In an age where booking a trip is just a few clicks away, you might wonder why a travel advisor is still important. Krys Menzies, a Travel Advisor with Coasters & Castles Travel give us a great example why partnering with a travel advisor is more essential than ever in today's fast-paced world.
Plenty of people ask both "do people even use travel agents these days?" and "why would someone need a travel agent?", usually in reference to easily accessible booking sites that have become more and more popular over the years. The most obvious answer is some people don’t have the time to book a more complicated vacation and that’s where we come in. But there’s so much more that we do that so many people, even nowadays, don’t realize, despite the travel agency industry’s steady growth.
The biggest reason is our knowledge and expertise. Especially when you have an agent that specializes in certain niches, whether it’s a specific region around the world (like the Caribbean or Europe), specific entertainment options (like theme parks or national parks), or destination weddings and honeymoons, or dozens of other niches that agents have chosen to focus on. And depending on your vacation plans, it’s always a good idea to find an agent that is knowledgeable in whatever area you’re looking into.
I was at a Chamber of Commerce get together last week, focused on networking and spreading word about my new travel agency business, as one tends to do at these sorts of gatherings. I was lucky enough to meet a handful of women who were excited to personally meet a travel agent that they could potentially work with in the future. But the interaction that stood out the most was with another woman who recently booked a Walt Disney World vacation with another agent.
Now, I have no idea who the agent is, or what their focus is, if they have one, since I didn’t ask. We strictly talked about her vacation plans, since we were both so excited about the trip happening. But what was brought up in that chat is a great example of why someone should really look for the right agent for their next vacation.
Her, her husband, their daughter, and their daughter’s best friend are going to WDW next month, right in the middle of the Halloween season. And they managed to get tickets for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. She tells me the girls are super excited about dressing up and wanting to go all out for the party, but her and her husband haven’t decided either way yet, purely because they don’t exactly want to either a) have to go back to their hotel to change into their costumes or b) have to lug said costumes around the park until the party. Plus the whole having to fly cross-country with them to begin with. That’s when I asked a question that her travel agent very clearly never brought up: Have you heard of Disney bounding?
Now, to most people, that might not seem like a very important question. But to her, once I explained exactly what Disney bounding was, it blew her mind. For those of you that don’t know, Disney bounding is basically costume-adjacent dressing up. They’re outfits inspired by Disney characters/movies/rides/whatever you can think of that Disney related. It’s a way for adults and older kids to be able to dress up and add to the Disney Magic and still follow the parks’ guidelines of No Costumes for anyone above a certain age (a rule in place to prevent younger park-goers from mistaking another park-goer for a character actor, and for various safety reasons).
My friend and I did our own Disney bound costumes when we went to WDW over Christmas in 2022. We went as Flynn Ryder and Rapunzel respectively, and wore clothing items you’d see someone wearing any day of the week, just put together in a way to reflect the characters’ own looks (plus the addition of a flower crown for myself).
Disney bounding is an extremely common thing that park-goers do on a regular basis, any day of the year. But this agent that the woman I was talking with used hadn’t mentioned it at all to her. Whether it’s because they didn’t know about it themselves, or they don’t provide extra information beyond basic travel details, or a dozen other reasons for it, it happened. Or I guess didn’t happen would be more accurate.
But if she’d worked with a travel agent that specifically specialized in Disney destinations, like I do, then there’s a much, much higher chance she would’ve been told about this popular and fairly well-known experience park-goers have created for themselves. And let me tell you, she was so excited to find out that there’s a more accessible and easier way to up her Halloween experience at WDW that she’s planning to look into Disney bounding for this upcoming trip.
Again, it isn’t anything huge, it’s not a tip on the best way to fly cross-country, or an assurance to find the best hotel deal for her family (and to keep an eye on future deals that could be applied to her reservation), or the best way to get from the airport to the resort. It was just a suggestion on a way to make the trip a little more magical without a whole lot of effort, and that meant the world to her.
And that is just one reason why using a travel agent is always recommended. You don’t know what you don’t know about your vacation, but your travel agent probably does. And that just might be the cherry on top of your already amazing trip.
At the end of the day, a travel advisor does more than just book flights and hotels. Whether it's securing that hard-to-get reservation or finding hidden gems off the beaten path a travel advisor elevates your journey to something truly memorable.
So, when you're ready to plan your next getaway, remember—working with a travel advisor is the smartest investment you can make for a flawless, unforgettable trip.
Krys is a travel advisor with Coasters & Castles Travel and a proud Disney Adult. Switching back and forth between Disneyland and Walt Disney World each year for vacation, she has in-depth, first hand experience with both destinations which she is more than happy to pass along to her clients looking to book at either resort.
But her knowledge and expertise doesn't stop there. Whether it's Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, or All-Inclusive resorts, Krys is ready to build the perfect vacation for you, your friends, your family, and whoever else might be going with you.
You can contact her easily at any of the following: