Rant - tried to use a TA, what a waste of time!

[ekmom]

Congratulations on getting the AAA discount. I hope you plan to spend A LOT of time in your hotel room at $500+/night!

I agree! We're normally big park people but this trip we're going to try to slow down and enjoy the resort more. I may end up cancelling it anyway since we have a 5th person who might join us on the trip and if he does we'll be doing 2 rooms at POR. If he only joins us for part of the trip maybe we'll do a split stay between YC and POR.

 

[QueenElinor]

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[QueenElinor]

OP here following up with some good news. I called Disney yesterday and was able to get the AAA discount for the exact room and resort that I wanted. Saved $707!! It's a start but $500+ per night still might be more than I'm willing to spend. Hoping for more discounts later.

I had a similar experience to yours- emailed a AAA TA, she took my info and never got back to me. So I called Disney and got the AAA discount, and snagged some cheap tickets on my own.

I have always booked our vacations. I find TA to be a waste of time really, and sometimes money. I requested information from one recently, just to see what she was able to find (one that many use as well) and she was completely out in left field, didn't give me any information AT ALL that I couldn't get myself within 2 minutes, added an extra child to my request, and didn't know about the most recent updated information pertaining to my requests. I just stopped communicating with her after the second email. How do these people/business stay in business if they can't get it strait? I have been planning our vacations now for so long it really doesn't take me long to find great deals. But, I also plan out our vacations well in advance.

To be fair to TA's, I probably would use one for international travel, excluding Canada and Mexico, those I am familiar with.

We went to Europe last summer on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and I went through two travel agents before doing it myself. It can be an expensive nightmare for a family of 5 unless you have access to a highly specialized agent (which I didn't have) as the standard two queens per room is very rare over there. One of the TAs had us booked into 3 rooms in a Holiday Inn! And if you don't want a hotel, with a TA you're out of luck. Condos are rare and obviously not very historic!

It seemed to me that most family vacation housing is rented by owners and isn't part of any kind of chain. TA's just don't have the time to track down the cool, unique places that people travel to Europe for in the first place. I rented a cottage in Ireland, a townhouse in London, a B & B run in a 15th century mansion in Normandy, and hotel rooms in Paris all by my little self and we had a great time!

 

[NancyIL]

We went to Europe last summer on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and I went through two travel agents before doing it myself. It can be an expensive nightmare for a family of 5 unless you have access to a highly specialized agent (which I didn't have) as the standard two queens per room is very rare over there. One of the TAs had us booked into 3 rooms in a Holiday Inn- I kid you not!! And if you don't want a hotel, with a TA you're out of luck. Condos are rare as hen's teeth, and obviously not very historic!

It seemed to me that most family vacation housing is rented by owners and isn't part of any kind of chain. TA's just don't have the time to track down the cool, unique places that people travel to Europe for in the first place. I rented a cottage in Ireland, a townhouse in London, a B & B run in a 15th century mansion in Normandy, and hotel rooms in Paris all by my little self and we had a great time!

That sounds wonderful!

 

[ErinsMommy]

You can only book a room only reservation with Disney to get the AAA discount though, correct?? We're booking a package (dining, park tickets, resort) and was told we HAD to go through AAA to get their discount.

 

[QueenElinor]

That sounds wonderful!

It was awesome! And some of those places were surprisingly affordable. I wanted the trip of my dreams and the TAs (one of whom is a friend) just couldn't sift through all of the homes and villas advertised online. But half the fun of a trip is planning, as we here on the DIS all know.

 

[rcraw45425]

You can only book a room only reservation with Disney to get the AAA discount though, correct?? We're booking a package (dining, park tickets, resort) and was told we HAD to go through AAA to get their discount.

This is correct

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

The thing about the Disney TAs is that it's a HOBBY for most of them. They book some Disney they get a discount. (One of my good friends is a Disney TA but it's a HOBBY which is why I don't use her LOL!)

So you send a message. When they aren't busy playing with the kids, grocery shopping, at their real job etc they get around to you.

Sorry, but I have tried a couple of agencies and won't bother again.

A good TA has a 24/7 coverage option, does NOT depend on "email only" and gets back to you QUICKLY. If you have to chase them down or there is no one to help when at midnight Disney has screwed up your room... then why use them?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Respectfully, when I use Libery Travel or AAA, I don't expect the Travel Agent to be available 24/7; why would I expect my Disney Travel Specialist to be? Granted, the company I use when I choose to let somebody else do all the work :teeth; (thanks, Small World Travel!) is easy to contact, since the TAs provide phone numbers as well as e-mail information and are expected to treat it as a full-time job.

 

[txwdwmom]

Respectfully, when I use Libery Travel or AAA, I don't expect the Travel Agent to be available 24/7; why would I expect my Disney Travel Specialist to be? Granted, the company I use when I choose to let somebody else do all the work :teeth; (thanks, Small World Travel!) is easy to contact, since the TAs provide phone numbers as well as e-mail information and are expected to treat it as a full-time job.

My ta is available 24/7 because I found out the hard way when we were stuck during Isaac at 2AM and had to call her! She got our flights changed and a Disney resort booked for us for that night - at a discount! Her service was invaluable. And she is a full time business/travel agency with many agents, it's not her hobby.

 

[Raksha]

My ta is available 24/7 because I found out the hard way when we were stuck during Isaac at 2AM and had to call her! She got our flights changed and a Disney resort booked for us for that night - at a discount! Her service was invaluable. And she is a full time business/travel agency with many agents, it's not her hobby.

We haven't had to get out of a hurricane, but our TA is worth her weight in gold and I use her for everything!! She has helped us out of a number of binds and done it all in record time (ever need an ADR to be switched the day before a reservation during Spring Break?? We did last year!!).

Sorry you have had a bad experience, but I wouldn't lump all TAs into that category...