How To Find A Good Travel Agent?

[Moni240]

Hi all! Pretty new to this site and I have already really appreciated all the tips and ideas everyone shares in these forums. I am just getting started with planning and getting vendors lined up. The most critical one at this point (and the one that I seem stuck on) is the travel agent. I have seen bits and pieces from other folks about travel agents embedded in posts about other topics but I hoped to solicit some specific feedback about your experience finding one and working with them. Did you look for a TA that specialized in your wedding location? And do they provide you a quote based upon average amount per person or a certain time of year or what did you evaluate them based upon? Did you do phone interviews with them? What kinds of perks/incentives are typical?

 

Sorry so many questions, just really have no idea start and while all the other vendor planning seemed very straight-forward. This one is giving me pause...HELP

[APPDestinationWeddings]

Hi there, I agree that the travel agent is the most important person in the process.  if they say they do a lot of weddings, well that's a good start but it still is not a guarantee that everything will go as planned as most travel agents look after travel & flights not planning the actual wedding.  

 

It basically comes down to how hands on you want to be in the planning of your destination wedding.  If you love planning and have lots of time to figure out everything, then the travel agent will usually give you the details to contact the resort wedding department or head office wedding department and it's up to you to figure out all the details of the wedding, while they look after the travel & accommodation details.  This is a lot of work and often this is what frustrates most brides.

 

If you would like some help but still want to be involved then there's some travel agents out there who have also decided to specialize in weddings - they are usually called Destination Wedding Specialists.  They will usually contact the resort on your behalf and book the details of the wedding as well as the travel & accommodation, sometimes for a fee, sometimes it's included in the commissions they receive.  They will then hand the reigns over to you and you get to figure it all out when you get to the resort.  

 

Or there's the highest level of personal care and that's a destination wedding planner who will liaise with the travel agent, the resort and your guests as well as travel to the destination with you and take care of everything for you when you arrive, this is for you if you hate planning, are unorganized and just want to enjoy everything but comes at a higher price. 

 

So start with what type of service you are looking for then you can work out who is the best fit for you.

 

I would recommend a travel agent who specializes in weddings and also does specialize in your country of choice but this might be hard to find if you want to get married in Bali or Thailand as not a lot of US travel agents specialize in this region.  So do not be afraid of using a travel agent in another region/country that has expertise in this area.

 

As for an interview, this is not a standard practice - as they are not employees, they are consultants.  So a "meeting" would take place where you are both evaluating each other rather than you interviewing them, as not all travel agents want to work with all brides, just as all brides don't want to work with all travel agents.  It's a very personal journey that you are both entering so it's good to know you can work together well, and don't rub each other the wrong way.  This is a good time to ask lots of unanswered questions and answer lots of questions as well, so you can both get a feel if you want to work together.

 

Lastly the quote will be very specific.  You will not be able to get pricing/incentives/perks without specific dates, group number estimates, flight hubs or where the majority of your guests and you are flying from, and the specific resorts you are considering.  After you know these details then they can see what offers are available to pass onto you as these change from week to week.  An example of a "perk" would be if your group books 10 rooms then your room is free.

 

Hope this helps and let me know if I can answer any more questions.

 

Cheers

Pepi

[Moni240]

Really appreciate all the detailed advice. I am still fumbling my way learning how to use this blog and realized there was a way to track new comments to this thread. Sorry for my much delayed response.

 

I am in the process of contacting and talking to a few agents now. Just alot to plan and process but thankful for this blog and all the supportive ladies on here!

[acw271011]

Really appreciate all the detailed advice. I am still fumbling my way learning how to use this blog and realized there was a way to track new comments to this thread. Sorry for my much delayed response.

 

I am in the process of contacting and talking to a few agents now. Just alot to plan and process but thankful for this blog and all the supportive ladies on here!

 

Congrats and welcome! First off , I see you're located in Chicago! There seems to be almost an even number of American and canadian brides-to-be here but packages for travel are put together quite differently in the US compared to canada for destination weddings. The majority of the people involved from the US book their room packages and flights separately. Full package flying seems to be a bit slower taking off in the US whereas in canada, it's more rare to find someone NOT using an all inclusive package which also gives you airport transfers. And many of the US brides here will do their destination wedding on a weekend, with guests arriving on Thursday or Friday and leaving on Monday, whereas most canadian brides have their DW run for the whole week with family and friends and the wedding happening sometime through the week.

 

I would highly recommend the owners of this site - Wright Travel. They are destination wedding specialists and have won multiple awards for service. In fact one of them is also a DW bride! They will work with you to determine what you want in a resort, your must haves and don't wants and also your budget and the budget you want for your guests. They are no fees for their service. Being in the US the "perks" as was mentioned above, are very different compared to canadian travellers. Wright Travel will be able to assist you with determining what perks you might be eligible for given the resort you choose and your group size. They can vary quite a bit from resort to resort. I've provided the link for you to get in touch with them. It never hurts to ask and it might give you someone else to compare.      http://wrighttravelagency.com/inquiry/

 

You can also read the reviews here for Wright Travel, just to see what other brides have said:

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/reviews/p/21494-wright-travel-agency-destination-wedding-and-honeymoon-specialists/

 

Good luck and happy planning!

[tiffanyt]

Hi all! Pretty new to this site and I have already really appreciated all the tips and ideas everyone shares in these forums. I am just getting started with planning and getting vendors lined up. The most critical one at this point (and the one that I seem stuck on) is the travel agent. I have seen bits and pieces from other folks about travel agents embedded in posts about other topics but I hoped to solicit some specific feedback about your experience finding one and working with them. Did you look for a TA that specialized in your wedding location? And do they provide you a quote based upon average amount per person or a certain time of year or what did you evaluate them based upon? Did you do phone interviews with them? What kinds of perks/incentives are typical?

 

Sorry so many questions, just really have no idea start and while all the other vendor planning seemed very straight-forward. This one is giving me pause...HELP

 

This is such a helpful thread since I had a lot of the same questions! Thanks for starting it! Have you found a travel agent yet? I have a meeting set up next week with one that came highly recommended so hopefully the meeting goes well.

[Moni240]

This is such a helpful thread since I had a lot of the same questions! Thanks for starting it! Have you found a travel agent yet? I have a meeting set up next week with one that came highly recommended so hopefully the meeting goes well.

Hi Tiffanyt. I see you posted this at the beginning of the month so probably already met with your travel agent. I ended up emailing and speaking with about 7 different ones. My biggest concerns were the amount of deposit we would need for the room block, amount of each guests deposit, and how long they had to make the deposit to hold their room. We just decided on one this week, and GLAD to be done with this part.

This is such a helpful thread since I had a lot of the same questions! Thanks for starting it! Have you found a travel agent yet? I have a meeting set up next week with one that came highly recommended so hopefully the meeting goes well.

Hi Tiffanyt. I see you posted this at the beginning of the month so probably already met with your travel agent. I ended up emailing and speaking with about 7 different ones. My biggest concerns were the amount of deposit we would need for the room block, amount of each guests deposit, and how long they had to make the deposit to hold their room. We just decided on one this week, and GLAD to be done with this part.

 

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