TRAVEL AGENT VS DOING IT ON OUR OWN

Skip the TA. It's easy.

WHY IS YOUR MESSAGE IN ALL CAPS?

I think there is an element of fun doing it yourself
You dont need the agent unless you dont want to spend any time looking

I had to help my friend redo alot of poor hotel choices by a bad travel agent for her Italian honeymoon. With books, www.tripadvisor and boards you'll most likely put in alot more quality time and effort to make it special. Fun too!

No one can make decisions for your trip better than you can. A TA will make your reservations for you but is incapable of knowing whether changing dates a day or two to take advantage of cheaper flights or special events is something you would prefer.

I don't find TA's bring anything to the table for me. Usually they don't know as much as I do about my destinations.

Do it yourself is easy; futhermore, you'll feel proud you plan you own trip

We went to Italy in 2008 and had an agent book the trip. I was not happy with most of her choices for hotels as she picked ones that were more expensive than we would of liked. We were out of the room most of the time anyway. We did't know any better as it was our first time traveling to Italy and using an agents services. We are returning to Italy in May and I booked everything myself!! It was great fun to put it all together with a lot of help from various travel forums. Good luck and have a great time.
Judy

For our last trip to Italy we decided to use a travel agent (who was recommended by a friend) for part of it, to see if we could benefit from her knowledge and connections in Italy. Wrong choice. She consistently booked us into three star hotels even though we told her we wanted the (less expensive) two star hotels. She asked us which of two hotels in Assisi we would like, then after we picked one of them, she booked us in a completely different one (which, unlike the two earlier choices, was outside of town) and then didn't tell us until I noticed it on our itinerary. More stuff like that.

From now on, we'll go back to doing it all on our own.

P.S. Using ALL CAPS on the internet is considered the equivalent of shouting and is frowned on.

I agree with what has been said so far, but to elaborate a bit . . . We have a friend who is a TA. She speaks Russian, has lived in Russia, and knows all the ins and outs of traveling there; e.g., good hotels that are not American chain members, reliable guides and private drivers, safety tips, etc. If I were planning a trip to that country, I would use her services. For most of Europe that was not part of the Soviet bloc (and some that was), it's very easy to do it yourself; and you'll have better, less expensive accommodations.

Hi Margaret..

As most here would agree, planning is half the fun,,its a little like a treasure hunt. I love finding cute little hotels recommended online.. I read as many online reviews as I can ,, on various sites,, and have never been dissappointed with what I have booked. I do tend towards less exspensive hotels, smaller preferably,, and I like them well located.

Resourses like this site,, and other travel forums ,, are priceless, so many helpful people to "talk to " .. you are bound to find people who have stayed where you are going, seen what you want to see, and have great tips. Look at Frommers, Fodars, and my fave site( besides this one!) tripadvisor.com .

Margaret,

There's definitely a "difference of opinion" on the subject of Travel Agents here on the HelpLine. My preference is to use a Travel Agent for part of my trip arrangements, and do the rest on my own (can't imagine how we managed with this in the pre-Internet days!). Typically, my Travel Agent arranges trans-atlantic flights, some car rentals and occasionally Hotels. I believe Rick still uses a Travel Agent, and recommends that approach in his books.

I've been looking at flights for my trip this year for about the last month, and had a good estimate worked out. However, yesterday afternoon when I booked the flights, the Travel Agent once again found a slightly better option that saved me some money.

One example of things that my Travel Agent ISN'T able to arrange is the booking of ETBD Tours. My preferred travel method lately is both an ETBD Tour as well as an equal amount of time on my own. Also, I tend to be a bit "particular" with both the area and the price range of the Hotels I use (and also Hostels in some cases), so I tend to use the Guidebooks to select these and book them directly on the net. The T.A. found an awesome Hotel for me last year on a visit to Honolulu, and it was one that I'd never heard of.

If you have a Travel Agent that you're comfortable with, you might find try the same "combination" approach and see how it works for you.

Happy travels!

Thank you everyone for your responses, we will attempt do this on our own. If anyone has been to the Como area any ideas on a hotel. We were told about the Grand Hotel Tremezzo but it is a little pricey.

PS Sorry about the caps.

We always plan our own trips and we love to travel independently. And I find that the trip is always enhanced when I've spent the time planning. It makes for a much more enriched experience. I like deciding which neighborhood to stay in, planning how we'll spend our time sightseeing, how we'll get from one place to the next, reserving tickets for high traffic sights, and then leaving some of it to chance. However, we use our AAA membership benefits to purchase airline tickets because I just feel more secure using a highly reputable agency for that than relying on one of the web cheap tickets sites. Just a personal preference.

Now that you have decided to do it yourself. A good place to start on the internet for flights is Kayak.com. If you know your dates we can help if you need it. Are your dates restricted or variable ? Then start to look at hotels. I liked Caupona.com for approx prices and locations within the towns then tripadvisor.com for reviews.

You can do it yourself Margaret!! We love planning our own trips. Planning is half the fun! You can get tons of info. from this helpline. Usually we make our own airline reservations but have used AAA too. Buy your train tickets when you get to Italy. It is very easy to do and cheaper than buying through raileurope.com prior to leaving home. As far as I know trenitalia.com is still not accepting credit cards from the U.S. Have a great trip!

Margaret, When, and for how long will you be in lake Como? There are so many great places to stay depending on your interests (hiking, eating, relaxing, sightseeing, etc.) I usually go to Lake Como every year or so and prefer to rent an apartment.
However, there are many options because transportation is so easy and there are so many towns on the ferry route. Do you want the services of a hotel or would enjoy the privacy and freedom of being on your own?
Regards,
Sandra

Hi Margaret,
I don't think I can add anything new to this thread, just second what was already said. If you enjoy planning things, I would recommend doing it yourself. The travel agent does not know your preferences like you. Your trip sounds fairly easy to plan since it does not involve too many multi-city destinations. A travel agent who knows Italy would most certainly come in handy for things like knowing the best itinerary so you don't spend too much time in a train or car. Travel agents work with agencies such as Travel Bound. While Travel Bound has thousands of hotels, it does not have contracts with all of them. We are staying at five hotels this spring in Italy, and only one of them is a hotel that Travel Bound works with. The others are top-rated by Frommers and other travel forums. We never would have found them if working with a travel agent. If you do not enjoy the research part, a travel agent makes good sense. Otherwise, since this is a return trip for you, enjoy the planning--your vacation will be more rewarding!