275, but being a poor student, I can't afford Fight Club, doing Vegas on a budget :pac: Probably going to have to rely on the Newsletter Presale and plenty of prayers

Just remember, there might be a limit of 2 tickets on P5, which they've done before. This is because they are the most popular tickets, and they will do anything to make you pay crazy prices for only slightly better seats.

EDIT: Yeah, there's a 2 ticket limit on P5 for 191, so it looks like that might be the structure going forward. Click on Ticket Limits here and you'll see for yourself: http://www.ticketmaster.com/ufc-191-las-vegas-nevada-09-05-2015/event/2E004EF19C532330?bba=1

If they're going to put a limit on, it should be 4, setting it at two is unfair to the general public who can't all afford $500-600 tickets.

maximoose

Balls, was hoping for p5 tickets myself

PM me nudes

If I don't get P5 or 6 tickets, I won't be able to afford to go :pac:

martyos121

PM me nudes wrote: »

If I don't get P5 or 6 tickets, I won't be able to afford to go :pac:

Any way around finding a cheaper hotel? Plenty of hostels available cheap, but most are in the seedy areas of the city. Keep an eye out on Expedia, I plan on booking tomorrow and the prices have been going up and down all week, might mean you could afford a more expensive ticket if you can cut costs in accommodation and flights.

PM me nudes

The tickets specs mentioned above for 191

maximoose

Well that's crap. Looking to get tickets for 4 of us - might just get one of the others to get another fightclub membership, would work out cheaper than going up to p4.

martyos121

maximoose wrote: »

Well that's crap. Looking to get tickets for 4 of us - might just get one of the others to get another fightclub membership, would work out cheaper than going up to p4.

If all 4 of ye chip in on two subscriptions to FC, it works out around €38 each. That's not too bad tbh.

PM me nudes

It's a bit ridiculous you pay $75 for the privilege of buying tickets early and then to be told you can only buy two of the ones you want

Helpneeded86

martyos121 wrote: »

Any way around finding a cheaper hotel? Plenty of hostels available cheap, but most are in the seedy areas of the city. Keep an eye out on Expedia, I plan on booking tomorrow and the prices have been going up and down all week, might mean you could afford a more expensive ticket if you can cut costs in accommodation and flights.

Hostels...seriously? What is your budget and I will take a look.

Does the two limit count for fight club aswell?

Chase3

From what I've seen, hotels like Excalibur and Luxor are decent and quite cheap. There are also cheaper options such as the stratosphere. Don't know how good it is but it's cheap. The flights are the expensive part, between 500-600 for the cheapest I've found. My advice would be get flights soon at least. You can wait for a hotel to maybe get a cheaper deal, although booking together is cheaper. I wouldn't put off getting flights for long, price and options will only go up.

martyos121

Helpneeded86 wrote: »

Hostels...seriously? What is your budget and I will take a look.

Does the two limit count for fight club aswell?

I'm not staying in a hostel, just to be clear, I was giving advice to the other poster in case he was really stuck for a ticket and had to overspend on one.

Yeah, two ticket limit also counts for FC as far as I've been told.

Juwwi

Hooters hotel is right beside the MGM and always cheaper than alot of the hotels around the strip.

I wouldn't consider staying in a hostel in las vegas .
Hotels are so cheap over there l'd say the hostels are very rough .

Thegalwayman

I've to get 3 tickets but I don't want one of the group to be left in another part of the arena by themselves?? It seems ridiculous

PM me nudes

Two tickets is ridiculous, a lot of people are going in groups and will be dotted around the fcuking arena

Mellor

I think the two ticket limit is only for the public on sale, not 100%

yabadabado

I think the 2 ticket limit is only for the cheapest option P5.Its still a bollix paying for the Fight Club and only getting the option of 2 of the cheaper tickets.