The Big Back Up
This is probably the most drastic pandemic travel plan I have helped with. The Back up.
Simply put, you book two possible trips, taking pains to make each one refundable or, even better, with arrangements that you pay for there such as on check out.
This is my latest example.
Imagine this. Let’s say you’ve only got one 2 week period in April all year in which to travel? You partially want to go to Kyoto, but you also have a dream trip to Madeira you’d like to take.
With the Pandemic, there are decent chances either place could get shut down for travel restrictions.
What to do?
In this case, There were two issues. One is that for Madeira, My client wants to stay in the Reid’s Palace. He wants the best and that hotel has to be cancelled at least one week prior to stay to hold a reservation and cancel it without having to pay any $$. In the case of Japan, the Ritz Carlton, you have to fly first to the west coast, because that’s what you have to do for refundable tickets. (Tickets to Asia get much more competitive in many ways where the Asian Carriers can compete)
He is set to leave April 9th, on March 30th, we have a meeting and on that date. We will cancel and refund in full the option he does not take. Also, hopefully, right before he leaves he’ll get about $5-7K added back onto his credit card from the refunded plan tickets (he flies business class)
The Pandemic Extreme Back Up plan is possible for economy travelers too. Refundable tickets are much cheaper and easier to get than ever. I’m never a fan of nonrefundable specials under the best of circumstances and for pandemic travel, no way.
Also, I keep having people say “I will get insurance.” Folks, for Travel Insurance, Covid is a big, fat exclusion. It’s not covered. Even when you get a CFAR (Cancel For Any Reason) policy, you still can’t say Covid. You have say “bad hair day” or “I suddenly find I don’t like Mexican food”
But, what you can do, for this, is just book trips leveraging items like credit card guarantees and fully refundability. You can’t find this in every case, but in many of them you can.
This is to the point that I have some clients planning two trips at the same time. It is seeming smarter all the time.
How Airfare is priced, at least in one case.
I just had a client book a trip for 8 couples and one of the couples had a slightly lower cost.
Of course, he asked why, and I had to say that the fare classes weren’t available for the rest of the group. What does that mean?
I will explain.
Airline pricing is exceedingly complicated and airlines also vary up their pricing structures with various strategies to get ahead. Since his flights were with JetBlue, which tends to price by individual leg, I thought it would be a good example for this post. Jetblue also operates a single cabin (no business, first or premium economy) which makes this also a little easier.
Here, we see flights as I see them. I’ve asked for flights on JetBlue (B6) from Salt Lake City (SLC) Via New York City (JFK) to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS)
All of those letters on the aircraft are “fare classes” So when a travel pro says “fare class” in respect to flight availability, they aren’t talking about a better seat, they are talking about the components that determine price. Now, sometimes, an airline would need to have the same fare class all the way from the origination to the destination, in this case, from SLC to Nassau, or it could be, like Jet Blue, where each leg can be priced separately and combined with the others.
Here we have the flights back. That is Nassau to JFK via Orlando.
And here we have how these price for two.
And how do we get the fares.? Well, you have to look at what we call “fare ladders” and here are two, SLC to JFK on the 1st of february and JFK to Nassau on the send
In the case of Jet Blue, they assemble tickets based on the cost of each flight. On the NYC to Nassau flight alone, Jetblue has over 250 fares or ‘prices’ possible for that flight alone on the 2nd of February, yes, the specific date matters too. (keep reading below) Each of those codes is called a “fare basis code”. That is the code the fare is based off of.
The below is what we call a “Fare Calculation” and if you look at these enough, they read like sentences. This one reads.
From Salt Lake City on Jetblue to New York, the fare is 160.93 with code OI4QBEY5. From New York on Jet Blue to Nassau the fare is 75.00 with code PL4AUEY5. Returning via Orlando the fare is $100 with fare basis UI4AUEY5. From Orlando to Salt Lake City the fare is 261.40 with fare basis RH7AUEY5. The total fare is $597.33 and with the accompanying taxes (each two letter code is a different tax) for a total fare of $771.77 per person.
