Need travel agent these days?

[SandmanGStefani24]

So the Mrs wants to go to the UK (not epcot, lol) and I want to go to Japan.

We have decided to go to both within the next year or so, but I wanted to know if anyone has gone lately. I have put together some packages myself at pretty decent prices, but should I look into a travel agent? Im just not sure since I have heard more negative than positive. Anyone have any experience or advice? Thank you!

[Georgesgirl1]

I have never used a travel agent before, but that is mostly b/c I enjoy the planning part of my trip just as much as the trip itself!

I have many friends who have used travel agents and have been very happy with the service. Maybe, just call some travel agents and see what they can offer and if they can beat the packages you have come up with.

Good luck and have fun!

[DizneyRox]

I really don't have much use for TAs. In the past, they have done nothing that I couldn't do myself. For my upcoming cruise, I got nothing but the advertised rates I was getting on RCCL dot com, so really I don't see much use.

If you don't know the areas, maybe, but I think it's more luck of the draw if they really know what they are talking about, or just good at pulling the wool over your eyes.

Ireland and Germany are on my short list of upcoming vacation spots and I don't plan on engaging a TA.

[SandmanGStefani24]

Ireland and Germany are on my short list of upcoming vacation spots and I don't plan on engaging a TA.

Both of those sound cool! Hope you give us the details, even though they're not WDW...

[Cinderelley]

I love my travel agents! :cloud9: They have been invaluable in helping me with my research and planning. It can be hard to find a good one though. Try to find one that specializes in what you want to do. I have Debbie with Magical Journeys for my Disney trips. ;) And one that specializes in cruises cuz I prefer Royal Caribbean over the Disney Cruise Line. :blush:

[faline]

Sometimes, it's hard to know whether or not to use a travel agent. For Disney trips, you can't beat using the wonderful folks at Magical Journeys. (http://yourmagicaljourneys.com/). They are terrific and always follow your reservation so you get the best deal.

For a couple of trips, we took to Hawaii, we used a diffrent travel agent. The first trip did not have a lot of advance planning and we hadn't been to Hawaii for a number of years, so the travel agent was helpful in selecting our lodgings. we used the same travel agent for our last trip. That time, I knew exactly where I wanted to stay and what I wanted. I found myself needing to nag her to change components of our trip, particularly since our lodgings went down in price several times since we initially booked. However, I'm the one who needed to track and notice the changes. I'm the one who needed to contact her to make sure she rebooked me at the lower price. I even needed to nag her to get our final paperwork. I felt sure I could have booked the same trip with a lot less hassle without the agent. In the end, though, it WAS helpful to be associasted with a travel agent. When we arrived at our accommodations on Maui, we found that our room had been mistakenly completely cancelled! We had a voucher that indicated the room had been completely paid for almost two months prior to our arrival. We were provided with a room for the first evening and told it would be sorted out in the morning. It was too late at home to be able to contact the travel agency but I did so first thing in the morning. They got right on the phone with the resort and by mid-day, we were in new (and upgraded) accommodations for the remainder of our trip. It might have worked out exactly the same without the association with the travel agency but it did seem helpful to have that association in this situation!

[luvdiznee]

For a trip as International as this, I would use a Travel Agent. :cool:

[diz_girl]

For a trip as International as this, I would use a Travel Agent. :cool:

From what I understand, with a GOOD travel agent, if a problem occurs while on vacation (such as flight or other problems), you can call them and they can find another flight/hotel for you so you don't have to. I remember a year or two ago there was a major flight problem (don't think that it was the Iceland volcano, maybe it was a strike or weather or something), and the people who were able to change their flight out (or home) were the ones with travel agents that looked at all airlines and options for open seats. Those without a TA just tried to go to other carriers' counters to get flights and were stuck waiting in line forever and usually couldn't get a flight out for days. I would think that this would be especially important when traveling internationally.

[brownie]

We've started using a travel for work (very small company) and she's found us some flights that we couldn't find on our own. It's worth looking into.