"Provided" is the Key Word in this Instance

Can you name change an airline ticket on Air Tran? Well, yes and no. I always tell people that they can "transfer the unused funds", but what they hear is that it doesn't cost them anything more, even when I specifically say "you can transfer the funds to whomever you want to travel on those funds, PROVIDED there is space available at the same price and you need to pay a cancellation fee of 50.00 on the original ticket". Just love those positive thinkers. Maybe I need to learn how to word that differently. Something to ponder.

Amtrak Crash Course

Today was my crash course on Amtrak in Northern California. All I can do is chuckle and so glad that I am a determined soul. I was basically surprised at how little is offered by Amtrak out there, especially for the major cities, but I understand there are probably lots of reasons why more track wasn't laid. I wonder if it has anything to do with the earthquake factor? Emeryville and Sacramento seem to be the most northern Amtrak cities in California. And if you don't drive to one of those cities, you pretty much have to take an Amtrak sponsored bus. So anyway, pretty boring day, except I do wonder what they do in Pocatello, ID I had a heck of a time getting flights into there. Could it be a 2 week long rodeo? Do they last that long? Oh my, you just had to be there lol

When I call a hotel direct....

what irks me more than anything is to be transferred to an agent at a central reservations center. I have those numbers as well, so why in the world would I want to pay a long distance phone call if I didn't need someone at the hotel direct?? OK, so maybe they don't know I prefer someone in the hotel. In most cases, the agents in central reservations don't know all of the little secrets and special negotiated rates which hotels sometimes offer to their corporate clients who bring alot of business there way. Sometimes they're able to help and sometimes not. If it weren't so obvious that I got someone someplace other than where I had called, I might not get so defensive. I try to work with them, but most of the time, the call is simply a waste of my time as well as the agent who made the attempt to help me.

Sometimes, it's fine if they have all of the same negotiated rates that the actual hotel does, but if you're not persistent and just settle for whatever they tell you, it can turn into a real pain. What really amazes me even more is when the "negotiated rate" is so much higher than the rate that I secured through my airline system.

So, no luck on that call......

So, now I need to call the hotel back again (thank goodness for Verizon unlimited calling) as I pay for my phone bill personally and it is NOT tax deductible. OK, so I tangent :-)

I ended up having to leave a voice message for someone else in the groups and catering??? Not reservations either. I guess I should be glad my phone call wasn't shipped to their inhouse agent setting in one of the 3rd world countries which I've come to despise. That has been my biggest frustration as of late. So, after all of that frustration, I'm back where I started. Same rate that I had before.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Please Review your itinerary

The best thing you can do for both yourself and your travel agent is to review the itinerary which they email to you, especially if you've put the itinerary together solely via email. It is so easy to make simple little mistakes and the errors can be corrected at a very low cost if caught within 24 hours. I don't very many mistakes, but we are all human and mistakes do happen. That's simply human nature.

So next time you buy a nonrefundable ticket, please check your itinerary for correct dates, months, airports and times. So many times I have "verbalized" Saturday, February 13th, over the phone, during my recap and they happened to hear Saturday and say, "NO, let me look at my calendar again." It can save a whole lot of unnecessary heartache and extra money in the end for everyone involved. Many travel agents are now personally, financially responsible for errors which are made, which might be their own mistake, so help to protect your friendly travel agent by double checking their work. I personally would rather have that mistake caught now vs. day of travel and no longer any advance purchase to qualify for that same low airfare. The airlines have no mercy and truly don't care if a mistake was made, they'd rather say "oh well" and make excuses as to why they are "losing so much money" so they aren't usually willing to work with the travel agent in regard to errors, regardless who made the mistake. They don't care WHO has to pay the price, but in the end, if you're a business traveller, you do have to travel when you're supposed to and unfortunately, if the travel agent has to "pick up the tab", it creates a hardship. Again, the airlines don't care and in my business it's very frustrating.

Keep in mind that there are MANY cities with the same name and also have an airport. It is sooooo easy to make a little mistake which could cost thousands of dollars. Rochester, MN to Rochester, NY; Charleston, SC to Charleston, WV; Lafayette, LA to LaFayette, IN; Springfield, MO to Springfield, IL; Fayetteville, NC to Fayetteville, AR; Greenville, MS to Greenville, NC to Greenville, SC

Is it Really Free?

All that stuff they add to tour packages or is it just fluff? Is it simply a way to get tourists in the door to spend lots of extra money. When I book tours for clients and the tour company includes all of these "extra" items, I personally don't even bother to "highlight" these things because I myself personally, think it's just a way to get someone in the door to spend more money. And to be honest, I truly believe that when you travel on these tour packages, that for the freebies which are offered, I honestly believe that when you walk in the door, for instance to Planet Hollywood, that they probably give that promotional discount to anyone. It's not like you had to purchase a United Vacations package and they're giving you a huge thank you. They simply jack the prices up and then give you a discount. All a part of the big lie. IMO Give me a break!!

OH and I would also like to add, that in the description of these "freebies", especially I've noticed this on Las Vegas packages it says "OFFER MAY NOT BE VALID DURING SPECIAL EVENTS" OK, so when isn't a special event going on in Vegas. *I roll my eyes* It's all fluff I tell ya.

Interactive hotel Maps on Yahoo are great

Thank you to Dave for showing me this cool tool. Mapquest
used to have a decent tool, but this one is even better.

Click here Then fill in the town name and zip code of where you're going, then click travel and transportation and click hotels. This is such a cool tool. Check it out.