My business is in the US - and I can offer this opinion as a tour operator definitely not soliciting you. And it may surprise you.

There is no reason to believe that making all of your own arrangements will save you significant amounts of money. The camps, hotels, lodges whose names you see repeatedly in these forums have rates.. and those ARE the rates you would pay to an agent, or to the properties directly. Exceptions to this? Rarely. More likely to find a direct discount when you are dealing with properties that aren't as popular, or as well known.

But I say, if saving money is really a priority, then do it yourself and be comfortable with it. There really is a lot of information here on when and where we think you should go - how long to stay - what things cost.

South Africa is a country with a good infrastructure, trustworthy owners and operators of the properties you might book, and you can rely on arrangements you make to turn out as you expected.

What you lose is our input on a personal level. And whatever strength we have to represent you when you need help - for any reason.

One more point - if you do start working with an Africa specialist there, keep the pricing process transparent. We don't need any extra 'fees' for the work we do. Commissions certainly are not regularly the 20% mentioned above, and we absorb expenses such as credit card charges (if you pay by your card) and the costs to wire funds, etc. But, speaking for myself, I see no need to add anything above the costs you would pay if you do it all yourself.

Dave Patterson - Owner, The Africa Safari

We went to South Africa in August/September for our wedding. I did alot of research and use to live in South Africa so knew alot. But I decided to use a South Africa travel agent, Tanya from Africa Direct, because I wanted to ensure everything went well and if there were any problems I could contact someone there in South Africa who could emidiately rectify any problems. She was fantastic and gave us alot of ideas and options. Local and current knowledge is great and understanding the diversity, travel times between lodges etc can be invaluable. She also got involved in organizing and co ordinating the wedding. She was so helpful that we ended up inviting her and her husband to be witnessses at our wediing and hired him to be our photographer...check out Camp Jabulani rebview "wedding with Elephants". It was fantastic everything was beyond our expectations and Tanya manage to organize little surprises at each lodge on our honeymoon. Good luck and have a great trip.

Barry

I think if you search you'll find other threads dealing with this issue. I am a proponent of using an agent because I like to have someone else to call to deal with any unexpected problems and truthfully, someone else to blame if anything goes wrong. My agent works with a company that has representatives in Africa who are available at all times.

I also have found that having an agent who regularly deals with the providers means that the agent will likely be able to get any special request fulfilled (i.e. adding a round of golf somewhere nice in one of the cities) and also ensure that we have the best guide for any day tours. The agent also deals with all of the internal flights and transfers so if schedules change s/he takes care of it.

The commission is paid by the lodge and other providers. I was still able to take advantage of the special deals offered by the lodge (pay for 4 get 5th night free).

I used and agent and she was very helpful.Of course I knew what I wanted to do so was able to give her my input.I would never go into a relationship like like without being fully informed though

One thing she did do for us was to arrange an upgrade to the honeymoon suite at the lodge we were staying in because it was our Anniversary

That was a sweet deal

There was a recent post on another Forum by an Aussie who was using an OZ-based agent who seemed to be charging higher rates that if the poster had gone direct or used 1) an African specialist in OZ; 2) an in-country African specialist. So, it can be a toss-up, depending on the type of itinerary you are designing, level of accommodations - budget, mid-range or lux, vehicle rentals, internal flights.

Personally, I believe you'd do better with a SA specialist, preferably in-country... someone on the ground with whom you can contact should there be any bumps in the road. There are many that are listed on this TA forum that you can contact (choose 3-5), send the same requirements to all and compare their offerings.

I recall years-back when planning a trip to OZ, we used Swain (an Aussie company) who is an OZ/NZ/SP specialist and a wholesaler, though with an office in the States. They were excellent in all ways. However, when Swain entered the African market - Eastern and Southern - it was amazing how their prices increased markedly. Swain is still doing African tours, but their current itineraries are pretty much similar to many other tour operators worldwide.

If Swain has offices in OZ, try contacting them and along with some in-country outfitters, compare.

There is no right answer for everyone, but you have to do your research in order to make the decision that works best for your situation.

I think it depends what you intend doing...we have never used a travel agent on any of our trips to SA, but then our sort of travel may be different to yours. If you are looking at top end safari and hotel accommodations maybe you might get a better rate through an agent. I would hazard a guess though that most of the great smaller properties and self catering places that we enjoy your travel agent won't even have heard about, let alone have an arrangement with.

Anyway, if you've managed to find a way of utilising your frequent flyer points to get there, it sounds to me like you have enough nous to make your own arrangements!

THANK YOU so much, everyone, for your inputs. They are really helpful. Much appreciated.

After reading your views, it seems that we should give the agents a go - probably an agent in South Africa, instead of an agent in Australia.

Last Christmas we almost did the trip - it was a last minute decision as there were heaps of seats on flights. We contacted an Amex travel agent, and she worked with a South African specialist agent, trying to pull our itinerary together - but most of the accommodation we wanted were booked out so we decided to defer the trip to this September, and to have more time to plan for the trip properly. I may still contact the Amex agent again for a quote, and compare that against one from South Africa.

[A sideline comment - five years ago we went to Vietnam with a group of friends for a 3 weeks trip. We used an agent in VN to quote on our itinerary and he did a very good job. So, there are advantages in using a in-country agent as their local knowledge is important.]

Go independant!!! Definatley!! I've been to South Africa 5 time now and toured the place independantly each time!

There are some really lovely b&b's and non chain hotels around the country, and i can give you some recommendation if you wish?

You should plan your route beforehand so you know how long you want to stay in each place, but i'd prob only book first night if any, then do rest when you're there...

I have saved thousands and thousands this way and had the most awesome time on every single trip!!

ct1981- Just a question. In another thread in response to a question about which country to visit you said you booked your stay at a Gomo Gomo lodge through Trailfinders. Isn't Trailfinders an agent and/or tour company? So are you recommending to use a local agent once you are there or to contact the game lodges directly in advance. My understanding has always been that the better or more desirable game lodges often book up months in advance (even in this economy) and that waiting until the last minute to book a game lodge is a very risky proposition for what for many is the trip of a lifetime.

I do understand that in other areas of South Africa (other than Game Reserves) it may be easier to make arrangements as you go, but if certain lodgings/B&Bs are desired then it is still better to book ahead.