Have you ever thought what makes intermediaries work in every field? Or, why is it that the intermediaries are able to carve out a niche for themselves? Why is it that the buyer and the seller take to the intermediary route to transact the deals rather than doing it themselves? The same questions can also be asked with respect to the online or the offline travel agencies which are crucial intermediaries between the customer on one hand and the travel product suppliers on the other. These travel products are usually the booking of domestic and cheap international flights, hotels, car hire, trains and the holiday packages. For customers who are looking for the cheap air tickets or good deals on other travel products or product-mixes, travel intermediaries are generally one-stop providers of varied products from different suppliers.
The online agencies do charge their fees for their services, but the customers do get the product and service as per their choice, be it the cheap air tickets or the top holiday deals. Some of the key benefits of agencies are:
1. You are not left at the mercy of the travel product suppliers who are driven more by their own profit-making orientation rather than the customer orientation.
2. You obviously have more options on their hand across a range of products when they approach travel agencies since the latter work as aggregators of these products, can do their packaging as per customer requirement and can produce more innovative offers.
3. You are saved of the hassles of finding the right travel product supplier and negotiating the best deals with each one of them. This is as much a relief for the frequent business flier as for the vacationer since do not have to put their heads into the minute details of travel every time they are preparing for travel. The agencies take care of this aspect.
4. It is certainly not possible for you to check out the credentials of all the travel product suppliers while going to a new destination. For this, you often have to rely on the feedback of someone who has used the product or service and can be believed. So, if you are looking for cheap air tickets for cheap international flights, then the agencies can provide you online search facility as well as one-to-one suggestion on which airline would be suitable for travelling. Travel agencies perform this important function. The good agencies follow their own standards while choosing their suppliers and this ensures that you get products and services from the credible and reliable suppliers.
5. If you encounter any problem during the any course of your travel, the agency is much better placed to take up the matter with the concerned supplier and even arrange for immediate solution to the problem. You do not feel helpless in case of failure of the supplier to provide you good services and products.
These points make it clear that the online travel agencies survive and grow banking upon the goodwill they generate due to their strong customer focus.

Author's Bio: 

The author is employed with a leading online travel portal of India which provides cheap air tickets and best deals on holiday packages and hotels. You can search for the cheap international flights and book the same here.