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Vacation planner
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Vacation planner, good idea?
Yes  
 48%  [ 12 ]
No  
 52%  [ 13 ]
Total Votes : 25



amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 4:58 am
I've had this idea, to start planning vacations for people (also book the flights and hotels, if requested).

Lots of people are always asking, what to do there? Where to go/stay? What to eat? Transportation?
I will provide them with all that information and will book them transportation and other things they might need in advance.

That will help people to ease the stress of planning in their own individual trip/ vacation/ mini vacation etc.

For everyone who will say, that people can look all this things up by themselves, not everyone can!
Not everyone knows where to look, some don't have the time or don't want to deal with the stress, some might forget important details.

I will do this for a reasonable price.

Do you think this is a good idea?
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morah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 5:36 am
That's what a travel agent does. Maybe get in with an established travel agency to learn a bit about the industry.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 5:41 am
morah wrote:
That's what a travel agent does. Maybe get in with an established travel agency to learn a bit about the industry.


No, a travel agent only books your flight and hotel.
I was by a travel agent, who wasn't even able to book a bus instead of a flight.
Travel agents also don't help you plan your vacation, or why do we have so many threads about vacation on imamother?
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33055




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 5:56 am
amother wrote:
No, a travel agent only books your flight and hotel.
I was by a travel agent, who wasn't even able to book a bus instead of a flight.
Travel agents also don't help you plan your vacation, or why do we have so many threads about vacation on imamother?


We have so many threads because people are lazy to look things up. We keep having threads about the same destinations. We also have threads because we have specialized needs when we travel and can't get that info from traditional tour guides (books).

A travel agent can certainly book your bus for you as well as you can. They book activities at your destinations. They can either do this with a fee from the company or charging you a surcharge. Depending on your travel agent and your level of business you give the travel agent, they will accommodate you.

Good luck.
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Rutabaga




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 5:57 am
I would not pay for such a service, but that doesn't mean that other people wouldn't.

Before we go on vacation, we order maps and guide books from AAA and take out more guide books from the library. DH and I sit down together and make a list of the things we each would like to do and then we decide together what makes sense and plan accordingly. When we get to our destination we also check out local brochures that hotels have in their lobbies in case anything sounds more interesting than what we already have planned. We like to be somewhat flexible so we can adjust our daily plans based on the weather or if we're enjoying ourselves more than we expected at one place we can stay longer. We wouldn't want to be tied down to an itinerary that someone else made for us.

Also, a lot of the questions about traveling that you see posted here are about shuls and kosher food and hotels near Jewish areas - the type of thing that a regular guide book doesn't cover.
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morah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:01 am
amother wrote:
No, a travel agent only books your flight and hotel.
I was by a travel agent, who wasn't even able to book a bus instead of a flight.
Travel agents also don't help you plan your vacation, or why do we have so many threads about vacation on imamother?


Then that wasn't a very good travel agent. My grandparents were travel agents for many years and my aunt now runs the business. They did not just book flights and hotels. They created custom itineraries and booked things like tours, shows, boat rides etc. They suggested the best local dining. Basically, the travel agencies that survived the Internet are the ones that did these things. There are a lot of them. However, it comes with a cost. People will always ask on a free message board (especially one where they know there are posters living in those places) before paying someone to do the same, doesn't mean there isn't anyone out there who provides the service.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:02 am
Squishy wrote:
We have so many threads because people are lazy to look things up. We keep having threads about the same destinations. We also have threads because we have specialized needs when we travel and can't get that info from traditional tour guides (books).

A travel agent can certainly book your bus for you as well as you can. They book activities at your destinations. They can either do this with a fee from the company or charging you a surcharge. Depending on your travel agent and your level of business you give the travel agent, they will accommodate you.

Good luck.


That's exactly why I was thinking to provide the services, I mentioned in my OP, I'm very good at looking things up, planning, calling, looking for the best price possible, and I know what kind of specialized needs we have.
The difference between me and 'asking on imamother', will be that I will put alot of time into each customer, thoroughly research and provide them with the specific information, etc they requested.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:04 am
I used to be a travel agent. I worked in two different travel agencies over many years. In both agencies we booked peoples vacations. We could advise on where to go, we booked airfare, hotels, car rentals, packages, tours, cruises, you name it.
I haven't been in the industry for over ten years, and I haven't kept up. I do know that the industry has changed a lot. People research online, and book online. (Someone just told me that her air fare was so expensive, when she told me how much she paid I asked if she had called a travel agent, she just looked at me blankly. Very often travel agents can get better prices. It's worth the phone call.)
I would say to speak to a travel agent who does that kind of work and see if it is still worth it. Especially in the frum community, I see so many people go to the same destinations, stay in the hotel their friends recommended, they may not be looking to pay for advice.
On the other hand, I loved being a travel agent and have been seriously considering going back into it. I just don't know if I'm ready to start working full time again.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:08 am
amother wrote:
The difference between me and 'asking on imamother', will be that I will put alot of time into each customer, thoroughly research and provide them with the specific information, etc they requested.

Amother who used to be a travel agent, the question is if people will be willing to pay enough money that it will be worth the time to do the research.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:09 am
Rutabaga wrote:
I would not pay for such a service, but that doesn't mean that other people wouldn't.

