Travel Agents vs Online Booking

For a destination wedding, I would recommend a travel agent

We are using a travel agent. He helped us narrow down the search for a venue based on out budget and guest list. And he is helping guests book all of their rooms and flights and able to answer any questions they might have. I think it's easier and less stressful for us this way. Instead of people asking me a ton of questions about flights and hotels, they are calling the travel agent. And, the agency has promotions with groups so depending on how many people book rooms, we are getting a few nights of our stay free.

We're using a travel agent for our honeymoon not our wedding but in my opinion the best things about travel agents are - if you choose a good one they can give you lots of advice based on their experience, they can sometimes get cheaper room rates or extras thrown in the package, and they are great if things go wrong - miss your flight and they will organise you another one, and rearrange the driver who was going to take you to the hotel ect.

Also since its not just you, they might take a bit of the stress of people asking you questions because you can direct them to the travel agent

We always use a travel agent for our vacations, for a destination wedding I absolutely would

I am having a DW and definitely suggest using one for all of your guests. They will help book flights, and if you do block off rooms at a particular resort then typically that resort will give you group rates or other perks. Plus giving the guests a point of contact eases the stress for your guests!

Good luck!

Always always always use one when taking a long trip. I talk to hundreds of different travel agents on a daily basis (I do tech support for one of the main accounting software most agents use), I can't even begin to tell you some horror stories I've heard from people not using one.

I had a friend not use one and book through a popular booking engine. She booked a hotel for a wedding in Jamaica. When she got there, it turned out the hotel was overbooked. Guess who gets precedence? The agency. But she needed to stay at that place and was not able to go elsewhere so what happened? She spent 5 days sleeping in a broom closet. On vacation. In Jamaica.

But... do your research! Not all agents get good deals on everything. Some specialize in luxury travel so they get high end stuff only. Others are part of a consortium so you only get great perks if it's one of their properties. That's probably the biggest key point. They can probably cut you a deal anywhere you'd like but in order to get the REALLY good benefits, make sure the property you want is one that they are affiliated with. Because then you'll get something like a free room or flight upgrade, food or drink credit, free car rental, etc.

That all being said, group rates are usually amazing through an agent. You know how if you do a room block your guests will save money on a trip? Same concept, agents can block out stuff: air, hotel, car, etc with a block and the you'll get a great discount for everyone. Will they get commission from it, yes but not as much anymore but the service fee is taken out of the discount saved anyway so it's still a win for the both of you. Also, travelers insurance is a must. Agents can still get you a refund even when some things are nonrefundable. You'll get a hefty penalty fee but some money back is better than none.