So, here is one example of how plane tickets are priced. I’ve been considering doing a post like this for some time, but I wanted to wait until I got asked the question again “why is this price the way it is?” I have to thank the client that asked me this time. So often I have to waive my hand and be a little mysterious. It’s not that I don’t know or I think that you can’t understand, it’s just that it’s so complicated, I’d literally have to teach a class to have people understand it industry wide. Even just one example, with one airline, on one route, took a whole blog post.
Keep flying. This is high on the list of reasons why if you are serious traveller, you also have a serious travel professional working for you. To answer my client’s question on why one couple has a slightly different price is simple, slightly different fares were available. He also should know that these flights are BOOKING and moving a lot. I could’ve tried to have cancelled the first six to get the lower price and I did look at it, but by the time I did. One of the flights had booked out and the price would’ve gone up for the remaining six, even if I would’ve broken them into twos.
I originally titled this post “air fares demystified’, but somehow even after explaining it, that doesn’t seem appropriate.
To my client that asked, I hope it helps.
What an Email between GDS Pros looks like.
Even though I am independent, I am with a larger (and great) association called “The Travel Society”. They have some truly excellent staff . One of them, is probably even better at GDS than I am. Here is a reply to her. We are talking about possible seminars and here are my ideas and a big thank you. The newest GDS ‘Smartpoint’ for Travelport has some features that are new. One is an improvement of using a #. She turned me onto that, which I am loving.
******
YES! That hashtag is exactly what I was looking for. It screens out all but the actual airline I am looking for.
The FS part I've long adapted to. That's to the point that a fairly standard look at a ticket to Europe for me might look like FS2DEN20MAYPAR¤C--LON30MAYDEN¤W//SO/RMC0445/+/*A/PE25
But the hashtag is AWESOME!!!!! When availability is truly hard to find, FS commands hit a limit and many times I'm back to looking for specific fare classes on specific airlines. The Hashtag in an FS or Availability search takes out other airlines. Wow. I've looked for a solution like that on MyTravelport, where did you find it?
If you wanted to do a timesaver seminar. Here are some of my favorites with FS, I feel like taking a minute to write this out is the least I can do, I'm very grateful for that new command key!
FS2DEN20MAYPAR¤C--LON30MAYDEN¤W//SO/RMC0445/+/*A/PE25
This Line is FS for 2 from DENver on 20 MAY to PARis (ORY, CDG and even in some cases XPG and XED on a train) in Business Class ¤C -- OPEN JAW from LONdon (LHR,LGW, STN, LCY and LTN) on 30MAY to DENver in Premium Economy ¤W//Stopping Once/Restricting Maximum Connection to 04 Hours 45 Minutes/+/*A on Star Alliance only with a maximum PEnalty // of 25% of the base fare
I hold your own GDS skills in a very high regard, but we all have our own ways of working in these systems. I realize you may know all of these commands, so here is my rational on a few points.
I feel strongly that City Codes should be used over Airport Codes in cities with multiple airports. Whenever there is a national Airline and National Rail Service(LH in Germany, AF in France, LX in Switzerland) it's not uncommon for a train connection to be available. Sometimes these can be very convenient and very well priced.
Note: PAR, pulls Orly, Charles Degualle, Gare De Nord and Disneyland Paris. The other TGV trains you can connect to flights are not in paris. LON is for Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, City and Luton. For reasons uknown to me Southend has to be brought up on it’s own.
In Leisure Travel that has multiple legs, I nearly always try for Open Jaw Itineraries, the value is proven.
Business class is really nice going to Europe on an overnight, but on the way home, it's a bit more optional as that flight is more like a really long day than an overnight. Premium economy is usually combinable with Business class. People should always price both ways, sometimes it really is cheaper to just do business class in both directions
Nobody wants to stop more than once and if we were in a gateway like NYC or LAX, I'd likely replace the /SO with a /D for Direct. I should point out that, of course, if the aircraft stops without a change of flight number, there really can be another 'stop'.
Nobody wants a really long connection so I restrict the maximum connect time using max of just under 5 hours.
