It's October, which means it's one of my favorite times of the year - Fall! :)
Ok, ok, it's not just fall that makes it my favorite (although it is my fave season), it's also National Plan a Cruise Vacation Month! One of my favorite types of vacations is a cruise vacation, and I love helping others discover how fun it can be. Using a travel agent to book a cruise continues to be the most popular way to book a cruise (which makes me happy)! In fact, go here to read 5 great reasons to book your cruise with a travel agent.
This is one of the BEST times of the year to book your cruise, because just about every cruise line out there has a special going on. Not only that, but you can also enter to win a FREE CRUISE by participating in the #CruiseSmile contest! All you have to do is go to http://www.cruisesmile.org/ and follow the instructions to be entered to win the daily cruise giveaway. You can get extra entries by posting your "Cruise Smile" photo on Twitter or Instragram using #cruisesmile and #sweepstakes (sadly, not on Facebook, for those of you like me who prefer that over the other two). And don't worry - you just have to upload a pic of you smiling, not necessarily one of you on a ship, so if you haven't cruised before you can still enter to win!! You can upload a new picture every day.
Even if you don't win one of the free daily cruise giveaways, you can still get some INCREDIBLE cruise deals! Here's a list of some of the deals that I can get you when you book with Operation Relax:
- Ama Waterways: $100 off per person ($200 off per stateroom) on ALL cruises - and when you book with me, you also get a $50 onboard credit! This offer DOES combine with all other current offers with this cruise line!
- American Cruise Lines: $1,000 off their holiday river cruises on the Independence and American Eagle!
- Avalon Waterways: Save $1500 per couple on select 2016 river cruises!
- Azamara Club Cruises: Up to $500 onboard spending money on select 2016 sailings!
- Carnival: Special Early Saver rates plus a $50 per stateroom onboard credit for 2016 to April 2017 cruise bookings, PLUS a $100 per stateroom onboard credit for select Carnival Vista 2016 European sailings! Carnival is also offering a GROUP SPECIAL - you can earn one FREE berth for every 10 full fares paid, rather than the usual 15 full fares!
- Celebrity: 50% reduced deposits plus up to $300 onboard credit on select 4 night or longer 2016 cruises!
- Costa: Take a 7 Day Eastern or Western Mediterranean cruise starting from only $595 per person, and Balconies start at $995 per person, PLUS up to $400 onboard credit AND 50% reduced deposit!
- Cunard: $150 reduced deposit plus FREE upgrades on 2016 transatlantic and Mediterranean voyages!
- Holland America: Get the "Explore 4" offers with select January 2016 to April 2017 cruises! Explore 4 includes: a FREE Signature Beverage Package, FREE Pinnacle Grill dinner for two, reduced cruise fares for 3rd and 4th guests in cabin, and 50% reduced deposits!
- MSC Cruises: Book a Caribbean 2016 or 2017 cruise and receive up to $600 in shipboard credit PLUS a beverage package and dinner for 2 in a specialty restaurant! PLUS, you can combine this with Kids Sail Free for select dates, AND you get a free 5x7 onboard photo!
- Norwegian: Book any 2015 cruise and choose one of the following offers: FREE unlimited beverage package, FREE specialty dining, FREE WiFi, or FREE Shore Excursions! PLUS, book a suite or above category and get ALL FOUR OFFERS!
- Princess: 3 for FREE promotion on select 6 day cruises Summer 2016 to Spring 2017, where you can get the following: FREE stateroom location upgrade, FREE gratuities for the first 2 guests in a stateroom, and FREE specialty dining for 2! PLUS, book a Mini-Suite or Suite and get a FREE bottle of wine! PLUS, deposits have been lowered to only $100 per person!
- Royal Caribbean: Buy one guest, get the second 50% off PLUS FREE upgrades and FREE gratuities on select sailings!
- Windstar: Save up to 59% PLUS get 2 FREE hotel nights to use pre- or post-cruise PLUS get a $100 onboard credit PER PERSON on select sailings!
So what are you waiting for? If you love to cruise, or have always wanted to try one, NOW is definitely the time to get "onboard" and book a cruise with your travel agent! ;)
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
A Dirty Little Secret About the Travel Industry - and 8 Reasons to Use a Travel Agent Instead of Booking Direct!
Recently, I was inspired to write a blog post regarding why I choose to charge a small, refundable Plan to Go Fee (you can check out that post here). It touches on a few things that many people don't know about the travel industry, like how airlines just plain hate everyone in equal measure.
But I think it's time to reveal a little more.
First, let's face it - we are an online society and love to do as much online as possible. That's cool, I totally get it (and not just because I fall into the "Milllenial" age range, though admittedly at the upper end of it). So where do a lot of people go to book vacations - Expedia? Orbitz? Travelocity? Directly with the resort/cruise line/hotel/etc?
