It was widely believed that the explosion of the internet would kill off travel advisors as people started to book their own trips. What if I told you you’re missing out on something?
We consider using a travel advisor as a smart way to travel. These days, travel advisors aren’t the type of travel agents your parents used to use. Instead, luxury travel advisors can do a whole lot more than ever before.
Sound too good to be true? Before we explain the benefits in detail, let’s talk about all the points we cover in this article:
- What a luxury travel advisor does
- When to use a travel advisor
- The luxury travel advisor I recommend
- My experience using a luxury travel advisor to book a staycation in Hong Kong
The 4 key benefits of a travel advisor
- Upgrades
- Added extras
- Emergency assistance
- Convenience
You can approach a travel advisor even if you’re not certain of your destination
A luxury travel advisor isn’t just there to book you a flight, a hotel transfer, and a room. Instead, a luxury travel advisor will help you to get you the best deal on everything you want out of your trip.
You can go to a luxury travel advisor with just a dream of a destination or a well-planned itinerary in need of some flesh. Whatever stage you’re at with planning your trip, a trip advisor will be able to provide valuable input.
What does a luxury travel advisor do?
When you’re looking for a month-long journey across three countries, using a travel advisor will ensure that all your flight connections will be smooth and that what you need will be waiting for you on arrival at each destination.
Want a quick weekend getaway? A luxury travel advisor can book you perfectly timed flights and get you a private guide for the museum you want to visit.
Plus, you get their insider knowledge. Luxury travel advisors should know what’s happening in the places they book for you.
What luxury travel advisors can help you with
A luxury trip advisor will be able to tell you:
- The best restaurant and help to get you a reservation
- The cool new boutique hotel and which side of the hotel to request a room on
- Which is the party beach and which is the chillout spot
- Hidden temples and cute nature spots and the guides that can get you there
- The hottest bars and coolest cafes for you to hang out in
Letting you in on their secrets is all in a day’s work.
Many people worry that a luxury travel advisor will be expensive
Are you thinking this all sounds super expensive?
The cost is the most common concern for anyone thinking of using a travel advisor to book a trip; however, it’s generally not any more expensive than if you book yourself. Think of all the hours trawling through the internet you can save, and suddenly the value of a travel advisor shoots up.
When to use a luxury travel advisor
Honestly, if you need an economy flight to hop over to a nearby country to visit your bestie, a travel advisor may not beat the internet.
Similarly, if you’ve got your Easter break routine down pat and you’re on first-name terms with the owner of the hotel you visit every year, there may not be much a luxury travel advisor can add.
Instead, you can expect to benefit most from using a luxury travel advisor when you want to go somewhere new or you want to book a longer holiday.
A travel advisor can help with flights
First, a travel advisor can get you good flights. We all know how stressful a short connection can be, but your trip advisor can usually organize an agent in the airport to meet you after deplaning and whisk you over to your departure. Even better, they can scour your options to find a reasonable wait time and even a surprise layover experience.
A luxury travel advisor can also advise you on the best hotels
Next, your travel advisor will be able to secure you a gem of a hotel. Looking for an Instagram-worthy boutique hotel? A secluded villa with an infinity pool? A quirky city center stay?
Whatever your needs, your advisor will have the contacts to get what you want at the best price too. Because trip advisors book so many rooms, they tend to get great rates.
A good travel advisor will be able to ensure you have a great holiday
Then, it’s all about the experience.
Your travel advisor will take time to know what you’re interested in and match your holiday to your loves.
Foodies will get great restaurants; nature lovers will get trips to the secret sunset spots. This is where the value of a travel advisor really comes alive because they should already have a wealth of information about your next holiday destination and this will save you hours of research.
How can a travel advisor help you get a better holiday but not actually cost you extra?
To be clear, using a travel agent may not save you money. But booking a trip via a travel advisor should, at the least, save you time and increase the chances of you having a great holiday.
Besides, you might also be able to enjoy some great perks.
A good-quality travel advisor company should be well-regarded by the hotels, restaurants, and tour companies they frequently use. This means they should have strong supplier relationships.
These companies (hotels, restaurants, etc.) will do everything they can to ensure everyone referred by the travel agent has a great time so that the travel advisor continues to refer more and more people.
The four key benefits of using a luxury travel advisor
Everything gets a whole lot easier when you decide to book a trip via a travel advisor, and there’s not usually an extra cost. That’s great news and should have you considering travel advisors right now.
Below are the 4 possible key benefits of booking a trip via a luxury travel advisor.