Most of my clients have get a lot of value out of their Frequent Flyer programs, so while I do try to ticket on their preferred Carrier, I start the search by merely restricting to the their consortium.
Given this age of Cancellations and rampant schedule changes, Refundable or mostly refundable tickets have gotten more valuable than ever and often, also for better prices. While a completely refundable ticket is best, there are multiple carriers that have a relatively small administrative charge only. I set at 25% maximum base fare penalty as a way of winnowing down a bit to go for a completely refundable fare.
Again, Thanks so much for the Hashtag command key. I feel like that has to be new! Thanks so much!
Pandemic Pricing may be coming to an end.
However, in the last week I’ve repriced a few things that I priced earlier in the year and came to some suspicions. I will do the Africa posting at a later date.
I’m starting to think what we will have in the near future of pandemic related hurdles will be replaced with cost related hurdles further out this year and beyond. I’m not a fortune teller, but if we assume the pandemic is abating, then I think we are looking at travel being hit hard with serious price hikes in the wake of coronavirus..
I have been seeing a very predictable pricing structure during the whole pandemic. Basically, the further out travel is, and the safer it is, the more expensive it is. As those dates fall closer and travel gets more precarious, the cost goes down.
This is generally opposite of what happens in the Travel industry at peak times. This is going back to almost Normal but what is abnormal is how much.
For a few examples.
In Denmark, in June, a hotel priced in June, the Lovely Falsed Kro, had gone up over $100 a Night.
Back in August, the 3 bedroom Villa at Kea Lani on Maui, for 3 adults and 2 children, 5 nights, priced in a Package with airfare included at just under $28K. I had to tweak the dates to get that room available, but for 5 nights in June, $42K That is Hotel only. No Airfare.
I Just priced the lovely Fullerton Hotel namesake Fullerton suite for a week in March for $21,1138SGD. I booked it for a client of mine back in May for $12,171.34SGD. $1SGD currently equals $1.35USD. So that’s a BIG difference.
I’m also seeing odd things on the airfare side as far as space available. They all amount to an airline ‘propping up’ their prices either in allowable fares or in how much space they ‘appear’ to have available on an aircraft. Finally, the very low-priced refundable airfares I have been seeing for the past 18 months are getting a little harder to find and a little more. For quite a bit, Some carriers were offering fully refundable business class for just $200 more, Now $400 is becoming more common. I’m starting to wonder when I’m going to start seeing refundable being triple the price as it often was pre-pandemic.!
But the SPACE!
Let me show what I mean. The below is a business class fare ladder for the summer for Air France. The base fare (without taxes) is $2k. In theory, If “z” class is available and it isn’t a weekend and if the ticket is purchased more than 90 days out, it should be around $3700-$3800 (taxes are alot)
But… As you can see, for June 8th (when my client is going) it is showing Z Class isn’t available. And the next cheapest tickets “I” only have 2 left!
This creates a Basefare of $3500.00 or over $5100 with taxes.
But… There is only one seat assigned in business class. Seat A2 is full and you know what? It probably isn’t. That’s probably one that’s being held onto for Airport assignment.
This isn’t just a business class thing. Below is the Denver-Tokyo nonstop. See all the grayed out letters? Those are “sold out”
But! Like the Airfrance Business class, there are barely any seats assigned. This is resulting in an economy price of $2584.47. That’s because we can’t get lower than “U” class. Cheap United tickets, friends are booked in G,K, L and T.
Like I said, pricing has been weird during covid, but this… this is very odd.
If you are thinking of travelling next year, you may want to plan early, for a good price, this may matter more in 2022 than it ever has. I still think one should hunt and try tor options that are flexible, or better yet, *refundable*. Remember, the most flexible kind of travel credit is cash!
A trip to Italy-A clients POV
I Love it when clients do this. If you travel, I would love to share your trip either on my blog or social media, or both.
I have a client that goes to Italy nearly every year. She doesn’t need my help in Italy, because she’s gotten to the point that I may call her and ask her advice from time to time. She just calls me because she always likes to work the free stopovers and add a country or two on the way to or from Italy. If memory serves. Ireland, Turkey, Iceland and Portugal have been included on past trips for her to Italy. This year… I’m so jealous, she’s going to Malta. Anyway, when it comes to using airline tickets creatively, I'm unparalleled. I’m really good in Italy, but if for somebody that’s been going every year for many years… they pretty much have it all down.
