Yes & No! Let us explain. While travel agents and travel advisors are paid a commission from hotels, the commission that they may receive is based on published prices and fares. This means the price that you pay for your vacation is the same whether you book it yourself online or you use the services of a travel agent or travel advisor.

Travel agents and travel advisors have partnerships in the travel industry all around the world that allow them to open many doors for you to offer you different experiences, reservations, activities, upgrades, and amenities that you might not even know exists. This will allow you to stretch your vacation dollars more than you could by planning your vacation on your own.

With any expert professional service, your travel agent or travel advisor may charge a nominal professional service fee for the services that they perform so that they get paid for all of their planning time and expertise that they offer to you. If you consider all the time that you will save on planning, the extra attention to detail, the level of service you will be given and the peace of mind of knowing that you have someone who will have your back should the unforeseen occur, then you and many regular travelers will find that a nominal professional fee is money that will be well spent.

Also, keep in mind that travel agents and travel advisors may receive commissions on some things, but they may not receive commissions on a la carte services, such as booking airline tickets, tee-times, hard-to-get restaurant reservations, boutique or smaller independent hotels, or if you cancel your vacation or cruise. A nominal professional service fee guarantees your travel agent or travel advisor that they will still get paid for all the time and effort that they put into planning your amazing vacation.

*Craving Amazing Travel does charge professional research and service fees. These fees will be discussed during your free consultation.