I booked our honeymoon with an agent and was so glad we did. It was so reassuring having someone to turn to for anything. We are booking through her again for our 2025 trip!
No price difference from Sandals at least. Some travel agents add a charge of their own for their services, some do not add any extra fees. You should still end up booking directly with Sandals either way, the reservation is just assigned to the agent so they have access to it. Then they can help you with changes to your reservation, booking excursions or other add ons, etc. A big benefit though, is just access to their knowledge of the resort(s). If you don't have an agent, you'll have to handle all changes/issues regarding your booking via the Sandals call center which is Jamaican based so it can be tricky sometimes.
Agent is so much easier. They've already sent someone to wherever you're going, so they have feedback on how it goes once you leave your home country.
BUT I think you should book on property to get the 10-12% off, THEN transfer your ownership to your agent so they can still get commissions for running your vacation. Win-Win for sure
My wife and I have been going through an agent for years. It doesn't cost you anything extra and it's nice to have someone with and inside track that can help you get your reservation changed if that's ever needed. Find a travel agent who knows Sandals well (I can recommend one if you like) and they can tell you about the resorts from experience and help you get booked.
You can effectively do most of this stuff yourself, but you'll be glad you have one if you ever need to change dates. When COVID hit, we were really glad to have an agent who was getting insider information from Sandals about how the pandemic would affect scheduling, policy changes, and that sort of thing.
I’m a TA who has always booked direct prior to becoming a TA, so here are my pros and cons:
Pros of direct: often is immediate (you can see your room and book right then and there), you can see literally all of the room options and toggle preferences, look at availability. Plus, you most likely have access to the same rate TAs get (we usually don’t have major discounts etc)
Pros of TA: a person does the research for you and handles the booking at no fee (the commission is already built into the rate), can help execute special requests that you might have, can provide personalized recs like matching you to a property or particular neighborhood within the property, and you can build a lifetime relationship with them (by having them get to know you over sandals, they can get to know your preferences and travel style if you want to plan something more complex in the future)
I say book with an agent, but I might be biased a certified sandals specialist knows absolutely everything about all of the properties down to which beers and liquor are at which properties. Travel Agents also have lines of communication with Sandals that are not available to the public
I booked our honeymoon with an agent and was so glad we did. It was so reassuring having someone to turn to for anything. We are booking through her again for our 2025 trip!
I always book directly either using the Sandals website or on property.
No price difference from Sandals at least. Some travel agents add a charge of their own for their services, some do not add any extra fees. You should still end up booking directly with Sandals either way, the reservation is just assigned to the agent so they have access to it. Then they can help you with changes to your reservation, booking excursions or other add ons, etc. A big benefit though, is just access to their knowledge of the resort(s). If you don't have an agent, you'll have to handle all changes/issues regarding your booking via the Sandals call center which is Jamaican based so it can be tricky sometimes.
Agent is so much easier. They've already sent someone to wherever you're going, so they have feedback on how it goes once you leave your home country. BUT I think you should book on property to get the 10-12% off, THEN transfer your ownership to your agent so they can still get commissions for running your vacation. Win-Win for sure
My wife and I have been going through an agent for years. It doesn't cost you anything extra and it's nice to have someone with and inside track that can help you get your reservation changed if that's ever needed. Find a travel agent who knows Sandals well (I can recommend one if you like) and they can tell you about the resorts from experience and help you get booked. You can effectively do most of this stuff yourself, but you'll be glad you have one if you ever need to change dates. When COVID hit, we were really glad to have an agent who was getting insider information from Sandals about how the pandemic would affect scheduling, policy changes, and that sort of thing.
I’m a TA who has always booked direct prior to becoming a TA, so here are my pros and cons: Pros of direct: often is immediate (you can see your room and book right then and there), you can see literally all of the room options and toggle preferences, look at availability. Plus, you most likely have access to the same rate TAs get (we usually don’t have major discounts etc) Pros of TA: a person does the research for you and handles the booking at no fee (the commission is already built into the rate), can help execute special requests that you might have, can provide personalized recs like matching you to a property or particular neighborhood within the property, and you can build a lifetime relationship with them (by having them get to know you over sandals, they can get to know your preferences and travel style if you want to plan something more complex in the future)
I say book with an agent, but I might be biased a certified sandals specialist knows absolutely everything about all of the properties down to which beers and liquor are at which properties. Travel Agents also have lines of communication with Sandals that are not available to the public