She also refers her friends and family to me for a little help with the airfare. This year her brother went along and as it turns out, he made a lovely blog about it. I asked him about covid and if I could share his blog (Prima and Seconda), and he said:
“Jacob, as I was posting the blogs it occurred to me that I hadn’t addressed COVID--neither the effects we saw on the ground in Italy nor the complications of requirements for entry and flights.
I did need to be tested for my flights there and back, and the availability of free tests from the library with online evaluation made it much easier than I expected.
It did not seem that pandemic concerns have started to pass. Virtually all indoor places required us to show our vaccination cards, which they referred to by the EU name "Green Pass." Masking indoors was pretty universal, and they had the usual stations of disinfectant everywhere.
You are welcome to steer anyone who might like it to my blog.
--Bill”
Again, Bill, thank you SO MUCH for sharing this with me and as a shout out to other clients, feel free to do just as Bill did. Even if you don’t have a blog, I’ll post your images, words and experiences on mine!
Book Spring Break Before Thanksgiving!
This is just a little project I’m starting to finally prove my theory that October is the best time to start booking Spring break. Also, I’m sure some very desperate people will call me starting in Late January when prime spring break dates are already out of this world expensive.
This is mostly focused on families. If you can avoid mid-March through to Mid April and don’t need to take advantage of weekends. Then you have more time. Some…
Almost all Tropical in and around North America hits it’s sweet spot Mid-November through Mid-May. Holidays are hard, but aside from that November through January are a great time to get a good price. We want to say a week away from Major Holidays, after that, things are pretty good.
Around President’s day weekend, things start to surge, hitting their peak in mid-march when those of us that live in cold climes are climbing the walls for some fun in the sun. If you have kids are are banking on spring break, you MUST book early.
I have a sorry, not sorry with these screenshots.
Sorry, because they are very simple, with letters corresponding to available seats and it takes 3 screens to see them all per aircraft.
Not sorry, because most travel agents can’t even pull these seat maps without making a reservation. You need old school code skills to pull these seat maps. With names in a record I can pull fancier ones. That you can ‘click’ on to book.
I feel like airlines don’t want you to see these seat maps because they indicate actual availability fairly well, remembering that people who accept basic economy tickets have ‘space’ but no seat assignments, so all modern aircraft tend to be more full than they appear.
I will point out that I did the first of the real Surge Weeks, just because it overlaps with My Daughter’s School district’s spring break. Denver Spring Break is the following week and is likely worse than this already.
Also, I really wanted to show the Grand Cayman flight, but it’s not back yet. I sure hope that comes back, that’s a SWEET spring breakspot. This year, I’m heading to the Caribbean in December (St Martin and Anguilla) . I'm hoping to head back to Mexico in January with the fam.
Travel agents largely do not travel at peak times, nobody gives us free stays then.
Travel Professional Travel Insurance tips
My Side Hustle is that I advise Travel Agents. This is a video that I put together for that part of my business, however, it strikes me that anybody looking to buy Travel Insurance can benefit from this information.
Covac Global
Covac Global- get protection against Covid-19 while abroad.
I’m becoming a bigger believer in Covac Global to keep the problems of coming back to the USA while abroad at bay. Below are links to several articles. Let me know if you have any questions. I feel so strongly that I have gotten this link so anybody can easily book Covac through me.
Hope for the end of the Pandemic.
This last August-September was pretty normal in one respect… I had a lot of family gatherings.
A big birthday for my favorite Auntie on my Dad’s side (70!). I went to two weddings and I even tagged along to a convention in the Mountains with my wife over Labor day weekend.
Despite the Delta Variant, that was four mass gatherings where no one I know of got Covid. Of course, for all of those, everyone I knew of was vaccinated except for the few children in attendance. This isn’t medical science, but I’m taking that as proof that vaccinations work!
