TA or WDW?

[CdnDisneyLover]

I know this has been posted before but.....do you book through a travel agent or WDW? Which is cheaper? We are trying to figure out how to get our Disney fix for March 2010 and I have just started a new job so money is tight.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[trivial]

Booking with a TA should never be more expensive. The financial benefit to booking through a proactive travel agent, such as Dreams Unlimited's, is they'll continue looking for discounts for you even after you've booked with them. It was mentioned recently that Dreams Unlimited saved their clients $2 million this past year due to post-booking adjustments.

Personally, I like having someone taking care of things behind the scenes for me, especially when they're experienced with and knowledgable about WDW.

 

[tone.def]

I know this has been posted before but.....do you book through a travel agent or WDW? Which is cheaper? We are trying to figure out how to get our Disney fix for March 2010 and I have just started a new job so money is tight.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

If they book through the Walt Disney Travel Company and not a wholesaler like expedia or Nolitours, etc... their prices will be exactly the same.

"Cheaper" is a huge misconception.

 

[minnie56]

A TA price will be the same as booking directly and any TA worth their salt will continue to monitor the booking should another promotion start that would better the price by refaring!!

 

[CdnDisneyLover]

Well we booked with a TA for our March trip this year and I remember our trip info said Nolitours on it so maybe we shouldn't go to that TA again. We're not really sure how many nights/days in the park we can afford but I did manage to get a PIN last month and wanted to see what discount it would give us.

Thank you guys so much for the info!!

 

[minnie56]

You can go to that TA again if you were happy with her/him ..perhaps just ask that they book via WDTC and then you have the flexibility to adjust should some better offer come along. If you were booking a pkg incl air etc then that is likely why they went to Noli.

A TA can also apply a pin for you ..if it is of benefit.

 

[mollyseven]

WDW all the way, and I used to be a TA and my friend owns an agency. I like to book at WDW to have the control of the booking, the PIN's.....you don't get to use a PIN when you have booked a package including air with a travel agent. Packages with Nolitours and that sort out of toronto are more expensive than doing it yourself. It's cheaper to book your Disney with Disney and your air separately.
Plus when you book with Disney you can pay Disney in Us dollars and save the exchange rip off of using your credit card.
Also a travel agent tries to sell you "all inclusive" travel insurance and you don't need that. Honestly, the WDW bookings have very little non refundable that it's barely worth it, plus if you pay for your flights with a credit card that has insurance you are golden.
You have control of your magical express stuff, it comes to your house, you can call disney with your requests, and your dining you can do online.
I really don't see any benefit to using a travel agent these days.
Sorry to those agents out there but honestly most people on the DIS boards know more about disney than the agent they will call. NOOOO not all you agents out there in DIS world but the average canadian travel agent.

do it yourself I say!!

 

[minnie56]

You can't use a pin on a pkg...but you can when only the Hotel pkg is booked with WDTC, that's true.

If a TA books your trip..you can still do your own ADR's too.

Insurance, not needed on the Hotel part. Disneys cancellation policy is pretty fair.

Different strokes!

 

[tone.def]

It's cheaper to book your Disney with Disney and your air separately.
Plus when you book with Disney you can pay Disney in Us dollars and save the exchange rip off of using your credit card.
Also a travel agent tries to sell you "all inclusive" travel insurance and you don't need that. Honestly, the WDW bookings have very little non refundable that it's barely worth it, plus if you pay for your flights with a credit card that has insurance you are golden.<snip>

Sorry to those agents out there but honestly most people on the DIS boards know more about disney than the agent they will call. NOOOO not all you agents out there in DIS world but the average canadian travel agent.

do it yourself I say!!

You've never booked with Fairytale Dreams and Destinations. Sorry to hear that.

 

[Cdn Gal]

I never go through a travel agent. I get better deals on flights etc., on my own. We now stay at Bonnet Creek and even thought it is off site, it is so close that it feels like we are on site. We spend 1/2 the money now. I use the promo codes from mousesavers, discount codes from Disney, and coupons when eating off site. LOVE it!!

