What benefits of using a travel agent?

[wendow]

Doesn't Expedia do more business in 5 minutes than that travel agency does in an entire year???

I know the 'agency that shall not be named' isn't as big as Expedia but they don't seem like a small agency to me. They have quite a few agents and I have used the same gal for 3 or 4 trips now and she seems quite busy (though very responsive!).

My understanding is they book up the rooms like a convention would...and they offer some of the same park tickets like a convention...My dh had a convention at WDW two years ago and the CR pricing through the convention was almost identical to the pricing at CR for Labor Day through the agency (his conference was in April). That is what my aunt, who is a TA, says they are doing. Why other agencies don't do the same?? I really don't know. Seems like there are other big agencies who would want in on this but maybe it's really not making 'unmentionable' that much money...it's more of a gaining customers move??

I know in our case, we've only used them for Labor Day deals cause that is when we typically go but I have referred a couple of people to them and they ended up using them even at non-LD times.

 

[JKalai]

I know the 'agency that shall not be named' isn't as big as Expedia but they don't seem like a small agency to me. They have quite a few agents and I have used the same gal for 3 or 4 trips now and she seems quite busy (though very responsive!).

My understanding is they book up the rooms like a convention would...and they offer some of the same park tickets like a convention...My dh had a convention at WDW two years ago and the CR pricing through the convention was almost identical to the pricing at CR for Labor Day through the agency (his conference was in April). That is what my aunt, who is a TA, says they are doing. Why other agencies don't do the same?? I really don't know. Seems like there are other big agencies who would want in on this but maybe it's really not making 'unmentionable' that much money...it's more of a gaining customers move??

I know in our case, we've only used them for Labor Day deals cause that is when we typically go but I have referred a couple of people to them and they ended up using them even at non-LD times.

When groups sign a contract for a block of rooms, they have to be committed to the x amount of rooms that they sign for. My guess is that other travel agencies do not want to take that risk as they would be financially on the hook for whatever rooms that they do not sell. The one travel agency we are all talking about most likely has some sort of an idea of how many rooms they would sell during that specific time period to make it a group block rather than a whole bunch of single reservations scattered throughout the year.

When me and the SO went to WDW last year under the specific TA, the convention tickets were the only downside for our specific situation. We ended up changing our minds by the end of the trip and we wanted to upgrade the tickets to AP's in which we couldn't because they were the convention tickets. The discount on the room more than made up for it though as I wouldn't have been able to stay at the Poly if I had booked anywhere else.

 

[wendow]

When groups sign a contract for a block of rooms, they have to be committed to the x amount of rooms that they sign for. My guess is that other travel agencies do not want to take that risk as they would be financially on the hook for whatever rooms that they do not sell. The one travel agency we are all talking about most likely has some sort of an idea of how many rooms they would sell during that specific time period to make it a group block rather than a whole bunch of single reservations scattered throughout the year.

When me and the SO went to WDW last year under the specific TA, the convention tickets were the only downside for our specific situation. We ended up changing our minds by the end of the trip and we wanted to upgrade the tickets to AP's in which we couldn't because they were the convention tickets. The discount on the room more than made up for it though as I wouldn't have been able to stay at the Poly if I had booked anywhere else.

We have used their convention tickets for several trips but we are too far away (and too big a family) to afford more than one trip a year. Agreeably, the inability to upgrade those tickets doesn't work for all. But yeah, the room rates cannot be beat!

 

[MommaVail]

What we perceive as a unknown travel agent on here as the name is not discussed, is actually a pretty big agency as it is mentioned quite frequently on other forums.



Keep searching and emailing around. I was able to find it after about 5 quotes from different travel agencies. I booked with them last year, had no problems with the agent and got an insane rate at the Poly for a week.



The great deal that everyone talks about on this forum is through a specific

What we perceive as a unknown travel agent on here as the name is not discussed, is actually a pretty big agency as it is mentioned quite frequently on other forums.



Keep searching and emailing around. I was able to find it after about 5 quotes from different travel agencies. I booked with them last year, had no problems with the agent and got an insane rate at the Poly for a week.



The great deal that everyone talks about on this forum is through a specific travel agency.

The one I went through I got in an email newsletter. The newsletter had links to some other great deals but the travel agency they partnered with didn’t work for me.

