Our Vacation Planners: Your Travel Experts
Travel agents are a highly unregulated lot. There are many people, with varying levels of experience and knowledge, booking travel and calling themselves travel agents. Some are home-based "agents" linked to administrative centers, where the level of customer service and attention to detail can vary. Others are less than professionally invested in the business, and booking travel "on the fly."
Some large solely Internet-based players hire young staff with a complete lack of experience in the business, provide minimal training, and put them in call centers to handle your travel booking. (We know because we've interviewed some in the past.) Do you know if you are talking to a professional travel agent?
TravelStore has been in business since 1975, and recognized by suppliers, peers, and travel publications as one of the top 40 travel agencies in the country. Our vacation planners, sharing their knowledge and resources, work together as a team to provide you with the best value. We classify our travel experts based on their experience as: Master Travel Planners, Travel Planners, or Associate Travel Planners.
Master Travel Planners are TravelStore agents with a minimum of ten years as travel consultants, with substantial travel experience and specialized knowledge. They may be Certified Travel Counselors (CTC's) and/or Master Cruise Counselors (MCC's). They've all earned their designation by virtue of extensive experience and proven success. Master Travel Planners usually work on a service fee basis with discerning travelers, where their expertise and personal contacts are invaluable.
Travel Planners are TravelStore agents with five or more years as travel consultants, with considerable travel experience and some specialized knowledge. Travel Planners often are certified as Accredited Travel Counselors (ATC's) or Accredited Cruise Counselors (ACC's), and/or have a Destination Specialist designation. Travel Planners work with all types of travelers on cruises, tours and packages, and can arrange customized arrangements to popular destinations.
Associate Travel Planners are TravelStore agents generally with fewer than five years as travel consultants, and have limited personal travel experience and specialized knowledge. Associate Travel Planners are very competent at arranging cruises, tours and packages, and work in conjunction with a manager or mentor's oversight as needed, particularly if customized arrangements are involved.
Why is expertise important?
In an age where the Internet provides all of us incredible resources, it is still a challenge to ensure your vacation is properly planned and meets your needs. Too much information on the Web is self-serving and biased, too price driven, and one person's opinion may or may not reflect a general standard. There is already much controversy about how much a consumer can trust what they read on the Web.
Since the growth of travel online, the media has spoken much about the demise of travel agents, yet our travel planners are busier than ever. Why? Because our customers place enormous value on our expertise and discerning travelers want to rely on experts to assist them with their travel planning, and ensure they get the best value for their money. (It's not, after all, about spending less on a vacation, but about spending it wisely for an experience one wants.) We'll make sure your vacation is fantastic -- not because it's the cheapest one, but because it best meets your needs and desires. In this respect, you receive the best value.
Your satisfaction is of the utmost importance. We work hard to earn your trust and loyalty. We often say: "We're not better because we're bigger, we're bigger because we're better." We hope you'll also find that to be the case, and our vacation planners look forward to handling your travel arrangements.