Before we go on vacation, we order maps and guide books from AAA and take out more guide books from the library. DH and I sit down together and make a list of the things we each would like to do and then we decide together what makes sense and plan accordingly. When we get to our destination we also check out local brochures that hotels have in their lobbies in case anything sounds more interesting than what we already have planned. We like to be somewhat flexible so we can adjust our daily plans based on the weather or if we're enjoying ourselves more than we expected at one place we can stay longer. We wouldn't want to be tied down to an itinerary that someone else made for us.

Also, a lot of the questions about traveling that you see posted here are about shuls and kosher food and hotels near Jewish areas - the type of thing that a regular guide book doesn't cover.


That's it I will provide people with the information they need and request, I won't tie them down to the plan I made for them, the information about shuls, kosher food etc will of course also be provided by me, that was why I had the idea in the first place, I will also book the flight and hotel if requested and all other services will be included in the price.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:33 am
amother wrote:
I used to be a travel agent. I worked in two different travel agencies over many years. In both agencies we booked peoples vacations. We could advise on where to go, we booked airfare, hotels, car rentals, packages, tours, cruises, you name it.
I haven't been in the industry for over ten years, and I haven't kept up. I do know that the industry has changed a lot. People research online, and book online. (Someone just told me that her air fare was so expensive, when she told me how much she paid I asked if she had called a travel agent, she just looked at me blankly. Very often travel agents can get better prices. It's worth the phone call.)
I would say to speak to a travel agent who does that kind of work and see if it is still worth it. Especially in the frum community, I see so many people go to the same destinations, stay in the hotel their friends recommended, they may not be looking to pay for advice.
On the other hand, I loved being a travel agent and have been seriously considering going back into it. I just don't know if I'm ready to start working full time again.



Op, here.
Most travel agents I know nowadays, book flights and hotels.
Why did I actually have my idea? Well I planned a 2 day vacation from top to toe for me and my friend, later my friend found out that her aquaintance is going to the same place, but a few days earlier, her aquaintaince asked her for the plan I made, all the information and adresses of kosher restaurants, minyanim, sightseeing, transportation to and from the airport.
That's how I got the idea, to provide this service for people.
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saw50st8




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:34 am
I think its a great idea, but I'm not sure people would pay for it.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:39 am
morah wrote:
Then that wasn't a very good travel agent. My grandparents were travel agents for many years and my aunt now runs the business. They did not just book flights and hotels. They created custom itineraries and booked things like tours, shows, boat rides etc. They suggested the best local dining. Basically, the travel agencies that survived the Internet are the ones that did these things. There are a lot of them. However, it comes with a cost. People will always ask on a free message board (especially one where they know there are posters living in those places) before paying someone to do the same, doesn't mean there isn't anyone out there who provides the service.



Wow, your grandparents sounded like great travel agents!
Not everyone in the community I live in, uses the Internet, or is on imamother, so I might give it a try. Smile
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morah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:39 am
I think it's a good idea, and there are people will pay for such a service. But it's nothing earth-shattering or new. It's called a travel agent, there are plenty of them out there. And they tend to have a very loyal customer base, because the more they use you, the better you get to know them and if they're into Lazing on the beach at Martinique or hiking and adventure at Macchu Picchu, and they in turn keep using you. You can market yourself as specifically attuned to frum needs- kosher dining, minyan, mikvah just in case it comes up- but other than that it's nothing new and you would be wise to study the industry.
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chaiz




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 6:42 am
morah wrote:
I think it's a good idea, and there are people will pay for such a service. But it's nothing earth-shattering or new. It's called a travel agent, there are plenty of them out there. And they tend to have a very loyal customer base, because the more they use you, the better you get to know them and if they're into Lazing on the beach at Martinique or hiking and adventure at Macchu Picchu, and they in turn keep using you. You can market yourself as specifically attuned to frum needs- kosher dining, minyan, mikvah just in case it comes up- but other than that it's nothing new and you would be wise to study the industry.


I will say that having used travel agents, no not all of them are really good at doing much beyond the tickets. There is one that I used who is great at getting great prices and tickets, but does not much beyond that. For example, to book a bus in Europe we had to do that on our own.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 12:39 pm
Any other insights?
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 12:48 pm
If you made I website like this for the USA I might use it

http://koshertripadviser.com/
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kb




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 1:13 pm
What's to stop me from calling my friend who used you and just asking her where she and where her husband davened...?
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amother


 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 1:16 pm
kb wrote:
What's to stop me from calling my friend who used you and just asking her where she and where her husband davened...?


And if, let's say you don't know her? Or you want to go somewhere else, or need different services, different season and so on.
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princessleah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 24 2014, 1:19 pm
I think it sounds like a good idea, if you could market yourself to frum people, and provide specifically maybe something like food for vacations there is not a lot available.

Like if you booked a hotel and activities, you could also not only provide info on kosher food, but make them reservations at kosher restaurants, or if there are none, arrange with the hotel-- order the packaged kosher meals from places in New York, etc.
Or make packages of food for people to take with them to places (like boxed lunches, or make a box of staples like bread, cereal, tradition soups, etc.)
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