Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Travel Advice Please!
Hi,
I am new to these boards but need some advice from you ladies. I have a few trips I am planning for the next few years (Paris, Italy, cruise..) and I was wondering if it would beneficial to visit a travel agent or take on the bookings myself.
Would a travel agent be able to get me a better deal or have better information than I can find on my own?
Please let me know what you think!
Thank you!!
Re: Travel Advice Please!
It depends. There was an article in the NY Times travel section that compared and contrasted travel agencies versus online search engines.
Ultimately I think it depends on what you want to do. I think the more complex the trip, using an agent will be a great help. For something simple (like a cruise, where you fly to one port, get on the boat, go around, then go back to port) I think you could use the internet.
It also depends on the location. We haven't priced it out yet, but I think if we ever get to Macchu Picchu (DH's bucket location) in Peru, we'll probably go with an agency, based on the experiences that our friends who have gone there said. (We don't know anyone who's gone there without consulting a travel agent first).
Link to article:
http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/is-the-best-travel-search-engine-around-the-corner/?scp=10&sq=travel%20agent&st=cse
But, if you use a travel agent you miss out on all the fun of planning. Of course I get as much enjoyment out of planning a trip as I do in actually going.
I was a little intimidated by planning my own trip to Peru but once I started researching, reading travel forums and asking questions I realized that it was just about as easy as planning a domestic trip. At this point I think I will probably always prefer to plan trips myself and will only go with guided tours or consult TAs if the trip absolutely requires professional guides- like trekking Kilimanjaro.
An American Girl's Travels
I agree with this completely; half of my enjoyment with traveling probably involves planning all of the trip details. I have never actually used a travel agent until this year for our destination wedding. The travel agent is going to work on getting us group rates and hopefully with all of the bookings my fiance and I should get a free upgrade to a suite. But, other than that, I can't foresee ever using a travel agent.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Mark Twain
My Travel Blog
This. DH LOVES planning trips, looking at the resorts, the to-do's, even restaurants. (He hates picking flights, but he hates flying in general, but that's because he's 6"5" and barely has leg room)
I generally trust DH to plan our trips, but we both agreed for something complex (safaris, mountain climbing), a travel agent is a good idea. A simple trip to Europe or South America, we can do on our own. But if we did a safari, I'd probably consult an agent because that requires a guide, permits, transports, etc.
I book a lot of trips myself but when going abroad I usually check with a TA. TAs have been able to get me better flights. I have also gotten upgraded rooms; we just got back from a group tour of Ireland. The TA had us on the concierge floors most of the time which was delightful.
In Paris, Priceline was my friend. The TA couldn't touch the deal we got -- $125 per night for a 4 star hotel that would have ben $565. But we weren't picky about where we stayed.
I totally agree with this! The only trip I haven't done completely myself was our African safari last year. And even then, I did all the research and recommendations for our TA; they just booked it.
To PP who is nervous about Peru/Machu Picchu - I just did all this myself. If you want some tips, let me know. :-) We had to go through an outfitter for the Inca Trail hike, but otherwise no help.
Oops. I got all trigger happy and posted before I answered you, OP.
In my experience, TAs don't have any more information than is available to you for places like Europe. With Trip Advisor, forums like this, Rick Steves' books, etc. there is a LOT of information out there for you. I've also found that in a lot of cases, I can get myself better/just as good prices as a TA. For our HM, we went to 4 countries in Europe and I planned the trip for thousands less than the TA came up with.
It all just depends on how much time you have/are willing to put in doing the research. It's all out there, it's just a matter of whether the time savings is more valuable, IMO.
I recently booked a trip to Paris and London and used a TA. However, I should add that:
1) DH is completely (completely) useless when it comes to travel planning. He just won't do it.
2) I would drive myself absolutely bonkers trying to plan a trip to Europe on my own. Last year I attempted to plan a 1-week trip to San Fran and Napa and was so overwhelmed with flights, car rentals, hotels, etc. that we never ended up going.
Some people like booking their own trips. I am not one of them. I tell my travel agent what I want, she takes care of all the details, and I save hours of my time.
If you like searching things out and comparing them yourself, by all means, go for it. If you would rather not have the hassle, then let a professional do it.
Wow thanks for all the great advice! I have no problem spending time on the research so I think I will take this on myself, and maybe contact a TA for the more complex places down the road.
My fiance is also not a planner, luckily for me, or we may have been headed on a tour of the worlds best nachos..