Price of a family vacation………$2,500 make that $3,000
Price of fuel surcharge……outrageous.
Swimming lessons for the kids…….$500
Buying a flattering bathing suit……..Impossible.
Joining Weight watchers before your trip……$200
Watching your children play in the ocean………PRICELESS.
I know prices are high this year. I also know that the economy is lousy. I also understand your hesitation regarding traveling this summer. I get it, but I’m not 4 years old. Do you think little Mikey understands that gas is $4.00 a gallon this year instead of $2.00?
Starting kindergarten is traumatic enough without having poor Emmy arrive at show-and-tell without any sea-shells or pictures from her family vacation!
My favorite childhood memories are my summer vacations (before my parents started shipping me off to sleep-away camp) with the entire family. I don’t think we were rich when I was little, but I sure felt loved, pampered and spoiled when we took these trips.
Vacation Travel Mart can find you a family vacation, tailored to your specific needs and desires….unless of course you are clients like these:
“I want to go on a family vacation where there is a kid’s camp from 8am until midnight”.
I thought it was possible until I asked how old the children were. “18 months, 3, and 5”.
Most resorts we work with in the Caribbean only allow children to participate if they are 4 years old or “potty trained”. There are exceptions, but that is the general rule. The resorts can however, provide baby sitting at an additional fee.
“Please book me any resort where the children are free. My kids are 8 and 10, so I would prefer adjoining rooms but as long as they are close by, it should be alright”. First, children are ONLY FREE if they are sharing a room with adults. Second, are you kidding me?
“Can you please request a King bed? I know we are traveling with our 6 year old and 10 year old, but they get scared when they are in a strange place”.
I didn’t want to put them in a “strange place”, just the other bed 2 feet away.
“I don’t want to have to pay for 2 rooms. I know there are 5 of us, but isn’t there a way you can get the cost down?”
In tongue and cheek I told her that the only way to cut costs was leaving one of the kids at home, and without missing a beat she asked me, very seriously, “well, which one?” Are you kidding me? She wasn’t kidding.
There are so many family friendly resorts, and depending on your budget, we will find one that fits your needs. Things to look for:
*Children’s pool and activity center (most resorts).
*Calm ocean (Negril, Punta Cana, Turks and Caicos, Aruba, parts of Mayan Riviera)
*Free or reduced price for children under 12 (some Riu resorts, some Iberostar, all Oasis resorts, Holiday Inn Sunspree, Beaches, Princess resorts)
*All-inclusive or kitchen facilities
*Easy connections or nonstop flights, ideally not more than 5 hours away.
*Water park and/or structured activities catering to children by specific ages (Dreams, Beaches, Iberostar, Barcelo, Occidental.
Next week I will recommend great resorts for families with teenagers. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me anytime at beth@vacmart.com and I will be happy to give you my recommendation. You just have to remember, it is free advice, so you get no money back, if you don’t agree with my answers.
Listen, if there is no way for you to take a family vacation this year, start saving for next year, but spend some quality time with your family. One of my clients told me today that even though this year’s trip cost more than she wanted to spend, she would find a way to go as long “as my children still want to go”.
I am 45, and my parents have been taking us away every year since I was a little girl. It is what my Dad calls a “command performance”. Little does he know, it is my favorite week of the year, and I wouldn’t trade these vacations for anything in the world!!!!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Vacations without the special sauce
I woke up Sunday morning to the Today show telling me and the rest of America that there is “more bad news for the travel industry” and that summer travel is looking “bleak”. What a way to start my day. How about some good news? In my next life, I am going to start a morning news program with just good news. There will be no traffic reports, no murders, definitely no stories about animal cruelty or dead children. I won’t even show a snow storm or a tornado. Nobody is going to mention the price of gas, or the fact that people are losing their homes. Don’t get me wrong: I like to watch a “train wreck” like Brittany Spears too, but there should be a law against bad news on a weekend morning. I am watching the Spanish networks. I have just had enough!
Then I come to work and everyone wants a “deal”. I don’t blame you. I want you to get a deal, just not the deal that includes the “special sauce”. You are all familiar with the special sauce if you’ve ever returned your food or been nasty to a waiter or waitress. I am certain that my mother-in-law has never eaten out without getting the “special sauce”.
We all like a bargain, and with the economy like it is today, we deserve a good deal. There is nothing wrong with buying generic or eating the complimentary food at Cosco. However, there is a difference between a good deal and the “special sauce deal”.
