Check-in before or after travel agent transfer

[NicknTab]

Hello! Today, my wife and i booked a vacation package at beach club. We’re super excited about the deal we got. However, one of the recommendations we’ve found is to online check in as soon as possible.

However, we were considering transferring over to a travel agency.

Here’s what I’d like to know: should i transfer the reservation to the travel agent before doing online check-in or after??

 

[Farro]

Why are you transferring over to a travel agent if you got a good deal already through Disney? Just curious. Also, you can't do online check in until 60 days out, maybe that changes things?

 

[NicknTab]

Why are you transferring over to a travel agent if you got a good deal already through Disney? Just curious.

They said it would be the same cost and they would then monitor the reservation to see if there were any changes which would add value or reduce cost.

 

[Farro]

They said it would be the same cost and they would then monitor the reservation to see if there were any changes which would add value or reduce cost.

Ah, got it. So you can't do online check in until 60 days out. If you transfer to travel agent, I'm not sure if you have the ability to do online check in.

We don't use a travel agent so hopefully someone comes along who can answer your question.

Have a great trip, we love the Beach Club!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

There is zero advantage to doing online check-in early. You can also monitor and check new promos as they come out on your own. The TA just wants you to transfer the reservation so they can collect a commission.

 

[NicknTab]

There is zero advantage to doing online check-in early. You can also monitor and check new promos as they come out on your own. The TA just wants you to transfer the reservation so they can collect a commission.

TA Advantage: i don’t have to monitor anything myself. They contact me as soon as some savings comes up.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

TA Advantage: i don’t have to monitor anything myself. They contact me as soon as some savings comes up.

Yes, that's IF they actually monitor the discounts for you and apply any applicable savings. The chances of you getting a better discount than the BB are slim. Once you transfer the reservation, you have zero control over it so you definitely need to trust that this TA will actually be watching for discounts for you.

 

[writerguyfl]

TA Advantage: i don’t have to monitor anything myself. They contact me as soon as some savings comes up.

Keep in mind that any discounts found means the Travel Agents ends up making less money because their commission would be lower. Once they take over your reservation, there's VERY little incentive for a travel agent to actually do any work on your behalf.

I'm with DisneyWishes14 on this topic. You really need to trust the person. If it's some random person you "met" online, I'd think twice about giving him or her complete control over your vacation. Once transferred, you can't call up Disney and make any changes. Everything has to go through your travel agent.

I also agree: There's no real benefit in checking-in right at 60 days. No one at Disney even looks at the reservations until a few days prior to your arrival.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The TA just wants you to transfer the reservation so they can collect a commission.

Still, this doesn't affect the OP's cost in any negative way.

Keep in mind that any discounts found means the Travel Agents ends up making less money because their commission would be lower.

the TA still ends up earning a commission.

 

[Maxie86]

You can still do online checkin if you use a TA, it wont make a difference if you do it before or after transferring the ressie. I agree there is no advantage in checking in early, but I just did online check in for my May trip over 100 days out. The only thing you cant do if you use a TA is change or cancel the ressie. You can still make ADRs and FPs. I almost always use a TA. I just email or text her with what I want and she books it...same if I want to make a change.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Still, this doesn't affect the OP's cost in any negative way.

the TA still ends up earning a commission.

Yes, I get that. But, as I said, the chances of a WDW promo coming out to beat the BB are slim to none and the OP loses control of the reservation. As a PP noted, let's hope this is a TA the OP knows and trusts. After the transfer, all changes and cancellations must go through the TA and if the TA is unresponsive to questions, requests, etc. this could go badly. This is not a win-win situation. TA gets commission for doing little to no work and OP loses control. IMHO, the only time this "I'll monitor for better discounts" sales pitch makes sense is when you are booking rack rate and the TA actually does what he/she says they are going to do.

 

[kiford]

If you transfer to travel agent, I'm not sure if you have the ability to do online check in.

