Dining Plan and Travel Agents

[bigrigsby71682]

Why are travel agents so desperate to get the dining plan back? Do they get a larger cut from the package total if it includes the dining plan? Every podcast I listen to that has travel agents waxes poetic about how many of their clients want the dining plan and then every podcast that doesn’t have travel agents doesn’t care at all. This is just agents wanting more money right?

 

[maltdizzy]

I think it's more to do with TAs being in touch with what their clients (and potential clients) are requesting out of their trip. The DDP is one of the most popular package add-ons. TAs are booking for families who are traveling to WDW for 5-10 day trips. But, yes, their commissions is a percentage of the sell.

How many of those "non-TA" podcasters represent once in a lifetime, or once every 3-5 year, families? And how many are are locals with APs, or people who travel to WDW several times a year? Singles vs couples vs families? Etc. People have entirely different touring styles when their going back in a few weeks.

 

[meremac]

I am a TA. Yes, it is true that we make commission on the DDP. But good TAs won't push the DDP for the sake of pushing it. Pre-COVID, I would lay out the details and pricing of each DDP option and make recommendations based on each client's needs and preferences. For some families (i.e. families with children ages 3-9 who want to do a ton of character meals), the DDP can be beneficial. For others, there's no way they would even break even on the DDP, and I would tell them that. But the bottom line is that some of my clients just really wanted to have their meals paid for without the stress of thinking about it when they were there. And I can honestly tell you that I don't even mention the DDP in my quotes right now since it's not available, but I have had TONS of clients ask me unprovoked when it will be back. As TAs, we interact with a LOT of guests, so we kind of have our finger on the pulse of what people want...and the DDP is quite popular.

 

[Marionnette]

Why are travel agents so desperate to get the dining plan back? Do they get a larger cut from the package total if it includes the dining plan? Every podcast I listen to that has travel agents waxes poetic about how many of their clients want the dining plan and then every podcast that doesn’t have travel agents doesn’t care at all. This is just agents wanting more money right?

I think a lot of their clients are asking for it. There are quite a few people who like the convenience. I know a number of people who are disappointed that it hasn't returned even though I often point out to them that it's not a great value.

TAs get a commission on their sales, so if they book a package with park hoppers, Genie+ and DDP, they make more money for just about the same amount of effort. That's not a swipe at TAs. It's just fact. A good TA will put the client's interests first.

 

[bigrigsby71682]

Okay so yeah they get more money so of course they want it back and of course they want to talk it up to distract from the fact that’s it’s not a good value. If people really loved the prepaid luxury of it all they could just buy a couple of $500 gift cards and they’re good to go. I agree that a good TA wouldn’t push it on their clients which is why I don’t financially support these podcasts that rave about the dining plan for obvious reasons.

 

[Marionnette]

Okay so yeah they get more money so of course they want it back and of course they want to talk it up to distract from the fact that’s it’s not a good value. If people really loved the prepaid luxury of it all they could just buy a couple of $500 gift cards and they’re good to go. I agree that a good TA wouldn’t push it on their clients which is why I don’t financially support these podcasts that rave about the dining plan for obvious reasons.

While I agree that GCs can be a good pre-paid alternative to the DDPs, their use still makes the guest think about price every time they sit down to eat. There are people who prefer not to have to think about money when they are on vacation. It's why all-inclusive resorts are so popular.

 

[snikki]

Okay so yeah they get more money so of course they want it back and of course they want to talk it up to distract from the fact that’s it’s not a good value. If people really loved the prepaid luxury of it all they could just buy a couple of $500 gift cards and they’re good to go. I agree that a good TA wouldn’t push it on their clients which is why I don’t financially support these podcasts that rave about the dining plan for obvious reasons.

The DDP is a good value for some people. Like a pp stated, a family with two kids under 9 that plan on doing a bunch of character meals will benefit from the plan.

 

[rdaky]

Not every TA is out for the best for their clients. The more you spend, including DDP, the more money they earn. Disney travel agents are everywhere. Literally everywhere. I know several stay at home moms who are Disney agents. And they're not all great. Sometimes their advice is terrible. But bottom line, they do want your money. And they've done a really good job at convincing folks that the DDP is an amazing deal. It's not.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We only used it when it was part of a "free" package. It used to be a better deal than a room discount for mods when it was the full DDP and not just the QS DDP for us. That DDP isn't coming back till the restaurants are all back and fully staffed my opinion.

I don't believe it is ever coming back.

 

[reddog21]

While I agree that GCs can be a good pre-paid alternative to the DDPs, their use still makes the guest think about price every time they sit down to eat. There are people who prefer not to have to think about money when they are on vacation. It's why all-inclusive resorts are so popular.

It's also the same reason people buy the drink plan on a cruise, you don't think the cruise line isn't making $$$ on every drink plan purchased. It's an easy way to prebudget your trip no
different than the DDP. You get your food, your drinks and you don't have to think about it since it's already paid. It's that simple and anyone who's it looking to make money off DDP just
shouldn't buy it.

 

[snikki]

I think some version of the DDP will return but will be tweaked. Disney makes waaayyyy too much off of the plan to not bring it back.

 

[meremac]

Not every TA is out for the best for their clients. The more you spend, including DDP, the more money they earn. Disney travel agents are everywhere. Literally everywhere. I know several stay at home moms who are Disney agents. And they're not all great. Sometimes their advice is terrible. But bottom line, they do want your money. And they've done a really good job at convincing folks that the DDP is an amazing deal. It's not.

