Benefits of a travel agent

[deuceshoes]

We booked our next cruise when we were on the Dream in late Sept. Can anyone give me a benefit of switching over to a travel agent?
I make all the travel arrangements myself and enjoy doing it, so the "stress" of booking a vacation is no big deal to me. Can a TA offer more on-board credits or help with cheaper airfare... So one please clue me in!

 

[OKW Lover]

The benefit is that you may get an OBC from a TA in addition to whatever you get from Disney.

We use Dreams Unlimited, the sponsor of the DIS Boards, as our TA and have gotten a nice OBC from them on each cruise. Have three more booked!

 

[su_A_ve]

We booked our next cruise when we were on the Dream in late Sept. Can anyone give me a benefit of switching over to a travel agent?
I make all the travel arrangements myself and enjoy doing it, so the "stress" of booking a vacation is no big deal to me. Can a TA offer more on-board credits or help with cheaper airfare... So one please clue me in!

TA can only offer you more on-board credits. However, by switching AFTER booking, you will not get the full amount you could have gotten initially.

Regarding airfare, no. A TA will actually cost you more as the best offers are only available by booking directly with the airline. Some TAs will do the booking like this but some may charge you a fee instead. Some will do the booking via the airline's web site directly as a courtesy.

Hope this helps.

 

[lucky1]

We booked our next cruise when we were on the Dream in late Sept. Can anyone give me a benefit of switching over to a travel agent?
I make all the travel arrangements myself and enjoy doing it, so the "stress" of booking a vacation is no big deal to me. Can a TA offer more on-board credits or help with cheaper airfare... So one please clue me in!

More on board credits. But generally only if you designate the at the time of booking as your TA. Moving it after booking, you don't get all the credit the offer.

Our TA, now that we have booked 5 cruises through her, has been sending us "gifts" to the stateroom as a Thank you.

 

[Kirbo]

We use our TA for their services. This last summer we had some horrible emergency come up and they were amazing helping fix plane tickets. My father had gotten his plane ticket through them (they didn't charge any extra for that) and when his flight needed to be changed they were amazing! Meanwhile, my aunt had booked her own flights and fought with expedia for hours. (She had used our TA for the cruise. She ended up speaking to our TA who couldn't fix her flights since they weren't booked through them, but the TA was able to help my aunt get around the expedia fiasco.) (My husband, our children and I had Disney Air, Disney took care of us in a wonderful fashion.)

Our TA does give an OBC, but not as much as Dreams or some other places. But our TA give amazing service. We'll never book without them and we recommend them to everyone.

 

[deuceshoes]

Well how can I get a Dream Unlimited person to contact me to see my options?

 

[plutolovr]

If you click on this link you'll see the box where it gives you an E-mail link to send them regarding a cruise transfer. The transfer has to be done within 30 days of your booking.

 

[JohnDS]

We booked through costco and are getting a gift card for $405.

 

[MND]

The benefit is that you may get an OBC from a TA in addition to whatever you get from Disney.

We use Dreams Unlimited, the sponsor of the DIS Boards, as our TA and have gotten a nice OBC from them on each cruise. Have three more booked!

The problem I have had with Dreams Unlimited is that they are very slow to respond. Forget about using them for first day bookings. Yuck!

Mike

I have a AAA agent that I like.

 

[mc2]

If all goes well and there are absolutely no issues with your vacation, and you enjoy booking stuff yourself, for sure the benefit isn't always there other than OBC if they offer some. BUT, if you end up in our situation a week ago where they call to cancel 72 hours before your cruise, and 24 hours before you were due to fly out? Yeah....definitely happy we had booked with a TA. Many reports of people on our cruise who used TAs who had rebooked for very near future cruises (or had 100% of the rebook chaos handled by the TA), some barely even knowing it had been cancelled and the TA already had everything sorted out for them. Mine was actually notified after we were, but looked after all of our flight stuff and such. She was still sending emails at 10 pm Thursday night as she was helping us to try to sort out whether or not we wanted to go/do something else instead (last minute), and spent 3/4 of the day Friday trying to sort out more stuff for us. If the pricing works out to be the same or close to the same, hands down would go with the TA for that peace of mind. If there is a significant savings not to, then you would have to weigh the pros/cons. But we are now 1,000,000% yes for a TA after our experiences over the past week (and I am a "book everything myself" kind of gal as well). And the one we use is just a little local office who doesn't even offer OBC, but is super awesome and totally worth it.

Just our $0.02, anyway.