I've never booked using other than a TA and I always have the option of checking in online. I never do. I don't personally see any advantage to me. We have to pick up our MBs at registration anyway because we're in Canada and with so many more people doing online check-in the desks are much less crowded than they used to be. Also gives me the opportunity to check if they've been able to meet my room requests and make a last minute change if they haven't.

 

[buzznina]

Yes, if you want to, you can still do online check-in even if you use a TA.
Unlike some, I have no issues using a TA, BUT the one I do use, specifically deals with Disney and Universal trips. Our family has done many trips to WDW using a TA exclusive deal, and we have used them even if they do not have a TA deal. Once we decide, we rarely ever change our plans, the one thing we may do is shorten our trip by a day. The times we did want to do changes, it was all handled via email and completed quickly. One advantage I have noticed, is that they seem to have no issues shortening an existing reservation, a few years ago, when we did the reservation, I had to get guest services to specially approve it, and I still read posts about that. The people that should not use TA's are the ones that can never make up their minds on resorts etc. and/or a micro-manager types.

 

[bumbershoot]

However, one of the recommendations we’ve found is to online check in as soon as possible.

I always do online checkin, but there's no big reason to do so. I do it because it's there and it's part of the countdown. Not sure why people would recommend to do it asap.

They said it would be the same cost and they would then monitor the reservation to see if there were any changes which would add value or reduce cost.

You can do that, too. And I hope this TA actually does that.

So you can't do online check in until 60 days out. If you transfer to travel agent, I'm not sure if you have the ability to do online check in.

Yes you can do online checkin with a TA.

And it's not 60 days anymore. I could have done online checkin the moment I booked my most recent reservation, which was about 7 months out.

 

[Farro]

Hey @NicknTab, you can do online check in with a travel agent.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, if you want to, you can still do online check-in even if you use a TA.
Unlike some, I have no issues using a TA, BUT the one I do use, specifically deals with Disney and Universal trips. Our family has done many trips to WDW using a TA exclusive deal, and we have used them even if they do not have a TA deal. Once we decide, we rarely ever change our plans, the one thing we may do is shorten our trip by a day. The times we did want to do changes, it was all handled via email and completed quickly. One advantage I have noticed, is that they seem to have no issues shortening an existing reservation, a few years ago, when we did the reservation, I had to get guest services to specially approve it, and I still read posts about that. The people that should not use TA's are the ones that can never make up their minds on resorts etc. and/or a micro-manager types.

The reason TA's dealing with TA exclusives have no issues shortening stays is because they are dealing with room inventory specifically within their agency block and they have complete flexibility within that block. WDTC reservations do not work this way and no TA has a magic wand to shorten or lengthen a WDTC package or room-only reservation. That is completely dependent on availability within the general or WDW-promo inventory.

 

[Moliphino]

I've never booked using other than a TA and I always have the option of checking in online. I never do. I don't personally see any advantage to me. We have to pick up our MBs at registration anyway because we're in Canada and with so many more people doing online check-in the desks are much less crowded than they used to be. Also gives me the opportunity to check if they've been able to meet my room requests and make a last minute change if they haven't.

You can do this with online check-in, too. We've been in the parks or at another resort when we've gotten the room ready text and if it's not what we want we call the number given and ask to have it changed. We're 2 for 2 on getting better rooms over the phone when we don't like the initial assignment.

Since you need to go to the resort to pick up magicbands anyway, I can see why it's not any more convenient than regular check-in, though.

 

[buzznina]

The reason TA's dealing with TA exclusives have no issues shortening stays is because they are dealing with room inventory specifically within their agency block and they have complete flexibility within that block. WDTC reservations do not work this way and no TA has a magic wand to shorten or lengthen a WDTC package or room-only reservation. That is completely dependent on availability within the general or WDW-promo inventory.

I also mentioned we did it without the exclusive deal, with no issues. Whether they had to deal with guest services or not, I do not know, all I do know is that I did not have to deal with it.