Travel agents are pretty fantastic people (if I do say so myself). If you need a refresher on why, check out our blog about “Why Use a Travel Agent.”  That being said, there is one thing we can’t do: read minds.  I ordered that crystal ball, but it must have gotten lost in the mail.  Consequently, in order to help you plan your dream vacation, we need a little bit of help from you first.

Let me illustrate what I mean. It is not uncommon for us to receive emails like this, “Hey! Me and my family want to take a cruise in October. What can you do for us?” That’s it.  That’s all the information we are given, and although we appreciate that you are thinking of using us, it creates a bit of a problem. Namely, we don’t know your budget, details of your family or expectations. For this specific example, there are literally hundreds of cruise options each month that will completely change depending on your personal circumstances. Consequently, we felt it would be useful to our guests to learn more about what they need to think about in advance of reaching out to your travel agent. Trust me.  It will save both you & us a lot of time.

CREATE A BUDGET

The absolute most important thing you can do as you start thinking about a vacation is to establish a budget.  I remember as a kid, my parents worked really hard, but we didn’t always have a lot of excess money for trips.  So, they would look at their budget and say, “Okay, how far can we get with how much money we have?”  Some of our best trips were the simplest, and our family never went into debt for vacation.  You may have a different philosophy as you plan your budgets, but regardless, it is VERY important that you establish what you are willing & able to spend upfront.

As a travel agent, this helps us because we will only present you with options that fit within your budget. There are fantastic places to stay and things to do at EVERY price point.  Our job is to find what works for you & your family & we are happy to do that.

As you create your budget, we recommend considering at least these five basic categories:

• Lodging (Telling us what you’re willing to pay nightly helps a lot!)
• Attraction Tickets
• Transportation (Airfare, Rental Car, Trains, Taxis/Rideshares, etc.)
• Food
• Incidentals/Spending Money

Keep in mind, you don’t necessarily have to have all the money in the bank when you book your trip. Depending on how far out you are planning, you may have the option to put a deposit down when you book your trip & then the remainder is due a few weeks before you travel.  A lot of families use this option to pay incrementally and/or save up for that final payment while still booking in advance & getting what they want. This may help you spread the financial burden of your trip out over several months, or even a year or more. Regardless, you still need to budget in advance and be prepared for what you can legitimately come up with in the timeframe you have & then share that with your travel agent.

WHEN ARE YOU GOING & WHO IS GOING WITH YOU?

This seems like such a simple thing – but we all know it’s not. Work schedules, health issues, personal budgets, etc. can really make a difference on when you go on vacation & with whom. However, it is in your best interest to try & nail this down as best you can before you request a quote. 

As a travel agent, we want to give you accurate information, but prices vary widely depending on when you go & who you go with.  For example, ticket prices change based on if someone is a child or an adult.  Additionally, a lot of hotels charge extra if there is a third or fourth adult in the room.  Plus, hotels & attraction ticket prices can vary day by day, so even shifting a trip by just a few days can make a difference in the price you pay.  Now to be fair, you may have some flexibility in the dates you’re looking at, and you just want to go when it’s the least expensive. That’s totally fine!  However, if you can narrow it down to a specific few weeks prior to requesting a quote, that would go a long way in helping us get you accurate information.  

IDENTIFY YOUR NEEDS & WANTS

We’ve all been there. It’s the age-old question: “Do I need this or do I just want this?” As with most things in life, it is good to identify your needs & wants when you travel & to communicate those to your agent.  For example, perhaps someone in your party uses a wheelchair & NEEDS an accessible hotel room – tell us up front so we can make sure that happens & we are only quoting you rooms that meet your needs.  Or perhaps one of your friends NEEDS to have their own bed, so even though there are only four of you, you need three beds – tell us so we can quote you only for the rooms that meet your needs.  Other needs/wants that you may want to consider may include things like: hotel type, breakfast availability, free parking, distance to attractions, pools, types of views, etc.  Please tell us your expectations up front so we have the chance to meet them.

That being said, we are all familiar with the phrase “Managing expectations.”  That is our job too. As previously mentioned, our mind-reading abilities haven’t come in yet, so if something is important to you, tell us!  We will do our best to find what meets your requirements while still fitting within your budget.  But notice that I previously mentioned that there is a difference between needs & wants.  Please keep in mind that depending on your budget, you may have to determine what is a need verses a want & then be a little flexible in that regard.  For example, an accessible room may be an absolute need, but the only place that has an accessible room doesn’t have the free parking you wanted.  What are you willing to compromise on? Do you have any flexibility in your budget to get what you want? These are the types of questions you need to ask yourself in advance & then tell your travel agent up front.  We will do our best to give you everything you need & want, but we also respect your budget enough to recognize sometimes compromises need to be made.  If they are articulated in advance, it makes the process easier for everyone.

USE THE GET A QUOTE FORM

At Woodbrey Family Travel, we have built a “Get a Quote” form that you can access on our website. We highly recommend using this form when making requests. We have designed it so that it asks a lot of the questions we need answered prior to getting you an accurate quote.  Additionally, we’ve left space for you to leave comments & tell us anything extra we need to know, like budgetary constraints or your needs & wants.  We hope you can recognize how thinking about these things in advance & communicating them to your travel agent up front will help everyone involved. We look forward to working with you & appreciate that you would consider how you can help us, help you!