This Is the No. 1 Secret to Cheap Travel That Your Travel Agent Won’t Tell You

5. Charging you extra is a game for them

They try to drive up prices. | comstock/iStock/Getty Images

Travel agents often make a game out of charging you extra, according to Travel Weekly. “All travel agents get paid commission from hotels and airlines, but this can be as low as 1% so we have to make our money somewhere, said a travel agent to Travel Weekly.

“Recently we played a game in the office of how much we mark up tickets to Sydney for. The tickets were about $89 one way but I sold them for $265 — some guy had to get to Sydney for a work meeting. I bet he was a bit shocked when he got on the plane and it wasn’t chock-a-block like I told him. But that’s a mark-up of $176, so I won that round,” said the agent.

Next: Don’t believe everything you hear.