TA or NO TA?

samanthag · 07-22-2008, 08:22 AM

Hi guys!

I was with a group of friends over the weekend who asked me if we had a travel agent we were using for our wedding.
I really had not thought about this at all!!!!!
I'm a flight attendant so I usually take care of our travel arrangements myself.
Anyhow, most of our guest will be traveling from San Antonio to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Any suggestions?
What are the pro and cons of using a TA?
Most importantly, where do you find them?
I'm in the process of posting info on our wedding website so any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks! :)

PaulaV · 07-22-2008, 11:11 AM

I used a TA and she was a life saver.

I would think that eventhough you are used to making your own arrangements, you need to keep in mind you are planning a wedding AND then answering everyone's questions about so many things either related to the wedding or travel.

So why not let someone else help with those specifics?

DanielleNDerek · 07-22-2008, 11:14 AM

I say TA. I'm so glad i had a TA and if your friends dont' want to book with the TA they don't have to. My TA helped with getting prices and answering questions from my guests. she's also going to remind people when payments are due and track people down when the payments aren't paid. I really am tired of reminding people of things, so i'm glad she'll be taking care of that part for me.

Pug3636 · 07-22-2008, 11:17 AM

I say TA all the way! I'm pretty independent too about booking my own trips. In this scenario a TA can be a huge asset for you. You really don't want to have to deal with all of your guests travel arrangements and questions. Even if you give them the info to book individually, there are still going to be lots of questions for you. I believe you can even find a TA on this website?

KLC77 · 07-22-2008, 11:18 AM

I would go with a TA. Your travel might be easy, but dealing with all of your guests questions about thier travel might get overwhelming on top of planning your wedding. A TA can handle all of their individual travel needs and answer questions for them. You can find one who is local to you, there are TA's on this forum. For me, it is totally worth it to have a TA involved. Don't forget, being a flight attendant you are used to traveling and are more familiar with making travel arrangements. Your guests may find it overwhelming to plan the trip themselves. Also, in most cases a TA has access to lower airfare rates than what you would find if you looked them up yourself.

Kelly C · 07-22-2008, 11:22 AM

I say TA all the way. With all the questions and restriction people have they can field all that for you. You can go local or we have TA's on here as well.

Yari · 07-22-2008, 11:39 AM

I say go with a TA for sure. I didn't and definitely wished that I did.

zorlack76 · 07-22-2008, 11:55 AM

Well, seems like everyone is saying to get a TA. If a DW wasnt such a special day/vacation, I would say dont bother unless you are going outside the country. But DEFINITELY GET A TA FOR YOUR WEDDING!!!! They will save your life. What is an extra couple hundred bucks (at the most) when thousands are being spent on the wedding/honeymoon. I am sure you can find a ton of them in SanAntonio. Look for Apple Vacations...they have always treated me well.

samanthag · 07-22-2008, 12:00 PM

THANKS LADIES!!!!!!!!!!

I'm definitely going to start looking for a travel agent TODAY!

Big hug to you all!!!!!!!!!!!

TA Jennifer · 07-22-2008, 12:13 PM

When looking for a TA there are a few things that you should keep in mind-

Have they booked DW's before and how much experience they have with DW's ? Dw's are so much different than booking a vacation or a honeymoon- most TA's do not realize the amount of time & effort that goes into booking DW's- this is definately one time that it pays to go with a specialist!

What are their hours? If you have guests coming from all over the country you will need a TA that they can get ahold of when it is convienant for them. A local TA may be great but if the office hours are 8-5 M-F and your guests are in another time zone it may not work out!

What exactly will the TA do ? There are post on hear where a TA will not collect payment nor provide a list of whom has booked.

A little trivia-

Apple Vacations is a TO not a TA. A tour operator generally contracts with airlines,hotels and transfer companies to sell packages. The turn over rate can be higher with a TO as they are in call centers. You may work with one agent or whomever you get when you call in. You can run into some issues because of not having one person always or with turn over.

A TA is a travel agent whose obligation is to the consumer and they work with many different TO's (a TA has different reservation agents to work that are usually dedicated to assisting just travel agents ) A Travel agent also has access to our district Sales managers who will assist with any issues on the consumers behalf.