Travel Agent

I’ve had the same type of experience. Sometimes travel agents have better deals but it’s not always the case. One time when I compared prices with what a travel agent came up with I just ended up booking it myself.

We used a travel agent for Italy in September and it was more of a pain then it was worth. We could have gotten the same deals ourself. Now we know.


She booked through all of the hotels directly, and most of them were happy to arrange or suggest options for excursions (wine tours, boat tours, reservations, etc.) if we could go back we would 100% have not done a travel agent.

I’ve only ever bothered with a travel agent when I was booking package deals where they could get better pricing. If you know where and when you want to go and can get better prices on your own, just book it yourself.

I'm of the mindset that I can get better deals using the internet than a travel agent. But we are also a very internet and technology friendly couple.
The only way I will use a travel agent is to book another Disney Cruise.

I only use a travel agent for group things (at least 10 ppl). I planned our honeymoon and then decided to see what a travel agent could do, just to see. They gave me 4 nights in Bora Bora and 3 nights in Tahiti for 10k. That wasn't even at an all inclusive resort or in an over water bungalow. I planned 5 nights in Maldives at an all inclusive 5 star resort in an over water bungalow AND 5 nights in Sri Lanka for a little cheaper. That includes flights, accommodations and activities in Sri Lanka with a private guide. You can message resorts on your own and they will give you deals for your honeymoon. That's what I did

I've been REALLY lucky with my travel agent and she has always gotten me way better deals than I could have gotten myself!

For our honeymoon she unlocked crazy good pricing from flights so right off the bat she was saving us $100 on flights and then emailed me saying she talked with the company we're doing our honeymoon through to save an additional $200 off flights!

I am a travel agent. Yes, sometimes we have relationships with hotels, but often a lot of singular hotels vs chains do not give contracts or better rates. A lot of the benefit of using us is that while you are on your honeymoon, if there is an issue, you can call us and we are taking care of it for you rather than you take time away from viewing the Vatican or scuba diving along the Amalfi coast. My agency will even price match as well. We also have a network of agents that will assist. For example if I am not sure of something in Bari but my coworker is an expert we work together to get you what you are looking for. Things can often look fabulous on a website but we often get to go to a lot of places to check them out or again have that network to say "this is a dump" or "this is such a great value". Good luck to you.

Most travel agents are paid by certain hotels, airlines, attraction companies etc to lure their customers to those specific ones and they get a cut for every booking so for the most part, you will not be getting a lower price.