Yesterday was a big day in the travel industry, it was National Travel Agent Day. Did you notice our Facebook Post about the day? You can also search #TravelAgentDay on social media to see some of the posts. It was the perfect opportunity to share our passion for helping our clients experience the world. It’s also a great opportunity to highlight when it’s okay for you to DIY your vacation and rely on those online booking engines instead.
I get asked quite often about why someone might turn to a travel expert for vacation planning when there are so many resources available to do it yourself these days. In fact, I’ve written about different aspects of the subject here, here and here.
This week I’ll share with you some examples of when you can go ahead and DIY your vacation without too much worry.
#1 – You’ve gotten an invitation to a wedding for a distant family member and you need a hotel room for the weekend. Chances are that the bride and groom have already contracted a room block at a local hotel and their free room depends on your booking into that room block. Are there exceptions? Of course there are – let’s say that invitation is for a wedding at Disney World (don’t laugh, you would be surprised what a hot spot this is for weddings) – there are a lot more moving parts involved that a travel expert can help you navigate.
#2 – You’ve got a cousin in Miami and you want to fly down for a week to visit.You’ve got a place to stay, you don’t need a car and you don’t need sightseeing. Yes, a travel professional can most likely find the flight schedule with the best on time performance, we know what routes tend to have more delays, but most do not have the time to devote to an air only reservation without also charging a professional fee for that time. Booking directly through the airline is your best choice in this situation.
#3 – Your a parents offered you the use of their time share to exchange anywhere in the world and you need help making the booking. Sorry, we’ll be more than happy to set up a consultation to narrow down the location, but when it comes to redeeming time shares, you need to work directly with the source.
#4 – You’ve seen a the “perfect’ house on a rental by owner or house exchange site, but you want a professional opinion. Fortunately, for our clients, we only use sources that we know stand behind their properties and available in times of need, much like the services we offer. If the source you have found does not offer that guarantee, we’re not able to give you advice on whether “what you see is what you get” so you’re on your own for that one. Remember, you’re also on your own if you get there and it doesn’t look like what you saw on line.
#5 – When the most important aspect of your trip is the price, not the value, that’s when it’s time to turn to the online booking engines and roll the dice. Just remember this question. “How cheap does a bad vacation have to be for it to be ok?” I hate to see my clients waste their vacation budget on the wrong vacation for them just because it appeared to be a better price and in the end wasn’t what they were really looking for.
When you are ready to turn the reins over to an expert and stop spinning your wheels trying to figure out the in’s and out’s of your next vacation give me a call or click here so we can get started!
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