If you’re even considering hiring a travel advisor to plan your next vacation, then it probably does make sense to do it, assuming you’ve got the right travel advisor and you’re clear on what you want for your next vacation. Here’s why.
You’re already way ahead of most people, who are happy with the latest Travelzoo deal or online travel company package for their next trip. The fact that you’re thinking of bringing in a professional to help means that you are looking for something special, out of the box, and incredible that can’t be found online.
Everybody knows that great travel advisors have the contacts and expertise to elevate your next vacation from ho-hum to fantastic. A great travel advisor leverages their relationships with cruise lines, hotels and local guides to make sure you are treated like a VIP on your next vacation.
You already know that a luxury travel advisor will:
Good travel advisors charge planning fees, but are generally regarded as worth it. The problem isn’t necessarily in the cost, but knowing whether the advisor you’re thinking of hiring is the right one for you. How do you know if hiring a travel advisor makes sense for your vacation? And how do you know if that travel advisor will be able to help you? Before we can answer that, let’s find out if it even makes sense for you to hire a travel advisor in the first place.
“I want a great vacation” isn’t specific enough. You need to be able to communicate your deepest wishes and desires to work effectively with a travel advisor. Think back on past vacations you’ve been on and what made them special. Think also about what didn’t go well. What do you want from your next vacation?
A travel advisor can provide immense value, but only if your budget is realistic. Luxury travel advisors have relationships with luxury hotels, tours companies and cruise lines and they can leverage these relationships to enhance your trip. But if you’re looking for a budget, cheapest hotel possible kind of trip, a luxury travel advisor will probably not be able to do much to help you.
If you do the same thing you’ve always done, you’ll get the same results you’ve always gotten.
Yes, you could plan your trip yourself, like you’ve done every other time, but then you’ll end up with the same kind of vacation you’ve had before.
Have you spent hours researching hotels on the internet only to end up more confused than when you started?
Are you sure you can trust online review sites?
Are you sure if the car service you’re hiring is reliable?
Do you know if the guides you’re hiring are any good?
You don’t know. But your travel advisor knows and in many cases has already been to the places she is recommending you visit. And those places she hasn’t personally seen, she has a colleague who has and can provide first-hand knowledge. When you work with a professional travel advisor, they vet all of the companies, guides and hotels that are part of your itinerary for service standards, quality and reliability.
Maybe you enjoy travel planning, and you think turning it over to a travel advisor will take all the fun of planning the trip away. But a good travel advisor uses a collaborative design process to design your trip, and you can be involved as little or as much as you want. But if you ultimately are one of those do-it-all-yourself kind of people, and you don’t mind spending hours on research and bookings, maybe you shouldn’t hire a travel advisor.
When you get a motivated, professional travel advisor who uses a collaborative travel planning process and takes the time to understand you, you can rest assured that your vacation is in good hands.
The idea that the same vacation will make everyone happy is silly. Every single person is different and has different goals and wishes. That’s why finding the right travel advisor can be tricky. But when you have the right advisor, and you’re clear about what you want, amazing things can happen.
How do you know if you have a good travel advisor?
My 5-step collaborative travel planning process ensures that no detail of your vacation is overlooked and that your trip exceeds your expectations.
1. Discovery Call
First, we’ll have a detailed discovery call where I will get to know you and ask you lots of questions about your past vacations, and what you liked and didn’t like about them, and your wishes for your next vacation. I’ll ask you about your interests, your likes and dislikes, the types of hotels you like to stay in and your hobbies and passions. And the all-important budget. The more open you are with me during this process, the better my suggestions will be when we get to the design phase.
2. Collaborate & Design
Once I understand you and the other people traveling with you (even your kids), we will start the collaborative design process. I will research options and destinations and suggest an itinerary outline, which we will review and revise several times until we have the perfect vacation for you. I will try to find the best hotels, experiences and destinations that fit your interests and goals for this vacation.
3. Reserve & Confirm
Once you are happy with the itinerary and activities, I get to work on reservations and logistics. I’ll send you periodic emails to help you prepare for your trip and take care of confirmations, organizing your travel documents, and everything else you need to travel. I’ll leverage my connections to secure upgrades, special amenities, and perks wherever I can for you so you can feel like a rock star when you check into your hotel.
4. Monitoring
While you’re traveling, I’ll be in touch with both you and your hotel, cruise line or tour guides. I’ll request updates from them to make sure you are having a great time and that any promised amenities were provided to you.
5. Debrief
Finally, when you return from your trip, I’ll request a call with you to go over your trip. I want to know how things went, and if there’s anything you might want to change for future vacations. This is a critical step, and helps me make your next vacation even better than this one.
If you’ve never used a travel advisor before, this will seem all new to you.
Before I worked in travel, I used to plan my vacations myself. I used to think that travel agents were unnecessary with the ability to book hotels and flights on the internet. We stayed at some hotels in Paris that were “interesting”, to say the least. And took some “interesting” cab rides in Peru. I’ve since learned how to travel better and I can do the same for you.
My clients love working with me because I take the stress out of travel and show them experiences that they would have never found on their own, like a private tour of the Vatican in Rome before the crowds arrive, or a visit to small organic cheese farmer in Piedmont, Italy. I also take care of small details that can make you feel special, like having a driver greet you at the airport with a private car so that you can relax after your long flight, instead of having to hail a taxi or trying to figure out the ins and outs of public transportation in a strange city.
I don’t build cookie-cutter trips. Each itinerary is personalized for each traveler. So your vacation is all about you.
The bottom line is, if you want your next vacation to be exceptional, you’ll want to work with me.
Before you we go any further, you need to know that I can't help everybody who comes to me. I can really only be of benefit to travelers with a vacation travel budget of at least $10,000.00. You should also know that we charge planning fees for our customized itineraries, which start at $500 per trip.
If you’d like to become one of my clients, click the button below to schedule a complimentary Luxury Travel Consultation. When you click, you'll be taken to a page with form with some questions about your trip. Once I review it, I will contact you to schedule our Discovery Call, where we'll get acquainted and discuss your trip. If it looks like we’re a good fit, and you decide you want to move forward, I’ll quote you a planning fee for your trip, send you a credit card authorization form, and we'll get to work on the vacation of your dreams.