How we work
No mystery, no surprises.
A lot of people have never used a travel advisor and assume it's either expensive, slow, or both. Here's the whole process, including what it costs, so you can decide before you talk to anyone.
Tell us about the trip
Planning your next adventure has never been easier. Tell us about your perfect trip using our itinerary tool and you'll get a personalized itinerary tailored to your unique style and preferences. Then share it with us, so we have a sense of what you're looking for.
You get a proposal
Within about a week: a day-by-day plan with specific hotels, specific rooms, and real prices. Not options A, B, and C — our actual recommendation, with the reasoning. You'll want to change things, and that's the point. Two rounds of revisions are included; nobody has ever needed a third.
We book everything
Flights, hotels, transfers, guides, the restaurant that takes reservations 30 days out at 10am local time. You get one document with everything in it, and we handle the deposits, the confirmations, and the follow-ups. About two weeks before you go, we send a final packet and a phone number.
We're there while you're away
Same number, any hour, the whole time you're gone. Delayed flight, closed restaurant, sick kid, a hotel that's decided your reservation doesn't exist. You text us and someone who already knows your itinerary starts working on it. When you're home we'll ask what worked, because that's how the next one gets better.
What it costs.
Our planning fee is $400 per trip. It covers the research, the proposal, the revisions, and us being on call while you travel. It's credited against your first booking, so on most trips it effectively costs nothing.
We're paid a commission by hotels, and it doesn't change your rate — you pay the same as booking direct, usually with a few hundred dollars of upgrades and credits on top. We'll tell you when booking direct or through points is genuinely the better move, because that's a faster way to earn the next trip than talking you out of it.
Questions
What people ask before they call.
Do I have to use the itinerary builder?
No. It's the fastest way to start and most people enjoy it, but an email works just as well. Some of our clients build three versions before they get in touch and some never open it.
How far in advance should I book?
Six to nine months for peak-season Europe or Japan, and closer to twelve for Patagonia in high summer or anywhere over the winter holidays. That said, we plan good trips on six weeks' notice more often than you'd think — ask us anyway.
Is this only for expensive trips?
Most of our trips land between $10,000 and $40,000 for two people including flights.
Do you book flights?
Yes, including award tickets and business-class fares that don't show up on the usual sites. If you're set on booking your own with points, that's fine — just tell us early so we can build around it.
What if something goes wrong while I'm traveling?
You text the number in your final packet. Someone who knows your itinerary answers, at any hour, for the entire trip. We don't route you through a call center.
Can you work with a group or a family reunion?
Yes. Multigenerational trips are a big part of what we do, and they're the ones where an advisor earns their fee twice over. Groups above about 12 people are quoted separately.