Episode 96: Unpacking Vacation Packages: What Some People Don't Understand!

02Oct 2023 by EJtheTravelDiva

Welcome to episode 96! Today, I’ll be talking about some of the travel misunderstandings that I’ve seen over the years with clients that haven’t travelled before. As a travel agent, people have asked me questions to things that I just assumed everybody knew.

Turns out, that’s not the case, so this episode is to try to clarify some of those questions.

Let’s get into it:

[02:45] Travel dates.

Some people don’t know that you can actually choose your departure and arrival dates. As long as you have a flight available, you have dates available. If you want to take a cruise, you can probably find one every single day.

When it comes to travel dates, you are in control. You don’t need to book a vacation package if you’re working with a travel agent who can create a package for you with the dates and destinations that you want.

[08:24] Travel is not set in stone.

Whatever you want to experience, you can include in your travel. Gone are the days of cookie-cutter travel. Now, everything you want can be tailored to your desires if you’re working with a travel agent.

There are some must-haves that each of us want, and if you tell a travel agent those must-haves, they will be included in your trip.

[12:16] You can fly from anywhere.

If you see a trip that’s leaving from Nashville but you live in Dallas, you can ask to tailor that trip so that it leaves from Dallas. As long as you have an international airport near your city, you can fly to anywhere.

[16:47] I want the cheapest option.

I don’t know what to do with this information. I don’t know your budget or your travel needs. I don’t know if I should book you into a crusty hotel or inn.

What is your cheap? What are you willing to accept from a destination? If you’re on a budget, that’s a different story, but then give me your budget so that I can work with it.

[19:52] Booking the same trip as someone else.

If you’re calling me to book the same trip as one of your friends, I have some questions. Do you have the same tastes and needs? Are your budgets the same? Just because they stayed in a resort and told you it was good doesn’t mean it will be good to you.

If you’ve made it this far in the podcast, you know that I’m all for booking trips around the experiences you want to have.

[25:26] Read your travel documents.

A good travel agent will send you all the information you will need to all the questions you might have regarding your trip, and keep backups of those documents. Have your booking confirmations, your taxi company numbers, and your maps printed out in case you can’t access your electronic copies.

I hope this episode has helped answer some of your questions around travel. When you’re working with a travel agent, ask the questions, get all the information you can get, and help them help you. There is no such thing as a dumb question when working with a travel agent. If you don’t ask, you won’t know, and we will just assume that you do know, so get the questions out of the way and get on your vacation with all the knowledge that you may need.