Of course I don’t know who the special magical fairy one is

 

[amylevan]

There's a touring plans blog that discusses in detail how this agency gets its prices, and offers a description of using it to get a reduced rate at the Polynesian. There's also some discussion on reduced ticket prices. Since the blog article mentions the specific agency by name, I'm not going to link for fear of breaking the rules. But if you google touring plans blog hotel discount October 2016 it should come up.

 

[belleelc77]

We use a TA for the discount but I handle all my own ADR's and FP's. However, I do let my TA make my room request. In the past, my room requests were never met. Not a single time but my TA always has gotten us what we wanted so I'm sticking with that method.

I am using a TA for PHM weekend in a couple of weeks. I normally book myself but I wanted to ensure that I had a room at my preferred resort for this busy time so I booked before any discounts were available. I went with the TA so they could keep an eye out for any new discounts as they are released rather than have to keep checking myself. My daughter did all of our ADR's and FP's after we linked the room reservation in MDE.

ETA I tried to make my own room requests through Disney direct but they just told me that I had to go through the TA. Since I booked with them they couldn't access the reservation to add requests.

 

[wendow]

ETA I tried to make my own room requests through Disney direct but they just told me that I had to go through the TA. Since I booked with them they couldn't access the reservation to add requests.

That is interesting. I can actually make our room requests at online check-in even when I use a TA but I've found my requests are met much better if I let the TA do it

 

[belleelc77]

That is interesting. I can actually make our room requests at online check-in even when I use a TA but I've found my requests are met much better if I let the TA do it

I have been able to do that in the past but it didn't give the option during online check-in this time.

 

[wendow]

I have been able to do that in the past but it didn't give the option during online check-in this time.

My last trip was Sept 2017 so maybe things have changed. No worries since I prefer the TA to do that part

 

[belleelc77]

There's a touring plans blog that discusses in detail how this agency gets its prices, and offers a description of using it to get a reduced rate at the Polynesian. There's also some discussion on reduced ticket prices. Since the blog article mentions the specific agency by name, I'm not going to link for fear of breaking the rules. But if you google touring plans blog hotel discount October 2016 it should come up.

Thanks for the tip, I think I found it and will try to get a quote for our December trip once I know the dates. Has anyone used them for DCL and have an idea of they typical discounts offered?

 

[wallskm]

There’s definitely more than one agency that can do the group rates- I have booked through 2 different ones before with similar deals. One is the big one and one is smaller. Great experiences with both.

 

[MillauFr]

There’s definitely more than one agency that can do the group rates- I have booked through 2 different ones before with similar deals. One is the big one and one is smaller. Great experiences with both.

Are the other agencies offering a 60% discount off of the rack rates? How do their discount compare. I could care less which travel agency I use. I am only interested in maximizing the discounts I receive.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

When groups sign a contract for a block of rooms, they have to be committed to the x amount of rooms that they sign for. My guess is that other travel agencies do not want to take that risk as they would be financially on the hook for whatever rooms that they do not sell. The one travel agency we are all talking about most likely has some sort of an idea of how many rooms they would sell during that specific time period to make it a group block rather than a whole bunch of single reservations scattered throughout the year.

When me and the SO went to WDW last year under the specific TA, the convention tickets were the only downside for our specific situation. We ended up changing our minds by the end of the trip and we wanted to upgrade the tickets to AP's in which we couldn't because they were the convention tickets. The discount on the room more than made up for it though as I wouldn't have been able to stay at the Poly if I had booked anywhere else.

You could always do room only and buy your tickets through UC and upgrade those. The convention tickets are a great price though!

 

[Summer2018]

Before I was a teacher, I was a travel agent. I like to have another set of eyes on my reservations. If you have a good one, they will have your back. My travel agency has a Disney month. We got $75 gift cards for booking with them.
Also, on our last trip, we booked the Garden Wing at the Contemporary. She monitored deals, and got us upgraded to a very high floor in the tower for the same price. I wouldn’t have had time to check on deals like that. I always trust the professionals who do this everyday.

 

[bpesch]

I'm using a Disney TA for the first time on this trip just as an experiment. So far there really hasn't been any benefit. I checked the prices myself and they are exactly the same as she got me. But I'm months out and haven't gotten close to dining and FastPass reservations yet. This trip is just my adult daughter and me, so it's no big deal to go with the flow and see how it goes.