Travel Agent FAQs

---

This is a question I often hear.  People ask, "can't I just book things myself?"  The answer is yes, you can but there are several reasons why you may miss out by going it alone and this blog post highlights just a few of the reasons why using a Certified Travel Agent  to assist you will be worth it.   Why should you use a Certified Travel Agent? 

Yes, my travel services do have a nominal up front fee to cover time to curate your travel itinerary options. My knowledge, experience, and large travel network allows me to provide recommendations and advice that make your trip run smoothly—benefits you won't find easily through a web searching or AI prompts.  I often have access to exclusive rates or suppliers that are not available on the open market.

Planning fee pricing is dependent on the trip you are requesting.  For example, a cruise with one pre-night hotel will be a lower fee than a custom two-week trip to Italy visiting 4 cities with excursions, transportation, and dining reservations.  I do charge a reasonable and customary fee to cover the time and effort involved in providing that level of service.  That will be discussed during our first call.  I believe in fully transparent communication.

Domestic/International Airfare do have a service fee.  This fee covers the time and effort involved in booking and maintaining the updates to the flights before, and during your travel window. 

Visit the “How I Work” page here: 

The planning fee is a service charge for the time I spend researching, coordinating, and crafting your amazing dream trip.  The fee is not a pre-defined rate, it is dependent on the duration, and specific requests you have for your trip.  

I offer a variety of travel packages, including ocean/river/expedition cruise travel with pre/post options, luxury all-inclusive travel, and customized destination travel. 

I can also build you a customized individualized vacation itinerary package based on your individual preferences, for a nominal planning fee.

I use a digital travel itinerary tool named Tern. You can either install the Tern app on your phone and access in that platform or if you are not comfortable putting another app on your phone, you can access via web browser.  It is a comprehensive and interactive itinerary by day for you.  It stores all of the flight, car rentals, transfers, hotels, etc. with reservation numbers all in one place for reference during your trip. 

It also allows me to add additional details like VISA requirements, packing lists, etc.

This is a free service that I provide to my clients as a courtesy. 

I am a big advocate for Travel Insurance and I am happy to answer questions you have about what is covered, different policy options with cost, and provide my insight into things to consider.  At the end of the day, you are always able to opt out of Travel Insurance, but I quote it with every itinerary and require a signature to opt out. 

Here is a blog post that provides some things to consider when making your decision: https://travelxtribe.com/f/isnt-travel-insurance-a-waste-of-money