To travel agent or not to travel agent?

[Adesir8]

Reading these has still left me a litle confused as to whether or not to get an agent!  I still don't know!  I reached out to the hotel directly, and got a better rate than what the agent from Wright quoted me. what to do what to do???

[Amanda Gardner]

My family and friends did not want to deal with the resort. They wanted an easy go to person for flight and hotel. It probably also depends on your resort, my travel agent got cheaper rates directly from the resort than I did. She quoted by booking with resort and by booking with a tour company.

Originally Posted by Adesir8 

Reading these has still left me a litle confused as to whether or not to get an agent!  I still don't know!  I reached out to the hotel directly, and got a better rate than what the agent from Wright quoted me. what to do what to do???

[shanloveslexi]

We are going with a travel agent. They quoted us with a much lower rate than the resort!

[Kel123073]

My travel agent came back with a higher quote then the resort.  I told her and she matched their rates by booking through them directly.  It is so much easier I think for the guests to contact her rather than me.  If I went through the hotel I had to block off the rooms with a deposit on each that would then be applied toward my wedding package when people booked.  Too much of a headache!

[Amanda Gardner]

It is so much easier going throughan agent. I agree total headache!!

Originally Posted by Kel123073 

My travel agent came back with a higher quote then the resort.  I told her and she matched their rates by booking through them directly.  It is so much easier I think for the guests to contact her rather than me.  If I went through the hotel I had to block off the rooms with a deposit on each that would then be applied toward my wedding package when people booked.  Too much of a headache!

[uhaft]

Originally Posted by Adesir8 

 

Reading these has still left me a litle confused as to whether or not to get an agent!  I still don't know!  I reached out to the hotel directly, and got a better rate than what the agent from Wright quoted me. what to do what to do???

I have always booked all my traveling on my own but when it came to booking over 45 people for my wedding I left that up to Wright travel! When any of my guests had questions they went directly to Wendy my travel agent instead of me getting a million phone calls and e-mails. Also by booking a group I was able to gain a few thousand dollars credited back to me along with free room upgrades (this also depends on the resort you are booking)!

[mmb1117]

 I did everything myself and booked both our parents and that's it. I did not want to block a group of rooms for fear of getting stuck with the bill if they are not all booked. So with our invitations, we put a little instruction sheet on how to book, etc. There is a group code people can use, and so they can come for how long they wish. So far, we have guests coming anywhere from 3 to 7 days so I am glad I did not try to take care of this for everyone. Good luck!

[katman]

Excuse my ignorance...but I can't seem to find out how to access the BDW travel agents page. 

 

I am a Canadian bride-to-be (currently living in Alberta - but most family/friends/guests are from the Niagara, Ontario area) in the VERY early stages of planning. FI and I are leaning towards using a TA as we think we will have a group of 40+ people travel ling to our DW. We have not decided on a resort at this point, and feel that maybe it is time to turn to a TA for help with this process.

 

As we don't have too many narrowed down, we are looking for someone who going to give us fair reviews/quotes/etc. on a variety of AI properties (looking at the Riviera Maya/Cancun area) without pushing us towards a specific company. 

 

Does anyone have recommendations for how soon to get involved with a TA? Is it better to have someone you can meet with in person, or does electronic communication make that irrelevant? And would someone be able to direct me to the BDW TA page?

 

Thanks to all who have posted on this topic!!

[starchild]

Regarding our BDW travel agents, you can contact them HERE!  They specialize in destination weddings.

[TammyWright]

Originally Posted by Adesir8 

 

Reading these has still left me a litle confused as to whether or not to get an agent!  I still don't know!  I reached out to the hotel directly, and got a better rate than what the agent from Wright quoted me. what to do what to do???

We can usually price match.  Also sometimes the rates will look better but do not include transfers, etc. so you need someone to break down the pricing for you.