WHY?
Oh, because they say they have the lowest price? They GUARANTEE they have the lowest price? Huh. Well, that might be true - but it's not the whole truth. See, they do have the best price - but so does Operation Relax, any other booking engine, or any other travel agent.
Yep.
True story, we all have access to the same prices 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time it might just be that we aren't comparing apples to apples (for example, you found a great hotel deal online and assumed air was included - it wasn't - so our quote looks higher but only because we included air) or because the hotel/cruise line/resort/whatever is being douche-y and trying to make travel agents look bad (and yes, that does happen sometimes. In that case, we usually are up front and honest with you about it). Why would they do that? Well, when you book direct, they pocket the commission that would normally go to us, so it's kinda like they get paid a little bit more for you doing all the work of booking yourself rather than having us do it for you.
Let's think about that a little more - they get paid for YOU doing the work? Wow. That's kind of like performing your own professional dental cleaning and then still paying the dental bill when it comes in the mail.
So what about booking with a travel agent? Well, that means WE do the work for you, and then THEY pay us. Not you. There is a little misunderstanding that by using a travel agent you are paying us directly. Most of the time, that's not true (the caveat being that sometimes there might be a refundable Plan to Go Fee like Operation Relax charges, or you might be booking something - like airfare only - that doesn't pay commission and thus we'd have to charge you if we wanted to get paid to work, which is perfectly reasonable right?). So by booking with a travel agent like me, you are paying someone to do the work, and helping to support a small business!
In case that's not enough of a reason for you, here are eight more reasons:
1) When it comes to travel, I'm smarter than you.
That might sound mean, but it's true. See, I actually take classes on travel. I think about travel every day. I spend hours reading travel magazines and books, watching travel webinars, and randomly surfing Pinterest for pictures of travel destinations that I think are something I should learn more about. I'm not alone in this - all good travel agents spend their time doing the same things! We also go to conferences, visit places on educational familiarization trips, and even do resort inspections where we often spend hours walking all over a resort and seeing EVERY TYPE OF ROOM in the resort along with all of the common areas just so we can specifically know whether or not a Beachfront Tiki Bombtastic Room is worth an upgrade from the Beachfront Tiki SortaCool Room.
Here's a great example - let's say you found a great deal for a trip to Jamaica in October. You're feeling pretty great about it, until I remind you that it's hurricane season and that Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are usually the worst hit by hurricanes. Then I can guide you to places that are usually less affected by hurricanes, like St. Lucia or Grenada.
Or let's say you want to go to the Cancun area for a vacation. So you head over to Expedia and you do a search for Cancun and... HOLY SMOKES! There are over 250 options. So you think - no problem, let me narrow it down to all-inclusive resorts. BOOM! That brings you to 55. That seems great,until you find yourself still elbow-deep in Trip Advisor reviews several hours later with no real idea as to which resort would give you the best spot to just hang in a hammock all day because that's not actually an option on Expedia for narrowing things down and no one on Trip Advisor has talked about it... argh!
Yeah, no worries, I got this. I've been to the area, can show you a picture of a spot where I've hung out in a hammock, I have a great relationship with the resort and just lined you up a free drink package, and I've just saved you hours of stress-eating. Just sayin'.
2) Along that line - we get perks for our clients.
Part of the reason we spend so much of our time (and money) visiting resorts, taking their tours, and going to conferences is to build relationships with them. Not only that, but because of our volume, they are more likely to give us little luxuries that we can share with you. These aren't things that you can get when you book with Orbitz or Travelocity.
I don't want to mislead you - we can't ALWAYS get you goodies. But I can guarantee you that we always ask!
3) There's a good chance I've been there.
Or there. Or there. Travel agents go a lot of places and see a lot of things. Often even when we "vacation," we line up multiple resort inspections to do "on the side" - for example, when I was in Negril I didn't just go to Sandals, I also checked out Beaches and Grand Pineapple. Resorts want agents to sell them, so they often invite us to come check them out. In 2015 so far, I have been to 3 countries with over 7 destination stops. In a previous year, I took 3 cruises - yep, in ONE YEAR. What can I say - not only do I love to sell travel, but I love to travel myself!
4) And if I haven't been there, I know someone that has.
I won't lie and say I've been everywhere - there's only so much travel time I can do (and only so much money I can spend on it). But I know people - LOTS of people. And a lot of the people I know are other travel agents! So maybe I won't know the best place to get lunch in Paris since Europe isn't really my "thing" right now, but I can guarantee that I know someone that not only knows the best place but also what time to get there and who to ask for. I'm part of a network of over 2,100 travel agents all over the world. If we all average sending out clients on about 14 trips per month, that means so far this year we've booked 176,400 trips. So yeah, that's a lot!
