Look at it this way- when you discover a leak under your sink, you’ve got three options.  You can roll up your sleeves and try your best to apply a bandaid fix for now, but that’s probably going to lead to more headaches and frustration later.  The next option is to call your buddy who’s pretty good with tools and have him come take a look.  He can probably use his experience with his own sink to try to fix yours, but he’s not necessarily familiar with what your sink really needs.  Finally,  you can call in a professional.  It might cost you a bit more up front, but in the end, you’ll come out ahead since you’ll just need to repair the sink once and avoid future (expensive) issues.  You’ll be handed an invoice that lists the material charges and the labor charges.  Seeing that, you wouldn’t even bat an eye!

The same thing applies when you work with a travel agent that has the tools, resources, and experience to plan the vacation of your dreams.  The “materials” part of the plumber’s invoice is the vacation you book- the hotel, the tickets, the transportation costs, etc.- all of those things are the materials that create your vacation!  Travel vendors may pay a (very small) commission on the sale of those things, however, that only covers the sale of those package components, not the itinerary planning.  That’s where the labor charge applies- just like a plumber would, I charge for the time, attention, research, and resources that go into planning your vacation.

I offer other services on a limited basis – if there’s something you’re looking for, but aren’t seeing, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do for you!

I may still be able to help you!  Send me an email at abby@friendlikemetravel.com and we will see how I might be able to assist you.  

Over time, any healthy business has to grow, change, and evolve to provide the very best services to its customers.  In the last four years, I’ve had a lot of changes, including gradually starting to charge for the “extra” stuff.  What did I learn?  My guests that have upgraded to my paid services were by far my happiest customers.

Generally, people who pay for something value it more and they also trust that their needs will be met.  This just makes the whole planning process more fun for you because you know it’s one less thing for you to worry about!  If you’ve got more questions, I’m happy to chat with you one-on-one.

To put it simply, I’m really good at what I do.  Even though I live in (the general area of) Baltimore, Maryland, I typically spend about 60 days a year traveling to Disney Destinations.  While that sounds like I just take a bunch of vacations, every single one is a trip in which I’m learning and experiencing more so that I can provide more personalized services for you and really one-up your vacation.