Travel Agent or piece it together yourself?

[MillauFr]

I would rather plan the whole vacation myself and book directly. When a travel agent was offering the Poly for $212 inclusive of all taxes instead of the $440 + tax that Disney was offering I had no problem letting the travel agent book the room.

 

[LoverDisney]

I booked Disney through a TA for our first trip because I was unsure about a lot of things. This was hard for me because I like planning trips. For this trip I decided to do the same although I was more knowledgeable but I also wanted to let the TA get the commission. However, she was unresponsive to my emails and since my ADRs were coming up, I didn't want to take a chance with her. So I cancelled with the TA and I decided to plan this trip myself. It has worked fine. I realized that I would rather have control of my own ressie so I can make any changes myself immediately.

 

[Kristina4109]

I use an authorized Disney vacation planner and I'm very happy. I have a terrific agent who has found discounts for me before I had any idea they were available. She also makes all my ADR's.

I used AAA once and I wouldn't do it again. They were very polite and friendly and professional but I felt like I was micromanaging them. I had to tell THEM that free dining was going to become available for our trip. Not good.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Yes. I meant WDW. I guess I just want to make sure I get the most for my money. This is going to be a very expensive trip. I will probably only get to do this once and I want to do as much as possible.

I am a planner. We're not going till May of next year and I'm already planning. But as a first timer, I really want to make sure I get the best deals/discounts so the extra money can be used for other extras we want to do (Cirque de Soleil) etc.

Thank you all for your responses.

I think we said that about WDW and most definitely about DCL.

20+ visits & 15 cruises later, I'm looking to sell a kidney to sail again.
just kidding!!!

For WDW, I like to plan myself. For cruising, I let a TA handle it because she gives us an OBC and makes it worth it. For our 1st Disney cruise, we booked through AAA and I think I knew more about it than the agent just by reading here. I've since found another who is good: knows her stuff and is always gets right back to me if she's not in the office, even on a Sunday.

I really don't see any incentive to using a TA for WDW. Since it's your first trip you may feel like you could use some help but once you've been there, it's so easy to plan in the future.

 

[texasroni75]

I have put together the majority of our trips, since it's something I actually enjoy doing.

Only 2 out of 7 WDW trips did we book with a travel agent, and that's because DH is computer-challenged, and he booked the trips as a surprise. Thankfully, both trips he planned had the stay 4 nights/get 3 free deal (which I WISH WISH WISH they would bring back!), and so the TA got DH an incredibly good price.

 

[AquaDame]

I've done them all myself. the ONE exception might be for our europe flights. I am not sure I have the know how to find the flights I want using awards - I have already sunk a few hours into trying to get up to speed on it and it makes my eyes cross its so confusing still! I have a year to decide if I want to pay someone to do that for me or not - the rest will be booked on my own.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I book it myself. It's easy and I like being in charge of my reservations.

Speaking of which, I need to find a hotel suite for our Savannah weekend..........I need to get cracking on that.

 

[CdnCarrie]

For those saying that you can get a room only rate cheaper with a TA than with directly how does that work? I thought they Disney promotions were set in stone. Can a TA really undercut Disney?

Besides the AAA deal on a package how are the TAs giving larger discounts than current Disney promotions?

 

[Ginny Favers]

For those saying that you can get a room only rate cheaper with a TA than with directly how does that work? I thought they Disney promotions were set in stone. Can a TA really undercut Disney?

Besides the AAA deal on a package how are the TAs giving larger discounts than current Disney promotions?

Yes. Some TAs work out special deals with Disney and you can save over 50% off rack rates at certain times of the year.

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

Even though I love planning things myself I decided to contact a TA just to see what they would say. This TA was recommended by a certain Disney blog. I have yet to hear back from anyone & it's been 5 days. I contacted the agency and then I even contacted the TA personally from her website. I'll just stick with doing it all myself like I normally do!

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm pretty on top of things... hanging out here and at Mousesavers is my hobby, my relief from schoolwork and housework.

BUT-- when the Summer prices came out, I checked my email at 10:15 am from work to find that our bottom line had gone down by just over $1000. Thank you Tracey at Dreams Unlimited!!!

And when our ADR date rolled around I checked at 10:15 (this year I have a 3rd period study hall. Once attendance is taken, surfing the internet is totally OK). There I found our ADRs for Be Our Guest, the dessert party for 11 people, and all our not-as-tricky requests.

I'm not sure whether using a travel agent has actually saved us money. Perhaps that same discount would have still been available at 4pm when I got home... I'm not sure I would have tried to play with it in the limited amount of time I had in that study hall. And perhaps I could have gotten the ADRs at 4; I leave for work just as the phone lines are opening up at WDW. (And I'm a morning person; I would NOT have been online in the middle of the night to do it then.)

But using a travel agent costs us nothing, and is so incredibly convenient!!!! I let Tracey know what we want, and she emails us when we have it.