Not to mention, I keep tabs on my clients' travel experiences. I check in with them after travel and ask them to share their experiences, and I keep those in mind for future clients. I have clients that are braver than me - for example, the one that went skydiving in Vegas - or have different interests than me - for example, the one that went deep sea fishing and caught a SHARK - and I use those experiences to help me create a more comprehensive look at each destination.
5) My reviews are always honest.
If you follow my Facebook page or watch my YouTube tours, you'll see that I leave nothing out. If it smells, I tell you. If the beach isn't really up to par, I'll tell you that too. I'll also let you know when I place is so indescribably beautiful that you really have to go see it yourself (like here).
Have you looked at Trip Advisor reviews before? Some of them aren't even legitimately decent - for example, one couple who DIDN'T EVEN GO TO A RESORT was complaining about a resort and gave them a bad review. Seriously. Or sometimes people write glowing reviews for a resort because they are given a free upgrade if they do it.
Unless you know the person writing the review, and think they are an honest reviewer, you probably won't get much off of third party review sites. While it is true that sometimes resorts ask me to come stay for free, they are always told that I'm going to be honest with my clients when it comes to reviewing the resort.
6) I actually AM glad to get your call, or email!
It's not just something forced upon me by a telemarketing script. Honestly, hearing from prospective travelers and helping them plan trips often causes me to break out in my happy dance and subsequently terrify my cats (true story).
I LOVE working in the travel industry. This isn't just a "job" for me, but a way of life. I feel amazing getting to send travelers out into the world and see all of their pictures and experiences.
Similarly, when things go bad, I care and I feel sadness and anger on your behalf, and I fight for you. It's not something I "have" to do, but something I want to do. Recently, I had a client come back from a stay at a resort with a terrible experience. She was honest with me and showed me pictures of the problems. I took those pictures and her complaints and brought them directly to the top of the hierarchy and made the company aware of the problems. She didn't ask me to get anything for her, and probably didn't expect me to do more than listen to her complain. But my work on her behalf, and some additional followup, granted me the opportunity to obtain for her a formal apology plus a future travel credit! It made me feel like a fat white Oprah. ;) Does that always happen? No. Sometimes I bring forth the complaints and nothing happens, but you better believe I am always in your corner.
7) And as seen above, when it comes to resorts we are VIPs.
This kind of ties back in with the perks things - resorts realize how much power travel agents have, and they often make sure to keep us happy. They want me to sell them, and I won't sell them if I think they have mistreated a client. So if I call or email a resort, they listen and usually answer. Can you say that about BookIt?
Here's a personal story - before I was a travel agent, I went to visit my sis in Chicago and booked a hotel. I chose one that had a kitchen so I could cook my own food (having food allergies makes you aware of things like that) and chose a nonsmoking room. It's a bit of a drive from Omaha to Chicago - 8 hours - so we arrived at check in later in the evening, around 7pm. They gave us a room key and sent us on our way. We got in the room, and I was immediately wheezing from the smoke! So we turned right back around and went to the front desk and explained the problem, even showing them where we had booked a nonsmoking room (through an online booking engine that rhymes with "sex media"). Their response? "Sorry, we don't have any nonsmoking rooms available. We can check again tomorrow but you'll have to stay there tonight." Um, NO. I couldn't breathe, so there was no way that was going to work. So we tried calling that super special online booking site. After being transferred a few times, we found someone that could "help" us - they said they'd book us a room elsewhere and we'd still have to pay for it, and then in 10 business days we'd have our refund from the other room. WHAT?!? You want me to pay for ANOTHER hotel without even having the money back from this one yet? By the way, it was almost 10pm by then. Long story short - we ended up crashing at my sister's for the night, then having to pay out of pocket for a different room while we waited 10 business days for a refund for the first room. At no time did anyone apologize or think it was unusual - see, apparently if you book via an online booking engine you are a "non priority" client (it's in their fine print) so you aren't actually guaranteed what you booked.
Now that I'm a travel agent, things tend to go a little better than that. ;)
8) I work for YOU.
So if all of these examples haven't made it clear enough: I work for YOU. Why go it alone and hope everything works out when you can work with someone who knows what they are doing and can make it easier? One of Operation Relax's primary goals is making travel as stress-free as possible for our clients. It doesn't cost you anything extra to work with me, and I can help you nab the vacation that makes all of your friends drool over your pictures and stories.
Ready to get going? Stop by www.operationrelax.com or contact Jess at 402-590-2012 to start your booking.
