Travel Agent or Not?

GCM

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
I have always booked my family's trips myself, but I am finding I am so busy that I just do not have the time to stay on top of it. I have never used a travel agent and would love to know what the pros/cons of using a travel agent are? If I choose to go with a travel agent, what should I look for in picking a quality agent? Thanks!!!
 
Pros? Not needing time to stay on top of it. Although I'm not sure just what it is that might need to be "stayed on top of".

Cons? Not getting exactly what is important to you because a TA can't really know what that is.

Best way to pick a TA? Go with one that specializes in Disney, like the sponsors of the DIS, Dreams Unlimited Travel.
 
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It really depends on the TA. they aren't all equal.. But we'll assume you went with one of the amazing agencies..

Pros:
- There is some trickery they have access to that you dont that might be other avenues of saving money. (I forget exactly what, it's minor but there is some things only available to travel agents. all minor but $1 more off is $1 more off).
- It's in their best interest for you to want to use them again so they are very on top of all changes that might impact you including while on the trip.
- They have their whole company looking out for things so they are more up on what's going on or I should say you dont need to be.
- They are better at being more creative doing it for a lot of people and have the time to be on the phone to adjust your reservation to get you better rooms or possible discounts in a timely manor.
- It'll cost you no more than if you did it yourself but they might be better at finding those discounts that make it better. The good ones don't even take your money, you pay disney direct still.
- generally you can keep as much control as you want so if you want to do the whole fastpass vs adr planning process you dont' have to give that up to them.

Cons:
- They are going to make some choices based on conversations and information from you, which may not be exactly what you would have done (but you can still adjust if you dont' like it, again good ones don't really take control away, they just assist with the vacation planning).
- for some people, the planning is half of the trip and love it.
 
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it's totally a personal thing. We always plan our trips ourselves because we can do exactly what we want to and all our fees are right there in front of us. You can go through a travel agent and get lots of extras too...we just enjoy puting our trips together too much!
 


I used a travel agent once. Never again. I'd rather keep on top of my own reservation and discounts etc, than keep on top of an agent and wait for them to do it. They don't get anything quicker than I can. And if I have to wake up at 6am to make my dining reservation, it's just me. I'm my priority. If agent is booking for multiple clients where do I fall in priority order?

I found date errors on our Magic Transportation vouchers and agent was like "Don't worry, just cross it off and write in correct date." I'd rather deal with Disney agent directly, and I like having access to my reservation online to make changes, etc.

I enjoy planning our trip anyway, and I prefer control over it.
 
This is our second trip. The first trip I did 100% of the planning and loved it! This time there are 14 of us going and I decided to enlist the help of a group that specializes in Disney and is an authorized planner. As we have had to book 4 separate rooms its been a huge help. I still have access to everything on my MDE log in, and I still spend far too much time playing around on the website putting together my wish list of ADR's that she will book for me the morning they become available. I'll still be able to make changes before the trip, but its nice having someone else wake up early to handle them!
 
I would never trust and agent with things like Fastpass pass reservations, ADRs, etc. Have read horror stories her on the DIS of people whose travel agents basically held FP/ADR reservations "hostage" and we're unresponsive to requests to make changes. And the TA wouldn't give the password to their clients so they could make their own changes.

I would never give that kind of control to someone!
 


We started our Disney vacations many years ago using a AAA travel agent. At the time the local AAA office had a Disney travel "expert". Our needs were fairly basic. We knew where we wanted to stay and what tickets we wanted. But the TA made it painless and seemed to find reasonable rates. After a few trips through the TA we decided to take advantage of a bounce back offer which got me started working through the phone reservation system. After that my Disney knowledge had grown and I took over making the reservations myself, first by phone then on the web site.

For me the pro of using the TA was she did all of the "leg work", knowing about or looking for the current deals and actually making the reservations. A quick phone call with the TA and a few days later a travel package was ready.

Seems to me these days it is the meal reservation and FP+ scheduling that needs the most "keeping on top of".
 
I wouldn't use a "run-of-the-mill" travel agent for a Disney trip. A specialist in Disney is great to have. I'm assuming we can't mention specific ones, but the one I use gives free access to Disney planning tools that would otherwise cost extra. They also have been helpful answering questions and providing recommendations.
 
I ended up booking a package with a travel agent because of the deal they were able to get us. I've booked all ADRs, FP+ and dessert parties myself. I actually haven't heard from my TA since everything was finalized, but I haven't tried contacting her either.
 
We use a friend of my wife who is a Disney travel agent. She is great. The first trip we didn't really know what we wanted for ADRs and FPs so she made tons of suggestions and then got us reservations for everything. The trip was amazing and we immediately rebooked another one. Now with our upcoming trips we have a lot more specific requests but we still go through her. For our November trip we didn't have to get up at 5am to make reservations. She did the work and we got everything we asked for.
 
