Advice on booking with Costco please..

[bigsky]

I need your advice. We are currently booked with AAA for our land/sea pkg. in November. I feel I have spent a lot of time with our agent, but not been 100% happy with her. She doesn't always return calls. Or says she'll ck on something for me and never gets back to me. I feel like I"m bugging her to get stuff done. Anyways, I've read where some people have booked through Costco.
After being on hold for 1/2 hr. today with them, I finally got a quote. They were about 300.00 less for the pkg.
Should I feel obligated to my agent through AAA? I've never used her before. Is it always so hard to get through to Costco travel if I have any ?'s? I really seem to since this is our first time to do a WDW/ cruise pkg.
But I also feel that your travel agent should work for you. I've seemed to be doing more of the work. I have transfers, but don't even know which company or what we're paying for them!!
So who has used Costco out there and what would you do?
Any perks booking with Costco? Like AAA, you get free mugs and a camera. Course if I save 300.00, I can buy our own mugs!
thanks!!

 

[professorandmom]

My situation was very similar - booked with AAA but got very poor service - she rarely had any answers and I certainly knew more details than she...due to these boards of course. She didn't know about the REF code, etc.

I called Costco and they were cheaper. So I tracked down my AAA agent and asked her to meet the Costco price or I was going to cancel and rebook with Costco - she agreed without hesitation....so I still got the mugs and other AAA perks and learned to lower my expectations - but I did get a good price I am not disappointed.
Barbara

 

[Serena6010]

I just booked w/ Costco a few months ago. So far I haven't had any problems...except for the long waits on hold when I need to add to or change my reservation. I get all my info on these boards so I really never needed to ask them questions anyway. I booked in April and at that time they were running a special for a $100 shipboard credit. I'm not sure if this special is still running but you may want to ask about it....or ask about the $50 1st time cruiser credit that several people on this board have received. This is my 1st time cruising too...so I'm not familiar w/ the travel agent transfer ettiquete...but knowing myself (I like to save money) I would probably transfer for the lower rate if it was possible.

-Serena

 

[mark & sandra]

Just another idea for you to try. I recently booked with All Seasons Travel, www.allseastravel.com . They were 610.00 cheaper than the next cheapest price I could find. Their web site list the prices and the price includes all fees and port charges. Their prices are based on 2 adults and children under 12, I think it's 200.00 more per add. person if the extra person is over 12. They have an 800 # for more direct attention, I was happy with their quick responses to my ???.
Sandra

 

[DianeV]

That is exactly the reason I didnt book with AAA. They didnt seem very interested and didnt even take my name to follow up or anything like they didnt care..

I did go through Dreams Unlimited and have always gotten quick responses to any questions.

 

[tpseller]

I was in a similar situation. I went to AAA last year to get information on our first Land/Sea package. The TA was so pushy I walked out!
(I am in sales and can take a sales pitch - but this went over the line)

So I called her boss to complain and ended up booking with her. She took extra care with us because I was so upset with the other TA. She gave us a couple of nice things like a travel bag, a Disney photo album, a camera for my daughter and of course the mugs. She was VERY slow in returning calls though. But overall I was happy.

Sidenote about the mugs:
(Unless you are a sodaholic - I do not think it is worth booking with AAA for the mugs. Initially I was so excited, but you HAVE to lug them with you all the time. The people that get the DCL mugs get the sticker, the AAA people do not. You have to have the mug. The ice tea and lemonade are great, and FREE!)

Now this time..... I was ready to rebook for a 7 day cruise and she just could not return my call. So I took it upon myself to look around. Found a quote $1000.00 cheaper (we are booking three rooms) so I went with it.

I have heard nothing but raves about Dreams Unlimited, although I did not use them. Since we are booking for both sets of parents, we had to go with the least expensive price.

I have also checked out Costco - I tried to call the other day and the message said "your wait time is more than 30 minutes". I would be upset if everytime I wanted to ask something I had to wait on hold. On the land/sea package AAA and Costco were the same price. I went with AAA for the perks.

I would do the same as professorandmom suggested, just tell the AAA rep to match the price. She probably will.

Have fun! You are going to love the Land/Sea package!

 

[MindydLeon]

just wanted to confirm what you're reading about Cosco - if you are looking for a full service travel agent, Costco is definitely not for you ... but if you're more of a do-it-yourselfer that would like to use the extra $$$ you are almost sure to save with a Costco booking on some extra shore excursion, or perhaps a day or 2 in Orlando before or after the cruise ... then Costco is a great alternative. I have booked three trips thru them and have had to call a couple of times to make minor revisions/additions to my reservations and the waits have always been incredibly long --- you dial into a "phone bank" with operators/travel agents fielding the calls as they come in -- so you probably won't get the some person each time you call for a question, revision or addition to your travel plans. It is not very personal (or at least that has been my experience) but the service is efficient and they get the job done ... and you can't beat the savings ...

 

[my3kids]

I booked two rooms with Costco at a great price. After I booked, I didn't call the selling agent with questions, I called customer service. They were always SO nice and very helpful. I had a great experience. Even got a nice gift in each cabin upon arrival.

 

[bigsky]

Hey Mark and Sandra- Sandra...I cked out the price with Allseastravel.com and found them to be 550.00 less than AAA!! I added 50.00 per child since it's a land/sea pkg..not a 7 day..So needless to say, I'll book with them on Monday! I HOPE they have a decent room available though since it's only 5 months away now. I know when I booked with AAA, there wasn't much left for our catagory.
Thanks everyone for all your advice! My husband asked why I booked with AAA. After the service I've gotten, don't think I'll be going back with them. I will offer them to match the better price I"m getting since she did spend time with me,(not very good), but she won't be able to I don't think.

Thanks again everyone!
Gosh, I just can't wait to go!! I'm more excited than the kids.