**********************************************************
This post was inspired by my fellow travel agent at Vacationisms Worldwide Travel. You can find her post here .
**********************************************************
But I think it's time to reveal a little more.
First, let's face it - we are an online society and love to do as much online as possible. That's cool, I totally get it (and not just because I fall into the "Milllenial" age range, though admittedly at the upper end of it). So where do a lot of people go to book vacations - Expedia? Orbitz? Travelocity? Directly with the resort/cruise line/hotel/etc?
WHY?
Oh, because they say they have the lowest price? They GUARANTEE they have the lowest price? Huh. Well, that might be true - but it's not the whole truth. See, they do have the best price - but so does Operation Relax, any other booking engine, or any other travel agent.
Yep.
True story, we all have access to the same prices 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time it might just be that we aren't comparing apples to apples (for example, you found a great hotel deal online and assumed air was included - it wasn't - so our quote looks higher but only because we included air) or because the hotel/cruise line/resort/whatever is being douche-y and trying to make travel agents look bad (and yes, that does happen sometimes. In that case, we usually are up front and honest with you about it). Why would they do that? Well, when you book direct, they pocket the commission that would normally go to us, so it's kinda like they get paid a little bit more for you doing all the work of booking yourself rather than having us do it for you.
Let's think about that a little more - they get paid for YOU doing the work? Wow. That's kind of like performing your own professional dental cleaning and then still paying the dental bill when it comes in the mail.
So what about booking with a travel agent? Well, that means WE do the work for you, and then THEY pay us. Not you. There is a little misunderstanding that by using a travel agent you are paying us directly. Most of the time, that's not true (the caveat being that sometimes there might be a refundable Plan to Go Fee like Operation Relax charges, or you might be booking something - like airfare only - that doesn't pay commission and thus we'd have to charge you if we wanted to get paid to work, which is perfectly reasonable right?). So by booking with a travel agent like me, you are paying someone to do the work, and helping to support a small business!
In case that's not enough of a reason for you, here are eight more reasons:
1) When it comes to travel, I'm smarter than you.
That might sound mean, but it's true. See, I actually take classes on travel. I think about travel every day. I spend hours reading travel magazines and books, watching travel webinars, and randomly surfing Pinterest for pictures of travel destinations that I think are something I should learn more about. I'm not alone in this - all good travel agents spend their time doing the same things! We also go to conferences, visit places on educational familiarization trips, and even do resort inspections where we often spend hours walking all over a resort and seeing EVERY TYPE OF ROOM in the resort along with all of the common areas just so we can specifically know whether or not a Beachfront Tiki Bombtastic Room is worth an upgrade from the Beachfront Tiki SortaCool Room.
Here's a great example - let's say you found a great deal for a trip to Jamaica in October. You're feeling pretty great about it, until I remind you that it's hurricane season and that Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are usually the worst hit by hurricanes. Then I can guide you to places that are usually less affected by hurricanes, like St. Lucia or Grenada.
Or let's say you want to go to the Cancun area for a vacation. So you head over to Expedia and you do a search for Cancun and... HOLY SMOKES! There are over 250 options. So you think - no problem, let me narrow it down to all-inclusive resorts. BOOM! That brings you to 55. That seems great,until you find yourself still elbow-deep in Trip Advisor reviews several hours later with no real idea as to which resort would give you the best spot to just hang in a hammock all day because that's not actually an option on Expedia for narrowing things down and no one on Trip Advisor has talked about it... argh!
Yeah, no worries, I got this. I've been to the area, can show you a picture of a spot where I've hung out in a hammock, I have a great relationship with the resort and just lined you up a free drink package, and I've just saved you hours of stress-eating. Just sayin'.
2) Along that line - we get perks for our clients.
Part of the reason we spend so much of our time (and money) visiting resorts, taking their tours, and going to conferences is to build relationships with them. Not only that, but because of our volume, they are more likely to give us little luxuries that we can share with you. These aren't things that you can get when you book with Orbitz or Travelocity.
I don't want to mislead you - we can't ALWAYS get you goodies. But I can guarantee you that we always ask!
3) There's a good chance I've been there.
Or there. Or there. Travel agents go a lot of places and see a lot of things. Often even when we "vacation," we line up multiple resort inspections to do "on the side" - for example, when I was in Negril I didn't just go to Sandals, I also checked out Beaches and Grand Pineapple. Resorts want agents to sell them, so they often invite us to come check them out. In 2015 so far, I have been to 3 countries with over 7 destination stops. In a previous year, I took 3 cruises - yep, in ONE YEAR. What can I say - not only do I love to sell travel, but I love to travel myself!
4) And if I haven't been there, I know someone that has.
