Creating your Travel Plans
Discovery
The first step in booking the right trip for you is for us to get to know each other. This is your time to let me know where you want to go, and what you like to do on your vacations. Are you more comfortable traveling on your own, with your own schedule, or do you prefer being with a group and a pre-set schedule, with a tour guide? What sort of amenities do you look for on your trip? Is there something special you want to do? The more we explore these questions, the better recommendations we I can make.
Explore
The next step in the process is for me to develop a first draft itinerary. This itinerary will provide an initial proposal of transportation, accommodations, and activities. At this point, our focus is to make sure that we have included everything you want in your trip, and an estimate of when and where they will happen.
After we review this rough draft and make the resulting changes, I will then conduct the research to finalize the cost of the trip.
Embark
After we have reviewed the final proposal, with any modifications you want to make, I will then put together the final package for you. After your final approval, I will take care of all bookings and reservations. If at any time during this process, I find that available options have changed, or the expected price has changed, I will return to you for approval of any changes.
All that is left after this is for you to pack your bags and prepare to enjoy yourself!
And after we have made all of the reservations, I am still with you to handle any changes or modifications that need to be made.
A Note about fees
We charge nominal fees to complete the research and development of your itinerary. These fees benefit you for several reasons. First, it gives us more flexibility to include components in your trip that do not directly compensate me. Second, by accepting a fee from you, I am obligated to provide you with timely, quality service. Third, since there is no obligation on your part to use me to book your reservations these fees cover a small portion of the value of the proposal provided to you.
These fees are non-refundable and cannot be transferred to cover the cost of your reservations. Payment of this fee does not guarantee that we will be able to satisfactorily produce a suitable proposal. We reserve the right to waive these fees at any time at our discretion.
Initial Planning and Research Fee: $200
Our basic research and planning fee is $200. The Initial Planning and Research entitles you to a complete compilation of a trip proposal, to include all aspects of the trip as agreed to in the initial consultation. The fee is applicable for each new trip plan, for each family unit not to exceed 4 people, and provided that all members will be together for the entirety of the trip. A family unit is described as related individuals (Parents/Children, Siblings, etc). Persons traveling with the group that will not be traveling for the entire duration, doing different activities, or going to different places, will be considered a separate trip.
This fee will also entitle you to two revisions of the trip proposal. A “revision” is defined as the addition or subtraction of days, locations, accommodations, transportation or activities after we have agreed to the final itinerary.
Rebooking Fee: $50
Once we have completed the final itinerary, and a reservation has been made, any changes to a specific reservation will result in a $50 Rebooking Fee. This is in addition to any fees charged by the company with whom the booking was made.
Expedite Fee: $100
If a proposal is requested for travel that is planned to occur in less than 60 days from the date of the initial request, we will charge an Expedite Fee of $100. This is necessary because plans in this timeframe must be moved ahead of all other plans. We want to emphasize that we cannot guarantee the production of a suitable proposal with such short notice.