Travel Agent

[Missytara]

I can say I used a TA the first three trips until I got the hang of it. Then I got the hang of it. I like owning my own reservation and paying it off a bit at a time every month. Eases the pain a bit!

What surprised me was that when I booked it myself the following year, it was the same exact price.

Once I got on the disboards is when I discovered all the fabulous discounts.

When a TA was absolutely invaluable, was when my best friend and I went on a cruise overseas a few years ago. Not long before the trip, her daughter decided she wanted to go. That TA moved heaven and earth to get us on the same plane going out and coming home. Not only that, we were all sitting together both ways.

Had it just been to FL, I would not have worried, but going overseas for the first time, we all wanted to be together.

 

[tstidm1]

If you have a specialty discount (such as the resorts Military discount), you would be better off doing it yourself. I tried using an agent explaining my situation (not Dreams Unlimited travel) and they weren't helpful. They basically tried to sell me a tickets and room package at the public price. I did better with doing it myself. I would consider using a travel agent if you've never done travel planning before. Part of what I do in my after work life is travel planning, so I have some smarts on this front.

 

[shruley]

Lots, lots, lots, lots of knowledge. I am a research fanatic. When planning our vacations I am on this board daily, have a TGM subscription, etc. But my TA still had some nuggests of information that I hadn't heard anywhere else! I would tell her my crazy, nutty delimmas (sometimes you have TOO much info) and she would way in on them and give her opinion or the pros and cons. Her opinions were really spot-on for our family. (And that was what I usually needed. I had choices but had trouble deciding what to choose!) I had used 3 Disney TAs before, and the last one was by far the best. I guess I felt like I had my own, personal Disney-nut to listen to me ramble and help me make vacation decision when my hubby would just roll his eyes at me!!!

Other more practical aspects. Some agencies will offfer you additional discounts or small gifts (TGM subscription, water bottles, etc) for booking with them. We got extra onboard credits for our cruise that way. One time, our TA had a Group Rate organized for Poly. We got a super cheap rate that way, that would never have been available through the general public. Also, I hate talking on the phone, and I hate Disney's website. I love someone else making my reservations and ADRs for me. She got everything we wanted, including great times for CM and CRT. Somehow, she was even able to book ADRs a day or two earlier than we should have been able to. Why should I waste my time calling (or getting up early) if someone else will do it for me? For free? And I'm helping another Disney fan earn a living doing something they love. Our TAs have never done our airfare, just the Disney reservations. Works for us, and I'm one of the biggest overplanners there is!

 

[shruley]

Oh, I should point out that our TA also answers emails very quickly. Usually within a couple hours, so I never felt I was "waiting" to get something booked or even a question answered. She also got a birthday cake reserved for us that seemed to have some confusion with it at first. I was just glad I wasn't the one trying to explain things to a clueless CM!

 

[Sue M]

We used a TA for our first few trips- a Disney Vacation Specialist. Our TA was in Tennessee! Service was great. We had a few phone conversations to establish what I was looking for, then corresponded via e mail.

She was esp helpful in doing the Disney Math to figure out which promo was the best for us, back in the day WDW had multiple promos out :roll eyes:
She was on the phone the second res opened to have promos applied. Very helpful when you're on the west coast and a 3 hr time change!

If something goes wrong at the resort during your stay, they can be very helpful with that too. Someone else to go to bat for you.

They are def worth it, esp if it's your first few trips. Now I find I really enjoy the booking and planning myself. But if i didn't have the time to watch for the discounts, I would have no problem using my TA again. They are wonderful.
Another thing, if she goes away, or is out of the office she always makes sure she gives her files to another TA in the agency, and sends me the contact info, so I'm never left in limbo. I have heard of other non Disney TAs who are gone during the time when promos have been released, and haven't given files to another TA so that person missed the promo availability of what she wanted.

 

[Mariep26]

Remember it is not all or nothing.. if there is a certain aspect of the trip that you want teh TA to handle and you prefer to control the rest, just make that clear when you enlist your TA. I have complete control over everything in my trip -- flights, ADRs, research. The only thing I ask of my TA is to watch out for discounts that apply to me. That being said, I still call Disney to check if I have PINs etc.. A good TA will hear how you want the experience to be and respect that. Frankly I think my TA loves me.. I do a good amount of the work and he is the hero if he finds me a discount before I find it myself. And I pay nothing for it!

 

[HANDYMOM]

If you're unsure about using a TA, plan a trip yourself. You'll probably know if you want to use one on your next trip. You may have a knack for Disney planning, or you may feel a little overwhelmed . The good news is if you do use one, there's no cost to you!

 

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[mickeynut1]

I don't use a TA as I love to plan, book, do research, etc., but I will say that TAs are very helpful to those that don't have time to plan and/or just don't want to plan/do research for a resort, discounts, etc. The Dis is a great place to find out about promos and things going on, but some people don't have the time nor want to deal with spending alot of time on the computer. I do agree with others, though, that if you do use a TA, it's best to use one that specializes in Disney as most of them will work hard to get you the best possible deal.

 

[darguel]

New here but just wanted to chime in on TAs. I'm not living in the US so booking through one of those online 'disney experts' is very useful for me. It's also our first time visiting WDW and probably will not be revisiting for a very long time so it's very important to me to do as much as possible this time round. The TA was mostly helpful until recently when we figured out our ADRs and she didn't respond to us for days. We went ahead and booked our own ADRs in the end. Now just got to keep our eyes peeled for discounts!

 

[raven69david]

We had previously used TA's to book our trips. Then I discovered I was actually better at doing it myself and was able to track discounts and find all types of good stuff in doing the research myself. I love planning the trips and making the ressies, so it works for us. If you don't like doing this, then a TA might be a better idea. But for us, we save tons of money each year by finding discounts.

 

[sndral]

I book my own. So I can only go by the experience a friend had using the local AAA disney 'specialist.' The resort she booked, CSR, was a huge disappointment to my friend - the agent had not accurately described the resort and my friend was surprised @ the theme. I suspect my friend would have been happier @ a different resort as she had a small grandchild. The ADRs the TA made were crazy and a huge waste of time travelwise - booking an Epcot restaurant on the day my friend planned on MK, for example. So, if you intend to use a TA, I think it is critical to use one who truly is a Disney specialist, questions like have you been to WDW, how many times, for ex. might help to sort the good from the bad.
The downside to using a TA is that you don't 'own' your reservation, your travel agent does, so Disney won't talk to you and I've read tales of people having troubles getting things done/fixed because their agents were non responsive and they couldn't do it themselves.
The upside to a good WDW TA is that they'll do all the time consuming legwork of pricing and if you aren't aware of discounts will tell you about them - which can save you lots of money.
And, if no discounts are yet available for the time you are going, really good TAs will keep watching for newly released discounts for your package and apply them to your package the minute they come out, so you're more likely to get that new discount offered by disney if one comes out after you book which can result in big savings (you can do this yourself, but if you aren't checking constantly you might be too late trying to grab that discount.)

 

[Disney Fans]

Use someone that is a Disney TA for sure! They can make you a personal planning guide which saves you time and money, they can make your dine plans for you and make the best fit for your family! Some even give resort credit! Love resort credit! and OBC for Disney Cruises. Can't go wrong with a good Disney TA.