Booking with Canadian Agent or Not??

[Cruiser1969]

Hello,

I've been reading the Canadian posts recently, but I have only started to post tonight.

I'm a little confused about how to book my vacation to Disney for next year. I feel very capable of planning and choosing where to stay and what to do, etc., but I'm under the impression that the safest way to go is to book with a TICO agent in Canada. Is this true? In the past I have just walked into an agency and told them what I want and for what price, too! I've only ever done this so I can have the "advantage" of having a TICO agent as a "safety net." Does this make sense, or could I book directly with Disney or an out-of-country agent (non TICO)? Is there any big difference??

Any thoughts or words of advice would be much appreciated. I'm looking forward to learning from your experiences.

 

[cabmom]

The only time we've used an agent for Disney was for our trip in 2003, when we stayed on Disney property and had tickets with the package. We used Dreams Unlimited a sponsor of this board.

We do everything ourselves for booking now. As you can see by most posters, that they fly out of Buffalo which is much cheaper than Toronto. However, there are still a considerable number that fly from Toronto as well.

There are also a few agents that deal with Disney on this board that are Canadian.

Hope I helped!

Marilynn

 

[NancyK]

Hi,
Welcome to the DIS! I always book my room myself directly with Disney since we usually drive. I've bought my park tickets at the Disney Store in Canada as well as online. I got a super deal out of Buffalo on Southwest for our trip a couple of weeks ago. I felt very comfortable buying those tickets online. But you're correct in thinking that if anything went wrong with the flight, I would have been out that money since I didn't book through a travel agent. I think it comes down to what YOU feel comfortable with. I have a friend who only books her Disney hotel/flights/tickets through a travel agent and I totally understand that point of view as well. Happy planning!

 

[wdwr]

Hello,

I've been reading the Canadian posts recently, but I have only started to post tonight.

I'm a little confused about how to book my vacation to Disney for next year. I feel very capable of planning and choosing where to stay and what to do, etc., but I'm under the impression that the safest way to go is to book with a TICO agent in Canada. Is this true? In the past I have just walked into an agency and told them what I want and for what price, too! I've only ever done this so I can have the "advantage" of having a TICO agent as a "safety net." Does this make sense, or could I book directly with Disney or an out-of-country agent (non TICO)? Is there any big difference??

Any thoughts or words of advice would be much appreciated. I'm looking forward to learning from your experiences.

You can do all the planning and just have the Travel Agent do the actual booking.

I have done that twice with my TA. I get her the details and she books exactly what I want. (I know more about WDW then she does) I get all the room & ticket info from the WDW website reservations quote and send it to her. Then she calls and does the booking. (WDW does not promote their 800 number but the Dis Boards have it for us Canadians) This way she pays for all the long distance calls.

You might even be able to get them to do any dining or tour reservations you might want. I do that myself because then I can switch them in a split second if something is booked.

I even get an example of airfare and tell her if she can beat it to go ahead and book what she finds. (the web is a wonderful tool)

You should definitely book it through a travel agent to cover yourself. Better safe then sorry! It's not like it is going to cost you MORE to have them do the booking.

But feel free to wait for me ppl to chime in! We all like to give our 2 cents!

 

[Valjean13]

Booking yourself isn't such a risky thing, as long as you use a credit card. I had tickets on Jetsgo when they went bankrupt and my card refunded the entire amount. I believe most people who bought off the net with their credit card got their money back. I believe that booking your hotel directly with Disney using a credit card is pretty low-risk, especially since Disney won't be going bankrupt anytime soon! If you bought off Travelocity or Expedia that is another story....you run the risk of not having hotel rooms once you get there (a travel agent explained why to me once, but I forget). But this happens so rarely, and lots of people on the DIS book Disney rooms this way.

I just booked flights out of Buffalo on Southwest, and it saved us over $800 from flying out of Toronto. None of the travel agents I talked to would even check Southwest's fares, I think it's because they don't make any money from it. And if anything happens to the airline, I am covered with my credit card!

 

[tone.def]

Booking yourself isn't such a risky thing, as long as you use a credit card. I had tickets on Jetsgo when they went bankrupt and my card refunded the entire amount. I believe most people who bought off the net with their credit card got their money back. I believe that booking your hotel directly with Disney using a credit card is pretty low-risk, especially since Disney won't be going bankrupt anytime soon! If you bought off Travelocity or Expedia that is another story....you run the risk of not having hotel rooms once you get there (a travel agent explained why to me once, but I forget). But this happens so rarely, and lots of people on the DIS book Disney rooms this way.

I just booked flights out of Buffalo on Southwest, and it saved us over $800 from flying out of Toronto. None of the travel agents I talked to would even check Southwest's fares, I think it's because they don't make any money from it. And if anything happens to the airline, I am covered with my credit card!

Man - are we the same traveller???


I used an online TA, who's company is based in the US, but I have an agent who is Canadian (some outside contract agreement???) for my Disney reservation and because my credit card statement saying the Walt Disney Travel Company and NOT Dream Come True Vacations - I fell pretty safe with that. This is my second trip booking through them, the first one went without a hitch, I expect no problems this time around either.

Same thing with Southwest. The reason why TA's won't look at it is exactly why you mentioned - they make ZERO commission - my TA said she could book me on Air Tran or anything else through the Walt Disney Travel Company, but I decided to wait for a Southwest DING and I'm glad I did.

 

[CharlesTD]

We never use an agent when we book for Disney even before we bought DVC. We know what resorts we wanted and we knew what passes etc. We just felt it was easier to do it all ourselves then if we needed to change something we could do it rather than relying on somone else to make the changes for us.

 

[usetheforceluke]

If you want a 'package' trip, then use a TA, because they'll look after all of the detailing for you, but make sure that it's a TA that deals 'a lot' with Disney tours.

If you just want a room and airfare, then do it yourself. Book directly with Disney, and then find a reputable airline (SWA seems to be highly regarded here, if flying out of the US), using a credit card.

We've actually used both, and I don't see much difference in the service, although the TA (US-based) made our dinner ADRs.

Last time we decided to go for a short trip, I sorta said well, we should go, and maybe you should book it. Fifteen minutes later I was told "All Booked", and I didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

 

[wee-haggis]

I asked Sears Canada Travel if they could book Southwest.
They can...for a $50 per person fee......not!

 

[Cruiser1969]

Thank you for your replies. I can already tell these boards will be very useful in planning our trip next year.

Does anyone know what TICO does for me that booking with a credit card does not?

Thanks Again!