Do we really need a travel agent?

My wife and I have been seriously traveling only for the past 4 years. During that time we've used a travel agency near our home and have been relatively happy with our agent. But our agent left the business to raise her family and, for our most recent trip, we used another agent in the same agency. She was terrible - it was a constant struggle to get anything out of her.

So now we're considering alternatives. Since we're now fairly experienced travelers I'm thinking we may not need a travel agent any more. Or if we do, maybe I should use one of the online travel companies.

I notice that the cruise lines seem to push the use of travel agents. Would we be missing out on something important if we decided to go it alone or perhaps use an online travel company?

It's just a personal choice....I prefer to do (book) everything myself...not worth it to have a 3rd party involved...the perks some TA offer not important to us. Over 20+ cruises with RCI and never had a problem. And I certainly book my air directly with the carrier I'm going to be using.

It depends upon the travel agent and what cruise line you are booking. Many premium cruise line TA's give a % back on your cruise fare and on board credits for some itineraries. Also, if you are cruising on a ship/line that you are unfamiliar with, a TA can steer you away from suites that may not be good. A cruise line, on the other hand, just wants to book suites and could care less if they you are booking a noisy or otherwise bad suite.

Not all TA's are created equal -- you need one that specializes in cruises. It doesn't matter if they have an office near you. Check with other cruisers for names of TA's as we are not able to share that information on CC.

I book my cruises myself with the cruise line(s).

After doing this for a couple of years I tried using two different travel agents and the experiences were not good.

I'm available 24/7, the TAs obviously are not. Price drops I caught were not handled because the agents were not available.

A few hundred dollars OBC is not worth the aggravation of seeing price drops go by.

I know what cabins I want, what decks I will book on, and how much I'm willing to pay.

with computers and time to research on my own, do not need a ta anymore. I buy directly from cruise lines, airlines and hotels... buy my own travel insurance directly from Travel Guard... very satisfied doing so. I like being in charge of my own travel arrangements...

I always book directly with the cruise line as we usually wait til near last minute to book (tax return/spring cruises ftw!!). I somehow stumbled upon this site during the first cruise I booked on my own and will research and check it daily for information up til my cruise departs. It's a great resource for booking your own excursions and learning about the ships and ports, etc... If you've never cruised before I recommend booking thru the cruise line first til you get an idea of how things work. I also only cruise from the nearby ports (Tampa/Port Canaveral) since I'm in Orlando and haven't bothered with purchasing insurance. Found out about snooze and cruise on this forum and the great deals to be had over on the east side. West side only good deals on parking. Would say it's just your comfort level and how much work you like to do. Otherwise you're just paying someone else for the fun of googling the information for you. Wonder if I could get paid for that...

I totally agree with the previous posters. I had the disappointing experience of alerting my TA of a price drop and he was out of the office for several days and by then it was too late. I think they might provide some nice perks for those who book more expensive cabins, which is not us. I do my own research and have been very pleased with our travel experiences, so we do all our own bookings.

Everyone will give you a different answer on this one.

Indeed, you can basically do all your own bookings in this age of computers. A perfect example is the way I normally always book private tours on all my past and future cruises.

I do have, however, a really good TA who constantly monitors for price drops, does throw in a little extra OBC and/or other gift and for me, is available AND responds immediately 24/7. To me, that is the greatest benefit, having a TA that really knows the business, can answer questions, addresses concerns and does so immediately.

I recently wanted to change cabins on a rather expensive upcoming cruise with WindStar. I E-mailed my TA at 9PM and the next day at 10 AM, I received a new confirmation with cabin change via E-mail. That's darn good service! :)

I am a rotten negotiator so I always use a TA. If there is a problem (and I have had a couple in the past few years), my TA knows more of the protocol of who to speak with to get the desired results. The fact that I always get something (bottle of wine, OBC, dinner at a specialty restaurant, percentage off, etc) from the TA is a nice bonus.

I usually book direct but sometimes transfer my booking before the deadline to our TA when we are offered better perks.

