have agent will travel

usually i'm online seeking deals, comparing rates and reading non stop reviews. we've never used a travel agent. in fact i thought it was kind of silly to use one. however, the idea of finding a resort, getting rates of travel for people located in different cities and arranging everything so we would all be at the resort for the same time sounded like a logistical nightmare. so... we opted for the traditional travelling planning mode. a travel agent.

having never used one before, we didn't even know where to start. a friend of mine recommended one she had used. we thought great, an agent someone has experience with and trusts. though this agent did respond to our initial email, he was never to be heard from again. no idea what happened to john the travel man...

we then thought we'd try our chances and just wander into the local travel agency at the nearby mall. we were greeted, well not even really greeted, more... eye rolled, by the most unenthusiastic person we've ever met.
granted, dave and i didn't really have all the information needed to book that day, but that's why we were there. all we knew was we wanted to go to jamaica, and we'd be bringing a group. hey - at least we chose a country.  one would think that after hearing "we're looking at booking a destination wedding next year in jamaica and want to go over some pricing and locations" an agent would be somewhat excited. or at least fake it. both for the newly engaged couple, and at the possibility of a major commission. however, this one just tossed us some west jet vacation and air canada vacation books and sent us on our merry way. actually - she did suggest one thing. a naked wedding. WTF - are you actually suggesting the hedonism resort for our wedding? you do realize we'll be bringing parents... and we requested child friendly... i'm pretty sure this woman was not joking. all that aside she did explain that there are some weird travel booking guidelines whereby if we booked in October we'd have to pay that month in full due to some strange early bird rules. this also meant she couldn't give us pricing, or really any details, or... really anything. i suspect she just couldn't be bothered helping. also - fyi. west jet and air canada offer pretty much the exact same vacations to the exact same resorts. we didn't need both books - actually, we didn't need the books at all. we have heard of the internet before....

so, i decided... maybe i should do this myself. we're not having much luck with this agent. i started comparing rates online between the major travel agencies. while on there, i took a chance and emailed one randomly about group planning. to my surprise, we got a quick pleasant response, that actually made us more excited. we started working with natalie - our ace agent, who had quotes ready for us within 24 hours for 5 different resorts. she was able to give us background and insight on most of the locations, having travelled there herself, or her coworkers. we then narrowed it down to two resorts. then it was real decision time... through the whole process this agent has been nothing but efficient, very quick to respond and always sounds happy and pleasant. it helps the first thing she said when she found out she was helping plan a wedding was - yay. congratulations. for those of you who know me well, yay is a staple in my vocabulary. but all this to say, the right agent really does make a difference. natalie - i'm so glad we found you.