Thinking About Getting A Travel Agent! Is It Worth It?

MKforReal

MKforReal

Active Member
I have been thinking about working with a travel agent to help plan and book my vacation. To my relief, I learned that Disney travel agents are free because Disney pays them. Awesome. But is that a good thing or a bad thing? Will they be giving me more expensive options because of this or will they be helping me get discounts and the best deals?

Another question: Are they usually just online or can I find them all over the place?
 
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lilclerk

lilclerk

Well-Known Member
A good TA will help you work with your budget, and will help you find ways to save money! I've always used one because she's on the lookout for discounts for me, and automatically switches my trip to it if one applies. She's also around to make any changes to hotels/dates/whatever for me so I don't have to call Disney myself.

Kingdom Konsultants is the travel agency on the board here, they're all awesome and super helpful. I'm not sure if you'll find any brick & mortar Disney-specific travel agencies in your area. You could always try a AAA agent, but they aren't all as well-versed in Disney as an agency like Kingdom Konsultants.
 
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Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
MKforReal said:
I have been thinking about working with a travel agent to help plan and book my vacation. To my relief, I learned that Disney travel agents are free because Disney pays them. Awesome. But is that a good thing or a bad thing? Will they be giving me more expensive options because of this or will they be helping me get discounts and the best deals?

Another question: Are they usually just online or can I find them all over the place?
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As long as you go with @Kingdom Konsultant you won't have any problems.
 
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Betsyboo

Betsyboo

Well-Known Member
I've used AAA to book all four of our Disney vacations. I use them mostly for the reassurance in having them as a backup in case there is a problem etc. There are many AAA TAs that are well versed but if you are looking for someone to help you like the others are saying I'd go with a Disney dedicated TA, especially with all the "new" stuff. Have fun planning.
 
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S

Susan Savia

Well-Known Member
We've been each year since 1984 and never use a Travel Agency. I suppose if you need to book a bunch of dining reservations and tours one might come in handy.
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Susan Savia said:
We've been each year since 1984 and never use a Travel Agency. I suppose if you need to book a bunch of dining reservations and tours one might come in handy.
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I use to think that way too. Then I used Kingdom Konsultants and it changed my Disney world (pun intended;))

The number of our on property trips are into 3 digits and we have been using Kingdom Konsultants for 6-7 years now. I can not imagine going back to doing all the leg work myself. Using a Disney specific TA just takes all of the hassle out of it. I would just email my agent with our travel dates, resort choices and any dining I wanted and I was done. I could quite literally forget about my trip until it was time to get in the car and leave. No banging the phones at 7:00 AM to try and get that hard to get ADR and no more keeping an eye on all the promotions and hoping that I got the best deal. When something came out, @wannabeBelle automatically rebooked me.

All of this for the low, low price of zero dollars.
 
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officialtom

officialtom

Well-Known Member
We have a friend who's a travel agent and he keeps his eyes open for us for the best prices between Feb and April (when we normally go). Other than the resort/flight booking and tickets, though, we do it all ourselves. Everything is so easy now with the improved Disney website/app.
 
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Sparkle81

Sparkle81

Well-Known Member
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Mukta

Mukta

Well-Known Member
I have booked trips myself and I have used Kingdom Konsultants for many trips. It is so much easier when I let them deal with Disney.

I pick my hotel and dates and they book it for me. I buy my flight, forward the email to KK and they book Magical Express for me. If I hear about a deal, I email Tammy and she calls Disney, waits on hold and talks to them for me.

It saves me a lot of time and aggravation.
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
dmw said:
I booked two trips by myself years ago, but we used Small World vacations (Angela) for our anniversary trip last year and were very pleased with the service. There are so many dining, ticket, room options now, that it was very helpful to have someone knowledgeable helping out. Yes, I probably could have found it all myself, but I thought it was good to get the info all at once, and then be able to have fun planning from that info. And, it was very nice having her call for dining reservations. Also, I never understood the difference as to why some WDW reservations go through the Disney vacation group, and others do not. That makes a huge difference on deposits and cancellation policies. Confusing...
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Packages which include room, tickets and dining go through the Walt Disney Travel Company. Room only reservations do not.
 
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WDWFan_Boston

WDWFan_Boston

Well-Known Member
lilclerk said:
A good TA will help you work with your budget, and will help you find ways to save money! I've always used one because she's on the lookout for discounts for me, and automatically switches my trip to it if one applies. She's also around to make any changes to hotels/dates/whatever for me so I don't have to call Disney myself.

Kingdom Konsultants is the travel agency on the board here, they're all awesome and super helpful. I'm not sure if you'll find any brick & mortar Disney-specific travel agencies in your area. You could always try a AAA agent, but they aren't all as well-versed in Disney as an agency like Kingdom Konsultants.
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Not true. AAA has been fantastic for us every time we have used them. They always make sure we get the lowest rate, even after we have put down our deposit. This year, they saved me an extra $250 without me even asking. They just sent me an email to tell me they had gotten me the lower rate. Very nice.

They have agents who are specifically trained with Disney, so no problems there either. Also, AAA gets you free Diamond parking at the parks when you book through them. It's not a huge perk, but it sure a nice option if you have your car, because you park right next to the gate.

AAA has been good to me for 15 years now for travel, towing, locksmiths, etc. I highly recommend them. I've saved far more than I have given them over the years.
 
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lilclerk

lilclerk

Well-Known Member
WDWFan_Boston said:
Not true. AAA has been fantastic for us every time we have used them.
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I'm not trying to say anything bad about AAA, I use them for other things too! It really depends on the agent you get. Anyone can take and pass the course Disney has on the TA website, but not all AAA agents really know Disney. I've heard some horror stories about AAA travel agents trying to book Disney and not knowing all the ins and outs that even someone on these boards would know.

I'm glad you found one you like, though! I'm not saying they're all bad, just that they're not all as well-versed in Disney as a good specialty agency. :)
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
lilclerk said:
I'm not trying to say anything bad about AAA, I use them for other things too! It really depends on the agent you get. Anyone can take and pass the course Disney has on the TA website, but not all AAA agents really know Disney. I've heard some horror stories about AAA travel agents trying to book Disney and not knowing all the ins and outs that even someone on these boards would know.

I'm glad you found one you like, though! I'm not saying they're all bad, just that they're not all as well-versed in Disney as a good specialty agency. :)
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This^^^

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "AAA agents are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get."

I have had AAA agents that could tell you the first and last name of every resort manager in WDW, but I have also run into others whose Disney knowledge peaks at "It is in Orlando, right?"

A Disney specific agency like Kingdom Konsultants should know the place inside and out.
 
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WDWFan_Boston

WDWFan_Boston

Well-Known Member
lilclerk said:
I'm not trying to say anything bad about AAA, I use them for other things too! It really depends on the agent you get. Anyone can take and pass the course Disney has on the TA website, but not all AAA agents really know Disney. I've heard some horror stories about AAA travel agents trying to book Disney and not knowing all the ins and outs that even someone on these boards would know.

I'm glad you found one you like, though! I'm not saying they're all bad, just that they're not all as well-versed in Disney as a good specialty agency. :)
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Nope, not trying to pick a fight, honest ;). I'd just encourage the OP to search out some other options, and AAA has a great total package (not just as a travel agency). I'd put them against KK any day. I'm sure some would disagree (especially since they are sponsors!), but that's just my experience.
 
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D

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
WDWFan_Boston said:
Nope, not trying to pick a fight, honest ;). I'd just encourage the OP to search out some other options, and AAA has a great total package (not just as a travel agency). I'd put them against KK any day. I'm sure some would disagree (especially since they are sponsors!), but that's just my experience.
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In my experience, due to the size of the AAA organization, much depends on your local office. I've met AAA Disney experts that have never been to WDW or on a Disney Cruise. Others are the cream of the crop as far as Disney goes.

The clients that come to my Disney focused agency that have previously used AAA are surprised with a few things:

- we are up and on the phone or website at 7am for dining when needed for those hard to get dining reservations
- we are up and applying modifications to their reservations at 7am on the days that the new offers are released - and we do it for them without being asked.
- if they wish, we will sit with them and assist them with their My Disney Experience setup, smart phone app, and their Fastpass+ recommendations and reservations
- we are available outside of normal office hours for emails and phone calls. In other words, we don't have 9-5 office hours.

We do many other things too, but those are the main ones.
 
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Monty

Monty

Brilliant...and Canadian
In the Parks
No
"Worth" is very subjective. My first experience booking a Disney trip was through a local Amex Travel storefront. The level of service consisted of no more than what was in the brochure they had on hand. Later, after finding this site I had some very good experiences using Marie at KK [ @wannabeBelle ], she truly went the extra mile. I experimented once with a fellow WDWMagic member who started her own Travel Agency after taking the Disney training and had reasonably good results. Now I am sufficiently well-versed in what's involved and where to find the deals that I book everything myself and I'm confident I don't/won't miss out.

The significant advantage to using a TA that is truly well versed in Disney is there is no extra cost for their services, so you get the best rates available without added overhead.
 
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Avenger117

Avenger117

Well-Known Member
I didn't read all the responses and I'm sure the advice is similar to mine, but I recommend a travel agent. I don't feel like my travel agent has tried to upsell in any way. I still get to plan what ADRs I want, I just don't have to book them. I would say to use a travel agent that specializes in Disney vacation though.
 
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