I don’t think the time is quite right yet, but I do think that humanity is going to have to start having faith in our Medical science. Vaccines and other medical measures such as drug prophylactics for Malaria is something that I have been embracing, personally, my entire life! At some point, as a species, we are just going to have to get back to the business of living!
Do you love Africa and other Tropical places that are wild? Well, I do, so that means that I’ve gotten vaccinated for Typhoid, Hepatitis, Cholera and more. I’ve traveled throughout Tropical Africa, Asia and Central/South America and guess what? I never got those diseases either.
So here is some more data that I think is promising:
Percentage of fully Vaccinated Americans on June 1st
Percentage of fully vaccinated Americans as of September 4th
Percentage of Americans that are under 12
Percentage of Americans vaccinated including partially vaccinated.
New Cases are dropping.
A Nice Talk with a True Italy Expert
Those that know me well know that I never profess to be a true ‘expert’ in any one country, not even ones I’ve spent a long time in personally and/or book regularly year after year. People like Filippo Curinga of IDI Travel. For an American Travel Agent, I’m GOOD in Italy. I should be, I’ve traveled a fair amount of it and book in depth trips every year and have for a long time.
Some of my clients, and these are among my very favorites, really push me. When a request comes through for a region I know nothing about or a truly above and beyond request, I go to a true expert in that destination. My role switches from a direct booking agent, to a facilitator and cost evaluator. One company that I consistently go to for Italian Magic is IDI.
Filippo and I talk a lot about Sardinia, which is one of the places in Italy I try to talk people into sometimes. The reason being is that some people, want a beach with every vacation. They are looking at an itinerary with Rome, Florence and Venice (your basic first trip to Italy) and see coasts aren’t far and they think… “why not a beach?” Why not? Because in those parts of Italy there are few beaches and the ones that are there, are not the best beaches. I also know that there are some truly amazing beaches in the Nation of Italy in some places.
Chances are, even if you have travelled to the best beaches in the Caribbean and Mexico and even most in Asia, you have never seen a coast as beautiful as a Sardinian one. It’s just a fact, it’s worth a flight to or from Mainland Italy and if you are clever about it, it’s not that hard to add to the beginning of a trip. Adding to the end is harder. At
At the end we do talk a little about about Covid-19, it’s impact in Italy and Italian travel.
A Nice Talk with Filippo with IDI Travel
Premium Cabin Primer
Hi there,
This is very quick. This gets more complicated when I bring more carriers into it.
This blog is just meant for me to have something to send a link to. Many people aren’t clear about what is what when it comes to airlines and where you sit.
So, Each American airline has2 different kinds of premium cabins on aircraft designed to be long hauls.
American has Flagship First for international and Flagship Business- Longhaul lay flats on long domestic flights.Premium Economy- Not a lay flat, but much better than the AA Economy Seat Upgrade, Main Cabin Extra.
United Premium Cabins for longhauls are Polaris which is their lay flat and Premium Plus. Which again, does not lay flat, but is still much nicer than their seat upgrade, Economy Plus.
Delta, has a lovely layflat called Delta One and a premium economy called Delta Select, which again, is much nicer than the DL seat upgrade, Delta Comfort.
It’s important to point out that each airline has a short range international business class, which is very similar to domestic first class.
UA
AA
DL
For Economy class, in addition to offering seat upgrades (which are not different cabins) each airline offers “preferred” seats, which are identical to regular seats in every way, except they have favorable locations, such as closer to the front.
AA Main Cabin, DL Main Cabin and UA economy are all just economy seats in the main cabin with no upgrades. When each airline talks about “Basic” economy, those refer to fare
Mostly on Social Media this Days.
Mostly on Social media these days.
Despite having ridden out 2009-2011 as a travel writer with Brillianttrips.com. I have already become too busy to focus on blog writing. However, if you really enjoy my posts, please tell me and I’m sure I can write some more. Below are some examples I wrote in early 2021 before travel really too off. I do invite you to follow or like on social media.
Five places in Europe to snorkel you may not be aware of:
It all begins with an idea.
Some people need a beach on vacation.
Being a coastal native, I understand needing a beach; sometimes I also need a beach.
