What travel agent did you use? UPDATE

We used Romantics Travel agency. They are out of madera, CA and have clients from all over the US. They were great to work with, called when it was convienent for us, even called us after the honeymoon when there were traffic issues and offered to help us find a hotel or the best directions to get home!

We used Liberty Travel. When you put in your zip code, they match you with someone near you, but that doesn't really matter because we handled everything via phone and email.

If you have AAA, you can go through them. We have booked with them in the past and they were great. For the honeymoon, we found someone through a group that some of our vendors are in and it turns out our friends use him for all their travel, so he came highly recommended.

Ask your trusted vendors if they can refer you!

Tammy Levent from Elite Travel she was recommended by JoBu and is always responsive. She also price matches.

We used AAA too. A membership is roughly $60-70 a year for 2 people. Totally worth it. Not only do you get the car benefits (4 free tows [definitely needed for a MN winter], fuel brought to you if you run out) but if you don't use that you still get discounts at many retailers [target/bestbuy to name a couple].

As for travel with them, it cost $25 to meet with the agent for an hour and have her book everything. They send you a neat folder with all your boarding passes, luggage tags, and itinerary a couple weeks before your trip. We saved the $60 for a membership + the $25 fee and more versus booking the same resort, same airfare on our own. We did our whole honey moom for $2000 (round trip airfare, 8 days in Mexico, all inclusive, day cruise excursion, and airport transfers). The agent was able to recommend great resorts we wouldn't have known about on our own and provide the peace of mind that she had sent people to this resort before and they loved it!

Had we booked on our own we probably would have spent $2500-$3000. She was able to get us non stop airfare and honeymoon package and was there to answer any questions re: passports, airport shuttle, etc.

Prior to meeting with her we just looked at "brand names" like Marriott or Sandals which can be more expensive.

If you are thinking of doing an all inclusive, I would highly recommend booking it yourselves. You can spend those days off researching resorts and it's so easy to book online that you shouldn't have to have anyone do it for you. We booked a Sandals Jamaica honeymoon with a travel agent and I really wish we had just done it ourselves. Here's why:

-DH and I know best what we want. Travel agents get paid by commission. They get a deal on the booking, but you are still charged the normal amount and the travel agent gets the extra. Travel agents often still push the expensive "brand names" (as NowASeptMrs) because they get more money for booking those. They may try and push something on you that isn't what you and your FH want because they get more money from it.

-If you book through a travel agent, the resort will not talk to you. Our travel agent was really helpful and answered our phone calls...until we actually booked it and then she had already made the sale so she dropped off the face of the earth. I was so sketched out I called Sandals to try and confirm that we had even booked and they told me they couldn't confirm with me because I was used a travel agent. If you want something done, you won't be able to get it done without your travel agent unless you skip the agent altogether.

At the end of the day, if you choose to go through a travel agent, make sure you don't just walk into the closest agency. Do extensive research and check reviews, and preferably talk to someone who used one. We just walked into one and were terribly disappointed. I was half expecting to get to the airport and have nothing booked.

ETA @MrsCamera - we are from Fresno and used Pro Travel Network. I actually talked to a Romantics Travel agent at a bridal fair after the fact and they tried to get me in contact with the actual Sandals lady, who called me and then never answered my calls...

We used Ellen at Boutique Travel -- www.boutiquetravel.net

She was amazing, and super responsive. Our email thread must be at least 50 messages long. She even responded right away when I texted her from the airport! She visits many of the resorts she recommends regularly to make sure they're up to par. She never tried to push anything on us, at all; in fact, she was constantly making suggestions as to how we could save.

ETA: like @Nicole says, definitely read reviews -- I chose Boutique Travel because they're the highest rated in our area (their office happens to be in my neighborhood, but they work with clients nationally and internationally, and we really only went in to see her once), and they have amazing reviews.

Nicole, I'm sorry you had a bad experience. We did an all inclusive and the travel agent was able to get me a better deal than anything I could find on my own (the resort website, expedia, orbitz, bookit.com). Unless there's other deal sites I'm not aware of...

She always responded to me within a hour of emailing her, even if it was just to say "Hey, I got your email. I'm looking into it now."

I was referred by another bride on here who went to the same resort I was wanting to go to.

@Nicole, I am sorry you had a bad experience! We did not actually go with a "brand name". Our agent found us a good, but smaller and more private resort in Cancun vs. the party resorts in the heart of the city.

Go into the meeting with a list of must haves, don't needs, and "would be funs". Our TA took those into consideration. For example, 1 resort she showed us was pricey because of it's world class golf course. Not something DH and I would use so we passed. Our must haves were: on the beach, romantic, and all inclusive.

Our resort has a spa, in the Riviera Maya away from party zone, lots of restaurants, and all food/drink included. She also helped us book an excursion. The nice thing booking state side vs. when you get there is they know the reputable vendors. You don't know if the guy with a boat on the beach is a licensed parasailer or just a guy with a boat.

With AAA, you can use their services for only $25. They don't make commission so they aren't pushing you to spend more because of commission. Our TA respected that we wanted to stay on the low end price wise but still have a great vacation. Right away she told us to skip Sandals because while they are good, they are really pricey and we could find something comparable for less.

We've been working with our TA since January and since then she's always answered promptly or like @Elyse, she let us know when she'd get back to us. It was worth having an experienced person do the booking for a major event like a honeymoon.

I would look for a travel agency who specializes in your chosen destination. There are travel agents that specialize with Sandals, others for Disney, cruise travel agents, all-inclusive, that sorta thing. Finding someone who 1)isn't paid on commission and 2)has traveled to the desired location multiple times I think is really key.

There is absolutely no reason anyone who travels at all and has even mediocre google skills should need a travel agent, period. If you've never travelled, or never traveled internationally, then.... Ok. Maybe. But even then.... I have never in my life heard one good reason to use them, including all the reasons PPs listed above.

Again, if you're a capable adult, you can research and find good prices on your own without having to worry about someone who's grand job it is to google flights & hotels working on commission based kick backs.

ETA: Your FH knows how to gut and butcher a deer...... booking a flight is not exactly more complicated. Tell him that.

Thanks ladies! I've booked plenty of vacations on my own, but FH think we'll get a better deal going through an agent. I've never used one myself.

MrsBest2B, honestly I don't see the harm in at least consulting one, especially if it is free. I may not be the best example because I was already set on where we wanted to go. I researched for at least 3 months before and also learned a ton from the trip advisor forums, and like I said, the TA came out with a better price than what I found.

The other big seller for me was that if anything was to go awry, I could call her and she could take care of it. We were travelling 2 days after the wedding and during hurricane season. If for some reason the resort closed, or got hit with a hurricane, etc. I didn't have to do the leg work to rearrange it.

@m - Having worked in the travel industry, there are certain types of travel that yes, you can get deals through agents. For land based travel - no, I wouldn't use it. There doesn't seem to be much of a different between booking with a resort or on CheapCaribbean etc. versus an agent. Airfare won't get you a deal either. But if someone is considering cruising, an agent who books a lot of a certain line (someone who specializes in Princess, Cunard, Royal, etc) and is considered a high volume agent gets a higher percentage off which they then can pass onto the client. There are also extra on board credit and perks added because they basically get allotted things they can give out to clients to entice them to book, at no cost.

For example:

When I booked my cruise, the price listed on princess.com was $1599 pp for the lowest grade balcony cabin for a 10 day cruise. It included an all-inclusive beverage package. My agent went to book me and got me a better grade cabin for the same price (it is more central and a lower deck i.e. less prone to motion while seas are rougher) and on top of the beverage package, I received $50 on board credit, chocolate covered strawberries or canapés, and I'm also getting part of the commission she'd be getting as a kickback. That means I'm going to pay at least a few hundred less than if I had booked it myself.

No one is incapable of booking things themselves, but if you have a good agent they sometimes are worth it.

We booked thru a travel agent for a friends destination wedding in Rivera Maya in Mexico and the travel agent was awesome and they go thru Apple vacations who were phenomenal!!! After it was paid off we got a detailed itinerary about everything from flights, transfers, hotel info everything. For someone who is highly anxious about stuff like that it was perfect for us! Every detail was ironed out. And at the beautiful resort a representative from Apple vacations worked there gave us advise on excursions and booked them for us and took care of transportation and every thing!! It was great!

Fair point, Wolf. I should have added the caveat that there is almost nothing in this world I could do or say to get DH anywhere near a cruise ship in the first place, so besides the two cruises I've been on myself, I know nothing. I do know that travel agents get no better prices on airfare than me though

We booked through Sandals Resorts. Right now they are having an awesome sale on packages.

We used AAA, and honeymooned in Jamaica at Sandals Whitehouse.

We booked with Liberty Travel and received about $1,000 off of what we would have paid doing it on our own. Plus we booked a trip to Antigua which wasn't even on either of our radar to even thinking about going to, but the agent suggested it, it was in our budget and they were having an excellent deal. We're so excited!! Booking with an agent was definitely the way to go.

edit: Spelled Antigua wrong lol

Antigua? The island? They have the best beaches; you'll have a great time.