Using a travel agent

[sukhakuli]

This is kind of a dumb newbie question, but I'm considering using a TA to book everything for us for our next trip. I've always done everything myself before, but she said she can book all dining and FP and stuff. But I'm worried she will mess up and won't be right there when the dining opens up and we'll lose some of the special things we want like CRT. And we're hoping for free dining, so getting an additional discount isn't something I think we can get from using a TA.

Have you used a TA? Did they screw up all your reservations for dining and rides and so on? Or was it just like super simple and easy?

Do they get better prices on flights? Are they more likely to get room requests?

 

[aaarcher86]

TAs aren't more likely to get anything. You'll get stories of TAs that are great and TAs who really dropped the ball. You should be able to get any discount Disney is offering through a TA (unless you're getting some other kind of deal?).

I'm sure you could tell the TS you'll book your own dining and FP if you're worried about that. They do as much or as little as you like. Keep in mind that in regards to your resort reservation, everything will go through the TA. Disney won't talk to you about your reservation directly.

 

[rwdavis2]

If using a TA worries you then don't. One of the best things they do is monitor discounts and promotions. We were able to rebook WL at a cheaper rate and better room in 2012 and then in 2013 we got a heads up for a heavily discounted dining plan for Disney VISA cardholders.

I would never have them book airfare or cars. IMHO, you don't want a third party involved if something goes wrong. They will point fingers at each other. They rarely if ever get better prices on flights. These days there is no reason for an airline to offer discounts.

If you are used to doing all this yourself then stay with that. Does the TA really know more than you?

 

[Mousemommy1]

Unless the TA is offering a killer discount (some do), you should just do everything yourself. A TA can't do anything that you can't do.

 

[nkereina]

TAs are helpful for complete newbies and those who have absolutely zero time to plan, research, and sit on the phone/internet with Disney.

If a free dining or room only promo comes out, you can still get that using a TA. Even if your TA has their own promotion running, that would be separate and apart from the promo Disney is running so the TA doesn't have the authority to say they can't stack the discounts. The only time you can't stack discounts is when it's two different discounts run through Disney.

If a TA is willing to book dining and FP+ for you, chances are he or she are not signing on at 6am or midnight to do this. Both of these are done as a courtesy to the customer out of sheer customer service - agents do NOT make commission on these bookings so therefore they are making the same amount of money whether they book these for you or not. You can make your booking through the agent and then tell him/her that you want to make your own ADRs and FP+ - it would relieve you and they'd likely welcome that.

 

[disneyseniors]

because we always use a certified Disney travel agent. She is an expert in all things Disney. She does get us the best flights, both times and lower fees. The last time we flew from a little town in N. Mn. thru Mpls/StPaul, to Orlando for $250 round trip each. She searched til she found us the best deal on flights! She also goes the extra mile to get us the resort and dates we want or need. A good certified Disney travel agent will book the resort, get your park tickets, flights all done for you. Our agent does not do the adr's or fp's for you. She is not allowed to I guess. But she will spend a lot of time helping you figure it out if you want. Because of all her years of experience, she knows the ins and outs and all that is new at WDW, and is a tremendous resource of all things Disney. We would not travel to WDW with her to help set it all up for us. And No, it does not cost anything for us to use a travel agent thru Disney. She gets paid by Disney for booking, and there is not extra cost to us. So, I would say use a good Certified Disney travel agent. They have been trained extensively by Disney and are very good at their jobs.
No I'm not a Disney TA, just love ours

 

[goofy4prez]

If using a TA worries you then don't. One of the best things they do is monitor discounts and promotions. We were able to rebook WL at a cheaper rate and better room in 2012 and then in 2013 we got a heads up for a heavily discounted dining plan for Disney VISA cardholders.

I would never have them book airfare or cars. IMHO, you don't want a third party involved if something goes wrong. They will point fingers at each other. They rarely if ever get better prices on flights. These days there is no reason for an airline to offer discounts.

If you are used to doing all this yourself then stay with that. Does the TA really know more than you?

I agree with you 100% on this. I used Travelocity once and it turned out to be a nightmare. It is not worth saving literally a couple of dollars, if even that on the flights and risk having problems with a third party.


To the OP. I have used a TA in the past and had no problems at all; in fact she was excellent and would highly recommend her. However, as I have become more Disney savvy I prefer to handle my reservations myself.

 

[figmentedfollies]

I can only agree with what previous posters have said. I used a Disney TA on our last trip in 2013, but that was before Magicbands/FP+ so there was a lot less planning on our part because we're the sort of duo to decide what we're going to do that day rather than 180 days out. Honestly, looking back I could have done without the TA and did for our booking this January. That's not to say she wasn't good at her job, but I probably did not use her to my advantage. This year I handled everything.