This is an unfair statement. For many TAs, the "bottom line" is NOT that they "want your money". MY bottom line is that I want my clients to have a great time AND to recognize my value as a partner in helping to make that great time happen. I've worked very hard over the course of many years to build up the reputation of my business, and a huge part of that is gaining my clients' trust. I wouldn't ever think of pushing something on a client that they didn't want or need because 1) It's not the ethical thing to do; and 2) The way to grow a business is through loyal repeat customers and trusted word-of-mouth, and that won't happen if your "bottom line" is simply to get your clients to spend as much money as possible to increase your immediate cash flow. There are lots of great TAs out there, and this comment (along with some other comments) is really unkind especially after the challenges of the last couple of years.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Why are travel agents so desperate to get the dining plan back? Do they get a larger cut from the package total if it includes the dining plan? Every podcast I listen to that has travel agents waxes poetic about how many of their clients want the dining plan and then every podcast that doesn’t have travel agents doesn’t care at all. This is just agents wanting more money right?

I think most of the PP comments about clients asking for it are true. I would guess, anecdotally of course, that most people who liked the DDP, either knew how to maximize the dollars and make the most of it or they felt that the plan provided a more "all inclusive", prepaid feel to their trip. We only used the DDP once and knew it was not for us, even when our kids were little since we just never could eat enough food, so we're not ideal users. I think you have some agents that would sell anything to anyone, even if it's not a good choice but I would venture to guess that most TAs want repeat clients so they likely won't dupe their clients and sell them something that they don't need.

I do think the DDP is coming back soon, Disney has stated it's coming sometime in 2022 and as of the last few months, I've seen the DDP logo more frequently on a number of different things on park menus, after hours events etc so I think it's coming back.....but with a much higher price tag....like everything else.

 

[maltdizzy]

Okay so yeah they get more money so of course they want it back and of course they want to talk it up to distract from the fact that’s it’s not a good value. If people really loved the prepaid luxury of it all they could just buy a couple of $500 gift cards and they’re good to go. I agree that a good TA wouldn’t push it on their clients which is why I don’t financially support these podcasts that rave about the dining plan for obvious reasons.

That's a pretty overly cynical and negative view on both TAs and the guests who like the DDP. It's not my thing, it would never fit our dining style, but one size does not fit all.

 

[rdaky]

This is an unfair statement. For many TAs, the "bottom line" is NOT that they "want your money". MY bottom line is that I want my clients to have a great time AND to recognize my value as a partner in helping to make that great time happen. I've worked very hard over the course of many years to build up the reputation of my business, and a huge part of that is gaining my clients' trust. I wouldn't ever think of pushing something on a client that they didn't want or need because 1) It's not the ethical thing to do; and 2) The way to grow a business is through loyal repeat customers and trusted word-of-mouth, and that won't happen if your "bottom line" is simply to get your clients to spend as much money as possible to increase your immediate cash flow. There are lots of great TAs out there, and this comment (along with some other comments) is really unkind especially after the challenges of the last couple of years.

I never said "all". So it is a fair statement considering I know some personally who fall into this category. I know personally at least 3 stay at home moms (including a neighbor) running their Disney travel business and they will steer people toward the high end things and not for the best value. And I also have friends who have used TAs who have convinced them that some type of upsell was necessary. As many as there are great ones, there are really lousy ones, too. Again, I did NOT say all and I did not say that you are not a good TA or that every single one out there is bad.. I said that "NOT EVERY TA IS OUT FOR THE BEST FOR THEIR CLIENTS" And that is my personal experience and my truth. And I think that is important for people to realize as well. So many people get a TA without doing their research or getting actual client reviews. I'm sure you know that as well that not every agent is great. It doesn't mean that you need to take it personally. Every job and role out there has people who are great and people who are shady. It happens.

 

[meremac]

I never said "all". So it is a fair statement considering I know some personally who fall into this category. I know personally at least 3 stay at home moms (including a neighbor) running their Disney travel business and they will steer people toward the high end things and not for the best value. And I also have friends who have used TAs who have convinced them that some type of upsell was necessary. As many as there are great ones, there are really lousy ones, too. Again, I did NOT say all and I did not say that you are not a good TA or that every single one out there is bad.. I said that "NOT EVERY TA IS OUT FOR THE BEST FOR THEIR CLIENTS" And that is my personal experience and my truth. And I think that is important for people to realize as well. So many people get a TA without doing their research or getting actual client reviews. I'm sure you know that as well that not every agent is great. It doesn't mean that you need to take it personally. Every job and role out there has people who are great and people who are shady. It happens.

 

[meremac]

That's a pretty overly cynical and negative view on both TAs and the guests who like the DDP. It's not my thing, it would never fit our dining style, but one size does not fit all.

Exactly! It's definitely not one size fits all. Some people just really like it and they want it, full stop. And it's important to reiterate that, for a certain subgroup of families, they really CAN come out on top. As I posted before, families with children ages 3-9 who do a lot of character meals will actually save money on the DDP more often than not. Or in our case, we have teenagers who want to go off on their own sometimes now, and I would personally rather just have it so they could get something to eat using DDP credits without the hassle of carrying gift cards or rewards cards or cash around. I know we would probably save money without it, but it would be worth the convenience for me. And for very large groups, it's often significantly more convenient to be on the DDP than it is to figure out who's paying for what when. But that's for each family to decide. It's all about crunching the numbers, listening to what people's priorities are, and making personal recommendations for each family.