If you had told me 10 years ago that Carol and I would own a travel agency in 2015, I would have laughed in your face.  We used a travel agency to book a nice trip for us back in the early 80s.  The trip was a disaster and we vowed to never again use a travel agent.

Plus, with the advent of the Internet, common wisdom was that the best travel offers were found by doing it yourself and searching the Internet.

Important Point: there’s a paradigm shift happening in the way people are booking travel.

Nearly a year ago, I wrote an article entitled, 5 Reasons People Don’t Work With a Travel Advisor. Since then, we’ve booked nearly another million dollars of travel for our clients, and we continue to hear, “I can’t believe the exclusive offers you’re making available to us“.  We have very happy clients because we’re doing all of the travel planning for them, AND, we’re bringing them offers that they simply can’t get on their own.

A skeptic will read these words and perhaps believe them to be untrue, or perhaps just a sales pitch.  But, it really is true.

Why?  It’s simple math really.  We’re part of the $12 billion Virtuoso travel network and we bring you $12 billion of buying power and clout.  Because of this, every single day we find the world’s best travel brands clamoring for our business.  Each day our email inbox is filled with exclusive offers to share with you as they all compete for our attention and a piece of the $12 billion of business our network will do this year.  Make sense?

Real-life examples from our travel agency

• Ocean and River Cruises: did you know that 70% of all ocean and river cruises are booked through travel agencies?  Click here to read an article that I wrote on this very topic a few months back. The simple truth is that the price you will pay for a cruise when you book it yourself, or book through us, is exactly the same.  The difference is, we’re very likely to have exclusive offers from our network to pass along to you as well.  Example: just yesterday one of our clients booked an ocean cruise to Japan on Regent Seven Seas Cruises.  When we booked the cruise for our client, the price was exactly the same, and she still got all of the fabulous offers the cruise line was offering. BUT, because we have bulk pricing with Regent Seven Seas Cruises, we were able to offer our client $500 in credits that were available through our network.  We did all the work, she got the exact same offer from Regent, but she saved another $500 by using the clout of our Virtuoso network. We can’t promise you $500 in credits on every conceivable ocean or river cruise, but we see this all the time!  Further still, this particular sailing was part of our private cruise society (Virtuoso Voyager Club), and she also received additional benefits worth hundreds of dollars on top of the $500 we brought her with our bulk purchasing advantages.  Do you see, it really makes no sense for you to book an ocean or river cruise on your own.  At the very worst, we do all the work and the price will be the same.  But, chances are extremely good that we’ll have exclusive offers for you from our Virtuoso travel network.
• Luxury Hotels & Resorts: the same is true here as well.  Because of the volume of bookings through our network, we are privileged to be among a select group of travel agencies to be a part of the hotel industry’s “preferred partner” programs.  Here, beside getting you exclusive rates, we also bring along complimentary perks like complimentary room upgrades, free nights; complimentary breakfast each morning, resort credits to be used for dining, spa, golf, and a host of other benefits.  Example: over the weekend, we received a call from a gal that was in Hawaii for her wedding.  She booked the Ritz-Carlton on her own, and she was looking to spend a few extra nights at the Four Seasons Maui.  She saw an article that we had written in our website about our relationship with Four Seasons, and so she called.  We reserved two nights for her, got her a complimentary room upgrade (subject to availability), access to the best guest room inventory (not available to online booking engines), a $100 resort credit, and breakfast for her and her new husband each morning.  This is all worth hundreds of dollars, and again, the price was no higher than if she booked it herself.  We have these relationships with Belmond (formerly Orient Express), Dorchester Collection, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Marriott Elite, The Peninsula, Ritz-Carlton, Rosewood Hotels, Sofitel, Starwood, and more.  Do you see?  It makes no sense for you to book a luxury hotel or resort on your own.
• Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean: these are very popular destinations for American travelers with mega-billions of dollars booked each year.  Because these areas are so popular, we have access to special air and hotel/resort packages that are simply incredible.  You call us, and through our bulk contracts, we will help you obtain a remarkable package that includes airline tickets from your preferred airport.  One call to us does it all.  These packages are very popular with honeymooners, special occasion travelers (think special birthdays or anniversary’s),  as well as multi-generational family travel experiences.  Example: not too long ago, a friend from Michigan called frustrated that the Caribbean resort they wanted was sold out.  Well, because we have group block in most of the major resorts, we had her booked in her desired resort in less than an hour.  In this case, we delivered a fabulous package, and our clout got her into a “sold-out” resort.  Do you see?  It makes no sense for you to try and book Hawaii, Mexico, or the Caribbean on your own.
• Private Land Journeys: in this case, we not only bring you buying power, but we’ll save you months of travel planning.  Example: just this morning, we enjoyed a welcome home call with clients that we helped plan a two-week journey to New Zealand and Australia.  They were ecstatic and told us that everything went off like clockwork.  They had never been to New Zealand or Australia.  And, neither have we for that matter.  But, through our network, we have “on-sites” all over the world.  They are at our disposal to help our clients plan overseas land journeys.  They live in the destination countries, know the hotels, the best tour guides, and work with us in three-way conference calls to plan just the perfect experience within our clients desired budget.  Can you imagine how long it would take to plan a trip to New Zealand and Australia on your own?  We had the whole package put together in a few weeks and now have happy lifelong clients.  Trust me, it makes no sense for you to try and plan a private land journey on your own.  There are simply too many pieces to go wrong.  We have the contacts to make this happen seamlessly for you.  We’ve planned scores of these types of journeys for our clients, and they’ve all been very happy.
• Small Group Land Journeys: you’re never going to guess, but the same thing is true here.  We have relationships with the world’s best group travel companies, and when combined with our Virtuoso network clout, you’re going to enjoy the same benefits and privileges that we bring to all of the other styles of travel.
• Around-the-world Flights and Cruises: these are becoming very popular. And, you guessed it, we can bring you great value here as well.
• Space Travel:  I threw this in for fun, but it’s true.  If you want, we can book you a seat on the upcoming Virgin Galactic and send you off into space.  It will set you back about $300,000/person, but you’ll have good stories to tell around the water cooler.  No? 🙂

So, where will you get the best luxury travel offers? Well, if you don’t mind a little shameless enthusiasm, it’s with us. 🙂  We’ll bring you $12 billion of buying power and a bucket full of industry clout.

For a no-obligation chat about your next travel experience, why not give us a call?  We’re expert travelers, we’re expert travel planners, we detest high-pressure sales tactics, and we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy travelers.  Call us at (480) 550-1235, or use our convenient online information request form by clicking here.

Let’s talk soon!  🙂

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