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04-24-2018 11:50 AM
After I learned how to book my Alaska Air trips online, I quit using AAA as I could take care of everything myself.
I still recommend AAA for the good work they did for me a few times.
04-24-2018 12:02 PM
I always book everything myself. I've booked our 2 cruises directly through the cruiseline because I was unable to find any deals on-line with any other sites. I book airfare directly through the airline. For hotels I do check some sties because we once scored an unbelievable deal through Trip Advisor, which was pure luck.
I recently became a member of AARP. My cousin recommended it because of all the discounts and claimed her best friend got awesome deals on cruises through AARP. The other night I looked on the AARP website and put all the info. in to price out a cruise. I got my final price and went to the cruise website and put in info. to get a price directly and the prices were identical, down to the penny.
AARP sure made it seem like they were offering a fabulous percentage off but IMO it was false advertising and really left me with a bad taste in my mouth with them.
04-24-2018 02:43 PM
I travel worldwide a lot (76+countries) and I use a mix of local travel agents, AAA, and booking it myself. We booked six weeks in Europe (eurorail plus rental cars) through AAA and they did an excellent job, especially booking Class C hotels near city centers (we stayed in 400 yr old hotels as well as corporate housing and an off school season dorm). All our hotels were interesting and unique and had great breakfasts. My BIL, who has ALS, also got great help from AAA. We didn't find their fees or charges to be out of line and their agents were very knowledgeable.
04-24-2018 03:02 PM
We booked our cruise from AAA and it was fabulous! Friends that went with us booked it them selves and paid more than us and didn't get many of the things we got. We had the transfers from airport to hotel and transportation to the ship from the hotel (we left a day early and stayed in Miami) and we even had the room for Miami in our price. For some reason too when we were checking in our ship they gave us a room upgrade. I can't wait to book my next one.
04-24-2018 04:10 PM
@Pecky Unless your friends purchased their cruise the same time as you, the fact that they paid more likely has more to do with the constant fluctuation of cruise prices than using a travel agent vs not. The cruise I’m taking in September has increased by more than $1,000 since I booked it.
04-24-2018 04:20 PM
Think about your trip and the worst case scenario (your reservation is lost, trip is cancelled). On the last day of one of my cruises, we hit something and a propeller was badly damaged. We limped into Athens where I was scheduled to disembark. I wonder what happened to all the people that had arrived to take the next cruise.
I would think about which agent (AAA is a travel agency with agents) would be the easiest to contact and the most helpful if and when you really need help.
All things being equal, it is important to know that things do go bad on trips and a good travel agent will have your back.
04-24-2018 04:50 PM
@Alter Ego wrote:@Pecky Unless your friends purchased their cruise the same time as you, the fact that they paid more likely has more to do with the constant fluctuation of cruise prices than using a travel agent vs not. The cruise I’m taking in September has increased by more than $1,000 since I booked it.
@Alter Ego, you bring up a great point. When DH and I were on our recent cruise, we were sitting on one of the decks and 2 other couples sat down and we all started to chat. None of us knew each other. The one couple commented on the fact that they paid $2,000.00 for their cruise, with an interior room. I know my eyes got big and the the jaws of the other couple dropped. We didn't pay nearly that for the cruise so they must have hit it at a prime time for the price.
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