Calling all Travel Agents. Do you charge a planning fee? Why or why not?

Yes ! We are a botanical gardens so we do have a visitors fee. We also have guided and unguided tours, we have wedding spaces and 3 gazebos on our 8acre site. We have over 1 mile of walking paths and more than 1500 species of plants..vist us at enchantedfloralgardensofkula.com 

like us on fb at The Enchanted Floral Gardens of Kula 

Mahalo!

Tell him you have an agreement you both sign which protects his honeymoon and clarifies all the extended services and amenities you provide and it includes a retainer or deposit. (your definition and whether it is refundable, nonrefundable, in part applies towards his trip, etc.)  The important part of this is to emphasize it is for his benefit so he knows what you are going to do for him and that way he can tell you everything he wants, he hopefully won't "go hunting or shopping" something you could have done for him and made more commission. It can also clarify what you will or won't do. 

This is an opportunity for you to pat yourself on the back, reconfirm he is in the best of hands and at the same time indicating how you do what you do including communications so there's no missing links.

An attorney ,of all clients should understand a research fee - they always speak of their billable hours.  Ours is a profession just as theirs is, and our time is worth respect.  The decision on fees is determined by the type of travel plans and how involved it might be, but offering it as credit towards the final reservations the right way to go. 

No, we do not charge planning fees because our customers have either traveled with us previously and are not shoppers, or they are quality referrals from existing customers that are looking for someone they can trust.  We make an effort to get to know these prospective customers before we do any research so they know our main interest is in providing what they want, and that we have the knowledge and experience to take care of their needs.  The longer we are in business serving our existing client base, we find it to be much less competitive and purely priced based.  Having said that, I am sure that planning fees are suitable and appropriate for some business models.

Yes, I agree. It's the same as a consultant fee. We put a lot of work into setting up the event for them to have a wonderful experience, only for them to go with someone else. 

What you do at the beginning is qualify them by sending them a form to fill out as well as for them to sign stating they agree to pay you for your wedding planner travel services as well! That way if they don't do the work by telling you everything they have in mind in writing you don't have to waste your time

We always tell our clients our expectations up front that if they want this research done then we are expecting that they will book with us.  If they just want us to do their work then we are not interested.  My team only works on commission and we let our clients know that.  Do we get burned sure at times, but when we are honest and upfront they know going in the expectation

Susan

Why Charge a Service Fee?

Travel agents are professionals too . . . professionals who deserve to get paid for the time, knowledge, expertise and research that goes into booking a great trip for a client. After all, you’ve invested in your professional development with conferences, FAM trips, trainings and more. Because of this, travel agents save their clients hours upon hours of their own researching, planning and booking (seriously, it’s borderline obscene how much time people spend planning vacations). 

I did not always charge a fee until a client had me spending weeks doing research on trips and he or she change their mind and said look this up. The client kept changing their mind! 

i do charge a planning fee if is something that require many hours of research 

i believe  that our job as travel agent is very important you can rely on us 

24 7  you can reach us night, weekends etc

we are here to make your vacation wonderful  - we deserve some credit for our 

time and work 

if you buy through the internet you have no one you can call and help you 

in case any emergency   or changes 

hope this is clear for you 

maria simonetti    

 Kathy,

I don't charge a planning fee if I do I tel the client that It  goes towards there final payment. If its a big package then charge the fee.

Kathy did he do that took your info and went to book it else where then I would charge him the planning fee.

Kathy I work for AAA and most of my clients are members and don't shop around they come straight to us or they have shopped around and them come to book with us 

We charge planning fees and they are not deducted from the trip, they are a straight up planning fee.  The important thing is that you are providing a service to people that value your service to help them have the perfect trip, not waste any of their precious time or money. I am able to ask for and get honeymoon planning fees on top of the trip.  You have to do a great job of marketing your self as an expert, including web copy, testimonies, photo galleries.  People will pay for what they want, just look at people buying 6-8 dollar cups of coffee every day!  Our job is to make them want our service and they will pay for it!