I like to use the huge internet based agency that gives a cash back rebate. Other large ones offer paid gratuities. Of course you need to do your research. Find out exactly how much your cabin and the offers included are with booking directly with cruiseline. Then price out with internet agencies.

We cruise on Princess and that line allows travel agents to discount fares -- they just aren't allowed to publicize them. Our long time TA with an on-line agency specializing in cruises discounts Princess fares always between 8% and 12% and frequently throws in additional OBC. If fares decrease she adjusts our price too. We cruise 3 to 4 weeks a year in mini-suites so that 8% to 12% reduction is a substantial savings.

A couple of years ago we tried - and loved - river cruising. I checked around with a number of TAs and none came close to the 10% discount she was offering on our Uniworld cruise. We've since done 2 more Uniworld cruises and again received the 10% discount.

For cruises, I either book through one of the big box warehouse club travel departments or an agency that organizes specialty charter cruises. The warehouse club ALWAYS gives me a better price than the cruise line when you take into account the onboard credit or other benefit. The warehouse club is a little less personal than an independent agency in that you don't talk to the same person every time you call. The plus side of that is I can always talk to a person and not have to wait for their call back if I get their voicemail. This is key when trying to take advantage of the perfect cabin coming available and also price drops.

If you go beyond cruises, I only use travel agents for special trips such as a tour through Africa, South America etc...

I book everything travel related myself, other than my cruises. My TA specializes in cruises and can always get me $25 of $50 or a few hundred dollars off the price I can get with the agency, and he's the one who waits on hold to ask questions or make changes for me. I can just call or e-mail him and it's done. And if anything goes wrong with a cruise or cruiseline he can deal with it much better than I can. He wants my continued business and that shows.

A TA is not absolutely necessary. But there are advantages that could make a difference.

On our next cruise, we are getting an additional $495 in OBC from our TA. This is over and above the $400 the cruise line is giving us. We also have two specialty restaurant vouchers from our TA. In the past we have gotten free gratuities, free excursions, or other perks that have helped us keep the cost down.

If planning to spend additional time in the area before and/or after the cruise, a TA can make all the travel and hotel arrangements, find tour guides, even suggest sites to visit. They can do all the work of finding hotels you will like, travel schedules that are best for you, and even save you money by getting discounts you might never know about.

And, in case something goes wrong with your cruise reservation most often the TA already has a relationship with the cruise line and can add some extra clout in getting something fixed or changed.

As others have said, it is a personal choice. I am a control freak. I do all of my own research and planning for all our trips. Yet, I still use a TA to be my agent when booking a cruise or vacation. I give them my plans, they make the arrangements, and then act as my advocate to get me the best results, and are always there to help if something goes wrong, either before or during the trip.

Those "online travel companies" that the OP is considering , are still Travel Agents .

I suggest that OP finds a new TA either online or local or else end up paying current retail rates available to all . Then there are the other benefits, such as amenities, assist with problems ,and research deals /availability for cruises that meet your qualifiers and requests.

I like to be in charge of the things I do. I want to have the flexibility to do what I want, when I want without having to go through some middle-man. Maybe back in the day before everyone had the Internet, TAs were useful but I just don't see it now.

Not to mention, planning a cruise and picking out what you're going to do, where you're going to stay, browsing the ships/hotels/flights/cars is makes your cruise experience that much more fun.

I like to be in charge of the things I do. I want to have the flexibility to do what I want, when I want without having to go through some middle-man. Maybe back in the day before everyone had the Internet, TAs were useful but I just don't see it now.

 

Not to mention, planning a cruise and picking out what you're going to do, where you're going to stay, browsing the ships/hotels/flights/cars is makes your cruise experience that much more fun.

I still like to be in charge, but still use a TA. I do all my own research for the same reasons as you do. But when it comes to saving money, I will gladly use a TA.

I still have the control. I call them and tell them what I want. They then take care of it. You still have to make a call someone to change something if booked through the cruise line, so I don't know what difference calling a TA instead of the cruise line makes.

I have received well over $1,000 in extra perks and benefits by using a TA that I would have never gotten through the cruise line directly. Those savings allow us to splurge more on our cruises. For the minuscule inconvenience of having to go through a "middleman", what we gain in extras is so worth it. Stubbornly staying with the cruise line to retain control seems to be "penny wise, pound foolish" to me.

