To hell with Travel Agents...

Before I begin, this is a rant... It has nothing to do with wedding planning one bit. I apologize for strong use of language in the title but you'll understand below...

Rant BEGIN:

I just got off the phone with a travel agent. I called to inquire about if we could get some help with our trip to Costa Rica. While I'm one of the best little Internet searchers out there, I wanted to find someone who's been there and can help me book some hidden gems of some hotels. I let this person know my budget for 8 nights would be around 1500$ (just for hotels and transportation) and I kid you not, she laughed in my face! She then told me that she doesn't deal with the Internet wouldn't even know to get those deals in the first place. Oh, and it gets better, she said that she knows of this great little gem of a place to stay at, where everyone has to stay for 2 nights and is always the best part of the trip for everyone, but because our budget is SO LOW she wouldn't even book it for us. And to finish off the conversation she said: "I'm sorry, I just don't deal with low end. People would laugh even if I tried to book it."

This is the reason I HATE dealing with travel agents. First the fiasco with the travel agent booking our flight the NIGHT of our wedding (and then telling me I said it was OK...when in fact I had it in writing I said no) then this?! I am NEVER dealing with a travel agent again! No need to... I have the Internet and while she thinks the Internet is wrong, someone needs to reality check this lady and tell her you can trust the Internet in this day and age for booking vacations!!!! At least the computer won't laugh and try to humiliate you if your hotel budget is too low!

BTW... I did find a cool hotel near the volcano, a nice beach resort (all inclusive) WITH AIR TRANSPORTATION to each spot for $1200. The extras like food and excursions was never in our budget state of mind. We knew we had to pay for it and was willing to spend there.

RANT END

Thank you for listening.