I won't lie and say I've been everywhere - there's only so much travel time I can do (and only so much money I can spend on it). But I know people - LOTS of people. And a lot of the people I know are other travel agents! So maybe I won't know the best place to get lunch in Paris since Europe isn't really my "thing" right now, but I can guarantee that I know someone that not only knows the best place but also what time to get there and who to ask for. I'm part of a network of over 2,100 travel agents all over the world. If we all average sending out clients on about 14 trips per month, that means so far this year we've booked 176,400 trips. So yeah, that's a lot!
Not to mention, I keep tabs on my clients' travel experiences. I check in with them after travel and ask them to share their experiences, and I keep those in mind for future clients. I have clients that are braver than me - for example, the one that went skydiving in Vegas - or have different interests than me - for example, the one that went deep sea fishing and caught a SHARK - and I use those experiences to help me create a more comprehensive look at each destination.
5) My reviews are always honest.
If you follow my Facebook page or watch my YouTube tours, you'll see that I leave nothing out. If it smells, I tell you. If the beach isn't really up to par, I'll tell you that too. I'll also let you know when I place is so indescribably beautiful that you really have to go see it yourself (like here).
Have you looked at Trip Advisor reviews before? Some of them aren't even legitimately decent - for example, one couple who DIDN'T EVEN GO TO A RESORT was complaining about a resort and gave them a bad review. Seriously. Or sometimes people write glowing reviews for a resort because they are given a free upgrade if they do it.
Unless you know the person writing the review, and think they are an honest reviewer, you probably won't get much off of third party review sites. While it is true that sometimes resorts ask me to come stay for free, they are always told that I'm going to be honest with my clients when it comes to reviewing the resort.
6) I actually AM glad to get your call, or email!
It's not just something forced upon me by a telemarketing script. Honestly, hearing from prospective travelers and helping them plan trips often causes me to break out in my happy dance and subsequently terrify my cats (true story).
I LOVE working in the travel industry. This isn't just a "job" for me, but a way of life. I feel amazing getting to send travelers out into the world and see all of their pictures and experiences.
Similarly, when things go bad, I care and I feel sadness and anger on your behalf, and I fight for you. It's not something I "have" to do, but something I want to do. Recently, I had a client come back from a stay at a resort with a terrible experience. She was honest with me and showed me pictures of the problems. I took those pictures and her complaints and brought them directly to the top of the hierarchy and made the company aware of the problems. She didn't ask me to get anything for her, and probably didn't expect me to do more than listen to her complain. But my work on her behalf, and some additional followup, granted me the opportunity to obtain for her a formal apology plus a future travel credit! It made me feel like a fat white Oprah. ;) Does that always happen? No. Sometimes I bring forth the complaints and nothing happens, but you better believe I am always in your corner.
7) And as seen above, when it comes to resorts we are VIPs.
This kind of ties back in with the perks things - resorts realize how much power travel agents have, and they often make sure to keep us happy. They want me to sell them, and I won't sell them if I think they have mistreated a client. So if I call or email a resort, they listen and usually answer. Can you say that about BookIt?
Here's a personal story - before I was a travel agent, I went to visit my sis in Chicago and booked a hotel. I chose one that had a kitchen so I could cook my own food (having food allergies makes you aware of things like that) and chose a nonsmoking room. It's a bit of a drive from Omaha to Chicago - 8 hours - so we arrived at check in later in the evening, around 7pm. They gave us a room key and sent us on our way. We got in the room, and I was immediately wheezing from the smoke! So we turned right back around and went to the front desk and explained the problem, even showing them where we had booked a nonsmoking room (through an online booking engine that rhymes with "sex media"). Their response? "Sorry, we don't have any nonsmoking rooms available. We can check again tomorrow but you'll have to stay there tonight." Um, NO. I couldn't breathe, so there was no way that was going to work. So we tried calling that super special online booking site. After being transferred a few times, we found someone that could "help" us - they said they'd book us a room elsewhere and we'd still have to pay for it, and then in 10 business days we'd have our refund from the other room. WHAT?!? You want me to pay for ANOTHER hotel without even having the money back from this one yet? By the way, it was almost 10pm by then. Long story short - we ended up crashing at my sister's for the night, then having to pay out of pocket for a different room while we waited 10 business days for a refund for the first room. At no time did anyone apologize or think it was unusual - see, apparently if you book via an online booking engine you are a "non priority" client (it's in their fine print) so you aren't actually guaranteed what you booked.
Now that I'm a travel agent, things tend to go a little better than that. ;)
8) I work for YOU.
