Travel agent VS. doing it yourself

[PrincessAuroraInPA]

Do you think it works out better price-wise for you to use a travel agent to plan your Disney trip or to do everything yourself? I've been to WDW three times and used a travel agent every time. I was just wondering if it would be more cost efficient to book everything myself.

 

[DizneyDogs]

It's so easy to book it yourself plus it's cheaper too. When I planned my first trip to Disney World I went to the travel agent but I researched ahead of time to see what I could get it by booking it myself. The difference? Only $1,000 savings for the exact same stuff!!!

 

[ChristyJ]

12/04 I booked everything myself and lucky enough to get a pin number so the WL was around $122. per night!!

For our next trip, I'm using a travel agent from an agency that specializes in Disney vacations. The quote I received was less than the quote I got from calling WDW reservations myself. I just had a "feeling" this time that I would be better off going thru the TA...we'll see...

 

[HappyLawyer]

a travel agent cannot help you save the way we can here on these boards, plus doing it yourself is so much more fun.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I haven't let a TA handle all parts of a trip in years. The last straw was a 6 years ago when my DH & I took a cruise (not Disney) out of Port Canaveral. The TA booked our airfare thru the cruiseline and they took the cheap route. I live near Phila. International. Direct flights were available to MCO thru only one airline at the time but several others flew there either with stopovers or connections. We ended up on a two-prop plane (yes, a PLANE, not a jet!) to Dulles where we connected to a Delta flight to MCO. This plane was so small that you couldn't stand fully erect once you boarded. The engine vibration and hum gave me such a headache! It was no way to start or finish a trip! After that misadventure, I vowed that I would never allow a TA to handle my flights again!

Now, I book room-only thru DU. I know that they'll keep checking for better prices as the deals are announced. And they'll make my ADRs for free. The rest, I take of myself. I'm a lot more relaxed knowing for sure that every detail has been addressed. I guess I'm a bit of a control freak in that way. I need to know for certain that the reservation has not been lost, the seats on the plane are together, the rental car is reserved at the rate promised, the tickets are what they should be, etc.

 

[Camp Rd. Lady]

I'm sorry I don't know what DU stands for.

 

[PrincessAuroraInPA]

Thanks everyone! You've convinced me to do it myself.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I'm sorry I don't know what DU stands for.

DU=Dreams Unlimited Travel. They're the TA that sponsors the DIS boards.

 

[plutolovr]

But DU is a travel agency. Any TA can make a room only reservation for you. If you have a pin code they can apply that information and they also get notice of upcoming discounts before the general public. As far as your cruise air goes, when you book air through a cruise line, unless you ask for an air deviation, which could cost up to $100, you have to go by their schedule. The only real plus to booking air through the cruiseline is if your flight is delayed for any reason and you miss the boat, literally, they will get you to the ship at the first port with no additional cost to you. If you book a cruise, always try to fly in to the departure port city the night before.

 

[tmt martins]

Always myself Never seen the need for a TA .I always thought I got a fair price and the planning in my own hands is a bit of security for me.

 

[cgcw]

Always myself Never seen the need for a TA .I always thought I got a fair price and the planning in my own hands is a bit of security for me.

Having just had a terrible experience with a TA, I will avoid them in the future. The thing I found is that they "own" your reservation. So, if there is a problem, you have no say in the process, it's up to them. In my case, I had booked a cruise using a TA. When I cancelled, I was at their mercy as to when they finally cancelled it. It took a lot of phone calls, a lot of time, a lot of heartache to finally get it cancelled (7 weeks after I originally asked for it to be cancelled!!!) not to mention all that time our money was tied up in someone elses account. It was a nightmare I don't care to repeat ever again.

 

[we3disneygo]

I have always done it myself. have always came across the deals....

 

[gottaluvdis]

I always plan my own (leisure) travel myself. I do, however, work with a TA on occasion at work for business travel and I have to say they are valuable for that. Business travel is very different from leisure however. Even with a TA at work, we still book all Southwest flights direct. I have never found TAs to do better on price than I can do myself (especially booking Southwest flights). I also like to have control over my money and my itineraries. I went to AAA once for a quote on a Disney vacation, after having already planned most of it myself, and they told me outright they couldn't touch the prices (especially airfare) that I had already booked.

 

[jennifer293]

I plan my own vacations ONLY because I am a compulsive planner and I CANNOT stand for anyone to do it for me.

If someone else did it for me I would feel lost and that would take the fun out of the vacation for me!!

 

[beattyfamily]

I've always found it cheaper to book everything myself and I enjoy finding deals and planning, it's all part of the trip for me!

 

[Twende]

Up to our last trip this past December we had normally done it ourselves. I woudl read this board and search for all the best rates but we found that AAA could give us a discount on the meal program and the room so we went with AAA and it saved us money.

The little extras were nice but not deal breakers for us although some of them might be for others, like the parking pass.

I think you need to figure it a couple of ways and why not let the TA have a chance to beat your best price!

 

[glass slipper girl]

With the old style packages that had the ultimate park hopper as part of it where it had to be tied to your length of stay and you had to have the kind of tickets that included water parks and all that it was often cheaper to do it yourself than to use a TA who dind't understand how to "work the Disney system." If you were using someone who "got it" then they would be able to get you just as good of a deal. Now with Magic Your Way packages, it's more likely that you will end up about the same either way. I'd still recommend using a Disney saavy TA though. Someone who doesn't "get it" will probably quote you a package that DIsney recommends which may be more than you need (like including pluses if you don't want them). I think the biggest thing is convenience. You don't have to be on constant code watch because your TA (again, if they are Disney saavy) will know about them before you do and will be on the phone taking care of updating your reservation getting the code applied. Also nice to have them help make the tough to get ADRs. If something goes wrong along the way, it's often good to have a TA fighting for you too. The suppliers, Disney included, know that you as an individual can go home and tell your friends and family of a bad experience and they may not book that same trip but a TA has influence over every client who comes in and if they say "I don't recommend cruising on XYZ line because they have far too many guest complaints on a regular basis" then no only will that client not book but that client will tell others too.

 

[Chicago526]

I'm a TA, so I guess I'm biased!

Disney is a differant type of vacation than most travel products out there. If you want to use a TA for a Disney vacation, I always recomend a TA that specializes in Disney. Dreams Unlimited, a sponser of these boards, are a great example. Because they book nothing but Disney, they are not only experts but have the time and resources to jump on codes and specials when they come out. A run-of-the-mill TA just doesn't have the time or resources to do this.

Like any other profession, there are good TA's and bad TA's. You have to shop around to find a good one. While it is possible to book your own vacations these days, many people don't have the time to spend hours online doing research and cost comparisons. So TA's still have a place in the travel industry.

I'm a corporate TA, and most of our clients barely have the time to call us to book an airilne ticket, let alone spend an hour online navigating airline sites and Expedia trying to do it themselves. And 9 time out of 10 we meet (and sometimes beat) the internet price anyway. So they save time and get the same low price. We even book Southwest tickets, and through their website, too!

So my advice? If you have the time and planing to you is fun, then by all means, go for booking it yourself! If you don't have much time or details drive you crazy, the go to DU or another Disney-only agency and let them do the work for you.