TA or Booking Through Travel Websites

futuremrssauer

Hi ladies.  I've come to a bit of a problem in our honeymoon planning.  We've been doing tons of research online about where we want to go and the resorts that we like.  I've read countless Trip Advisor reviews and I feel pretty good about the resorts that we have narrowed down.  While doing all of this research, I had planned on booking our honeymoon through a travel website like cheapcaribbean.com.  They seem to offer much better deals than anywhere else that I've come across.

My problems is, a coworker showed me a CNN article about a horror story of a honeymoon.  A couple booked through one of those travel websites and had a nightmare of a honeymoon.  It began with no airport transfer that they already paid for and went on to what they thought was a 4-star resort.  It ended up being a mold and mildew mess.  Mold growing on the walls, etc. This was a resort in Cancun...we've narrowed our choices down to Cancun/Riviera Maya.

My point is, my coworkers think I should book through a TA.  I'm not really worried about the resorts since I've read so many Trip Advisor reviews.  What I'm worried about now is not getting what we pay for through the travel websites.

What's the general concensus?  Do most of you use a TA, or book on your own through a travel website?  Sorry for being so long.  It's just that FI and I have never been on a trip this big together and we've been saving for a LONG time.  Your opinions are greatly appreciated! 

Blusieme

So, was just one horrible honeymoon that was on CNN or was the article on a "trend" using that site? Can you check the BB somehow and see if there are other botched trips using that site? 

Tripadvisor is great - dont you love it. :-) So at least you did your own research on the actual hotel. 

If the savings using this site are significant and you want to use them...can you follow up w/ the vendors, airport taxis, the hotel itself, etc to make sure you are good to go?

Good luck. I never used a TA o other site. i called the hotel myself - I do wonder if I missed out on deals, but its too late to re-do now.

best wishes.   

ErinC85

This is a great question! I've been research in the Riv Maya area also and there are just so many places its hard to really know where you are getting the most for the money. I remember from a knottie in the past to not book the 'extras' online and wait until you get there. Many online sites, like cheapcarib, try to sell you the extra tours and activities when booking your accommodations. 

What places are you debating between?

kaesha

I'm in the neither camp too - I always contact the places directly.

king26

I just booked my honeymoon and for the first time used a TA.  I research many hotels, flights, etc., told the TA which ones I wanted, and she ended up getting everything for me cheaper then I could find anywhere myself!  I was pretty excited.  I would check out the websites and TA's.  I checked with 4 different TA's, 3 were a LOT higher then what I found online and one was a little cheaper-but got us better rooms for that price then I could get us!

mcbride90

I am the true Queen of research and worked for months researching message borads and trip advisor. Trust me on this one, I checked pricing  and reviews everywhere. We found Nancy from myislandgetaways.com and we cut to the chase. We got the best price and received so much information, that was priceless. We ended up honeymooning at Sandals Regency in St.Luca with our own private pool in the mountain suites. The staff was great, the food was great, the whole experience was awesome.
We could have not had a better honeymoon or location. Research is great but sometimes it can drive you crazy and become overwhelming and put you in a whirlwind.  

knthayer

I second Nancy and My Island Getaways. She answered all of my questions extremely promptly and was honest with recommendations. We ended up booking at the Sandals Grande in St. Lucia. I'm so excited!

Nancy also was able to get us the best deal possible (she got us a special that had expired about 24 hours before we booked).

I'm also confident that if something should go wrong, I'll have Nancy to back me up.

I personally think for this kind of special trip, a travel agent is the way to go.

Good luck and have fun!

futuremrssauer

Thanks for all of the advice ladies!  I went ahead and contacted a few TAs just to see how they work and what they could offer.  I think that just being able to call someone if something goes wrong will be nice.  I'm guessing it would be a lot more difficult to get through right away to a website if we did have a problem.  I did find some reviews of cheapcaribbean and most of them were good, but there were still a few that scared me.  One completely paid for their trip and when they got to the resort, they had no record of that payment or reservation.  The couple is still waiting for their money to be refunded.

This is probably the biggest vacation of our life and I would like to know that we are in good hands.  Hopefully the deals will be just as good through a TA as the travel websites.   I still plan to research whatever the TA offers us though.  Thanks again!