Travel Agent vs. Doing it Yourself

[lynzi2004]

Can anyone lay out to me the pros vs. cons of planning a Disney vacation by yourself or using a travel agent. I've always planned our trips myself. I find that planning is almost as enjoyable as going. I've also found that I can find really good deals by scouring the boards and finding little tricks and tips. Now, I realize that not everyone has the time to spend hours a day planning but my DH and I are self-employed and I'm basically his secretary for our office. I'm pretty much able to answer the phone during the day and sit at the computer planning Disney

A friend of mine is in the early planning stages and has elected to use a travel agent. When the Parksavers buy 4 days, get 3 free days was offered I mentioned it to her and her travel agent hadn't said anything about it. They are a family of 5 and she was given a few room options but I don't even think the agent mentioned anything about the possibility of renting DVC points.

But, I also know that sometimes travel agencies will offer discounts or can add extras in. I also know they are very helpful if you have problems, etc. with your planning. I would love to at least talk to one to see what they might could do.

 

[pampam]

From personal experience, I find that a TA will not work as hard at finding the deals that I will, so for that part, I do the leg work and make the plans and reservations.

I sometimes use a TA for airfare, but lately, I've been doing that myself too. It's easier to do it myself in case I need to make some changes.

 

[MadMadamMim1]

I use a TA but I go in knowing what deal I want and where I want to stay, what tickets I want, etc. I book my own dining and FP. I really just use the TA because I don't like dealing with Disney myself. And it's easier to just make payments for the balance to her over time.
She says I'm her easiest client lol

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I think it was really important to use a TA, back when you couldn't find deals on your own.

Now, not so much. As long as you have time to do the planning, I would.

 

[nkereina]

A friend of mine is in the early planning stages and has elected to use a travel agent. When the Parksavers buy 4 days, get 3 free days was offered I mentioned it to her and her travel agent hadn't said anything about it. They are a family of 5 and she was given a few room options but I don't even think the agent mentioned anything about the possibility of renting DVC points.

A travel agent makes their money by receiving commission from companies. In this case, their commission comes from Disney. A travel agent will not rent DVC points on your behalf because they do not earn commission on it. There are DVC point brokers that exist who buy DVC points from owners and sell them at a higher cost, thus earning their money. But timeshares don't usually pay commission.

Same reason why the TA won't purchase tickets through Parksavers. I'm not familiar with them but it sounds like a third party web site that likely receives their own commission from Disney for selling their tickets. Therefore, they are not paying commission to TAs.

A TA will book the best deal they can with the tour operators they work with. Sometimes they will set up their own agency exclusive promotions. But they will not forego commission, since that is how they make their money. A TA is good when you have a complicated trip, when they have an agency promo, when you know literally nothing about where you want to go, or if you simply don't have time or energy to do the legwork yourself. Especially when it comes to Disney and the 180 days, 60 days, etc.

 

[Accident]

But, I also know that sometimes travel agencies will offer discounts or can add extras in. I also know they are very helpful if you have problems, etc. with your planning. I would love to at least talk to one to see what they might could do.

Dreams unlimited travel is probably who you want to talk too first. They are directly connected to this forum, disunplugged and wdwinfo, etc..

this show might be a good introduction to them:

As someone else mentioned, they need to make money also so things with no commission tend to not be offered.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I decided to ditch the TA this time around. Last year I found that my emails were going unanswered for days, I was finding deals before she was and I wanted complete control over our trip.

For our trip next year I got a few quotes and decided to do it all on my own. I find no benefit to using a TA, especially if you want to book room only the way we do.

 

[PSUGuy]

Never used a TA, probably never will. Of my friends and relatives who do use them it seems they all get stuck with connecting flights, wasting some or all of the first day at least, we drive to PHL to get a Southwest direct and we're in WS by opening time.

We buy park passes from Undercover Tourist at a discount, often upgrading to an AP, never heard of a TA doing that, this year's trip is already paid for by last year's AP. I booked a compact car from Dollar, 10 + days for $188, maybe a TA could beat that, not sure.

The last 10 years we've rented DVC points and stayed at Board Walk for about the same, often less, than a Value would cost. I doubt a TA could/would do that, of course we have a relationship with an owner we met on these boards for the last 6 and she's held the line on the price per point (no, I won't be giving out her name etc).

At the end of the day, I just flat enjoy the planning. We have pretty full lives as opposed to our 20s and 30s when we were raising 3 kids and taking only one vacation per year so it's not like the planning takes the place of other things to do. It's just a game for me that can end up saving us WDW time and money.

Bill From PA

 

[Pesky]

I don't but that is primarily because I rent DVC points. As I handle that myself, well, the rest seems easier to do myself.

 

[rwdavis2]

The only thing I would allow a TA to do is handle the room. They can watch for discount and promotions better than me. Our last use of one worked well. This year we rented DVC points and did not use one. Our next trip to Disneyland we will go TA again.

 

[brockash]

Can anyone lay out to me the pros vs. cons of planning a Disney vacation by yourself or using a travel agent. I've always planned our trips myself. I find that planning is almost as enjoyable as going. I've also found that I can find really good deals by scouring the boards and finding little tricks and tips. Now, I realize that not everyone has the time to spend hours a day planning but my DH and I are self-employed and I'm basically his secretary for our office. I'm pretty much able to answer the phone during the day and sit at the computer planning Disney

A friend of mine is in the early planning stages and has elected to use a travel agent. When the Parksavers buy 4 days, get 3 free days was offered I mentioned it to her and her travel agent hadn't said anything about it. They are a family of 5 and she was given a few room options but I don't even think the agent mentioned anything about the possibility of renting DVC points.

