Often when people ask what we do and we say, “We own a travel agency,” it is not uncommon for the next words out of their mouth to be, “Do people still use travel agents?” The answer is, “Yes! Or at least the people who want to save time, money, hassle & have a great experience do.”  The truth is, travel is more accessible, and therefore more complicated, than ever.  Travel agents are your own personalized search engine who can give you the best & most relevant information to make your dream vacation a reality. Still not convinced to allow someone else to shoulder the stress of planning your vacation? Read on!  Here are our top five reasons you should use a travel agent.

There is no substitute for a human with experience.

Imagine traveling to a new place. You’re not familiar with the culture, the food, or how transportation works. Or maybe you’re been to that place, but it’s been a few years and you’re not sure what changes you’ll have to navigate. Wouldn’t it be nice to talk to someone who has “been there & done that?” That is what your travel agent is for!

In order to sell products, agents often have to go through significant training & most often, they also have the personal experience of traveling to those locations to back that training up. For example, at Woodbrey Family Travel, we specialize in planning Disney vacations (though we can and do book ANYTHING). But did you know that five out of six of our agents are either former or current Disney cast members? We have lived near & worked in the parks & you better believe we all make multiple trips each year.  We make it our mission to stay up-to-date on what is happening so we can give you the BEST information possible.

Unlike the internet, travel agents care about the type of experience you have and are invested in your vacation. We WANT you to feel confident in your choices & to reduce the chance of unwanted surprises. We become your ONE point of contact & are happy to take care of any requests or adjustments you need to make.  We will help you work through what you actually want & need while accurately rating hotels & experiences.  We will give you the facts & information that is relevant.  In a world where time is short & stress is high, let a travel agent save you both!

Our Services are FREE!

At this point maybe you’re thinking, “Okay, I can see the value of using an actual human.  But what is that expertise going to cost me?”  When you use Woodbrey Family Travel, the answer is NOTHING.  No really, there’s no catch.  The answer is NOTHING. So how and why?

The answer is simple. Our partners (Disney, Universal, Expedia, all major cruise lines, etc.) take care of us, so we can take care of you. It is a well-established fact within the travel industry that customers have a better experience when they work with a travel agent & they are more likely to return because they have a positive experience.  Our partners believe in this so much, they are willing to cut into their own profits to pay us at no extra cost to you. Because they are willing to do that, we accept that as sufficient payment & do not charge you for our services. If you get all the benefits of working with an actual human & it doesn’t cost you anything, what are you waiting for?

We aren’t just trained, we’re “Authorized” too!

As previously mentioned, in order to sell various products, agents often go through training designed by our partners to help us become familiar with what they offer (plus, we travel A LOT).  Once we complete these trainings, we are then “authorized” to sell the product on behalf of that organization (i.e. Disney, Universal, all major cruise lines, etc.).

However, sometimes an organization has even higher and more elite credentials. For example, the IATA & CLIA programs are industry certifications that have to be earned by an agency & renewed every year.  Woodbrey Family Travel has its CLIA certification & we will continue to stay up-to-date on industry requirements to keep that credential. 

Additionally, Disney also has a higher tier of agencies that only a few earn. Almost any travel agent can sell the product, but only a select few agencies are known as being “Earmarked” with Disney.  Woodbrey Family Travel is one of those agencies and we are proud to be able to say we are officially “Authorized Disney Vacation Planners.”  Why does that matter to you?  If one of the world’s most successful & admired companies designates another company to represent them to their guests, it’s for a reason.  Where Disney doesn’t have the ability to remember you as an individual, we do!  Where they will not provide you with a personalized itinerary to navigate the parks, we will!  We have the time to pay attention to you & we’re good enough at it, Disney has given us their stamp of approval. 

From a monetary standpoint as well, the organizations we are partnered with send us daily updates on their products & promotions so we can get you the best deals out there.  If you book through us & later on a promotion that is relevant to you comes up, we will know about it & can make the necessary changes to your reservation to save you money!  When you book online, it is very rare that you’ll be made aware of new promotions & will be able to change it.  Most of the time, whatever you pay, sticks.  With a travel agent, you can be confident we will do our best to take care of you.

Avoid Costly Scams

Have you received a questionable email or text lately? Maybe a strange pop-up opened when you went to a certain website.  In this day and age, sometimes it seems like there are more scams out there than legitimate enterprises.  Unfortunately, the travel industry is not immune. In an effort to save a few bucks, many travelers will try to find the cheapest options out there.  They will scour the internet looking for any sort of deal, and often, they don’t do adequate research on the companies they are using.  We have seen situations where sometimes the organizations offering tickets or hotels for super cheap will take your money & not deliver the products, or maybe you show up to the hotel & instead of the four-star resort with the spectacular pictures you saw on their site, it’s a two-star motel and now you’re stuck.  Even the legitimate sites that offer “discounts” often don’t give you the full price upfront. 

For example, I had a guest who was buying Disney World tickets for her family.  She said my price (which came directly from Disney) was $500 more than what she could get online with a third-party seller.  I cautioned her to make sure the tickets were the right type (child vs. adult tickets) and that taxes were included.  Turns out, even though she has four “kids,” some of them were over the age of 10, and are thus, considered “adults” when it comes to park tickets. The third-party website was trying to sell her child tickets instead of the necessary adult tickets and sure enough, the taxes were not included.  Can you imagine the hassle she would have experienced if she got to the parks & at the gate they said, “I’m sorry, this is a child ticket and your teenager is obviously not a child?” Because she bought through a third-party “discount” seller, now she’s out the money for the ticket she bought from them, plus the price of a new appropriate adult ticket at the gate. 

There are MANY third-party sellers out there who will buy tickets/hotel rooms in bulk & sell them for “cheaper” than what you can get through the company or their authorized travel agents directly.  BEWARE of these providers.  The best deal you will find will be through the organization you’re visiting directly.  You can feel confident when you use an authorized travel agent that you will get what you pay for with no hidden fees or questionable products.  How much is peace of mind worth?  Remember cost & value are NOT the same thing. I can guarantee the value you receive from a travel agent will be greater than the few dollars you save buying through questionable websites.

You will be supporting a small business.

In a world where the “little guy” often gets lost in the shuffle, it’s more important than ever to frequent small businesses.  When you use a travel agent, you not only get the vacation of your dreams with less stress, you are also supporting the livelihood of individuals you personally know.  We work hard for no guarantee of your business, we will find the right answers to your questions, and we add value that can’t be quantified. We will appreciate your business in a way a faceless search engine cannot & we would love the opportunity to prove it to you!  Please think small & use a travel agent the next time you’re booking a trip!

Well, there you have it! Our top five reasons to use a travel agent.  We hope you can see the value we provide & will seriously consider using us for your next vacation. To request a quote with Woodbrey Family Travel, visit our website: http://woodbreyfamilytravel.com/getaquote.php. We look forward to working with you!