Reversed
Vacation Package Questions, Answered
Every agency site prints the questions it hopes you will ask. This one prints the questions it will ask you, why each is asked, and what a wrong answer costs. The usual questions are answered underneath.
The eight we ask
| The question | Why it is asked | What a wrong answer costs |
|---|---|---|
| How firm are these dates? | It decides the tier before it decides anything else. A movable week can take a guaranteed departure; a fixed week often cannot | The wrong tier, and a shortfall you had no room to absorb |
| Is there a figure you would rather not pass? | So the shortlist is real. A quote that ignores it wastes a week of both our time | Three proposals you were never going to take |
| Read this twice. Have you already bought a flight? | Because it changes the advice completely. With a ticket in hand a conditional departure is a different risk | The single most expensive mistake available here |
| Who is travelling, and the ages of anybody under eighteen? | Room configuration, and sometimes the fare | A room that does not fit your party, discovered on arrival |
| Would you rather it be certain or be cheaper? | They are frequently opposite on this catalog, and pretending otherwise is how agencies get chosen and then resented | A trip that costs less and does not happen |
| Have you travelled with a group before? | A capped group of twelve and an open group of forty are different holidays | Nine days with a format that does not suit you |
| How much walking, honestly? | Grades here are measurements, not encouragement | A week you endure |
| Is there anything you would rather not do? | Because a good itinerary is shaped as much by that as by the highlights | An itinerary built from a brochure |
The questions you ask
"Will this trip actually run?"
On two of the four tiers, not certainly. That is the whole reason this site is sorted the way it is: the tier is printed beside every figure, the minimum and the decision date go in writing at deposit, and a thin record is stated as a thin record.
"What happens if it does not?"
The operator refunds everything paid to it, in full, and offers a nearby date. It does not refund your airfare, which is why this office says to wait before buying one.
"Are you the least expensive?"
Neither is claimed. A match would be a pledge about a market nobody at this desk controls, and the claim would be unprovable.
"Are you more expensive than booking direct?"
No. This office adds nothing to what the operators charge, and is paid out of their margin after you travel. Our figures can look higher than a competitor's because the flight is quoted beside the trip rather than folded inside it.
"Are you licensed?"
No, and no license number appears anywhere here. Georgia licenses no travel agency and no bond was bought. Four states, California, Florida, Hawaii and Washington State, register businesses that sell travel and hold client money; this name is on none of them.
"Who takes my money?"
Whichever operator is running the trip, on their own timetable, under their own name on your statement. Not a cent is collected through this site, and no page holds a card field.
"Do you have reviews?"
None at all, and the counter reads nought. Making them up, purchasing them, or showing stars nobody handed out is the most routine deceit in this business.
"Can you sort out my visa?"
No. Visas, passports and entry permissions are neither sold nor advised on here, for anyone, in any amount of detail. Whoever issues them decides them.