Why use a travel agent? I’ve been asked that question many times. With so many options for booking travel, it’s easy to wonder what the best choice is for booking your vacation. With the recent coronavirus outbreak and it’s effect on travel, many people have realized that there truly is value in using a travel professional. There are documented complaints of people holding on the phone for hours to try to get help from the big box store who booked their vacation. I’ve seen many complaints on social media about people who booked with a big online travel agency and now they cannot get any help. One even went out of business and left travelers stranded because their hotel or flight’s weren’t paid for. I could list many reason to use a travel agent, but here are the top five that come to mind.
We Advocate For You
Even before recent events, travel agents have worked extremely hard to advocate for clients. We spend hours on the phone helping with flight changes, resort issues and many more things. If a hurricane hits, we are the ones who spend hours on the phones changing or cancelling plans. If you have an illness or injury that prevents you from being able to travel, we will help you with your insurance claim.
Most recently, we have spent hours on the phone for our clients while people who booked other ways were stuck on the phone waiting for hours only to be disconnected. Our clients were able to worry only about taking care of their family. We did all of the work for them.
Expertise
As specialists in planning Disney vacations, our clients benefit from our expertise. It’s not easy to plan a Disney World vacation if you’ve never been there. There are a lot of decisions to make, and it’s hard to make those choices without some help. That’s where we come in. We have taken many trips to all of the Disney destinations. We have stayed in all the resorts and eaten at most of the restaurants. We know which FastPass choices are best. We can navigate the parks with our eyes closed. We will listen to you and help you make the best choices and plan the best vacation for your family.
Convenience
Your time is valuable. You shouldn’t have to spend it waiting on hold only to speak with a different person every time you call. When you book with us, you have a dedicated travel agent that is your one point of contact for everything. You call or email them directly.
I already mentioned spending hours on the phone for clients for various reasons. But we also save you a lot of time by doing all of the “work” for you. For any destination there are different steps you have to take to plan your vacation, but Disney vacations are even more complicated. You will need dining reservations and FastPasses or cruise excursions and onboard activities. You need to register the kids for kids club. Those are just a few of the many different steps to planning a vacation. We are up by 6am to book dining and FastPasses. We stay up until midnight to book cruise excursions. We do everything for you so you can relax and look forward to your vacation.
Best Value for Your Money
We not only help our clients make multiple decisions about their vacation, we also make sure they get the best value for their money. We make the best resort recommendations within your budget. If a discount is released, we work very hard to get that discount for you. We will also tell you if it’s worth spending a little more money for a much better experience. It’s not always about the cheapest price but the best value for the money you are spending. We will make sure you understand all of the options within your budget so you can make the best choices.
Relationships
The best thing about being a travel agent is the relationships I’ve developed with my clients. Many have grown to become good friends. I know the resorts they love and the ones they don’t. I know what stateroom category my cruise clients like. I have gotten to know their families. I talk to some of them on a daily basis even when we’re not planning a trip. I love that I’ve made so many friends doing what I love and look forward to making more.
You may not be thinking about booking a vacation now, but when you are ready, we will be here ready to help!
Read more about each of our Starts With A Wish Travel Advisors.
