Virtuoso Active and Specialty Travel 2013

HOT NEW VIRTUOSO NEWS

AUGUST, 2013

 

 

(The conference I am at RIGHT now!)

VAST was an exciting event!  38 Virtuoso's Active Specialty Travel vendors made their presentations highlighting their most interesting travel options.


Nomadic Expeditions in Mongolia

 

 

These are a few of my favorites:



Yellowstone National Park

MOST EXOTIC: Nomadic Expeditions – travel in Mongolia on horseback seeing places you have never heard of and enjoying the Mongolian culture of open hospitality.

BEST FOR U.S. EXPERIENCE: - Tauck's Culturious American Safari at Yellowstone and The Tetons.   It's close, adults only and all the tours are included ... no surprises.

BEST AMAZON RIVER EXPERIENCE– It's a tie! EVERYONE knows about Aqua Expedition but Lindblad is launching their Delphin II as a viable option.

BEST FAMILY EXPERIENCE: Backroads has the others beat.  Small groups having wonderful experiences biking and hiking to various places all over the world.   Why do I like them?   They never subcontract out their tours and they have new titanium motorized bikes!

BEST SPORTS TRAVEL: Prime Sport is a Virtuoso member that delivers access to sporting events around the world.   For Virtuoso agents ONLY, they also can access hard to get tickets for sporting events even though you don't purchase the travel package.  Ask me for details.



Triple Creek Lodge in Montana

 

 

BEST LODGE EXPERINCE: The all inclusive Triple Creek Lodge in Montana wins this award because it's just so much fun!   The lodge only hosts a max of 60 guests and those guests get to experience everything a lodge can offer – Western Style.   It's an adult only Relais and Chateaux Property.

BEST CLOUD EXPERIENCE LODGE: Inkaterra Machu Picchu Lodge in Peru.   I've actually stayed here before and promise that it delivers.   I love how experiential it is including docent led walks to learn about all that is best in the Machu Picchu region.

 

The World is Our Playground!

Mari

Mari's Personal Commentary

Mari's Personal Commentary

This is a commentary blog …

I just received a check for $1,975 from Travelex for our missed flight in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.   If you remember, our flight was canceled after the airplane was a no show in Sihanoukville.   The airport in Shanoukville has one gate and is in service 3-4 times per week.  The airport was closing and we needed to drive 3 ½ hours to Phnom Pehn to catch a new flight that connected to the flight that would take us back to Los Angeles.  The $1,975 check was a reimbursement for 2 economy tickets to Shanghai to catch my connection plus the $80 that I spent in roaming charges trying to get us out of this predicament.

I’m frequently asked, “Why should I purchase travel insurance?”  The next thing I hear is, “I’m healthy and really don't need it”.  I get it!  Travel insurance is not inexpensive.  It can cost between 5-10% of your total trip cost.  I used to feel the same as you.   I felt that I was in control of my plans and knew what my family's health situation was.  What I found is that travel insurance protects you against things that you don't ever anticipate.  You don’t know if your sister needs to be hospitalized.  You don't know that your boss has just taken on a new project and insists that you help him or her thus forcing you to delay or cancel your trip.  You don’t know if your luggage will be lost and I didn't know that my flight would be canceled without notice.  Nothing could take the sting out of the experience that I had but knowing that I had the back up of travel insurance helped me not worry about the expense of the plane tickets.

Now, a comment about direct marketing:

We had stayed at many Four Seasons hotels before I became a travel consultant.  They have our preferences and our email address so we receive direct marketing from them periodically.  Today, my husband received a direct marketing piece advertising complementary amenities such as free nights, free resort credits and more if he reserved his next stay directly through Four Season’s website.

Protravel and I offer my clients preferential hotel status for possible upgrades and access to Four Seasons, elite Preferred Partner Program.  As part of the program, amenities INCLUDE daily breakfast for two, a resort credit and more are automatically included as an added value to your reservation at no cost to you!

Here’s a story from one of my clients:

One of my new clients and her in-laws had a wedding in New York last winter.  They wanted to return to the Four Seasons Hotel New York.   There were three families requiring 4 rooms.  One family reserved their room on the internet as a room only and the other two families reserved their stay through me.  The first family received their room but no amenities.  All three families were on the same floor of the Four Seasons Hotel New York. My clients received a daily full American breakfast for two (you know how expensive breakfasts are in NYC), an immediate upgrade at the time of booking so they paid less for their room than their relative and a $100 per room spa credit. They saved over $1,300 by reserving their stay through me!

So, please call me when you are considering a hotel stay anywhere around the world whether it is at a Four Seasons or another hotel group.  Protravel is part of every luxury hotel chain's elite program.  I want YOU to experience being an elite guest in all of your travels and keep in mind, this is at no additional expense to you.

The World is Our Playground!

Mari