What the figure does not depend on
Vacation Package Prices: What a From Figure Is Made Of
Every figure here is from a number, per person, two sharing, land only. This page says what it contains, what it can never contain, and which parts of it change without anybody deciding anything.
The four parts
- from
- the least this desk has lately arranged that trip for, inside the season its own page names. An opening, not your quote
- the number
- what the operators want for whatever that trip's page enumerates. Not a cent of it originates here
- per person
- reckoned per head; not per pair, not per room
- two sharing, land only
- a room carries a room's price, so one occupant pays more per head, and the flight is quoted beside the trip rather than folded into it
Why the flight is quoted separately, and it is not a technicality
On a conditional departure, a flight bought before the decision date is money the operator will not refund if the minimum falls short. Folding it into a package figure hides that, makes the package look tidier, and puts the whole risk on you without naming it.
Quoting it beside the trip keeps the decision yours and keeps the number honest. It also makes this office's figures look slightly higher than a competitor's all-in price for the same trip, which is a cost we accept.
The occupancy the figure assumes
Every price here is based on two sharing, per person. A room carries a room's price, so one occupant sees a higher figure per head.
What is inside a figure
| Line | Who charges it | Does it move |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | the hotel or the operator | With the season and with how full the property is when we ask |
| Ground transport | the operator | Barely |
| Guiding, where the trip has it | the operator | Not once quoted |
| Entries the itinerary names | the operator, bought ahead | Not once bought, though a closed site is nobody's fault |
| Government, port and park fees | governments and ports | Never. Nobody discounts a government |
| This agency's fee | there is none |
Never inside it
- The flight
- the airline. Quoted beside every trip, for the reason above
- Travel insurance
- the insurer. Recommended on every conditional departure more strongly than on any other trip here
- Passports and entry permissions
- the issuing authority. This office neither sells nor advises on them
- Any meal the trip page leaves out
- whichever restaurant you choose
- Gratuities, where they are expected
- the guide directly, or the ship's account. The usual amount is named in your proposal rather than discovered
- Anything spent once you are there
- your own statement
Who takes your payment
The operator, on its own schedule, with its name on your statement. Never this desk. Nor does this agency lay any charge of its own on top of theirs. Not one page holds a card field, there is nothing here to sign up for, and no balance is carried.
That is also why no registration number appears on this site. California, Florida, Hawaii and Washington State register businesses that sell travel and hold client money; this name appears on none of the four and no client money rests here, so no such number was ever issued to us.
The two dates
- Deposit date
- set by the operator. On a conditional departure your deposit is refundable in full if the minimum falls short
- Balance date
- set by the operator, and usually just after the decision date, which is not a coincidence: they ask for the balance once they know it is running. Missing it is read as your cancellation
If you find it for less
Send the page. You will be told whether it is the same thing, and on this catalog that usually means checking which tier the other quote is in. A conditional departure at a lower figure and a committed one at a higher figure are not the same product, and most comparison sites do not show the difference at all.