To travel agent or not to travel agent?

[2ndtimesacharm]

  As I stated above, nothing I wrote was meant to be negative.  My only goal was to write an honest description of what occurred.  If you took all of this to be negative, than there is nothing else to say about that.  I will say however that the tone of your response was rude and almost disrespectful, writing things like "hit the lottery" and "what did you want her to do" is just not needed.  I am here simply to express my experience and not be criticized.  I understand that you refer people to Vacations 4 Less and that is fine, but try to be impartial and let people express their opinions...which is why people come to this site to begin with.

 

I agree that it is helpful to read about other experiences because it will help us know what to expect.  The other bride who just booked with Teresa will now know she needs to ask up front for rooming lists and info on who in her party has booked.  Nothing wrong with that.  Sharon's expectation wasn't met and she's now passing that on to others so we don't experience the same disappointment.

 

I also agree that Tammy's responses were less than professional.  While the initial comments did draw out the entire story, the last comments were rude and it would cause me not to want to book with you.  Not trying to be rude myself; just want to point out that your reputation is also on the lines when you comment publicly on the internet.

[TA Babs]

Hi Sharon,

 

I completely agree that this forum is to help other brides/grooms whether it is to give a glowing review or to let people know how much something sucks.  I think the issue with your initial review is that you didn't give the entire story and (as seen by a member's initial review) it gave a very negative connotation.  If you had explained everything that happened, as you did in the last post, readers would have been better informed of the issues and what caused them and not simply, Vacations For Less wasn't that great and this is why.  You should definitely give your opinion, just make sure you are giving a fair assessment and not leading people to believe things due to a lack of information.

[thttravel]

i think u choose travel agent, your wedding sure wonderful, contact me or reference http://www.trieuhaotravel.vn

[StephanieV]

We got married in the Riviera Maya, and used Wendy Hicks ([email protected]), who is one of the BDW travel agents. She was FANTASTIC!

 

We decided to use her because we didn't want to deal with collecting money, or making sure everyone had their rooms and shuttles booked, etc. Originally we were just going to book through the resort's travel agent, but we wanted to get the best deal for our guests - and when I price compared with the resort TA, Wendy, and 5 other Travel Agents, we found that Wendy offered the best price (AND seemed the nicest and most on-the-ball!).

 

ALL of our guests that used her had nothing but great things to say! She took care of everything for them, made sure they had all of the information they needed, and that they got where they needed to be on time.

 

A few of our guests didn't use our TA... they were able to get a slightly better deal through Travelocity, because they could book their flight and their room as a package, and it got them a better deal. However, they only saved about $100-$200/group of 3, and in the end it was more of a hassle for them, because they ALSO had to set up their own shuttles to and from the airport, and they didn't get put in the same block of rooms as the other guests.

 

Halfway through the booking period, when some of our guests had already booked, Wendy was able to negotiate an even BETTER deal with the resort, and she saved everyone over $100/couple. The guests who had already booked were refunded their savings. It was a great thing to be able to tell everyone in the midst of planning "Hey - our wedding just got cheaper!"

 

Not only was Wendy fantastic, but the vendor she uses for the shuttles was also great. They picked us up at the airport with a heart-shaped sign, got us in a shuttle, and on the way to the resort gave us a ton of really helpful information about tourist attractions. We even arranged with them to drive our group to Tulum the next day - and they showed up with coolers full of ice and beverages in the air conditioned vans.

 

I would say DEFINITELY go with a Travel Agent. It will cut down on the amount of questions you have to deal with, you can just send them straight to your travel agent, and it will ensure that everyone gets their reservations correct. It was definitely a nice thing to NOT have to worry about that portion of the trip/wedding.

 

Yay, Wendy!!!

[uhaft]

Originally Posted by StephanieV 

 

We got married in the Riviera Maya, and used Wendy Hicks ([email protected]), who is one of the BDW travel agents. She was FANTASTIC!

 

We decided to use her because we didn't want to deal with collecting money, or making sure everyone had their rooms and shuttles booked, etc. Originally we were just going to book through the resort's travel agent, but we wanted to get the best deal for our guests - and when I price compared with the resort TA, Wendy, and 5 other Travel Agents, we found that Wendy offered the best price (AND seemed the nicest and most on-the-ball!).

 

ALL of our guests that used her had nothing but great things to say! She took care of everything for them, made sure they had all of the information they needed, and that they got where they needed to be on time.

 

A few of our guests didn't use our TA... they were able to get a slightly better deal through Travelocity, because they could book their flight and their room as a package, and it got them a better deal. However, they only saved about $100-$200/group of 3, and in the end it was more of a hassle for them, because they ALSO had to set up their own shuttles to and from the airport, and they didn't get put in the same block of rooms as the other guests.

 

Halfway through the booking period, when some of our guests had already booked, Wendy was able to negotiate an even BETTER deal with the resort, and she saved everyone over $100/couple. The guests who had already booked were refunded their savings. It was a great thing to be able to tell everyone in the midst of planning "Hey - our wedding just got cheaper!"

 

Not only was Wendy fantastic, but the vendor she uses for the shuttles was also great. They picked us up at the airport with a heart-shaped sign, got us in a shuttle, and on the way to the resort gave us a ton of really helpful information about tourist attractions. We even arranged with them to drive our group to Tulum the next day - and they showed up with coolers full of ice and beverages in the air conditioned vans.

 

I would say DEFINITELY go with a Travel Agent. It will cut down on the amount of questions you have to deal with, you can just send them straight to your travel agent, and it will ensure that everyone gets their reservations correct. It was definitely a nice thing to NOT have to worry about that portion of the trip/wedding.

 

Yay, Wendy!!!

I totally agree! I recently got married in Riviera Maya as well.  I used Wendy as our group travel agent and she did a FANTASTIC job! She was on top of things from beginning till the end! She was so sweet and easy to talk to.  She answers your e-mails and phone calls right away and always has an answer for all of your questions! Our guests had nothing but nice things to say about her! She made things so much easier for us to focus on the wedding instead of having to help our guests with all of their questions and bookings!

 

It is completely beneficial to you to book with Wright travel.  You don't have to pay extra for their services and sometimes you even get money back with a group booking (in our case it paid for our whole wedding package)!

 

Focus on your wedding and leave your travel bookings to the professionals! Good luck!

 

Thanks again Wendy for all your hard work!

 

[KrystalDawn]

I am trying to decide whether to use a TA as well. Our family are timeshare owners so right now we are trying to secure 3 timeshare units at our location to try to help with costs of accommodations. If I can book all of them I will only pay $450 for 15 people to stay in a 5 star resort for a week instead of thousands of dollars or asking my guests to pay. I'm not sure if I need a TA only for flights..

[KrystalDawn]

However, adding to that--I'm not sure that having a back up plan with a TA is a bad idea?

[Renewedbride]

I'm still trying to figure out if I should use one or not. I have people flying from 4 + states and I'm not sure how much they can help me. I initially tried to go through destinationweddings.com but their wedding specialist gave me quotes for packages for my guest way  above the budget I gave her. I'm really confused if I should use one or not.

[Renewedbride]

I'm still trying to figure out if I should use one or not. I have people flying from 4 + states and I'm not sure how much they can help me. I initially tried to go through destinationweddings.com but their wedding specialist gave me quotes for packages for my guest way  above the budget I gave her. I'm really confused if I should use one or not.

[TA Wendy]

Hi there, Why dont you give us a try here at Wright Travel... we are the agency for BDW and are experts in Destination Wedding business!

I bet we could be of help to you!

TA Wendy