Travel Agent questions

[hauntedcity]

I'm usually a self-planner for vacations, but for a November Disneyland trip, I thought I'd try a travel agent. My wife and I visited the local AAA and put together a quick vacation overview and the agent priced it out at around $1800. We said we would take a couple days to think about it. Well, I was home sick this week , and during one of my periods of non-delerium, I decided to do a little checking on the ol' Inter-Net. Pricing out everything myself, and even upgrading some items, the total came to $1400.

Is this common when working with a travel agent? At this point I suppose I have 2 options:
1. Book it all myself.
2. Give all the info to the travel agent, and have her book everything at the lower rates I found, so that she gets some commision.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Doug

 

[Sthronds]

Well, as a travel agent, I say go with the TA. We don't make much money so every commission helps. As a person who needs to save as much money as possible, I say go with the internet. Basically, try your TA. If she can get the price that is close to what you got then go for it. If she can't come lower than her original price then you need to decide what your finances can handle. I know that I can not always beat internet prices, but I do try my hardest to come close. I always appreciate when clients are honest with me and give me a price to shoot for. It makes things a lot easier. Bottom line. . . Give that TA one more chance and give her a number. It's a challenge!

 

[noryglory]

We have a valued travel agent that we use from time to time when we don't plan the trip ourselves. We booked our Disney trip through her as we decided to stay onsite and basically she got the price we got through Disney, and she got a commission so we felt good about giving her the business.

Sometimes, you CAN get the best deal yourself, ie she cannot get "internet only" airline fares so we usually book the airline tickets ourselves. And sometimes, we do exactly what Sthronds says. We find a "deal" on some internet site out there, and send her an email with the price quote and weblink. She has ALWAYS appreciated our business and does try to shoot for a deal similar. Sometimes it's a bit more expensive, and if it is we usually let her book for us anyway, in that it's nice to have someone to call when you really really do need a planner, and you're not a stranger that way--you're a valued client.

Finally, here's a really interesting story regarding the travel agent thing. Once for a trip to San Diego she booked us at a hotel and later on we were looking at the hotel's website and there was a great deal. So we rebooked our rooms, not really thinking about the fact that the TA did it for us initally. Later on she asked me about this in that she was having a hard time collecting her commission and I told her we did rebook the room with a cheaper rate, and apologized and said WE would pay her the comparable commission if they didn't honor her original booking. Turns out for the referral and the business they still gave her the commission, she just needed my second conformation number or something.

So, I say go with a travel agent if you have one that you want to give some business to. If you DON'T have a regular TA, then just do it yourself.