So if all of these examples haven't made it clear enough: I work for YOU. Why go it alone and hope everything works out when you can work with someone who knows what they are doing and can make it easier? One of Operation Relax's primary goals is making travel as stress-free as possible for our clients. It doesn't cost you anything extra to work with me, and I can help you nab the vacation that makes all of your friends drool over your pictures and stories.
Ready to get going? Stop by www.operationrelax.com or contact Jess at 402-590-2012 to start your booking.
**********************************************************
This post was inspired by my fellow travel agent at Vacationisms Worldwide Travel. You can find her post here .
**********************************************************
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Notes from Travel Talk - Let's Talk About Our Favorite Places
This month's travel talk was an open forum discussion on our favorite places - basically, it was a type of "show and tell" and we exchanged stories on places we loved visiting.
The group was small but hearty! ;) Here are the two places we talked about:
- The Azores
-- are 9 volcanic islands halfway between Boston, MA and Lisbon, Portugal
-- have an incredible array of hiking trails, wildlife, and rural settings including mountains and lakes
-- more rustic than "resort"
-- have a great mild climate year round and are known for their great whale and dolphin watching
-- one of their primary businesses is growing tea and pineapple, and making flavored liquors
- New Zealand
-- has a small population overall (about 4 million) but most are located in Auckland
-- were originally settled by the Maori people from the Pacific Islands, not aborigines like in Australia
-- includes unique geographic settings, which can go from beach to forest to plain all within walking distance
-- more rustic than resort, but has some resort options
-- home to one of the world's greatest surfing schools
-- used by many popular filmmakers because of it's unique geography
Hopefully this sparked your imagination and added some new items to your "must visit" list!
The group was small but hearty! ;) Here are the two places we talked about:
- The Azores
-- are 9 volcanic islands halfway between Boston, MA and Lisbon, Portugal
-- have an incredible array of hiking trails, wildlife, and rural settings including mountains and lakes
-- more rustic than "resort"
-- have a great mild climate year round and are known for their great whale and dolphin watching
-- one of their primary businesses is growing tea and pineapple, and making flavored liquors
- New Zealand
-- has a small population overall (about 4 million) but most are located in Auckland
-- were originally settled by the Maori people from the Pacific Islands, not aborigines like in Australia
-- includes unique geographic settings, which can go from beach to forest to plain all within walking distance
-- more rustic than resort, but has some resort options
-- home to one of the world's greatest surfing schools
-- used by many popular filmmakers because of it's unique geography
Hopefully this sparked your imagination and added some new items to your "must visit" list!
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Notes from Travel Talk: Let's Talk About Group Travel
Operation Relax was so excited and proud to host our first ever travel talk on Tuesday June 16th. If you weren't able to make the meeting, we wanted to make sure you still got an abbreviated look at what was discussed! :)
Let's Talk About... Group Travel
- What is a group?
-- Open to the public or closed
-- Recurring or one time
-- Traditional or Flexible
- Always work with a travel agent!
-- Perks for leaders
-- Perks for group members
-- They take care of lining everything up
-- Knowledge of places that offer group specials
- Ideas and planning
-- Plan early (9-12 months)
-- Try to avoid having final payments due in December/January
-- Types of groups (including business, family, schools, special interest)
-- Group idea tree (see the Groups page on the Operation Relax website for a template and instructions)
- Executing
--Narrow your idea tree
-- Set it up with your travel agent
-- Start booking
-- Advertise
- Upcoming Operation Relax Trips
-- Mexico in August 2015
-- Alaska cruise in June 2016
Let's Talk About... Group Travel
- What is a group?
-- Open to the public or closed
-- Recurring or one time
-- Traditional or Flexible
- Always work with a travel agent!
-- Perks for leaders
-- Perks for group members
-- They take care of lining everything up
-- Knowledge of places that offer group specials
- Ideas and planning
-- Plan early (9-12 months)
-- Try to avoid having final payments due in December/January
-- Types of groups (including business, family, schools, special interest)
-- Group idea tree (see the Groups page on the Operation Relax website for a template and instructions)
- Executing
--Narrow your idea tree
-- Set it up with your travel agent
-- Start booking
-- Advertise
- Upcoming Operation Relax Trips
-- Mexico in August 2015
-- Alaska cruise in June 2016
Monday, May 25, 2015
Plan to Go Fees - What They Are and Why You Pay Them
As a travel agent who does several conventions and shows throughout the year, I often hear people tell me that they can't afford to do business with a travel agent. There seems to be some misunderstanding on two major points - 1) how travel agents get paid; and 2) what fees (if any) are charged by travel agents.
