pros and cons to using travel agency?

[zipuzee]

Are there any advantages to using a travel agency as opposed to booking directly with Disney? I've always just gone straight to the source, so to speak, but notice that a lot of people use agencys. Any comments would be appreciated!!

 

[Mousema]

I always use AAA. You get special perks from them, plus they can discount the room part by itself or as a package.

 

[Tink3Belle]

I used triple AAA you get free parking at the parks if you drive and they gave me a silver photo album plus other perks.

 

[LegoMom3]

We used Dreams Unlimited Travel last year and loved them. Very friendly and efficient service. Our TA took care of ALL the details, which was great since we were on the dining plan - I told her where we wanted to eat and she made all our ADRs for us. They also book Magical Express if you want to use it. I just loved having everything taken of for me and not having to worry about it.

 

[TaraPA]

I have always booked myself right through Disney, airline, etc. We used a TA in December (Keri from Mousefan Travel) and it was great! She routinely checked with Disney for new codes & ended up getting us an even better discount than I had heard of on here - saved us $113! You do however, give up control of your reservation to someone else, which for me (a control freak) was hard to do. The confirmation number Mousefan used was not the same number used to check online (or phone) with Disney directly, so I had no way that I knew of to check & re-check my ressie. I'm sure I could have called Disney & gotten around the TA, but there wasn't a problem (other than me obsessively wanting to check my ressie!). Everything was smooth sailing & I'd use a TA again.

 

[Spike]

I have always used AAA for all my travels. However I am starting to get disgusted with the way they are handling our honeymoon. The next time we go to Disney World I will book directly with Disney.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

I used a TA last year for my trip in Aug b/c I couldn't get what i wanted directly through Disney. I will eventually use a TA again but not that one. It was very hard to deal with them, their lack of communication was unprofessional. If I wanted to make any changes it had to be done through them even when I arrived and since they were not prompt (sometimes taking 2 days) in responding to messages it was stressful. When it comes to disney I will most likely just book directly through them unless I can't get the resort I want.

 

[westbrush]

I used AAA Travel Agency, with AAA if your a member you get great discounts for my Disney Vacation I saved $458.62 on my resort with tickets and the dine plan, using a special AAA promo for my travel dates, compared to going thru Walt Disney Central Res and those other fly by night internet Travel Agencies. Stay away from those internet agencies, they are work at home agents and only on their free time they will work, I used Small World Vacations at one point what a unprofessional agent, take my advise and go with AAA you will be very happy with the money you save, plus the added perks they give you.

 

[byoung]

Use to book direct thru Disney, now direct thru MS at the DVC.

 

[AJKMOM]

Problem with a TA is that if you want to change something or even check something, they have to do it.

The 2 times I used AAA, they only booked packages. Once, I ended up with useless Discovery Island tickets that Disney gave us a few bucks for because it closed shortly after we booked the trip. The second (and last), we unwillingly purchased admission to Wild World of Sports as their "package". We still have those, maybe I should frame them. Since then, probably 8 more times, I have done it all myself thru Disney or another travel search engine, like Expedia or Travelocity.

 

[Ragetti]

I'm someone who always books my own stuff. For one thing, I know it's done RIGHT. For another, for me it's FUN!

Still, I'm considering AAA for some of the perks.

 

[Unregistered]

We used a travel agent from Mousefan for our recent trip and I would never do it again. She was quick to make the initial booking, but after that questions and requests went unanswered, one time I was told no PS was available but when I called Disney directly to check for cancellations discovered I could have any time I wanted that afternoon, and was told 4 times that confirmation letters and such had been mailed to me, twice by certified/signature on delivery, and only actually received anything from her once. Her e-mail seemed to malfunction a lot and not send messages. I spent the entire planning process wondering if things had actually been arranged and stressing about it, since when you go through a TA Disney won't confirm anything to you directly, you have to go through the TA. As a courtesy, other TAs won't even look at you if you've already worked with one on that trip, so once you book through a TA, you're completely stuck - you can't check anything yourself and no one else will help. I wish I could say better things, but just wanted to warn people they can also make things more difficult.

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

We've used AAA in the past for all our travel (cruises, WDW, etc), but it's so easy to do it yourself on-line or the telephone. I'd still stick with a TA if it gave me some perks. Like our next DCL... we got $100 onboard credit going with DU! That was worth it to me!

 

[I Love Pluto]

We use AAA each year. We like the perks - parking pass, 10 to 15% off shopping and dining card. We also like to have someone to go to when and if things are not as promised.

AAA usually saves us about $200 for a one week trip.