Can a cellphone be your travel agent?

If there is one industry that has been completely and irrevocably changed by the digital revolution, it’s travel. 

Gone are the days of the traditional travel agent, of having to queue patiently for a ticket, and of expensive tour packages that require months, if not years, of saving. 

We don’t have to be stuck in an airport, sleeping on a cold metal bench, if our flight is delayed. Even last minute accommodations can be had, and no, we don’t have to have our own personal concierge to make arrangements. 

Hello, world

Travel has been democratized, we can easily go online to purchase a ticket to our desired destination, we simply input our credit card details and voila, our email is sent to our itinerary. 

With the instant availability of all airlines and all accommodations in one market platform (your browser, thanks to the internet), prices have gone down, promos have increased and we, the happy traveler, have only more reason to give in to our wanderlust. 

But this isn’t new news. What is new though is how another revolution is happening in travel. And this is a shift towards mobile. 

In the last decade, phones have evolved from devices that we can just call and text from to mini-computers where we can hack into our never-ending forest of email, cameras and self-publishing units that allow us to overshare our lives, and now, also our very own travel agent.

According to hotelmarketing.com, at least one out of every four online travel bookings for Asia Pacific are now made from a mobile device. 

Agoda, the international accommodation-booking service  and Asia’s leading hotel booking site that offers the lowest rates and great convenience to travelers, has bitten this bullet with its very own mobile app. 

Easy as 1, 2, 3 meta

Just install Agoda’s mobile app on your phone and you gain access to thousands of hotels/accommodations in hundreds of destinations around the world. 

From New York to New Delhi, Bangkok to Bali, or domestically, Bataan to Boracay, Agoda has a great variety of choices for every budget and every lifestyle. 

First, you just type in the city of your destination. Then input the date of arrival and the number of nights’ stay. Click “Find Room” and Agoda gives you a list of choices.

Visually, hotels with promo rates are highlighted blue. So they’re easy to spot and click. 

You can also filter the choices according to your priorities. 

Just for you

Feeling fancy? Filter according to the hotel star rating. 

Can’t live without hi-speed internet? Include it in your request to wipe out unnecessary analog options. 

Trust issues? Filter the choices according to real user reviews. 

Another helpful characteristic is how prices can reflect in PHP. No need for you to do computations to figure out how much you’ll be shelling out. 

Photos of the place, reviews and facilities are all easily accessed, just scroll, swipe and get the info quick. 

A big bonus also are mobile-only promos and discounts. So more reason to book through your smartphone. This is also a great and easy way for Filipinos to make their travel arrangements, after all, we are smarphone-savvy and mobile natives. 

When you’ve made your choice, just input your credit card details and you are set. 

You’ll receive the itinerary on your email inbox and then you are green lit. 

Agoda’s app is a handy tool that makes booking accommodations (almost) as fun as tinkering with that dating app. -Rappler.com

The Agoda app already has 4.5 millions downloads to date. This can be used from an iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Agoda has the widest choice of accommodations all over the world, with more than 500,000 properties. People can book via Agoda even in Europe or in the US, the app also guarantees the lowest prices. For more info, visit www.agoda.com or download the app.