Travel Agent or Not?

[Capang]

I used a TA that was local and excellent. I knew exactly what we needed but didn't have time to fight the ressies systems or take time from work to make sure everything was taken care of. I made a spreadsheet of desired adrs for each park and down days with back up choices as well. I gave her all the things we wanted and she booked them and made suggestions when I was unsure. She is amazing and we have had a good experience.
If using a TA ask around from people you know and trust that have used them. Find recommendations that way. When using a big, faceless company you never know who you will get.

 

[china mom]

We never use an TA, we used them our first time and figured out that they can not know exactly what we like and how you can modify your trip on the go when you are there using the app.

If you use a T/A, the only thing you CAN'T do is modify your room or package reservation yourself - which I don't know why you would be doing that once you are there.

You CAN make, modify and cancel your fast passes and ADRs yourself any time.

 

[CeruleanMoon]

Can you use a TA only for certain aspects of your trip? Like, I think I could handle the room and tickets part, but I could really use some help navigating airfare, maybe rental car and trip insurance stuff. Would a TA be able to help with that or is it an all or nothing thing?

My other question is, if you go with a TA, how do you choose one? I don't know anyone I can ask, so I have to figure this out on my own. Are there red flags that I should avoid? Right now I feel like I might as well just close my eyes and point from a list. I know you can't give me any actual suggestions for TA's and that's fine, but general guidance on how you go about choosing would be helpful.

And as I understand it, once you go with a TA, you can't back out?

 

[china mom]

Can you use a TA only for certain aspects of your trip? Like, I think I could handle the room and tickets part, but I could really use some help navigating airfare, maybe rental car and trip insurance stuff. Would a TA be able to help with that or is it an all or nothing thing?

My other question is, if you go with a TA, how do you choose one? I don't know anyone I can ask, so I have to figure this out on my own. Are there red flags that I should avoid? Right now I feel like I might as well just close my eyes and point from a list. I know you can't give me any actual suggestions for TA's and that's fine, but general guidance on how you go about choosing would be helpful.

And as I understand it, once you go with a TA, you can't back out?

Disney pays the travel agents, you don't so if you are going to use them to book your airfare, rental car and insurance, you might as well use them for everything. If your travel agent is booking your Disney Package, they can do the car, air and insurance. If you are asking them to do that as a stand alone product, you will need a regular travel agent, not a Disney TA.

The only downside to using an agent that I can think of is if you have one who becomes inattentive after booking your package and does not respond to promotions or your requests to make changes to your package. once you book with an agent, only the agent can make changes to that part of your reservation.

You can either ask the TA to handle your Dining Reservation and Fast Passes, do them your self or a little bit of both. I often get the fast passes started for newbies and then encourage them to tweak them.

I can give you one suggestion for a TA... Dreams Unlimited, the sponsor of this site. I used them for years before becoming an agent myself. They are highly regarded.

 

[CeruleanMoon]

Disney pays the travel agents, you don't so if you are going to use them to book your airfare, rental car and insurance, you might as well use them for everything. If your travel agent is booking your Disney Package, they can do the car, air and insurance. If you are asking them to do that as a stand alone product, you will need a regular travel agent, not a Disney TA.

The only downside to using an agent that I can think of is if you have one who becomes inattentive after booking your package and does not respond to promotions or your requests to make changes to your package. once you book with an agent, only the agent can make changes to that part of your reservation.

You can either ask the TA to handle your Dining Reservation and Fast Passes, do them your self or a little bit of both. I often get the fast passes started for newbies and then encourage them to tweak them.

I can give you one suggestion for a TA... Dreams Unlimited, the sponsor of this site. I used them for years before becoming an agent myself. They are highly regarded.

Thanks, this is helpful! Still undecided but the more info I have the better. That makes sense about just going with a regular TA unless I am actually in need help specifically with the Disney stuff. And thanks for the suggestion!

 

[china mom]

One thought that came to me this morning... I don't know if the bigger agencies do your fast passes for you. I was logged onto the computer this morning at exactly 7:00AM and got all of the headliners for my clients (a party of nine). My client can still tweak them as she wishes but Flights of Passage, FEA, 7DMT are all booked.

Could she have done it herself, yes. And, most of my clients do but, she is happy that she wasn't the one stressing about it.

 

[Courtney Wood]

I use a travel agent but I do all of my ADRs and fastpasses. Really the reason I use a travel agent is because if I want something changed she can get ahold of disney to change it a lot quicker than I can. I've had questions in the past that she didn't know the answer to and she found out for me and I didn't have to waste my time on hold with Disney. And why not, it's the same price to go through a travel agent as it is if I do it myself.

 

[china mom]

I use a travel agent but I do all of my ADRs and fastpasses. Really the reason I use a travel agent is because if I want something changed she can get ahold of disney to change it a lot quicker than I can. I've had questions in the past that she didn't know the answer to and she found out for me and I didn't have to waste my time on hold with Disney. And why not, it's the same price to go through a travel agent as it is if I do it myself.

This! It does not cost you anything to use an agent. Disney builds a 10% commission into the price of every trip. If a person books their own trip, Disney keeps the commission. If a person uses an agent, the commission is paid to the agency and the agency and agent split it.

 

[BarbieStephanie]

I would use one purely because it is the same price as booking direct through Disney but they do all the work for you and you usually get extra goodies! Just make sure you use someone trusted who is known to do a great job!

 

[shellyj]

We have gotten quotes from agents before but it's ended up being significantly cheaper for us to rent DVC points and do the planning ourselves. If I couldn't rent points or wanted to try a non-DVC resort, I would probably use an agent at least once. We rent the points to make Animal Kingdom Lodge affordable. It's our most favorite place to stay in the whole world