In the travel industry, sometimes the job is making different people with different priorities all happy on the same trip. Europe, for Americans at least, is mostly about culture; that usually translates to food, museums, history, and the like. Americans don’t tend to think of Europe as a beach destination, but it has many beautiful beaches. So, if you have always wanted to stay at the George V and eat at Le Cinq, but your main travelling companion won’t be motivated by anything but sand and waves, well... That can be done, and it can be done well with the right location..
Recently vaccinated, I’m contemplating my next trip and I find myself divided as my clients often are. My heart yearns for Europe; I have family and friends there, but also, I’m on a mission to get a soon-to-be seven-year old scuba certified not long after her 10th birthday. Which means my next trip with the family needs to have some snorkeling. So allow me to introduce… (Below the beautiful picture courtesy of One and Only Portonovi)
Five places in Europe to snorkel you may not be aware of:.
Sardinia
We start with Sardinia, and in particular, Olbia on the northern coast as that’s where you’ll find an airport to get us to the Costa Smeraldas—or the “Emerald Coast” of Sardinia.
This Italian treasure is off of most Americans’ radar, but for Europeans, it is legendary. I can’t tell you how many times I try to wedge a beach into your typical Italian vacation. Usually I end up putting somebody in Forte Dei Marmi, or perhaps in Monterosso. The west coast of Italy is beautiful for its rocky glory, not beaches. If you want beaches, other places in Italy have your name on them.
Because we want snorkeling, much like Sardinia, we want the north coast close to La Maddalena Archipelago. A book could be written about this virtually unblemished, natural wonderland of Italy. The islands are beautiful and the water on their coasts is spectacular.
The property I would choose for me and my family is the Capo D’Orso. The location is married here with a five-star boutique, sitting on 25 acres of olive and juniper trees. Golf–check, horseback riding–check, thalasso spa–check. It’s such a perfect place for a beach break that it’s worth a flight from Brussels, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, the UK (multiple airports), Paris (Orly), Venice, and Barcelona. There may be more–those options are just off the top of my head. With those airports, there are so many possible ways to put Sardinia in quite a few European itineraries.
Gozo, Malta
Next, we have Malta—or rather for our snorkeling purposes, Gozo.
First, we must understand that there is the archipelago nation of Malta, the largest island with the same name. Malta is fairly built up, being the fifth most densely populated location in the world. Since we are focused on the water and not the (amazing) history of Malta, we’ll go to the quieter and less populated Gozo, the second largest island in the nation.
It should be pointed out that great snorkeling and scuba is available on Malta as well as Gozo, as well as many of the other smaller islands. Hondoq ir-Rummien, San Blas Bay, and Wied il-Għasri all stand out as a little more exceptional in a destination full of exceptional snorkeling.
The hotel I would recommend in Gozo is the Kempinski San Lawrenz. In a line of wonderful hotels, the Gozo property stands out. While the resort is not coastal, it does have an excellent location with excellent amenities. For those families that wish to fly there, have a look at their residences.
Malta is easily accessible from many places in Europe, particularly Italy, the UK, and Germany. Getting to Gozo is just a short ferry ride from Malta’s main island.
Greece
My next stop for snorkeling in Europe is in Greece, and more specifically Adriatic Greece, as opposed to Aegean Greece. The Ionian Islands get less attention from Americans as opposed to say, the Cyclades and others, but they are amazingly beautiful, particularly under the water.
The National Marine Park of Zakynthos is a national treasure of Greece. It also is a protective nesting place for loggerhead turtles. Zakynthos has flights arriving from all over Europe, mostly in the north—Zurich and London are popular gateways for Americans.
My accomodations pick for my family here would be the Lesente Classic, not only for its location, but for the way it captures the heart of this special island. Zakynthos has been a coveted vacation destination since the days of the Venetian empire. It has always been a place of relaxed luxury. Lesente, with it’s clean lines and remarkable service, captures this perfectly.
