Prices from hotel website vs. discount travel websites

[alundy]

Hi everyone! I am trying to narrow down which island I want to have my DW at. A big part of that decision is cost for our guests... I haven't contacted a TA yet as this is just preliminary reserach.

 

In any case, I was considering Aruba and when I look at the room rates on the Divi and Tamarijn resort websites, they are quite high ($365 per night). However when I look at those same resorts on Orbitz.com, same timeframe, they are quoting $1500 per person including airfare! Obviously this is a massive difference and would completely change whether I consider going here.

 

What price would a TA be more likely to get - is the resort's quoted room rate what they will be working with? It just seems like a ridiculous difference.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[tsgnatko]

This was my biggest stress - but you can't plan a wedding without a plan - ppl will search their own options - you just pick what you want and go from there

[alundy]

OK thanks, that makes me feel a lot better. I certainly do want to work with a TA, not an online discount website, when it comes to my wedding. So I'm happy to hear that price matching is a possibility.

[ACDCDCAC]

Mo i like how you put that the first thing you do is compare apples to apples! thats really important

 

alundy, ive always wondered about that too, im so glad you asked here so we could get great answers like Mo's!

[atrott]

I'm using a TA for my trip & she was able to match the prices that Vacations to Go had on their website. I like the idea of using a TA since everyone is booking through her & she just lets me know what guests I have coming!

[eholt]

Working with a TA just makes it easier from beginning to end...at least thats been my experience!

[miss_delerium]

We were initially going to book with something like Expedia too, but in the end decided to use a TA, mostly because I didn't want a million calls to us regarding travel arrangements, prices etc. - I'd rather everyone just talk to our TA. She said she would price match anything we found online.

[pujbride19]

I have quite a bit of experience in deal hunting on vacation packages, but still decided to use a TA for our wedding group. I am so happy that I did. All but twice the TA was able to get better prices than I could find. She has also saved me a million headaches. Every time someone books I get an e-mail and I also now have copies of all of my guests' bookings and requests. I HIGHLY recommend using a TA and have faith that they will get you good rates.