The first answer is fairly simple - for most types of travel, to most areas of the world, travel agents are paid a commission rate or fee from the supplier at no extra cost to you. Often if you find a rate listed online - for example, a hotel in Omaha at $199/night - you can contact us and we can book the same room for the exact same price, with the only difference being that the hotel pays us 10% of the rate rather than pocketing it for themselves. There are some exceptions - highly complex itineraries, for example, may warrant a charge on behalf of the additional time and difficulty of the work - but most of the time we receive our pay directly from our suppliers and not from the client.
The second answer takes a little more explaining.
Years ago (prior to September 11,2001), airlines used to pay commission to travel agents of about 10% of the cost of the air tickets. This benefited the airlines for the new business, and the travel agent was able to add just air-only bookings to their repertoire. This also meant the airlines didn't need to hire as many staff members to run their phone lines, and it meant travel agents had a way to make consistent earnings no matter if they sold a small trip, large trip, business trip, or any other type of trip.
That all changed as airlines moved more toward online booking engines - they began capping commissions, then just flat out got rid of them. Travel agents could still sell air travel, but the only way they would be paid is to charge for a fee - and only some clients felt that the advice and guidance from a travel agent was worth an extra charge.
Other travel industry suppliers followed suit by lowering the commission amounts paid on travel, or by adding in non-commissionable items to their travel packages. For example, a cruise may have a base rate of $299 that the travel agent would be paid 10% on, but then they still have another $200 of taxes and fees that the travel agent does not earn commission on, and they also won't earn commission on the airfare to get to and from the cruise port.
This has led to travel agents, especially those with smaller and/or home-based travel agencies, to charge fees. Some charge flat fees just on air purchases, others choose not to sell air-only travel, while still others who may or may not charge for air-only travel charge what are commonly referred to as Plan to Go fees - refundable fees that cover the time it takes for a travel agent to research and put together a quote for a client. This fee is used toward the travel package if purchased, or retained by the travel agent for time rendered on services if the client purchases elsewhere.
As Operation Relax chooses to decline selling air-only travel, we will only address the topic of the Plan to Go Fee. We have one (currently an incredibly low $15 fee that is refunded once you book your travel with us) and feel that it adds to the quality of our service.
The reason behind a Plan to Go Fee is simple - while many travelers are honorable and loyal to a particular travel agent, many others consider using any means necessary to get the lowest price point - including getting a travel agent to build a customized travel itinerary, then going directly to the travel supplier(s) involved and seeing if they can talk them down in price by booking direct (thus meaning the hotel/resort/etc doesn't have to pay a commission to the travel agent). This fee is designed to maintain the integrity of the relationship between the client and the travel agent. It covers our time in the research and planning stages of your vacation, much in the same way you would compensate other professionals (attorneys, accountants, etc). This fee is often refundable or able to be applied directly to your vacation if you choose to book with the travel agent, but is retained if you choose to take your business elsewhere.
So called "friends" can be the worst enemy of a travel agent. They often ask for advice or even itineraries but often don't follow through in booking as they either change their mind or find a slightly cheaper rate elsewhere. While most people wouldn't consider calling up their doctor or attorney to ask for advice without expecting to pay, those same people often assume that they can do this with travel agents even though travel agents also spend hours and hours to become experts in their field. Most likely it isn't done out of malice or specific dislike for the travel agent, so much as a general lack of knowledge as to how much work is put in by the travel agent and an overall bargain-hunting mindset.
I could give plenty of examples from many travel agents of instances where they wish they had charged a Plan to Go Fee but didn't and it cost them time (and sometimes money) - but suffice it to say, while most of us in the travel profession truly do see it as a labor of love, we still do need to get paid for what we do. No business can stay open doing work for free. So it's often one of the only ways we can ensure that our time is being devoted to those who are devoted to us.
I've been asked a few times why I have a Plan To Go Agreement with a $15 refundable Plan to Go Fee. The easy answer is this: I want to make sure that my time can be focused on my clients who are serious about purchasing a vacation, or who have already booked and need additional assistance. Any trip research, if done correctly, takes a large amount of time and energy. If the client chooses not to book, I have no way to recoup the time and energy I spent on their travel request (which took away from the time and energy I could have given to someone else).Thus, my fee helps to cover my time if you choose not to book, or is refunded back to you if you do book with me. I give personal care and attention to all of my clients, usually an average of 10-20 hours per vacation or more! Doesn't that sound worth $15?
smile emoticon
We understand that our Plan to Go Fee is low in comparison to the industry average of about $100. We felt that being native Midwesterners and understanding the lower wages in this area that we wanted to have a fee that wasn't prohibitive, especially if you are shopping other agents who also charge Plan to Go Fees. We appreciate your understanding and hope that our blog today has created a better understanding of how your travel agents are paid!
