Is that a thaw I feel?

Let me just get this out of the way, first of all. I love travel agents.

Always have, always will.

But for the better part of the last decade, travel agents haven’t always loved me back. Maybe it was this 1998 commentary that set them off. Could have also been this one.

(Note to agents reading this: please pay attention to the dates on these articles.)

The fan mail is pouring in today after the Arizona Republic quoted me as saying that travel agents can be really useful.

“Is it really you?” one agent asked.

“I want to commend you for the well written piece highlighting the many values of someone using a travel professional to book travel,” another said in an e-mail.

“Thanks for the pro-agent quotes,” another chimed in.

Coincidentally, I just found out that my former editor at one of the travel trade publications I used to work for (and whose employ I left under regrettable circumstances many years ago) had actually said nice things about my work as an ombudsman. That was a real shocker.

Is that a thaw I feel in the air? Perhaps.

Look, I think the travel agencies that are still in business today must be doing something right. Ten years ago, we still had a lot of agents who were in it for all the wrong reasons. They’re gone now, for the most part.

I’m pleased to recommend the services of good travel agents, but remain unafraid to criticize them when they’ve done something wrong, as I did in this week’s Travel Troubleshooter.

It’s unlikely that travel agents will agree with everything I write or say in the future. But this much is also true: we agree on more things than we disagree on. And at the end of the day, both of us are trying to do what’s best for the traveler.

That’s a lot of common ground, don’t you think?

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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