1. Upgrades
Travel advisors are loyal clients of hotels and airlines, even if you’re not. Thus, luxury travel advisors might be able to swing an upgrade on a flight and also negotiate a room upgrade. Travel advisors build personal relationships with people, which means their clients can get better deals.
2. Added extras
By simply making bookings via a travel advisor, you might be able to secure extras. The type of extras you might benefit from will vary but, you might get:
- complimentary breakfasts throughout your stay
- private hotel transfers
- spa vouchers
- late check-outs
- early check-ins
You won’t be charged extra for these perks, so there’s clearly value to be had by booking a trip via a travel advisor.
3. Emergency assistance
Ever had a flight canceled? It’s an absolute pain, and waiting in line at the airport’s airline desk is a fresh hell you don’t want to go through.
Your travel advisor will have direct contact at the airline and will be able to rebook you with one call, leaving the other passengers for dust. If your trip is affected by a natural disaster, they’re a phone call away to get you moved or get you home early.
4. Convenience
Time is precious. Spending time trying to figure out where to go and what to book can be very time-consuming. Having an expert do the work for you, at no added cost and with extra perks, is a huge advantage.
Knowledge is king when it comes to using a luxury travel advisor
Once you establish a good relationship with a travel advisor, you might be able to build the kind of relationship where the travel advisor might recommend you take a completely different trip to the one you have been imagining.
Luxury travel agents will know the market well, and if they know you, they might be able to recommend a better product than what you were looking for by yourself on the internet.
As COVID-19 taught us, trips are precious and can’t be taken for granted. Therefore, if you have an expert helping to point you in the right direction, it can make all the difference.
Best travel advisor Hong Kong – 360 Private Travel
To be honest, previously, I wasn’t sure that a travel advisor could offer so many benefits and not actually cause the cost of a trip to increase. Still, after talking extensively with Cath Worthington from 360 Private Travel, I had to admit my entire attitude changed.
360 Private Travel is a UK-based luxury travel company with satellite offices in HK, Singapore, and the USA.
360 is the preferred partner for many hotel groups, including Rosewood, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, and Rocco Forte. You can expect to see some great deals for these hotel groups.
360 is also part of the Virtuoso Network, one of the world’s biggest travel advisor networks. They work across the whole world, so whenever you wish to wander in the world, they can design the trip you dream of.
Make use of this network for early check-ins, late check-outs, spa credits, vouchers, free transfers, and plenty more.
My experience using a luxury travel advisor
I tried Cath Worthington out for a staycation here in Hong Kong. Cath was able to match the lowest rate I found on the internet, but here’s where the benefits came in.
The cheapest rate I found on the internet didn’t include breakfast, but Cath was able to get breakfast for two included, a room upgrade, and US$100 F&B credit to use at the hotel during our stay. Amazing!
Contact Cath now via her website or Instagram to obtain a US$100 voucher on your next staycation package at any Virtuoso or 360 Private Travel Partner hotel.
When you consider the perks, how much time you save, and the transfer of knowledge, we believe a travel advisor is definitely the savvy way to book your next trip.
Luxury travel advisor FAQs
What does a luxury travel advisor do?
A luxury travel advisor will have a global network of travel suppliers (from hotels, restaurants to tour groups), ensuring their clients are treated like VIPs. A luxury travel advisor should get their customer added extras such as room upgrades or F&B vouchers.
How do travel agents save you money?
A travel agent can save you money because they themselves are considered VIPs by their supplier relationships (hotels etc.). That means that they might be able to secure you extra perks. In addition, the expertise that a travel agent has may help you save money in terms of which airlines to book or when to book. A travel agent will also help save you time and maximize the fun you have on your trip.
Why hasn’t the internet killed off travel advisors?
It was widely expected that the internet would kill off travel advisors. I mean, who needs a travel advisor when you can type in “Bali villa” and see so many results. The reasons travel advisors are so useful are because they:
– Can find great deals.
– Have serious expertise.
– Can secure you lots of perks.
In addition, the cost of using a travel advisor doesn’t normally increase the cost of your trip, and you can expect to have a more relaxing trip because they will take care of the details.
What is a luxury travel advisor?
A luxury travel advisor is a travel consultant with the connections, knowledge, and expertise to create travel plans that will suit your preferences and budget. Normally, travel advisors are able to secure some additional perks you can enjoy on your trip.
Finally
We hope you found this article on the benefits of luxury travel advisors useful. We love nothing more than high-quality products and services at the best possible prices.
We hope that when you try the services of a travel advisor you have a truly wonderful holiday!
If we have missed out on any tips or tricks about travel advisors, please let us know in the comments below.