But, I also know that sometimes travel agencies will offer discounts or can add extras in. I also know they are very helpful if you have problems, etc. with your planning. I would love to at least talk to one to see what they might could do.

Honestly, unless you're just really against doing it/dealing with it; I can't think of one advantage of booking with a TA. In general, they're not going to care as much about your vacation as you are, so they're most likely not going to be as persistent about things as you would be, and it will end up just making it harder for you to change or do anything with your reservation if/when you want to. We used one once and won't ever again for Disney at least. It's way to easy to get info. here, so there's just no need.

 

[momma2ethan]

I use a TA but I go in knowing what deal I want and where I want to stay, what tickets I want, etc. I book my own dining and FP. I really just use the TA because I don't like dealing with Disney myself. And it's easier to just make payments for the balance to her over time.
She says I'm her easiest client lol

This is totally me. I have used the same TA for my 2 prior wdw trips, a san diego trip, vegas trip and will use her again for our upcoming trip. She was a big help for our 2 non-Disney trips and our first wdw trip but I did all the booking, planning etc for our most recent trip and fully intend to do most/all myself for our next one. She is as hands on or hands off as her client needs and has no problem doing all, some or next to none of the planning and has given me some great tips over the years I've used her. She does run booking promos and sends a goody package prior to each trip that my DS loves (she even addresses it to him because she knows how much he loves getting mail!). I figure that it's not costing me anything extra to use her and if a problem were to arise during my planning process or while on our trip she is just a phone call/email/text away and will bend over backwards to smooth things over.

 

[Wdwfan2016]

One benefit of using a travel agent is that there are a few agencies that offer exclusive rates for booking with them. For example I stayed at the Polynesian this August and saved even more then the published summer offer discount. I use to do all the bookings myself, but now i will shop around. Not all agencies have the capability but it's worth shopping around for.

 

[lynzi2004]

Whoa, thanks for the responses! You all basically confirmed exactly what I was thinking! I'm in the boat of oxymorons who likes to do Disney cheap! haha I think I will stick with it on my own, I like having control over my vacation and my money. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on something

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I have some "rules" for using a TA

1. Do they have a phone number?
2. Do they have some type of 24/7 coverage?
3. Do they have professional agents or is it people doing your vacation in between their day job and family so they can either pay for their trip and/or get a free trip?

If the response to any of these is "NO" Run! Trust me, you don't want to be standing at resort at 2 AM with an issue where your only contact is a TA email that she checks after work I know several "Disney" specialist agents and I wouldn't use any of them for these very reasons.

 

[dlavender]

One benefit of using a travel agent is that there are a few agencies that offer exclusive rates for booking with them. For example I stayed at the Polynesian this August and saved even more then the published summer offer discount. I use to do all the bookings myself, but now i will shop around. Not all agencies have the capability but it's worth shopping around for.

I second this. I've never considered using one. Then I stumbled across a Labor day special that beat anything I could find. The deal was basically Poly for about $200/night. The closest I ever came to that was $320 looking on my own. That's the only reason I would use one. I'd use them for the deal, and then keep FP/ADR scheduling duties on my own.

 

[Kaleea]

For in the parks, we do everything ourselves. It is typically cheaper since we can throw in military discounts and using DVC points. For our cruise we went with a travel agent. Same price as Disney, often there are very few times the price on the ship will drop, and travel agents typically give on board credit towards things.

 

[beesly]

I occasionally use a TA - but only for the hotel reservation, and only when the agency offers a better discount than I can get with my AP. I make all dining and FP+ reservations myself.

 

[china mom]

I am an agent and I can say that the only Disney vets who use me are friends who want to see me get the commission that Disney builds into every trip whether you use an agent or not. Where I am really useful, though, is Disney Rookies.

I take the time to explain MDE, ME, FP+, EMH, ETC. You know, all those letters that everyone here on the boards understand but newbies don't know about. I keep them on schedule and make sure that they know about making dining reservations 180 days out. I send them reminders, I make restaurant recommendations and, if they want me to, I make reservations.

I had one newbie who, despite my countdown to 60 days, didn't make any FP+ reservations. I kept an eye on his MDE account and managed to snag him some good FP+.

I stay on top of trip planning boards, rumors ect so my clients don't have to and I rebook trips to take advantage of newly advertised discounts and promotions. I have literally spent 3 hours on hold to grab a promotion.

I have had a client call me from a line at an attraction in a panic because he was going to be late for his dining reservation and needed to know if there was a grace period.

I'm not telling you this to grab business because this is Dreams Unlimited's board and it would be rude of me to do that. I am just trying to show why travel agents can be useful - especially to the rookie Disney traveler.

 

[momma2ethan]

China mom- You sound JUST like my DTA. Even as a Dis vet I love getting the reminder emails and knowing I have access to her should the need arise. She spent countless hours assisting me with my rookie trip and for that and all the advise I've gotten from her over the years I have no problem letting her have the commission.