Why Use A Travel Agent?

[Rigby]

Thanks so much for all the responses! My only worry is that we're not very flexible with our timing for when we can cruise and we know specifically which staterooms we'd want. In the past I've always called the day the new itineraries are released and I've never had a problem. Are the TA's that on it? I'd hate to miss out on what we specifically want because I was going for a $100 OBC and I'm not the TA's highest priority on that day.

 

[shburks]

Good TAs are on top of it! I love Heather at Wishdrawals Travel. It's a smaller agency so you get super personalized advice. She's very fast on email or phone and has always gotten what we wanted when we give her advance notice! She offers OBC as well

 

[blondietink]

We used a TA for our DCL cruise just to get the OBC. Honestly, they did nothing more than give the OBC. I still had to give them all the information (identification, passport info. etc..) that I would have had to give the cruise line myself if the TA wasn't doing it. They were just the middle man. Oh, and they made sure to let me know that if I booked another cruise onboard, to use their name so they would get the commission.

 

[courtneydisney]

I use Costco for travel - I love having the ability to see everything online, getting the big fat gift card after we get home, and it's never gone wrong for me yet - 4 cruises and counting. They take Disney gift cards as payment over the phone, too.

 

[kiford]

When we cruise, we typically are staying at a hotel at least before if not after the cruise (or at WDW) and we may be doing some tours if we are in Europe and we take DCL transfers regardless of location. I just give my TA the stateroom category we want, the dates, that we want to stay for x nights, tours we want, travel insurance, etc. She does all of legwork, the bookings, arrangements. I don't want to spend the time on the phone doing all of that. If we have any questions, make changes, have issues before or during the trip we have one point of contact. She reminds us when final payments are due and handles all of that. To me, that's more valuable than an OBC.

 

[diznymom]

Even if you to book onboard with the same TA, you may not get the same stateroom credit as a new direct booking. I know the dreamsunlimited.com only gives 1/2 the credit for OBB as they do for new bookings

Can someone explain this to me? Why do you only get 1/2 the credit for OBB???

Thanks.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Can someone explain this to me? Why do you only get 1/2 the credit for OBB???

Thanks.

For a transferred reservation, TAs now, typically, only give 1/2 of the the OBC they would give if you book through them to start with.

That's any OBC you get from a TA, not the OBC you get on an onboard booking.

 

[plutolovr]

Can someone explain this to me? Why do you only get 1/2 the credit for OBB???

This is because Disney Cruise Line has lowered the commission amount given to travel agents for transferred and onboard bookings. Since any onboard credit you receive from a travel agent comes out of their commission they have to reduce this amount so that they are making something.

 

[Mrslissaaa]

We use a travel agent as well. We do book future cruises while on board to recieve the Disney discount and the onboard credit Disney offers. THEN within 30 days, we transfer the cruise to our established travel agent and get that onboard credit as well. Who doesn't like free money?

How does that work? We're going on our first cruise in December and I was planning on booking my second for the discount? I booked my cruise with AAA so no onboard credit. I found about those after the fact. I don't have a TA to transfer to.

 

[Stephcaz]

How does that work? We're going on our first cruise in December and I was planning on booking my second for the discount? I booked my cruise with AAA so no onboard credit. I found about those after the fact. I don't have a TA to transfer to.

We came across our travel agent by word of mouth and they've been awesome. Just book your next cruise while still on board to get the on board credit, then transfer to a reputable Disney authorized agent and you'll be able to double up!

 

[RedSox68]

Love our travel agent. Use them for two main reasons: we can put our DCL request in early and they wait on the phones and make the reservations and I don't have to sit on hold for hours; plus they offer onboard discounts. It doesn't cost us any more, but we know we'll get the best spot in line on opening day for pricing and don't have to hassle.

 

[Jess_S]

After reading this thread, I transferred my reservation to Dreams Unlimited. I also have them looking out for the release of the May 2017 sailings so that I can potentially book a B2B with my current April reservation. Aside from booking, is there anything else that the agent should be helping with?

 

[jane01jp]

We use Caylie at Small World for all WDW and DCL bookings.

She does a great job and we get OBCs.

 

[Eeyores]

I'm a little,disappointed. Got a quote from a popular TA but the onboard credit is only $50? For a cruise that is $3000? I was expecting more,as $3000 is a lot of money to me!