3. Budget Expectations when Planning Luxury
Let’s ride down this rocky road. Rumor has it that if you make it to the end of this road (I mean blog), the pavement becomes incredibly smooth.
As your trusted travel advisor, we are dedicated to creating an experience that meets your expectations. We ask you to ask yourself, what are you looking for when hiring an advisor? Would it be wrong to assume you’re looking for someone to help you sift through the overwhelming options? Maybe learn about new places you never would have thought of? Someone that happily covers the stressful emails, phone calls, automated messages, checking time zones around the world, etc. for you? Or Maybe you just want to snag our exclusive amenities to take your trip from a 10 to an 11/10. Let us eliminate the endless options and lift the weight sitting on your shoulders.
Maybe this is all wrong. Maybe you are looking for a good deal. This blog is to let you in on our side, to see what we see, and how working with an advisor alone is saving you money. Yes, you read that correctly!
After you have found your perfect advisor fit, your advisor will share with you their planning fee. This is a one time fee per trip that fully encompasses the length of time that goes into making your vacation seamless. You may assume this is the “Aha!” moment…Look at it this way…You pay your accountant to handle your taxes, you pay your yard workers to keep your yard beautiful, you pay your Uber driver to get you from A to B safely, you pay your travel advisor for the hours of research and planning that you can’t fit into your schedule.
Every trip you take is an adventure but it’s also a learning experience. Where did you learn you wanted to spend your money? Where did you learn you want to save? Was the private driver worth it to take care of you all day rather than paying for four separate cabs that were, let’s say, it’s own experience. We will respectively assume you don’t want every trip you take to constantly have things up in the air or open for debate later. You want to confidently go to your destination with your itinerary pre-arranged with all of your favorites.
Traveling can be stressful. What if we told you you didn’t have to do that anymore? As part of our planning process, we want to get to know you. We want to know your likes and dislikes before you depart and skip all of the gray areas. We will suggest all of the tips and tricks of where to spend your money, where to save, not just where to go but how to get there and not just meet your expectations, but exceed them. In skipping all of those do’s and don’ts, your travel advisor can assist you in avoiding those mistakes and avoid losing money on lost opportunities or experiences that under-deliver.
You aren’t in this process alone. We speak the language of travel, clearly. If you are comfortable with your advisor’s planning fee, they will go over and beyond to not make those travel mistakes you may not even realize you’ve been making for 5-20 years.
Something very important for our clients to know is that we do not mark up any prices on any tours, hotels, villas, etc. The rates that you are seeing, are the rates we are seeing. A travel advisor's goal is not to take advantage of your trust in them. With that being said, if there is a special rate or better deal, your advisor will know about it. The relationships built amongst members of this industry are bound by honesty and transparency. The communication in our world is ongoing and updated to offer you the best deal out there.
Our advisors are not in this industry to plan your trip and reap the benefits. The benefits are the results of a positive experience and a happy client. So let’s get planning. Know that your money and your time are valuable and being put to good use.
Thank you for your trust. Start packing!