New Year - New Changes
As the business grows, and I learn more about the value of my time and research for you, I have decided upon several changes to my business model as a travel agent. All trips planned before January 1 will not reflect these changes, but these necessary changes will give me more opportunities to maximize your vacation and experiences.
Starting January 1, here are the changes coming to Experience Culture Travel:
1. Prior to any research being done, a $50 deposit must be made which will be fully refundable after you return from your travels.
This ensures that, should you change your mind or need to scrap your travel plans after I have put in time and research to planning them, I am still compensated for the time I have spent. It also helps me to ensure my energy is spent on the customers who truly want to travel, and aren’t just price shopping or trying to get free expertise.
2. All FIT (fully independent travel) trips will incur a service fee of $25/city.
A FIT is considered a trip which does not fall under the traditional guided tour model — where the traveler is following a unique itinerary that they helped devise. The planning and research required for these types of trips are much more intense and extensive than other types of tours. This $25 per city service fee helps provide you with in depth research and expertise to create the perfect experience for you in each location you visit.
3. Experience Culture Travel will no longer offer domestic stand-alone flights as one of the services offered.
As domestic flights are not commissionable, and are usually just as inexpensive for the traveler to book on their own, we will no longer be offering that service.
4. Experience Culture Travel will no longer sell cruise vacations.
We want to provide our customers with expertise and passion for every planned trip, and cruise vacations are one area we can’t fulfill at this time, but we can offer several alternative trip suggestions. Check out this page for some great alternatives.
Making these changes will open up the doors of opportunity for you to experience truly unique experiences that would be difficult to create on your own. You will have opportunities to participate in unique tours, sights, and locales that the average tourist would not see.
Consider referring Experience Culture Travel to your friends and family for their next trip! And why not take a few moments to comment and tell me where you hope to visit this year! I’d love to hear from you.