Montenegro
A very special spot for snorkeling, also on the Adriatic, is Montenegro. South of Croatia, lies one of the most beautiful bays in all of Europe, Budva Bay. Something that goes for all of the Adriatic is that while the water is often very clear, it’s often colder; we recommend 7mm wetsuits to withstand the chilly waters. The experience will be worth it.
The hotel of choice here is the new One&Only Portonovi. One&Only always makes its properties singular, each one a work of art; and this new one captures the essence of Budva Bay perfectly.
See? You can snorkel in Europe!
Despite not being the first place you think of for underwater adventures, Europe has some excellent breaches for you and your family to snorkel at.
Frequently, European vacations for Americans tend to be jam packed, nearly hectic with each of us trying to work as much into our two-week vacation as possible. Wherever possible, a little beach break—complete with a pair of goggles and a breathing tube to snorkel with—can be just the thing to relax and come down from the travel whirlwind that often typifies American travel.
What is the purpose of your trip?
It all begins with an idea.
The purpose of any trip is the purpose the traveller most wants it to fulfill. Finding the “why” behind a trip is crucial to planning a trip that will give you what you need and want.
The ethos of Counsel Travel is that it is customer driven, meaning that the overall aims of the travel in question is determined by the traveller.
Some people know exactly what they want, but many others do not. They know they always wanted to go to a particular destination, but they don’t have a vision for it. For example, I just had this come up for a client wishing to celebrate a big milestone of marriage, and they picked a beautiful spot.
One purpose, like this, is love—or in this case, celebrating the years of devotion it takes to get through years of marriage. So, already, with this being an anniversary trip, this is where the specifics of a trip can draw inspiration. I ask questions like, “What things do you like to do? What things does your partner like to do? What are some of the best times you’ve had with your partner?” The questions get more and more personal—the better I know somebody, the better job I can do.
I’ve heard so many answers, sometimes it distills down to something simple: “I want to sit on this particular beach,” or “I want to go to these restaurants I’ve dreamt of all my life.”
Other times, the job is to craft an experience for a whole group of people, finding options that appeal to each of them. Every trip has its purpose.
When I took my wife and four-year old to Africa, my purpose was to find and share a travel experience for my family that would also be meaningful to a four-year old. I don’t think she would’ve handled being dragged through the Louvre for hours and hours, but elephants, lions, and giraffes close enough to touch? That worked! I know my family pretty well, and so our family trips are pretty great.
Always ask yourself: “What is the purpose of this trip?”
If it’s to see Italy, you aren’t going to see it all; you are going to have to pick what will be best for you. What excites you most about visiting and seeing Italy. Ask yourself, what about Italy made you dream? Is it the glory of old Rome? Is it to see a sunset over a hilltop town? Answering those types of questions will help inform your best trip.
Here are some of the things I have helped arrange where learning about the client’s specific reasons for going helped plan something extraordinary:
Arranging for a grandfather, who was also a Vietnam veteran, to take his children and grandchildren to Vietnam. When I found out he was a vet, we managed to find the exact locations he was stationed in during the war.
Helping a man surprise his opera-loving wife with tickets to La Scala their last night in Italy.
Finding a photographer to follow newlyweds through Paris to chronicle the first day of their honeymoon.
Arranging a family to visit, with necessary supplies, an orphanage in southeast Asia. This was a very wealthy family that could’ve bought a home in the Midwest for the cost of their vacation. Despite this, they took a day out of the opulence to take their children to help those less fortunate.
Driving the Amalfi Coast in a Lamborghini for a car lover.
Dining at Jiro, in Tokyo, for somebody who really wanted the “best” sushi. That was the only thing he wanted on the trip with his wife to Japan. She, however, had many priorities with Japan like snow monkeys, skiing, and buddhist temples. When they got back, he told me the whole trip was worth that one meal.
All of those special add-ons really do a lot for a trip, and they all required digging deeper to match what was in their hearts for a travel experience.
If you aren’t sure of how to do that, you can call me to counsel if you aren’t a client. If you are, then what are you waiting for?
