travel agents quote is higher

I would show her the exact deal that you are looking at and ask, sometimes they can even price match.

I just noticed that her deal has us flying out of our home airport. The deal on funjet we'd have to leave from an airport in Dallas (3 hour drive) and we'd have to stay in Dallas the night before in order to catch the crack of dawn flight. So that explains some of it. However, the funjet option is for a better room.

So you don't think it's rude to bring it to her attention?

I don't think it is! We changed our mind about 5 times before we were set on our honeymoon and she was accommodating and gave us quotes each time!

I think as long as you frame it politely it's not rude. As a consumer of course you are going to be looking to get the best deal and if she can't match it then I'm sure she will give you a reason why. I don't see a reason why not to try.

Now I'm a bit unsure about this resort. It's brand new and is rated at 4 stars right now. However the bad and poor reviews are really bad and all say pretty similar things. Hmmm.

Transfers? Taxes? Gratuities?

Just ask your travel agent! She will be able to tell you why, or maybe they can price match it for you

I agree, its not rude at all to ask your agent about the rate. I will caution you that for a lot of online vacation sites, the hotel information comes directly from the hotel and they don't typically ever visit the properties, they just contract with who will give them the best rates. (I worked at a hotel in Boston for 8 years and discusses this with representatives of other Boston hotels).

Generally it is their fee that makes up some of the difference.

Different airports are cheaper, and to me, I'd rather not pay the extra money to drive hours to fly out of another airport. Worst that can happen is bring it up and have her point out the differences. Best that can happen is she can find you a comparable deal.

There are many variables when booking travel. Some majors differences that will affect your price can be: flights, airports, transfers, room categories, insurance, and excursions. If you are concerned talk to your agent ask them to look into the quote and surely they can tell you what the difference is. It may be as simple as your agent is using a different vendor (other than Funjet) that might provide you with additional perks, better flights, different promotional offers, or different travel insurance coverage. All of those things will affect the price. Bringing it to your agents attention isn't taboo it just should be done politely and I am sure your agent will be able to give you an answer to help you get the best value for your honeymoon!

Stephanie, usually travel agents are paid a commission (by the hotel/airline/car rental company, etc.) so if one is charging a fee, I would look for a different agent.

Bring it to her attention... Some travel agencies price match and will alert you of anything not added on the package which can explain the difference in pricing, such as ground transportation, etc... That happened when booking our honeymoon she did a package comparison, but AMEX travel was offering the less expensive pkg for a better room so we booked with that.

One of the things to be wary of using sites like travelocity is that your airfare is not always a guaranteed seat. The people who get bumped at full flights are usually the ones who bought airfare through a discount website.

When we were considering an AI in St Thomas, the travel agent quote ending being slightly higher than delta vacations.com. I directly asked and she sorta skirted the question just stated she would get the best rate for me. I have always booked my vacations online myself previously and ended up going that route for our honeymoon also

I would absolutely ask your agent to look at what you found. Most agencies get the same or lower prices than booking direct with funjet or suppliers due to the volume. Your agent may need to look at the exact quote to see what was different, or even if you waited a day or two prices can change, and there can be sales. Usually most have a best price guarantee of an apples to apples vacation.

Plus usually your agent will keep monitoring your honeymoon to see if there are any additional specials or deals up until you depart. They only keep clients happy, if they are able to get the best prices and value for their clients.

I talked to her last night and she said that she actually looks at all the different sites to compare prices and books at those rates, so that made me feel a lot better!