2020 has been a year like no other year.  Covid 19 has turned the entire world upside down and has completely devastated the tourism industry.  What was to be the busiest year ever in the offices of My Vacation Lady, has turned to a year of travel cancellations, postponements and disappointments.  Throughout this year, we have heard of more and more travelers turning to travel advisors

Why will travelers turning to travel advisers more and more going forward?

  1.  It’s a crazy and scary world out there.  With borders remaining closed to Americans and entry protocols changing on a moment to moment basis, experienced travel advisers are able to give you tips, advice and more that you won’t get from an OTA
  2. Customer Service is always top priority with the team at My Vacation Lady.  Our clients have access to us or our trusted travel suppliers 24/7.  We have personal cell phone #’s for some of our suppliers so that if a problem does come up, we can get it resolved.   While the OTA’s have call centers, they offer little support.  We can help with tips on restaurants, packing and so much more that will add extra value that you certainly won’t get from the big guys.
  3. Travel advisers have access to specials and extra values that you won’t get on line.  My Vacation Lady is part of an exclusive network that may offer hotel upgrades, extra amenities like breakfast, spa credits or other values that you won’t get booking through an OTA.
  4. Knowledge, experience and expertise!  We spend lots of time getting to know our clients so that we can customize a vacation or honeymoon package that meets their dreams and budget.  During our consultation we will ask questions that you never thought about so that we can plan the right trip for our clients.
  5. More millennials are coming back to travel advisers!  About 1/2 of our clients are in their 20’s and 30’s and many are so busy with work, school, wedding planning and family obligations that they just don’t have the time to sort through all of the zillions of options and packages available.  For honeymooners, they want this trip to be extra special and they only have 1 chance at their first honeymoon.  The same way, they will pay to get their nails done instead of doing it themselves, buy specialty coffees on their way to work instead of making it at home, they are turning to experienced vacation and honeymoon specialists to help them make the important decisions planning their dream honeymoon or vacation.

Our most recent travel success story that an OTA won’t do for you:

Noreen and David were planning to take their entire family to Maui for a week in May of 2020.  We booked a 3 bedroom villa for them at a luxury resort in Maui.  In March, we moved their vacation to October 2020 and just days ago, we moved it to May 2021.   When the villa pricing came in much, much higher than the 2020 rates, I emailed my contact at the resort and were able to lock in the Oct 2020 rates for their May 2021 vacation.  This was a huge savings.  After waiving airline change fees and making the changes for a 3rd time, Noreen and David’s vacation pricing was virtually the same as the original quote.

This is fantastic!  We are so blessed to have you taking care of all of this for us, Mindy!  We thank you so much!

If you are just buying an airline ticket to Miami, by all means use an OTA.  If you want a seamless and stress free vacation or honeymoon, turn to a professional.  My Vacation Lady has over 20 years of experience turning vacation and honeymoon dreams into reality.