Why book through a TA?

[Jackie H.]

I''ve done both on our Disney trips. I used to do it all myself exclusively. I was a stay-at-home mom and I had time.

Our trip last year was scheduled very last minute. It wasn't last minute related to when we went, but instead as related to when we needed to book. On July 29, my husband said: "Let's go to DIsney this September". This was on a Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church. Disney has a special on (sorry forgot which one) that had to be booked by 7/30! So before church I got off a quick email to Small World Travel (got their name from the Mousesavers.com website). When we got back from church, I called Disney and booked a package at AKL. Later I got a call from Denise at SWT saying she had booked everything I wanted at AKL for exactly the same price - down to the penny. That told me that she knew what she was doing discount wize. We were also spending part of our time at US, so I asked her to handle all that and I kept the WDW package she booked. She got me a great deal on HRH ($100/night) through a discount program I had never heard of and probably would've never found on my own. Not knowing as much about US as I do about WDW, I felt a little lost - and the information is not as easy to find!

When we decided to go back this 12/30-1/6. I contacted SWT again and asked for Denise. I had a few ideas, mainly that I wanted to stay at the Poly but couldn't afford the holiday rates. Maybe I could stay at a value until the rates went down. She got us a room at the Dolphin for little more than the values at that time! (Believe me this excited me beyond description!) Anyway, it was her knowledge that discounts would probably be available during NYs that got me that room. I had no idea, nor would I ever had suspected it.

So here is what I say: if you have a knowledgable TA that knows a lot about Disney - I would even say specializes in Disney - it is great. Because they do all the work, calling, paperwork, etc. But if you have just a regular TA - who may be great at most vacations, I think I would book it myself. There is a lot of nuiance in learning about Disney discounts and such and I'm not sure a TA who doesn't specialize in Disney has time to learn it all. I have a friend who stayed at the All-Star Music last November. She paid more for her trip than we did at AKL! She used a local TA that just booked everything at rack rates. My friend is the type that did not want my advice.....

 

[missypie]

Well, BuzzMe, that's the difference between a good TA and a bad one, same as it's the difference between a good car dealer and a bad one, a good mortgage company and a bad one, etc. For the ones who don't think business repeats it's a self fullfilling prophecy: They don't get repeat business, so they assume that in their industry repeat business is not a factor, so they give poor service, so they never get any repeat business...

I've bought 5 new cars in my life (I'm not that young - we just drive them forever). Only one of those was a good experience. I would have gone back to the one salesman who was nice to me, but by the time I needed another car, he had moved away.

Good for you for providing good service. Your travel business will survive the Internet ...the TAs who look up only what you ask them to look up and book only what you ask them to book (with no value added in the form of great advice or service) will go out of buisness if they haven't already.

 

[bellman]

Using a TA is like anything else, for some its just a job and for others its helping poeple that they love. When you find a good TA appreciate them, if you get one that isn't as good, move on. Everytime we go on a trip we have to have a family fight since my wife aunt is a TA who can't seem to book simple airline tickets without a messup.

 

[off2disney]

My suggestion would be to find a TA that specializes in the area you want them to handle for you -- I found Your Magical Jourenys and read the bio's of the travel agents and found one that specialized in Disney travel, and Debbie has been great. I've changed resorts three times - My 1st reservation was Port Orleans French Quarter, which closed for renovation, and she got me Wilderness Lodge. Then, my DD and GS decied to join me, and she changed us to All Star ports. Once we were in her system, any discounts or notices were forwarded to us immediately by email or phone. It's taken a lot of stress off me to have her make all the changes