 

[minnie56]

TA's make nothing on most air so not paying a service fee can better the bottom line where flights are concerned for sure.

 

[lisalonglash]

I know this has been posted before but.....do you book through a travel agent or WDW? Which is cheaper? We are trying to figure out how to get our Disney fix for March 2010 and I have just started a new job so money is tight.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Contrary to some information shared in this thread, a TRUE Disney specialist travel agency will save you money if at all possible - because they monitor any discounts that become available and will apply any applicable discounts that they possibly can for you. We regularly travel to Europe and always book everything ourselves, but for Disney trips, we ALWAYS ALWAYS book with Fairytale Dreams & Destinations, for several reasons. Those reasons include their vast knowledge of all things Disney, their dedication to making sure their clients save money if at all possible, their incredible customer service, the fact that Disney recently named them their #1 TA in Canada, the many recommendations I received for them when I asked the same question you posted before our first trip and the fact that they are a Canadian company (based in Bolton, ON) that you can contact via email or telephone (or you can go to their office if you're local).

To summarize, my recommendation is to book with a true Disney specialist travel agency, one that truly knows their stuff. They are there to help you plan the best possible Disney vacation and will be happy to assist you any way they can, including making your ADRs if you'd like, applying any applicable discounts or special deals, etc.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Rita007]

I booked through Mouse Fan Travel for our upcoming August trip. One of the perks of many of these specialists is that they'll do your ADR's for you. As a mom who has gone back to school full time, that time savings alone is a HUGE benefit!

 

[pxlbarrel]

We booked our DCL cruise through a travel agency (Marlin) because somebody on DISboards had mentioned they cashed in some airmiles for Marlin Travel $50 vouchers. We did the same thing and paid for part of the cruise that way. My dad finally found something to use those airmiles on and we got a nice cruise out of it.

I booked our own airfare while my travel agent friend booked the cruise, our CBR ressies and ground transportation. .

I have to admit it's hard to give up control but to use the airmiles was worth it.

 

[doxie24]

I really don't see any benefit to using a travel agent these days.

I think any TA who wants to gain the trust and respect of their guests is going to point them in the most affordable direction without cutting corners on the magic, so to speak.

You've never booked with Fairytale Dreams and Destinations. Sorry to hear that.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[mom4463]

We used Fairytale Dreams and Destinations for our upcoming trip and Christine is GREAT!!!. We booked our own flights and I found that at Fairytale Dreams their knowledge about WDW is very helpful.

Good Luck

 

[HotdogDncrs]

Hi there - we've always booked directly with WDWTC. I find it much easier to "browse" at the hotels online, and to compare the cost of each. In May, we had to cancel a vacation we booked (after we sold our house, and had to move at the same time!). There were no issues with cancelling, staff were great, credited my CC with the amount I had paid. Also, if another deal comes out before your trip, all you have to do is call WDWTC and they will see if that package would make your trip cheaper.

We live in Ontario - and typically fly out of Buffalo. We've booked flights directly through WDWTC and on our own. I don't think that I would book flights with WDWTC again, as it can be very time consuming to get refunds/credit if your flight is cancelled. We had this happen last December, we had to pay for flights on another airline home, and when we tried calling AirTran directly regarding credit/reimbursement we were told that because we booked through WDWTC they had to be the ones to request the credit. I must admit WDWTC was quite good - as they did give us a credit for a portion of our flights even though we declined their travel insurance. You may also be able to get better flight times when you have more airline options. We have found that it can be difficult to get times that work for us when booking through WDWTC (i.e. arriving late afternoon instead of morning).

 

[CdnDisneyLover]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my post. I think we are going to get quotes from TA, Fairytale Dreams and WDW. I've been checking out the airline sites too to see what deals they have to offer as well. We still need to decide exact what we are going to do. Unfortunately we will not be able to stay a whole week like we did last year but my in laws are snowbirds so we can stay with them for a few days too so at least we can enjoy the sun.