The first answer is fairly simple - for most types of travel, to most areas of the world, travel agents are paid a commission rate or fee from the supplier at no extra cost to you. Often if you find a rate listed online - for example, a hotel in Omaha at $199/night - you can contact us and we can book the same room for the exact same price, with the only difference being that the hotel pays us 10% of the rate rather than pocketing it for themselves. There are some exceptions - highly complex itineraries, for example, may warrant a charge on behalf of the additional time and difficulty of the work - but most of the time we receive our pay directly from our suppliers and not from the client.
The second answer takes a little more explaining.
Years ago (prior to September 11,2001), airlines used to pay commission to travel agents of about 10% of the cost of the air tickets. This benefited the airlines for the new business, and the travel agent was able to add just air-only bookings to their repertoire. This also meant the airlines didn't need to hire as many staff members to run their phone lines, and it meant travel agents had a way to make consistent earnings no matter if they sold a small trip, large trip, business trip, or any other type of trip.
That all changed as airlines moved more toward online booking engines - they began capping commissions, then just flat out got rid of them. Travel agents could still sell air travel, but the only way they would be paid is to charge for a fee - and only some clients felt that the advice and guidance from a travel agent was worth an extra charge.
Other travel industry suppliers followed suit by lowering the commission amounts paid on travel, or by adding in non-commissionable items to their travel packages. For example, a cruise may have a base rate of $299 that the travel agent would be paid 10% on, but then they still have another $200 of taxes and fees that the travel agent does not earn commission on, and they also won't earn commission on the airfare to get to and from the cruise port.
This has led to travel agents, especially those with smaller and/or home-based travel agencies, to charge fees. Some charge flat fees just on air purchases, others choose not to sell air-only travel, while still others who may or may not charge for air-only travel charge what are commonly referred to as Plan to Go fees - refundable fees that cover the time it takes for a travel agent to research and put together a quote for a client. This fee is used toward the travel package if purchased, or retained by the travel agent for time rendered on services if the client purchases elsewhere.
As Operation Relax chooses to decline selling air-only travel, we will only address the topic of the Plan to Go Fee. We have one (currently an incredibly low $15 fee that is refunded once you book your travel with us) and feel that it adds to the quality of our service.
The reason behind a Plan to Go Fee is simple - while many travelers are honorable and loyal to a particular travel agent, many others consider using any means necessary to get the lowest price point - including getting a travel agent to build a customized travel itinerary, then going directly to the travel supplier(s) involved and seeing if they can talk them down in price by booking direct (thus meaning the hotel/resort/etc doesn't have to pay a commission to the travel agent). This fee is designed to maintain the integrity of the relationship between the client and the travel agent. It covers our time in the research and planning stages of your vacation, much in the same way you would compensate other professionals (attorneys, accountants, etc). This fee is often refundable or able to be applied directly to your vacation if you choose to book with the travel agent, but is retained if you choose to take your business elsewhere.
So called "friends" can be the worst enemy of a travel agent. They often ask for advice or even itineraries but often don't follow through in booking as they either change their mind or find a slightly cheaper rate elsewhere. While most people wouldn't consider calling up their doctor or attorney to ask for advice without expecting to pay, those same people often assume that they can do this with travel agents even though travel agents also spend hours and hours to become experts in their field. Most likely it isn't done out of malice or specific dislike for the travel agent, so much as a general lack of knowledge as to how much work is put in by the travel agent and an overall bargain-hunting mindset.
I could give plenty of examples from many travel agents of instances where they wish they had charged a Plan to Go Fee but didn't and it cost them time (and sometimes money) - but suffice it to say, while most of us in the travel profession truly do see it as a labor of love, we still do need to get paid for what we do. No business can stay open doing work for free. So it's often one of the only ways we can ensure that our time is being devoted to those who are devoted to us.
I've been asked a few times why I have a Plan To Go Agreement with a $15 refundable Plan to Go Fee. The easy answer is this: I want to make sure that my time can be focused on my clients who are serious about purchasing a vacation, or who have already booked and need additional assistance. Any trip research, if done correctly, takes a large amount of time and energy. If the client chooses not to book, I have no way to recoup the time and energy I spent on their travel request (which took away from the time and energy I could have given to someone else).Thus, my fee helps to cover my time if you choose not to book, or is refunded back to you if you do book with me. I give personal care and attention to all of my clients, usually an average of 10-20 hours per vacation or more! Doesn't that sound worth $15?
smile emoticon
We understand that our Plan to Go Fee is low in comparison to the industry average of about $100. We felt that being native Midwesterners and understanding the lower wages in this area that we wanted to have a fee that wasn't prohibitive, especially if you are shopping other agents who also charge Plan to Go Fees. We appreciate your understanding and hope that our blog today has created a better understanding of how your travel agents are paid!
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