We are heading out on our first trip and I decided to enlist the help of a TA team and I am very happy with the decision.
The team listened to what we wanted, where we wanted to go, what day we wanted, and the "options" that we were open to.
In some circumstances (and we leave in November, so still some time and more bookings to come) they went above and beyond (which was more than we could ever expect!) and we have received everything we have hoped to get!
If we go again - I would not hesitate to contact this TA team to assist.
 
I would never trust and agent with things like Fastpass pass reservations, ADRs, etc. Have read horror stories her on the DIS of people whose travel agents basically held FP/ADR reservations "hostage" and we're unresponsive to requests to make changes. And the TA wouldn't give the password to their clients so they could make their own changes.

I would never give that kind of control to someone!

Now this boggles me. I don't know how a TA can hold ADRs hostage and the only think I think they could do to met up your Fast passes would be to cancel the trip altogether.

When I work with a client who knows Disney and wants to do all of the ADR and FP themselves, I just book the hotel and Magic Express and be there to offer advice and answer questions. %They are in total control of their ADR and FP.

When I have a client who wants me to book ADR and FP, I either book the ADRs under their name and provide them with the reservation number to link or I have them provide me their MDE account name and password and then I book it all directly under MDE so that it is linked.

BUT, they still have total control over it. And if I did go psycho on them and change the password, they can reset it easily by sending a password reset request the their email, thereby locking ME out.


I handle FP by either going into their MDE or, if they are not comfortable with then, they make me a "family and Friend" and I can then book their FP.

So, the only thing I have exclusive control over is their actual hotel reservation
 
So, the only thing I have exclusive control over is their actual hotel reservation

Yeah. I have a TA and the only thing I need to go to the TA for is to make special room requests. Other than that, I can do everything on my own.
 
I used a travel agent mainly because when I started planning everything myself, I felt like I was getting a little overwhelmed and I was afraid I would start to make mistakes. So I had her make the flight arrangements, hotel, parking etc. as well as booking the rooms, meal plan, memory maker and tickets. Once that was done, I was fortunate enough that she is a disney fan, so she offered to go through the fast pass process and meal planning just to show how it works. She also said that if I gave her my login and my requests for FP and dining, she could take care of that too if I wanted. I was able to figure out the bookings myself though. She also called me each month to let me know "oh for your specific trip we have access to ________ deal at the moment. It is / is not better than what you currently have and it does / does not offer ________ so its up to you. "

I've read horror stories here that not all TA's are like this so I guess you need to do some research and ask a LOT of questions about what knowledge they have regarding Disney, what services they will and wont do for you, and what they will and wont let YOU do with your plans.

In my particular case, using a TA was stress free and our vacation was fantastic from start to finish. Well... except my wife was stuck in bed the last 3 days with a whopper of a cold. But that's not the TA's fault. ;)
 
Travel agent booked for us, made ADRs, but we did the Fast Pass stuff ourselves. Planning for that is when I found this board and learned about Tiers (my agent never mentioned those). This was 62 days out so the planning and learning was fast and furious, but once booked all was good. This board along with touring plans was a big help. I have zero doubt I could plan a dream vacation for anyone with the info I have learned on those two sites.
 
Our next trip to WDW is booked through a TA. I'm a big planner, and love doing all the research, but I emailed them for a quote and ended up booking through them. My TA was able to give some insight on lodging (we need bunk beds) and restaurant suggestions. I was the one who got up at 5:30am on ADR day and booked them all. I will be doing my FPP as well. She booked the Magic Your Way package for us and it helps to know an experienced person is my safety net. I have access to all my reservations on MDE. We were able to get the Free Dining package this year. Although I was up early that morning checking, she had already emailed me to let me know she had it reserved for us. I think we would've gotten it without her, but I'm glad I don't have to wonder.
 
If you are a crazy trip planner like most of the people on here, you probably won't be satisfied with a TA if you've planned on your own previously. I tried it once, and cancelled quickly after because I realized I just couldn't give up all the power knowing all I knew about Disney.
 
I used a TA because I could not book my package myself through the website and I didn't feel like calling. I wanted the DDP, but was purchasing my ticketts through a work discount. Otherwise, I would have done it myself. My TA was able to get several ADRs for me 180 days out at 6am so I didn't have to wake up, but I wound up getting most of them by myself anyway using touringplans reservation finder later on.
 
We never use an TA, we used them our first time and figured out that they can not know exactly what we like and how you can modify your trip on the go when you are there using the app.
 

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