The Big Bad Wolf of Travel

Do you remember the story of Little Red Riding Hood?  

When RRH got to Grandmother’s cottage and looked at “grandmother” in bed, she really thought it WAS Grandmother. Yes, there was the deal with the teeth, ears and nose. But wasn’t it Grandmother’s cottage, Grandmother’s bed and, in my book, Grandmother’s night cap? So, it must be Grandmother!!

Just like in the travel industry, there are many wearing “travel agent” signs around their necks. They may have business cards and pretty displays or flyers, but they are as phony as the pretend Grandmother in the bed.

I was thinking of her the other day as I talked to one of my travel suppliers. He had come across a phony web site for travel. Looked like a good site, had the right color and pictures, but when he dug deeper, the “specials” were not valid. Since this vendor also offered the same hotels, he called the hotel and asked for the same price. The manager told my supplier that price did not exist for anyone. Upon further investigation, nothing on the site was legitimate. The personal who made the site was probably on a beach someplace laughing his head off at all the credit cards he was gathering for non existant trips.

Then there are the people selling “memberships” and posing as travel agents. Their spiel sounds like a great vacation. But when you add on the cost of the membership and “oh by the way” that price isn’t there anymore, but we do have XXXXX”, well what kind of a deal was that?

But the most awful of all, is that the person selling that membership is probably a dental hygeniest or some other profession. I asked one of those one day that I came across what happens if the client gets to the hotel in Hawaii and the pool is under renovation and their room looks out over the garbage cans? Her reply was “makes no difference to me. They bought it on my web site just like Orbitz or some other company.” I said to her then you take no responsibility for making sure that client has the best trip possible. She said “No, doesn’t matter to me.”

It was at this point I came unglued. I think of the scores of times I wake in the middle of the night thinking about something I needed to do for a client. Or the hours I spend on the phone making sure all the dots are connected. I often say I am like a juggler with a bunch of balls in the air. If one ball falls, the rest all come tumbling down.

I am working with client’s emotions and hard earned money trying to get them the best value for their travel dollar. I take my responsibility very seriously.

Being in business FULL time since 1996, having the highest certification given in the travel industry of CTC, Certified Travel Counselor (I couldn’t begin that process till I had worked full time in an agency for 5 years and it took me 3 years to complete that certification), and ECC from Cruise Line International Association (which took me 17 years to achieve and included travel all over the US to take classes as well as a time at the University of Miami).

Don’t take a chance of becoming one of the victims of the above scams. Talk to the real Granny on the Go who is helping you see the world before you leave it.

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