My family normally travels independently and I do the lodging bookings; however, I have read on Matt Barrett's website that you should use an agent for reservations on the islands in case of travel mix-ups or not being able to get to the island on the day planned becauase of cancellations. We are planning to go Athens-Santorini-Crete-Athens. Does anyone know the advantages/disadvantages of going through a travel agent? Thanks for your help.
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
473 posts
We arranged our Crete-Naxos-Athens trip by ourselves and everything went smoothly. But, the weather was calm, so we had no problems with missed flights and/or ferries. FYI, there are flights from Crete to Frankfurt, so if you are going back to Athens just to fly back home, you may be able to save yourself a leg of your journey by looking into such a flight.
Posted by
haddon heights, nj, usa
80 posts
I used Matt Barret's web site when planning our trip to Greece in 2005. I used his suggested travel agents for both Athens and the islands, arranged taxi pickup and drop off, rental cars, etc. and found it was much easier and cheaper than booking myself,which I normally do for travel. The agent was even able to get us rooms on the island in a hotel that told me they were booked when I contacted them directly. When I arrived at our hotel in Athens the first night, an envelope was waiting for me with all the details, confirmations, etc for the entire trip. It was great!
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8084 posts
No, an agent isn't needed, depends on your level of comfort in travelling. If you make all of your arrangements well ahead of time, then it is probably just as easy to use an agent as not. They have more connections than you do and understand the system. I tend to be independent and not make reservations, and have not had any issues in Greece. Rooms are extremely easy to find outside of August, ferries are rarely sold out except at Easter and some in August. We changed plans a couple of times (stayed here longer, added a stop, cut one short) and had a great trip. You still have the option to drop in on an agent in any port to arrange something for the next stop. For your itinerary, ferries will be simple, Crete can be many things, so maybe you just want to explore there, consider flying back to Athens from Crete on Aegean Air to avoid a long ferry. So maybe a compromise is to use an agent for the ferries and Santorini rooms, then do your own thing from there.