How did you choose your travel agent?

[Aliceacc]

For our past 2 trips, I stopped by the local AAA office, and got whichever agent they assigned to us. Both times things worked out fine, but I was pretty sure that I knew more than our agent.

For next year's trip, I decided to go with a Disney specialist. I came up with an email containging a bunch of my quesitons, and sent it to 18 travel agencies. Of the 10 responses I received, 3 were clearly superior to the rest. I chose my favorite from those 3 and contacted her -- she'll be doing our August 2012 trip.

How did you make your decision?

 

[deannanb]

I just aaa. But your way seems to be a good idea to find another one

 

[OKW Lover]

With many trips to WDW under our belt, we don't use a TA. Its easy enough for us to book our own hotel, flights & car rental on the web.

About the only time we do use a TA is to have Dreams Unlimited book our cruises (great on board credit).

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I've been going since 1983 and we have never used a TA. Tried to book a 2 bedroom villa for our trip in October on line without any luck so I called Disney the best we can get for now is 2 rooms. So I decided to call AAA just to see if they could help me. The agent I talked to was supposed to be a Disney specialist but she didn't know that I could add the dining plan on with my AP, she thought I had to get at least a one day ticket. I'll keep checking on line for the 2 bedroom villa and change my reservtions later. I find it easy to deal directly with Disney.

 

[JCornell]

With many trips to WDW under our belt, we don't use a TA. Its easy enough for us to book our own hotel, flights & car rental on the web.

About the only time we do use a TA is to have Dreams Unlimited book our cruises (great on board credit).

Us, too. We used Small World Vacations for a recent cruise since it gave us an additional OBC but for WDW we always book it ourselves (with much help on the best current offers from here and mousesavers).

 

[kycanonist]

I used one of my best friends from college at House of Mouse Travel

We did everything by phone and email so that I didn't have to go anywhere to meet up with her.

 

[taylor3297]

When I didn't have a pin code, I used AAA so I could save a few dollars.

Now that I am more aware of specials I have used Mouse Fan Travel for my last trip in December and my up coming trip in September. I chose Mouse Fan because my neighbor worked for them and since she has moved up in the company, I know use another person, whose daughter happens to be in my dd girl scout troop. I could do all the booking myself, and get things switched if a special comes out, but with my TA, I don't have too.

For my September trip when the free dining was made available, before I get email her about it, she had already had it applied to my trip.

 

[fun4disney]

For our past 2 trips, I stopped by the local AAA office, and got whichever agent they assigned to us. Both times things worked out fine, but I was pretty sure that I knew more than our agent.

For next year's trip, I decided to go with a Disney specialist. I came up with an email containging a bunch of my quesitons, and sent it to 18 travel agencies. Of the 10 responses I received, 3 were clearly superior to the rest. I chose my favorite from those 3 and contacted her -- she'll be doing our August 2012 trip.

How did you make your decision?

Just wondering what type of questions did you ask them to answer for you?

 

[B.B. Sots]

We checked into a few specialists companies. One stood up above the rest and we have been using her since. We often recommend her and my sister uses her every year.

The biggest thing we look for is responsiveness. If the agent responds in the middle of the night to our questions... Yeah, they are a keeper.

 

[Aristocath]

I don't understand why people use a TA for a WDW trip. I'm using one for our cruise because of OBC. But I guess I'm too much of a WDW control freak to hand it over to a TA.

 

[MCFADDEN5]

We have never used ta, Dis makes it very simple to book your own trip right down to dinner res. Any question I have are quickly answered on disboard

 

[Rekenna]

I look in the mirror and there she is!

 

[ujpest_doza]

I work there

 

[cab0899]

I've never used a TA, too much fun doing it myself.

 

[shenaniganzz]

We selected ours based on responsiveness and personal approach.

I emailed several agencies asking for a quote - maybe six. 3 of those emailed me back a "canned" form reply. No follow-up. The other two sent a quote but never answered other questions I had. No follow-up there either.

The agent we eventually chose from Pixie Vacations was fantastic. Every reply is personal and she responds pretty quickly most days.

 

[PsychNurse]

I started using a company that was highly recommended on *another * discussion board site Anyway, my TA has been amazing!! I never use anyone else. If I book and a better deal comes along she will cancel and rebook for me and then let me know how much money I saved. That first email I got from her that said. "I just refunded $400 into your account" had me hooked!

 

[LisaNJ25]

I used DU for my first trip and hey were great!

Than I met a local disney specialist on here and have been using her.

I have nothing but good things to say. Sure I can do everything myself and I still do all of the planning but I like having the extra touches

 

[klacey1]

A couple of my Dis-friends were TA's. I never thought I'd use one, but one let me know that I could transfer my reservation to her after I already booked. Though I know everything I need to about WDW, I thought it'd be nice to let someone make a buck on my vacation. With that info in mind, I transferred it to the woman who filled me in on that info. I thought that was fair. She's GREAT! She gets back to me super quickly and is very knowledgeable-- my top two points of judgment.

 

[Mousemom]

I started out using a local travel agent but as I did more research I found that because they don't look for discounts etc.. I could make my own reservations and save, sometimes, a lot of money. Now I use Magical Journeys. I saw many people on these boards use this travel agency so I looked into what they offered. One of the things that I like about them is that they watch for all of those special offers for you and apply to your reservation immediately. I just got a message this morning from my agent who said that there is another discount coming out but the one I have saves me more money. I love not having to spend time finding those deals and making sure they get applied to my reservation. I've also looked to see if by using this agency it cost me more than if I book the trip my self - and it does not.

 

[PsychNurse]

I started out using a local travel agent but as I did more research I found that because they don't look for discounts etc.. I could make my own reservations and save, sometimes, a lot of money. Now I use Magical Journeys. I saw many people on these boards use this travel agency so I looked into what they offered. One of the things that I like about them is that they watch for all of those special offers for you and apply to your reservation immediately. I just got a message this morning from my agent who said that there is another discount coming out but the one I have saves me more money. I love not having to spend time finding those deals and making sure they get applied to my reservation. I've also looked to see if by using this agency it cost me more than if I book the trip my self - and it does not.

This is also who I use and who I was referring to above. I wasn't sure If I was allowed to say the name or not, but since you said it, I will second the recommendation. I love them. They make everything about booking a trip super easy and I know I am getting the best deal available!