Honeymoon planningRecently I met with a really nice couple for honeymoon planning. My favorite trips to book are often honeymoons and Disney packages. The people going on these trips are enthusiastic, funny, optimistic and above all, excited. That excitement gets me excited about the trip I want to book for them, to fulfill their dreams in a way.
Honeymooners often have a "vision" of what they want for their honeymoon. (Sometimes it's a budget-based vision, but that's okay too!) It is a fun challenge to bring their vision to life for them or if possible, to pleasantly surprise them! What can be really interesting during honeymoon planning is that each couple's vision of their perfect dream honeymoon can be
completely different. And sometimes completely different than what their agent expects. This is where we take ourselves out of the picture so that we focus on what our clients want and need for their trip. If we leave ourselves in the picture, it simply doesn't work.
Give Us More Info, Please!This might be a little bit of a rant, so please bear with me. :-)
During honeymoon planning it is important to be a part of the process. If you give me good, detailed information, that helps me find the best trip for you. For example, if you tell me that you want nonstop flights -- no connections, that's fine. But if you qualify this with "I'm a nervous flier" or tell me that you're claustrophobic, that tells me exactly what you want and why it's important to you. I don't care why you ask for certain things, but if you tell me as much as you can, honeymoon planning or vacation planning will go much easier.
On the flipside, if you are very specific and tell me that you only want nonstops and you can only go on these dates, that's what I'll give you. Standard procedure after I've given these to you is that I call to follow up and see if you have any more questions or if you're ready to book. Sometimes when I follow up, I am told that you already booked online. When I ask if it was the same as what I quoted you following your parameters, I am often told "no, we're leaving on a different day now" or "no, we are changing planes".
Can you imagine how frustrating/confusing this is? I have put a lot of work into pricing your request and when I am told that you can do things that you ruled out when you first contacted me I feel a bit like my time has been wasted. Not to mention, I just worked for you for free with a lot of time and effort with zero outcome.
Please note: I don't get paid unless you book with me. Ultimately, it is your choice how you book your trip, and all that I ask is to give me or your agent a fair chance for your honeymoon planning and vacation planning.
Contrary to popular belief in the travel agent community, I believe that competition is good for us and keeps us "real". There is enough business for all of us in the travel business, and it is our job to promote ourselves and tell you through our actions and words why you should book with us and what makes us different. We have to show you why we may have more value to you than an online travel site or the other travel agency nearby.
Between the traveler and the agent, there is a relationship. The more give and take from each side, the more patience, the more communication, the more information, the better it is for both of us.
For questions about honeymoon and vacation planning, contact me at
divalisatravel@gmail.com!!