 

[Kirbo]

If all goes well and there are absolutely no issues with your vacation, and you enjoy booking stuff yourself, for sure the benefit isn't always there other than OBC if they offer some. BUT, if you end up in our situation a week ago where they call to cancel 72 hours before your cruise, and 24 hours before you were due to fly out? Yeah....definitely happy we had booked with a TA. Many reports of people on our cruise who used TAs who had rebooked for very near future cruises (or had 100% of the rebook chaos handled by the TA), some barely even knowing it had been cancelled and the TA already had everything sorted out for them. Mine was actually notified after we were, but looked after all of our flight stuff and such. She was still sending emails at 10 pm Thursday night as she was helping us to try to sort out whether or not we wanted to go/do something else instead (last minute), and spent 3/4 of the day Friday trying to sort out more stuff for us. If the pricing works out to be the same or close to the same, hands down would go with the TA for that peace of mind. If there is a significant savings not to, then you would have to weigh the pros/cons. But we are now 1,000,000% yes for a TA after our experiences over the past week (and I am a "book everything myself" kind of gal as well). And the one we use is just a little local office who doesn't even offer OBC, but is super awesome and totally worth it.

Just our $0.02, anyway.

This is truly why we book with a TA. It's for those times when you have something go wrong. And the OBC isn't our real reason for using one (ours gives an OBC, but it's relatively small). It's for the service in case of emergency.

Glad you have a great TA and they helped when the Magic cruise was canceled.

 

[seaulater]

Totally agree with the posters above. I use a TA and boy am I glad I do after the nightmare.of the Disney magic being cancelled last week. Mine called me late morning, we talked for less than 5 minutes and he got on the phone with his sales rep at DClL and took care of mine as well as his other cruisers. I was rebooked on the 27th and all was taken care of. I was not stressed out or sitting on hold likes come for over two hours. I don't use the sponsors of the disboards because everything is done by email and they are slow to respond based on the one times. Tried to. Use them. I use an agency that is. Disney cruise authorized vacation planner that has their offices open 7 days a week to always be there fort you. There impeccable service is what keeps me going to them and we have become good friends and a bunch of us cruise together with the owners now. A great agency is worth it's weight in gold!

 

[ocspartan]

If you are a do it yourself type I'd go with Costco, as posted many times in threads they give the most back in terms of a cash card that you can use after the cruise.

 

[OKW Lover]

The problem I have had with Dreams Unlimited is that they are very slow to respond. Forget about using them for first day bookings. Yuck!.

That hasn't been my experience at all. My DU agent actually gives me advance notice when new dates are going to be released. I let her know if I'm interested in a particular cruise and she books it as soon as the window opens. Pretty good service.

 

[mc2]

This is truly why we book with a TA. It's for those times when you have something go wrong. And the OBC isn't our real reason for using one (ours gives an OBC, but it's relatively small). It's for the service in case of emergency.

We actually started using a TA/this TA because of how she handled another emergency. My parents came with us on our 2009 cruise, and 10 days after we got home, Dad had a heart attack. They had been scheduled to attend a friend's daughter's destination wedding in Jamaica a month later. Needless to say, that wasn't happening. They had bought travel insurance on her recommendation, and she handled absolutely everything for them. There wasn't a second of stress other than being disappointed about not going on the trip. And they received their cheque from the insurance company super quickly. She was phenomenal, and my parents were so thankful that she was there to handle everything/that they didn't need to deal with it on top of everything else. We have been booking everything with her ever since.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

When exactly did you book onboard? You have 30 days to transfer your reservation to a TA if you decide to go that route. Many TAs reduce the amount of their OBC if you transfer the reservation vs. making it through them or naming them when you make an OBB. Costco Travel gives the same cash card either way. If you happen to be a member of Costco or have one near you and have considered joining, they can be a great deal. They can't discount the cruise (no TA can), but they offer a substantial cash card (8-9% of the cruise fare) that you receive in the mail a week or so after sailing.
I booked our first two cruises directly through DCL. Once I felt that I really had a handle on the ins and outs, I booked the next two through Costco Travel.

 

[mytripsandraces]

That hasn't been my experience at all. My DU agent actually gives me advance notice when new dates are going to be released. I let her know if I'm interested in a particular cruise and she books it as soon as the window opens. Pretty good service.

Do you mind sharing the name of your agent? I'm considering another cruise and would like to book through DU, but am concerned about reachability and some of the reports on the boards.

 

[goeva]

We booked through costco

If you are a do it yourself type I'd go with Costco, as posted many times in threads they give the most back in terms of a cash card that you can use after the cruise.

When exactly did you book onboard? You have 30 days to transfer your reservation to a TA if you decide to go that route. Many TAs reduce the amount of their OBC if you transfer the reservation vs. making it through them or naming them when you make an OBB. Costco Travel gives the same cash card either way. If you happen to be a member of Costco or have one near you and have considered joining, they can be a great deal. They can't discount the cruise (no TA can), but they offer a substantial cash card (8-9% of the cruise fare) that you receive in the mail a week or so after sailing.
I booked our first two cruises directly through DCL. Once I felt that I really had a handle on the ins and outs, I booked the next two through Costco Travel.

Another vote for Costco Travel here. !