Travel Agent Issues

[IrieBride08]

I feel everyones pain! I have surmissed that the response rate will continue to be fairly low during the holiday season. Deposits for my wedding trip were due on November 1. I had a host of people call me to confirm the date and payment amount, but the majority of them have STILL not made a payment!

 

I think I'll have a boatload of people wanting to pay and expressing interest after the holidays. (That's all people are really focused on right now.) I'm trying to be patient until then, cuz I need to be ordering my invitations now (to mail in January).

 

So far, I've had 21 people make deposits so far out of 75 mailed STDs to over 100 guests. (My sister has yet to confirm or pay a deposit--and she's my MOH! LOL!!)

[Cherie]

Shouldn't your travel agent be handling all the deposits and problems for you? I don't even think about the deposits and/or payments, as my TA wants everything to be stress free for me. Is this true for everyone else...or am I being spoiled??

[IrieBride08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cherie Shouldn't your travel agent be handling all the deposits and problems for you? I don't even think about the deposits and/or payments, as my TA wants everything to be stress free for me. Is this true for everyone else...or am I being spoiled??

I'm not using a TA. I negotiated group rates for both airfare and resort and created a special wedding account for my guests to make payments via paypal. So far, everything is working out smoothly.

[Cherie]

That's great then...PayPal is a wonderful thing!

[chicago88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FutureMrsButler08 I am actually using a TA. She is handling everything, but knowing that everyone is not paying their deposits, or at least inquiring about how much it costs, worries me. My own mother, father, grandparents, and brother have not paid their deposits...and those are the people I feel HAVE to be there. I have only 2 BM (one MOH) out of a total of 5 pay their deposits and 1 GM (Best Man) out of 5 pay theirs. I have a total of 5 confirmed guests... This is about the only thing stressing me and I am trying to portay to them the urgency, without them thinking I am a BRIDEZILLA. Especially with everyone getting their passports (even though I haven't gotten mine yet.) IrieBride08...what are you gonna do about the folks who went past the deadline. To my understanding, if folks go past the deadline with me...my TA won't accomodate them and I suppose they will have to find their own transportation...

I still have guests that are booking and my wedding is less than 3 months away. Not everyone is going thru my TA. Some people have their own travel agents they are going thru. My advice... I know if sucks but people are going to be booking up until the last minute. That's just how it goes. Try not to stress too much!

[DanielleNDerek]

I just picked my resort last week and if my guests what the special rate they have to put $100pp deposit down by Dec 22nd. If not they just won't have that low guaranteed rate. I don't have a group rate, maybe that's why. It may not be your TA's fault it might be the resort, my TA had told me before that if we did a group rate the resort might need a deposit right away.

 

Well, I don't know if you can do this but if my guests (ones that I know are definately going) don't get their deposits in by Dec 15th, fiance and I are going to pay for our trips in full but our TA is letting us use that money to put the deposits down for people who didn't do it yet, and than when these people put their deposits down (giving them till end of Jan to do it) that will just go back towards our trip. Now our TA is a friend of mine so if for some reason these people don't every put down money by January, she is going to cancel them and give us the money back. She said she would get rid of the rooms somehow for us, so we don't get stuck putting deposits down for people who don't go. Sorry, if this doesn't make sense kinda confusing.

[IrieBride08]

Well, I really do think things will pick up after the holidays. I'm kind of banking on that (not good! I know).

 

I have a little flexibility since I'm handling all of the reservations (and I set the payment schedule myself). But I will need payments to pick up dramatically by March because I will need to have 35% of the entire trip paid for! That's the stressful part! I will most likely be hunting people down at that point.

 

I've also noticed that there are a few people who want to make their own arrangements. This is something I never considered when making my plans. In this way, using a TA would definitely have come in handy. Luckily, I have the option of dropping any flights I don't need until February without penalty, and I expect to fill all of my reserved rooms.

[Cherie]

My FI and I decided to put down approximately 12 $150 deposits in order to save seats for guests and immediately get the group rate. We urged our family and friends only to book through our TA as she was giving the best and/or comparable deal out there. We now have about 56 people confirmed, and my FI will get the money back by the time of the wedding in January. My TA also offered the group rate to other clients of hers; therefore our numbers were increased and all of the deposits were quickly used up. The higher our numbers, the more additions are given by the agency we're booking the flights and rooms through (ie. free flights).

I agree about Christmas coming up. We felt bad getting married so quickly after New Year, but what better Christmas gift than a trip to Jamaica!!

[cantwaittobemrs]

I know what you guys mean. I am so nervous, all of our friends are saying that they are definitely going and to count on them... but none of them have booked yet!! It is so hard to make plans without knowing! Any ideas on how to at least get people to let us know if they aren't going without being rude??

[Cherie]

What if you gave them a date (fictitious or not) that deposits HAVE to be in to reserve their seats?

Just an idea...