I have a much-traveled history and have used multiple sources to book my trips.  Resort websites, travel agents, airline vacation package offers, and wholesalers have all been used for various vacations with varying results.  I realize that most people want to save money when traveling and therefore opt to book online with vacation wholesalers.  But there are pros and cons to each choice when booking your trip–let’s explore what’s at stake when you book each one.

Many people use a travel agent–I have in the past and continue to do so for very specific trips.  For example, I will be doing a European river cruise next year with a tour company I like for more lengthy and far away trips.  Using a travel agent makes sense to me with more exotic, lengthy, or complicated travel plans.  Another example where using a travel agent worked out well was planning a Hawaii trip with multiple departure cities–family travel may require a more extensive knowledge of tour companies and how to meet up with one another without stressing out. I know that many individuals also book Cancun trips with travel agents with the assurance that travel glitches can be solved with one phone call to their TA.  TA’s may also guarantee a price match with wholesalers–if you have a TA that you trust you may want to use them continually when booking a trip.  TA’s may not be able to match your cheapest price, however (that has been my experience), and that leaves the vacationer with the quandary of how to have a great trip while spending the least amount of money.

Resort websites sometimes have special offers–it is definitely worth it to check what their current deals are prior to final booking.  Any problems which arise during/after booking can be directly addressed with the resort; no third party to complicate matters.  The main “con” of this choice is that you may not find the best deal for your dates of travel–you can book airfare plus resort stay on resort websites, but it may not be the best price for your dates of travel.

Airline websites can also be used–I have booked resorts with specific airlines and have found that details of the resort in question have not been taken into account.  I booked  a resort stay at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos with a specific airline and discovered, with my own research and latent OCD tendencies, that the number of travelers could not be accommodated with the chosen room category.  I had to change the reservation to another room category not because the airline notified me of anything amiss, but as a result of my own pre-travel research efforts. That’s certainly not helpful, especially when one considers that surprises may await upon arrival at the resort.

And now onto vacation wholesalers.  Many vacationers book with online wholesalers strictly because it saves them money.  Yes, it does in many instances.  But what are the “cons”?  My own experience indicates that by using online wholesalers the vacationer is at the mercy of the wholesaler.  I stayed at Secrets Akumal via booking an online wholesaler because it seemed like such a great deal.  It was a great deal, but that was discounting the phone call I got from the resort the night before I checked out informing me the wholesaler never paid the resort for my stay.  I was informed by the resort if I didn’t resolve this problem by the time I checked-out the next day I would be responsible for paying (again) for my stay.  I was on the phone the entire evening before I left the resort, with no results, as well as the morning prior to check-out. I was finally able to resolve this problem, but who wants to deal with this kind of stress on a vacation???  The most recent problem I’ve encountered with an online wholesaler concerns the Hard Rock Hotel Los Cabos.  Again, I got a great deal for staying at a new resort, but who wants to deal with situations where your reservation is constantly in question until you hear back from the wholesaler?

I think I’ve gone through enough bookings to know for myself that dealing directly with resorts is the way to go (unless I have a more complicated booking).  What’s your opinion on this matter?