It depends...

If I am just doing the cruise, I handle the arrangements myself.

If the cruise is part of a longer, more complex, vacation. I use a travel agent. Somebody used to coordinating air travel and land travel in other countries, who can help organize apartments in desirable areas, and generally be a point of contact if things go wrong.

Seems to me that the bottom line here is this: if you have found a very good TA, who is always available, watches for price drops, and offers something extra, you have the best deal! Otherwise, dealing directly with the cruise line may be easiest.

I have used the cruise line directly, the big-box store, and a TA. Now, I would not give up my TA unless the big-box offered a terrific deal. I have found a super one!

It depends on your preference. This is the first time I ever used a Ta because one of the people I am going with she is good friends with. I said heck we will try it since there is no charge.it is nice she is doing all the booking stuff but I still found myself researching everything to make sure everything is a good deal.i have used Carnival Pvp personal vacation planner and she was a lot of help also . My husband and I have booked everything ourself also. So as I said it is a personal preference it is nice using the Ta this time since the 3 of us going on the cruise are from 3 differnt cities and she can communicate in emails to all of us.

I see no one has mentioned using a PCC (personal cruise consultant, or the equivalent on your line). My background is MIL&DH arranging the first couple cruises I ever went on, through her TA or maybe a bulk-mailing agency. Then using a local TA on the first cruise I organized because even though *I* had a computer, the cruiselines (namely HAL) hadn't caught on to being accessible to the individual (not even as poorly as they can be now!).

Then I discovered Cruise Critic and found the NCL website at that time navigable, so we booked our own. Then we went back to HAL, and I booked one, fell for the bulk-mailing agency flyer on another (wound up spending just as much or more in hidden fees and didn't like the wine that they gifted our cabin!), then last June I did all the arrangements for eight total of family members to Alaska.

Meanwhile, I had received e-mail from a HAL PCC since the first self-booked cruise... which I just ignored, I was doing so well on my own... when it came to Christmas Eve 2016 and I went to cancel a booking on the last permissible day (I knew not to figure on reaching anyone on Christmas Day, and 12/26 was Final Payment Day)... and there was NO ONE at HAL answering the phone!!!

I had $2400 on the line there (two verandah cabins, four people), and I was a bit desperate when I thought of the PCC's e-mail, which I had fortunately saved to my cruise folder. I called her (left message) and I e-mailed her messages of cancellation. When I called on Monday the 26th, she was out of the office for the week, but her manager could see my e-mail, sent just in time (!) -- and honored my cancellation with full refund.

Whew! So now I'm a born-again PCC advocate. I still do all the same research I would to book with the cruiseline, I just call her instead of a random phone operator (who BTW have always been good and knowledgeable, YMMV). When she is on vacation, she has a colleague covering for her, and now that I know it -- a combination call and e-mail will get me out of a spot, as well!

I booked our "replacement cruise" too close to Final Payment to find out if she would be proactive in case of price drops, but I'm good with watching on CC and running a dummy booking every few days, as I would when I was booking myself, for future cruises.

Thanks, everyone. I have a lot of options.

I book all our holidays direct. That is cruising or other trips. We have done a tour of Europe by hire car. We booked flights then booked hire car. Booked first hotel and last hotel then made up the rest as we went along via the internet. Found some fabulous deals. On another trip to Madeira we booked ourselves direct and then compared it with a package via a travel agent it was $500 cheaper for week. With the internet there is no need for a travel agent and you get a better deal. Use sites like trip advisor to see reviews and then take the plunge.

I book all our holidays direct. That is cruising or other trips. We have done a tour of Europe by hire car. We booked flights then booked hire car. Booked first hotel and last hotel then made up the rest as we went along via the internet. Found some fabulous deals. On another trip to Madeira we booked ourselves direct and then compared it with a package via a travel agent it was $500 cheaper for week. With the internet there is no need for a travel agent and you get a better deal. Use sites like trip advisor to see reviews and then take the plunge.