One thing to point out, is that if Disney has sent you a unique offer/PIN code, they are able to pull it up when you book with them, even if you don't have the code sitting in front of you. Which was good because we had lost it until after we had made the booking. Disney was able to tell me what package was best for us between the PIN/Late Winter Room Offer/PS&D. I'm sure our TA for the 2013 did something similar as well (I had a PIN then as well, I think for free dining), but since she did not go through each offer with me on the phone so I cannot verify that for a fact.

So in the end, it really depends on how much control you want to have over initially, how comfortable you feel with the Disney booking/planning process, and how much time you have on hand to do all the planning.

 

[PSUTraveler]

I used a TA specializing in Disney for our recent trip to WDW, my parents used a non-Disney TA, and my friend booked on her own. I was the only one of the group to get the free dining offer due to the knowledge of our TA. My parents had a lot of problems and were given misinformation from their TA.

We handled all dining reservations and FP+ selections ourselves (we booked late and had the QS plan - dining reservations weren't a big deal for us).

I will definitely be using this TA next time, and I may ask her to help with other parts of the planning.

 

[Grumpy92]

Make sure she specializes in Disney Vacations. I have seen way too many TAs book incorrectly. Guest think they are staying at WL and they are actually booked into a campsite.

If you want a good Disney TA use the owner of this site, Dreams Unlimited. I have used them many times and they are great.

 

[Sue M]

The only type of TA I would use for WDW is an Authorized Disney Planner. They are great, as mentioned they know the moment WDW releases a promo, and are on it.
Personally, I don't book without a promo. So I just let my TA know when I want to go, and book it when promo is released. It's also easy to make payments, I just send out an email to her. No worrys.
It's my preference to book my own flights, ADRs & FPs

I've done a combination thru the years of booking myself and using a Disney specialized TA.
Tried AAA once but quickly realized I knew way more then she did, and this was before I booked. Her quote was way off, because I had checked on the WDW web site to get an idea of prices. I've heard horror stories of people booking with regular TAs, who don't know about WDW, discounts, etc.

 

[McKelly]

I used a TA this trip and she has been a lifesaver. I am supposed to leave tomorrow and yesterday my mom who has been living in a nursing home for two years contracted pneumonia and has been given 3-4 days to live. She canceled/rescheduled everything for me to March and got me a discount, which I didn't even know was out there. She even rescheduled dining reservations that she knew I wanted. I could cry just thinking about how nice and helpful she is......will definitely use her again and again.

 

[nkereina]

As far as flights go, airlines do not pay TAs commission. If a TA books flights for you, they are doing it as a complete courtesy or they are charging you a service fee (which they may mask as part of the flight cost) in order to get some kind of compensation for their work. The benefit to having a TA book flights for you, even if you incur a service fee from them, is that the system they use can pair different flight segments and "build" a flight schedule for you. For instance, if you look on Orbitz, a bunch of different flights are shown and you just pick one. You may be stuck going from Seattle to Orlando through Atlanta with a 4 hour layover. A TA can view ALL airline availability and flight segments and may be able to book you from Seattle to Orlando by way of Chicago, with a 2 hour layover. Also, if you can find a 24 hour travel agent (we have a few here), they always have someone available to help in case of last minute delays, cancellations, missing flights, etc. Instead of waiting in lines at the airport, your TA can jump on this same system and rebook you instantly.

All of this being said, I do book my own flights because I know the leg work I'll put in to finding the best fare. Since TAs aren't making money on these bookings, I feel funny asking them to keep searching.

 

[MillauFr]

I prefer to book everything myself. However when our TA was offering the Labor Day Agency Exclusive and was booking rooms at the Poly for $189 per night we booked with our TA.

 

[2sweetprincesses]

I used a TA for my last trip as she was an acquaintance and was trying to start up her business. It was horrible as it took her about a week to get back with any emails and I could not call Disney myself to change our reservations. We had a pin code we needed to apply and it took her so long I was worried that I would not get to use it on the room type I wanted. I also added a person to my reservation at 30 days out and that took her about a week. It would have been a quick call if I had done it myself. She did not do my adrs or fastpasses. She got my disney mail when it came and I had to wait for her to forward it to me. I'd never do it again!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I've always booked myself and enjoyed doing that.

This time there was a TA offering an exclusive offer for the BC. I had them book it since it's such an amazing deal. I will book flights, ADRs and FPs myself.