My husband loves to shop on ebay and buy “genuine designer clothes and shoes for 75% less than department store prices. However, if you look real close, one leg is a little bit shorter, the polo emblems are not exactly in the right place, and the stain from the genuine leather shoes sometimes seeps through his stocks and discolors his feet. That is my husband. God Bless Him. He would also buy the travel deal that offers $599 per COUPLE for a week vacation, and have to sit through a 4 hour time-share presentation. He would go to Alaska in the winter and Europe in August to save some money.
We don’t have those deals here. Our vacations do not come with the “special sauce”. If you want those vacations, there are plenty of places to buy them.
Vacation Travel Mart is more like a Marshall’s or TJ Max. We offer the real deal, with real discounts.
The airfares are super high right now, and I do not see them going down because the prices of fuel keeps rising and the airlines are decreasing their flights to lower costs. So, the bad news is, this years trip is probably going to cost you more than it did last year.
The good news is: despite the fact that are prices are higher than last year, they are still lower than our legitimate competitors. Recently one of my old clients called and asked if I could match a price they found from an agency he found online. I could not figure out how they got the price until I looked at the air itinerary. To save $70 per person he was willing to fly from New York to Cancun via Los Angeles California. Not only was he flying 5 hours out of his way, but he was missing his whole day at the all-inclusive he was paying for.
Aside from “deals” people want to know if the picture above my blog is me. It is not me, it is a creation from our web designer. I don’t know why it is placed so close to my blog, but who cares. I feel like most of you who read my blog already know me. I truly feel like I am friends with so many of you. For those who don’t know me, I am 40 something years old, originally from Chicago and live and love my home in Hollywood, Florida. I went TO FSU where I majored in English, but never had the patience to teach. I got married 5 years ago to a man I met on Jdate (see you can get some good deals online), and am still waiting to adopt a baby in China and or Russia sometime this Summer. I love my job even when I cannot give you the “good news” you expect and deserve. I will continue to work hard to find you the best deal possible, but I will not lie to you. If you ask me if the hotel is nice and I don’t think so, I will tell you, but remember it is just my opinion. And I will promise you will NEVER get the special sauce!.
Then I come to work and everyone wants a “deal”. I don’t blame you. I want you to get a deal, just not the deal that includes the “special sauce”. You are all familiar with the special sauce if you’ve ever returned your food or been nasty to a waiter or waitress. I am certain that my mother-in-law has never eaten out without getting the “special sauce”.
We all like a bargain, and with the economy like it is today, we deserve a good deal. There is nothing wrong with buying generic or eating the complimentary food at Cosco. However, there is a difference between a good deal and the “special sauce deal”.
My husband loves to shop on ebay and buy “genuine designer clothes and shoes for 75% less than department store prices. However, if you look real close, one leg is a little bit shorter, the polo emblems are not exactly in the right place, and the stain from the genuine leather shoes sometimes seeps through his stocks and discolors his feet. That is my husband. God Bless Him. He would also buy the travel deal that offers $599 per COUPLE for a week vacation, and have to sit through a 4 hour time-share presentation. He would go to Alaska in the winter and Europe in August to save some money.
We don’t have those deals here. Our vacations do not come with the “special sauce”. If you want those vacations, there are plenty of places to buy them.
Vacation Travel Mart is more like a Marshall’s or TJ Max. We offer the real deal, with real discounts.
The airfares are super high right now, and I do not see them going down because the prices of fuel keeps rising and the airlines are decreasing their flights to lower costs. So, the bad news is, this years trip is probably going to cost you more than it did last year.
The good news is: despite the fact that are prices are higher than last year, they are still lower than our legitimate competitors. Recently one of my old clients called and asked if I could match a price they found from an agency he found online. I could not figure out how they got the price until I looked at the air itinerary. To save $70 per person he was willing to fly from New York to Cancun via Los Angeles California. Not only was he flying 5 hours out of his way, but he was missing his whole day at the all-inclusive he was paying for.
Aside from “deals” people want to know if the picture above my blog is me. It is not me, it is a creation from our web designer. I don’t know why it is placed so close to my blog, but who cares. I feel like most of you who read my blog already know me. I truly feel like I am friends with so many of you. For those who don’t know me, I am 40 something years old, originally from Chicago and live and love my home in Hollywood, Florida. I went TO FSU where I majored in English, but never had the patience to teach. I got married 5 years ago to a man I met on Jdate (see you can get some good deals online), and am still waiting to adopt a baby in China and or Russia sometime this Summer. I love my job even when I cannot give you the “good news” you expect and deserve. I will continue to work hard to find you the best deal possible, but I will not lie to you. If you ask me if the hotel is nice and I don’t think so, I will tell you, but remember it is just my opinion. And I will promise you will NEVER get the special sauce!.
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