Travel agent and reality

[Nadmars]

Hi there!

Out travel agent has told us that once our disney vacation is booked, it is booked, no changes.However, I have read that if there is a promotion added after we boom that disney will adjust our price. Which is true here? I do not want to miss out on a great room rate promotion or dining package!

 

[worm761]

Hi there!

Out travel agent has told us that once our disney vacation is booked, it is booked, no changes.However, I have read that if there is a promotion added after we boom that disney will adjust our price. Which is true here? I do not want to miss out on a great room rate promotion or dining package!

Get a different travel agent. Yours is lying to you and that is not a good quality in a travel agent.

 

[princesspooh323]

Sorry, but your travel agent is either knowledgeable or lazy. You can definitely make changes. This is why I don't go through travel agents anymore. I used to go through AAA, and I found it was such a pain every time I wanted to make a change or a better deal would come out. Actually my agent last year messed up my visa charge, so I wasn't getting 0%. Since you have already booked through her, I would call her back, and if she still isn't helpful then I would call and report her to Disney. They may be able to help you out on their end. Last year they called the agency for me.

 

[jmartinez1895]

YOU can not make the changes, but your travel agent can make changes at anytime. I would walk away from this one.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

When is your trip? I would not book with this agent. This board and others here have so much great info - you may be able to do it all on your own if you still have time.

 

[Nadmars]

Thanks for the clarification.we did not make any down payment yet, so luckily we will save some trouble with this great advice!

Our trip is feb 2014 so I was waiting for 2014 prices to cone out, I'll definitely check out another agent

 

[cah5525]

You can book yourself and if applying a promo after booking is a concern for you, keep this in mind... You can call Disney at 7 am the day a promo goes live. Most travel agencies aren't even open that early and wouldn't be able to do your promo/change until their business opens.

 

[Dsnyfireman]

We always book direct with disney. I have tried the TA route but they always quote me way more than disney does, I was using a disney specialist TA! The prices for 2014 won't be out till August I believe, someone here may know better but that was what I thought. Sounds like a bad TA , I play around on the web site and try the resorts and time we want and see what I get for price( I have found that every time I check the same resort same week but redo it I get different air fair prices and flight times?) then I call disney and book and they often save me even more than the online price showed me. So good luck!

 

[taylor3297]

A great Disney TA specialist will make sure you pay the same price that Disney would charge. The TA will also check with Disney to see if the new promotion applies to your current booking. If not, then the TA will give you options. For example, say you are booked at POFQ then a discount comes out. POFQ is only offering a 5% discount but POR is offering a 20% discount. The TA should check to see if you would like to switch resorts to save you money.

If a TA is quoting you more than Disney, find another TA.

My TA is great and I have no problems letting her handle my reservations.

 

[ssawka]

I would either book myself or use a different travel agent. If you want to use a travel agent, I would contact Dreams Unlimited Travel (the owners of these boards). I have not used them before, so I'm sure someone else will chime in, but I think it would be good to use them as a way of giving back for the awesome site / show they provide free of charge.

 

[jenny105]

Your travel agent is blatantly lying to you. Get a new one! It's people like that who give TAs a bad name.

 

[Shmily1]

That is definitely a TA to avoid. All TAs have the capability to call and have your rates changed if deals come out. Many stay on the phone for hours on hold waiting to do this for their customers when the new deals are announced and they don't mind. They are there to help.

 

[Kristibo42]

I booked my December trip in February. About 2 weeks ago I called Disney and found out I had a free dining pin. I called my TA and she called Disney and got the number. That saves us $263 per person and with 7 of us going it was great!!!

 

[arihillfarm]

You can book yourself and if applying a promo after booking is a concern for you, keep this in mind... You can call Disney at 7 am the day a promo goes live. Most travel agencies aren't even open that early and wouldn't be able to do your promo/change until their business opens.

That my be true of AAA (not being in the office until later), but good Disney specialist TAs are up at 6am to make 180 day + 10 ADRs and call in at 7am for BBB, to apply promos, etc. All it takes is internet access and a phone at home. As far as the OP and her "non-changeable reservation", she should find a new TA. Any TA that is that inflexible is only interested in booking the trip and not interested in service after the booking. I've changed reservations for clients several times before even a deposit is placed. From reading this board, I'm starting to feel like TAs are in the same league as used car salesmen and mechanics. Sure there are some bad ones out there, but we're not all like that.

-Astrid

 

[anonymousegirl]

Get a different travel agent. Yours is lying to you and that is not a good quality in a travel agent.

Your travel agent is blatantly lying to you. Get a new one! It's people like that who give TAs a bad name.

Sorry but I think it is a bit harsh to accuse the TA of lying. Do either of you personally know the TA in question? While certainly there is a possibility that the TA is lying, it could be that he/she is mistaken, new, or unfortunately ignorant of Disney policies.

 

[Nadmars]

Thank you all for the tips and comments. I contacted our TA again today and asked the same question can we change things if disney comes out with a promo, and again she said unfortunately no, it's a waiting game. She is pushing for me to book a package with west jet or aircanada , maybe that's the reason we can't change or maybe it's a commission thing, however thanks to all you helpful folks, I will do as much of the legwork as possible and find a new TA when our feb prices are released, hopefully soon!
** also the TA is telling me that a package with flight will less expensive by far but flights will land late...from what I've seen, flights separately so far are cheaper and earlier , mind you our vacation is beginning February so I can't be sure about that statement yet**
Thank you all!

 

[disneylove69]

Book yourself or use Dreamsunlimited. I have used them several times and changed plans several times and always get a smiley face

 

[arihillfarm]

Thank you all for the tips and comments. I contacted our TA again today and asked the same question can we change things if disney comes out with a promo, and again she said unfortunately no, it's a waiting game. She is pushing for me to book a package with west jet or aircanada , maybe that's the reason we can't change or maybe it's a commission thing, however thanks to all you helpful folks, I will do as much of the legwork as possible and find a new TA when our feb prices are released, hopefully soon!
** also the TA is telling me that a package with flight will less expensive by far but flights will land late...from what I've seen, flights separately so far are cheaper and earlier , mind you our vacation is beginning February so I can't be sure about that statement yet**
Thank you all!

It likely is a commission thing. If you book a package with air through those suppliers, she'll get some commission on the air portion. Your best bet is to book a room-only now (that way your room is reserved), change it to a package when 2014 packages are released and then apply any promos as they are released (realizing that you may have to change room categories or even resorts based on promo availability).

Search for air on your own or have your TA do it and when you find flights where the price and times are agreeable to you, have her call Disney and see if those same flights and prices are available to add to your package. MOst of the time they are. If so, do it that way (flights added through Disney) because you'd be surprised the number of times I've had Magical Express issues (scheduling, dates, flight numbers, etc.) messed up when adding flight information for ME for flights booked separately even though I know the CM input the information correctly. I've caught them all in reviewing documents, but it's still a pain the rear to get straightened out because it seems that sometimes DRC and ME don't talk to each other in the same language if flights aren't booked through them. Hope this helps!!

-Astrid

 

[Nadmars]

Thank you @arihillfarm I will do all that!

 

[dakcp2001]

Sorry but I think it is a bit harsh to accuse the TA of lying. Do either of you personally know the TA in question? While certainly there is a possibility that the TA is lying, it could be that he/she is mistaken, new, or unfortunately ignorant of Disney policies.

None of these reasons make it any better. They all mean the op needs a different TA. The might be a liar, they might just be a crappy TA. Either way, not who you want to book with.