Do you use a travel agent or book on your own?

[tny915]

More travel questions for you all :)

I've booked packages myself and used agents, but I don't travel enough to know whether my experiences with travel agents made the trips that much better. We're going to Disneyland--it's not like it's a very complicated trip to book.

So what do you do for your trips, book through an agent or go it alone?

[bostonsmama]

I've only used a travel agent twice: once I scheduled some air travel to Germany for my mom (and a rental car)...but no "vacation" since I already lived there, and another time for our honeymoon to a Sandals Resort in Jamaica. I guess in both instances I needed information from an agent who had been to the Sandals resort or knew about certain classes of rental cars in relation to our needs. Reflecting back on it though, I'm sure it wasn't the best of deals (the $15-30 agent/booking fee alone cancels out most savings). For our honeymoon, we used an agent especially b/c we wanted her recommendation and trusted her word that we'd "have a blast." Unfortunately, we hated every minute of it, and now I've come to realize that trusting one person's assessment of a place can leave you wanting.

I guess it comes down to whether you feel proficient in researching the best of the internet sources. I like that I can go to tripadvisor.com and check out LOTS of reviews of places. I can peruse pictures of hotels on the internet, check guest logs, ammenities, do a mapquest of the area, instantly compare prices on 5 other websites (hotels.com, expedia, travelocity, orbitz, priceline, etc), and even earn reward points and print out my confirmation after booking. For our anniversary trip to Hawaii, I was determined to do better than our honeymoon to Jamaica, and I felt so liberated being able to choose the best of the hotels, get the best price on rental cars, read reviews of my hotel and area (downtown Waikiki) to know what to expect, what to see, what to miss, etc. Sure, it was a lot of work, but I planned it all during one of the busiest times in my life (when I first started teaching...ugh, I was swamped doing lesson plans & teaching from 6am to 9pm). And, since I figure most of on here are big into research (doesn't the Baby Bargains book and Lounge fulfill that primal desire to comparison shop and get the most for our money???), it's really no hassel at all.

But that's just me. I've never been unhappy with a trip I booked myself, while I have been very disappointed with a trip I booked through a travel agent.

ETA: We did Disney World twice, once for 2 days in the summer and once for 3 days in mid December. We booked all of the accomodations ourselves (we even went to outside attractions in Kissimme & Orlando...but I know you're planning on Disneyland, which is in CA). Anyways, we got an amazing hotel rate ($25/night with free breakfast, pool, Disney shuttle, ca tv in Dec; $35/night in June w/ same ammenities), and we got our tickets drastically reduced through a military promotion-$100 for 5 day park hopper tickets (Free for DH). It was a blast, and I know we would have wound up spending five times the price on a fancy room if we had booked through an agent...most people concur that it's just not that important unless you're staying in the room to stay in the room, not tour the city and Walt Disney (land/world). Just my 2 cents.

Larissa
***Cheers! Here's to better luck in 2006!***

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."
-James Baldwin

[s7714]

We usually do our own research for places that have limited selections (town only has 5 hotels, etc.) or places we've been to before. For places that have numerous (too many? ;) ) options we will go through a travel agent but only if they've actually been to the place we're traveling to. We went through an agent for our honeymoon to Hawaii because other than a few friends recommendations we had no clue about where to stay, etc. Next time we go we'll probably just book things ourself. We did get some great deals on side trips/activities going through the agent though, so we might check to see what options we'd get before setting anything in motion.

ETA: For Disneyland or Disneyworld I personally wouldn't use an agent, because IMO it's a pretty straight forward deal. But, if you're a AAA member you might want to see what package deals they currently have running through their travel services--they often have good package rates depending on the time of year.

Jennifer
Mommy to
DD 3/03
DD 6/05

Calling fellow BBB SoCal moms...we'd love to meet you!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/babybargainssocal/

[karolyp]

I think it would also depend on how much time you have to research your options online.

For a small trip, I just research online using tavelocity.com or exedia.com. But for our trips overseas, we use a travel agency. They have much better deals and know how handle all the layovers.

HTH

[Dcclerk]

Since you are going to Disneyland, have you checked Mousesavers? That website always has links to good deals, and seems to identify people who specialize in Disneyland and Disney World. I've never used them myself, but I have been impressed with how knowledgeable they seem.

Have a great time!

[kijip]

I book on my own. The few times I have used an agent it was for airplane trips when I needed advice on connecting flights coming from multiple cities. For the air only stuff I ahve found travel agents to be as cheap as booking on my own and super easy but this was before the all electronic ticket age. However, I have tried using travel agents for other trips and the quotes were ridiculous compared to what I scored on my own. $3500+ for a week in Orlando for 4 adults and 1 child at the Holiday Inn in a family suite and 1 rental car (including airfare). Hotwire generated well less than $2000 for almost 2 weeks in Orlando with 2 rental cars and 2 hotel rooms. Needless to say, I booked via Hotwire.

You might check out the mousesavers website for tips on Disney.

[aliceinwonderland]

Domestically, always do it myself. Strangely, internationally, this agent had fares hundreds less than event he cheapest engine or calling the airlines themselves...Crazy, but true.
I suspect in high traffic routes, you're better on your own. But not on the god-forsaken places I sometimes find myself travelling to.

[kozachka]

We've used an agent in the past but not since 1997. I am a bit obsessive about researching places we travel to and as a rule don't like packages. I enjoy getting to know the place we'll be travelling to and becoming an expert.

[ciaobella]

" Strangely,
internationally, this agent had fares hundreds less than event
he cheapest engine or calling the airlines themselves...Crazy,
but true."

Do you still use this person? I don't want to hijack this thread, but I am looking to book a trip to Italy and I am looking for a good agent. I would love a recommendation. Thanks!

[mskitty]

We tend to book our own travel inside the US... but prefer an agent when we are outside the US. Our agent was very helpful with planning our Europe trip as she had been there. We added 5 days on our own to a package deal so she was a great help with planning our nontour days. They have great customer service before, during, and after the trip.

I also believe in them since they are a huge cruise agency. They have a lot of last minute nonpublicized deals when the cruise ships are a few cabins short of being sold out. They also know who has blocks of cabins on "sold out" ships and get you on. They usually will match or beat other advertised prices for cruises. They are worth it for those things.

If we just need airline tickets or hotels, we book it ourselves.


MsKitty