Trip Planning Process
I am so excited to welcome you into our family of valued clients and look forward to arranging the trip of your dreams! Wherever and whenever you want to go, whatever you want to do, I can arrange the entire trip from start to finish, and will be your first point of contact through every step of the planning, booking, and traveling process. I specialize in personalized travel arrangements of the highest quality service and value. My step-by-step process is described below.
- I prefer to arrange either an in-person “discovery” meeting, phone call, or detailed email discussion to chat about the details of your desired trip. For me to begin working, I’ll need dates/length of travel time, number of travelers (all adults, or some children?), desired destinations, general or specific interests, and an approximate budget (not to include food and other costs of personal nature). Please note that budgets cannot generally accommodate airfare costs, as airfare is constantly in flux and I am unable to find or negotiate deals. I book “published” airfare only, i.e. what is publicly available for sale on Google Flights, Global Distribution Systems (GDS), and official airline websites. When requesting a new trip, I encourage you to completely fill out the NEW TRIP SURVEY.
- During our initial discussion, I’ll give you some details, suggestions, and talk through the trip with you, usually providing a very generalized starter itinerary that we can build off of. Afterwards, I will send additional details by email if needed and discuss planning fees. For most trips, planning fees will be necessary to continue the discussion and research of the trip itinerary in order to fairly compensate our agency for the work I put into creating the perfect itinerary for you.
- Upon receipt of applicable up-front fees, I will proceed to draft up as many itinerary proposals as necessary to find the final perfected vacation plan for you! I will include hotel and tour options and descriptions, lots of images, rates, information and resources on the destinations, and logistics. Every trip I plan is 100% personalized for YOU and your individual interests and needs. Please read over my carefully prepared proposals and provide feedback so that I can continue to perfect your custom itinerary.
- After we finalize the plan together, I will take care of all of the bookings, reservations, and payments on your behalf.
- Shortly prior to your departure, I will provide a hard-copy or electronic packet of travel documents and itineraries, as well as restaurant recommendations and other tips as needed or requested.
- While you are traveling, I and my colleagues will be on hand during business hours to assist with any issues that may arise. If it’s outside of our hours, you will be provided with several different emergency contact lines and emails to use. My goal is for everything to be as smooth and easy for you as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make money?
Most of my income comes from commissions received from hotels and tours that I’ve booked, but this revenue is not received until after the client travels. Therefore, it is necessary to ask my clients for an up-front planning fee for my services. Because airfare does not pay commission and the management of air can be particularly time-consuming, there are additional fees associated with booking air.
I want a simple 6-night all-inclusive vacation package. Do I need to pay you a fee to arrange this?
Not usually! I can book most vacation packages (hotel+air) without additional fees from you.
Can you use my airline or hotels miles/points to book my trip?
Yes, but this will require an additional service fee, and I will need access to your account log-in details. Since many clients are uncomfortable with providing such personal information, I highly advise clients to handle points bookings on their own. I can arrange other elements of the trip, of course.
What suppliers do you use to book trips?
It depends on the destination and the desired budget! For lower budgets, I will often turn to package suppliers that provide contracted airfare combined with hotel stays for lower than published fares, and hotel suppliers that offer agent-only discounts. For higher budgets, I work with in-country destination management companies (DMCs) to arrange completely customized and private services which are coordinated and handled by on-the-ground tour agencies. Almost all suppliers we work with are agent-only, meaning they can only be booked via travel advisors. We do not use public OTAs (online travel agencies) like booking.com, Expedia, etc, because they do count as rival agencies. I am able to book vacation rentals via AirBnB or VRBO only with an additional fee because they do not pay agency commissions. See Fee Structure page for details.
I need advice on booking a trip on my own…can I come to you for help?
While I love to discuss all things travel, my time is very valuable. Therefore, I cannot provide extensive assistance if you do not plan to book anything with me. I can answer quick questions, but otherwise I would direct you to online resources.
Why is the airfare/hotel/package you quoted me so expensive? I saw it for cheaper online!
While I can often provide you the best rates because of our close relationships with top industry suppliers, there may be times when OTAs (like Expedia, Travelocity, etc) will have lower prices. You could compare it to shopping at Walmart or Amazon versus a local boutique business: the former may be cheaper, but the latter will provide you with more personalized, quality, and accessible services.
As for airfare, the rates I get are the same as the ones you’ll see on any online booking site…if we are looking at the exact same flight number, schedule, and class of service (Economy vs Basic Economy, etc), my price should be the same as if you were to book it online yourself, with the addition of management fees. If there seems to be a price discrepancy, please double-check that the flight you’re looking at is exactly the same as mine. It is often very easy to overlook small differences in schedules or classes of service. Occasionally OTAs will price a bit lower. In these cases, I would advise you to book air on your own if you find a great deal. In these cases, I am not liable for unfavorable air schedules, tight connections, or restricted seating/baggage allowances, and I will be unable to manage any flight schedule issues that may arise over the course of your trip.
You quoted me ____ for air yesterday, why is it $200 higher today?
Airfare is a mysterious and enigmatic thing and is constantly changing, even from one hour to the next. Trying to predict it is like trying to predict the stock market. Any airfare I quote is always subject to change at any time without notice.
I heard it’s less expensive to book last minute, is this true?
Not anymore! While this may have been true a long time ago, these days, the earlier you book, the better rates and availability. I encourage you to begin the planning process of a complex trip at least 4 months out, but air can be purchased as early as 11 months from departure date. The closer you get to your departure date, the higher the airfare will go. I recommend buying airfare at least 3 months out, but again, the earlier the better (probably).
I flew to this destination two years ago for half the price! Why is it so much more expensive now?
There are dozens of factors that contribute to higher travel expenses: there could be an increase of popularity of a particular destination, an increase in the price of jet fuel, or bad international exchange rates. Inflation and world events are also a factor. We unfortunately do not have control over these price fluctuations.