To stopover, or not to stopover
It all begins with an idea.
sking the question of stopping over where it saves money and adds value
Layovers are one thing when en route to a destination--stopovers are another. Stopovers often involve staying a night (or more) in one location in order to catch the next plane on your journey the following day. Some people may see stopovers as a headache; they just want to get to their destination to enjoy their travels. However, stopovers are a prime opportunity to explore new places and do things you might not otherwise do.
There are three benefits to stopovers: cost, health, and fun.
Stopovers Save You Money
The reason for the lower cost of stopovers comes from split ticketing, where the price is much less by buying two tickets to one destination. For example, an economy ticket from Denver to Christchurch with a return flight is $2,500, but only $300 for Denver to LAX and $1,200 from LAX to Christchurch, also including return fare.
One example was my honeymoon to Patagonia. We went to New York first, had a day and night of fun there. The New York open jaw ticket into Buenos Aires and out of Santiago was much less, but we were also able to take advantage of a reduced price air pass, further reducing our expenses. Even with a night of fun in the Big Apple calculated into the total cost, our airfare on our honeymoon was reduced by half.
I always advise, and book for myself, an overnight stay for split ticketing to offset the risks. I personally want to see at least 10 hours between disconnected tickets, hopefully longer, barring any delays or unforeseen circumstances.
Stopovers Allow for a (Healthy) Break
Sometimes stopovers aren't optional. For the truly intrepid, there are simply many places on the earth you cannot get to without an overnight stay somewhere. Some flight schedules demand spending two nights in a row on an aircraft. Even in business class with lay-flat seats and showers in the lounge, this is arduous. If one is flying in economy, it’s painful.
Stopovers provide a break for your body amidst the multiple flights you need to take. Just adding one night in an actual bed with a few hours of mild physical activity can make a huge difference on very long journeys. You’ll feel more rested and feel more refreshed than spending back-to-back time seated on a flight.
If you are over 70 years old and cannot afford business class, then I suggest spending time instead of money and building long journeys with stops along the way.
Stopovers = More Fun!
The last reason for a stopover appeals to those with a sense of adventure--stopover cities can have a lot to offer! Sometimes you may find that you enjoyed your stopover more than your actual vacation; that happened to me with New Zealand on a trip to the South Pacific years ago.
There are also many trips that could benefit from specific stopovers. Heading to China as a lover of Asian Art and History? Take a stopover in Taiwan and see the very best items that Chiang Kai Shek took there. Heading to Sardinia for a beach break and love the opera? A stopover in Milan for La Scala is a win. Heading to Africa to be up at dawn to view lions and back after dusk to see hyenas? Spend a few days prior to your safari in Dubai where jet-lag recovery naps are no problem. As you can see from our latest video, we did this particular stopover en route to our last safari, and Dubai was a blast.
To me, the best strategy to dealing with an undesired stopover is to make it desirable. I’ve added concerts, football games, plays, and other activities I enjoy to cities I’ve had to pitstop in. If a stopover is used for financial reasons, then the cost saved should be enough to make the stop enjoyable or at least restful. In the case of my honeymoon, the money we saved by spending one night in New York translated to four more days in Patagonia. That… is travel value.
Downside to Stopovers
One disadvantage with stopovers is that splitting airfares can be risky. Let’s say a huge snowstorm moves into Denver on the day I was supposed to leave. If I had a single ticket from Denver to Buenos Aires then the airline would issue a weather exemption waiver, which would allow me to change or even refund my ticket from Denver.
If I had one ticket to NYC and another one from NYC to Buenos Aires, then the snowstorm in Denver means nothing for the carrier taking you to Argentina from New York. Same with any other kind of delay. This is why I always recommend having at least a 10 hour buffer between stopover flights--personally, I prefer closer to 24 hours to enjoy what the city has to offer, at least.
Here are a couple of other possible changes to be aware of if you’re looking into booking a stopover connection:
1. Schedule changes for airlines are common.
2. If a flight changes by more than 5 hours, then it usually can be refunded.
3. You have at least two different flights to consider.
Splitting airfares into a stopover arrangement can be a great plan to save money, incorporate recovery time between long flights, and find unexpected delights in a different city. Planning appropriately is the key to pulling it off for your maximum benefit… And I can help you with that.