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!.