Beware of booking online…

Beware of Booking Travel Online. Read the fine print.

I recently had a friend ask me what to do when she needed to change their flight that they booked through one of these large travel booking engines or in the travel business what we call an Online Travel Agency (OTA). The problem was that the airline they were using was now using Expedia or Travelocity exclusively and not offering direct booking on their website. When they needed to change the flight, they had to call the booking engine company directly and not the airline. They had a lot of trouble speaking with a person and once they did they were charged all these extra fees to change the ticket. These fees were almost as much as the cost of the original airline ticket! What could they have done to avoid this happening?

So many people ask me “why should I use you or any other travel agent when I can just book on-line?” They are right, they can just book online. Unfortunately, when you book online if something goes wrong you end up being your own travel advocate and it could end up costing you many hours, energy, and money to get it fixed. My friend not only had to pay the airline fees to change the flight (which can be up to $150 on domestic or $200 on international) but they also had to pay the travel booking engine fee. For example, Travelocity’s fee to reissue an airline ticket is $40 per passenger in addition to the airlines fees of $150 per passenger. A total of almost $200 per person for the change.

Picture by: Pixabay

Many people don’t want to pay a travel agent a service fee, especially upfront. However, when I looked further into these “fees” that were charged by booking online, many people are paying large amounts of service fees.

I found that Travelocity charges a “Processing Service Fee” for all cruise line reservations. There is no set amount so it may vary depending on the price of your cruise. When booking vacation packages they have a “Facilitation Fee” that you pay them for facilitating your travel arrangements. Again, there is no amount so it probably is a percentage of your total amount of the vacation package. All of these fees are incorporated into your final amount.

Other travel booking engines like Expedia have similar fees but you really have to look deep in their website to find them. What ends up happening is that you are paying service fees to the online booking site, and you still have to go through an automated system when you need to make a change. Also, do you know where your money is going? When you book with a travel agency like Life is Better Traveling, service fees go towards supporting a family which goes back into your local community.

Now back to the question I get a lot “why should I use you?” Why not pay a travel agent service fee to have the same person throughout the entire planning process, during the vacation, and even after the vacation? Someone who knows your whole vacation intimately so that when you call them, it is a quick and easy phone call, no automated system or long hold times.

Also, working with a travel agent gives you peace of mind that when something goes wrong you have someone who is in your corner and already knows your information and details. You won’t have to repeat it 10 times like my friend did with the booking engine company!

Picture by: Pixabay

Did you know that travel agents can sometimes get you extra amenities, meals, or other special treatments that you won’t get from booking on-line. Want a free massage, a suite upgrade, a $250 resort credit, or a free tour? Yes, these are all incentives that, if available, a travel agent can provide to you. There are many times that I have been able to get my clients more incentives than that “deal” they thought they were getting if they would have booked online.

When it comes to finding a travel agent find someone out there who has a niche for where you want to travel. Try them out. They may or may not be a good fit for you. When picking a travel agent make sure you do your research. You don’t want somebody who doesn’t know what they are doing or hasn’t been to the places they are selling. I am speaking from experience, having had a great travel agent for our first Mediterranean cruise. She helped us find tours we never would have found on our own. So when you find a travel agent you love, DON’T LOSE THEM!!!!

Good travel agents are like good doctors, they are hard to find but when you find them hold onto them, even if you have to pay a service fee! Besides you will be spending a lot of money on your trip and you want the special touches and reassurance that a travel agent can give you.

Call us today to book your Europe trip. Looking for a motor coach tour, self-drive, or private tour, we can easily put together the perfect European vacation for you and your family’s needs.

Lost Luggage: It happened to me!

Mary Yohannan on

Is your fear of losing your checked luggage like mine? Well, the airline misplaced our checked baggage.

When packing your carry-on bag for your next vacation, a good rule of thumb is to have two days of clothes packed. The thought is that if your checked baggage would be lost, you would have two days’ worth of clothes, and the clothes you were wearing, until they found your luggage.

Pixabay

After many trips to Europe, I learned that two days’ worth of clothes in your carry-on is the perfect amount. It gets me through the first two days without having to open my larger luggage. On the other hand, I decided that I wasn’t going to lug around that huge suitcase anymore. I was tired of herding around the luggage carousel like a cow at feeding time. After a long flight waiting for my luggage to come out was even more tiring. I learned to go to Europe having only my carry-on allowance and never checking a bag again. Since having kids, I now have to check my luggage because it is impossible for me to lug suitcases and kids through an airport. So now my worst fear when I travel is that the airline will lose my checked luggage.

Questions run through my head like: What if they lose my bag? Will I have to find a store to buy the kid’s more clothes and shoes? How long will it take for them to find it? What if they don’t find? How long before they let me know if they have no idea where my luggage really is? Will I be reimbursed for these precious belongings?

Well, my worst fear happened to us. We didn’t lose a piece of our luggage but they lost our car-seat. Yes, the one thing that you truly need when transporting a child, the airline misplaced it. What did we have to do? It was actually quite simple and painless, and exactly what you would do if they lost a piece of your luggage. You need to go to the airline’s customer service counter located in the baggage claim area. Talk with their representative and tell them your baggage did not come out of the carousel. This is where you will start to fill out paperwork so you can start your claim. Most airlines will reimburse you for any checked baggage fees you had paid. For us, they provided us with a car seat that they had.

Pixabay

If your carry-on baggage was flagged to go under the plane and it was misplaced, do the same thing. Thanks to the US Department of Transportation, if an airline loses your carry-on luggage they are required to reimburse your carry-on fees for all flight segments and any “reasonable expenses” if they completely lose it, damage it, or it is has been delayed.

Remember to make sure to put your claim paperwork in a safe spot. Better yet, take a picture of the paperwork on your phone so even if you misplace it you still have a digital copy of it. Having piece of mind about what to do if your luggage is misplaced and two days worth of clothes in your carry-on makes Life Better Traveling.

Passport Card vs. Passport Booklet

Mary Yohannan on

Passport Card vs. Passport Book

Which one is better?

I recently read an article on Facebook about a lady whose daughter booked her and four of her friends on a week-long vacation to Turks and Caicos. The daughter booked everything through an Online Travel Agency (OTA), which I will not name, but an OTA is Expedia, Travelocity, or Hotels.com. The ladies were excited, all packed, ready to go, and at the airport the lady whose daughter booked the trip was denied boarding. She had a passport card instead of a passport book. She could not get through to the OTA so she called a local travel agency and one of their travel agents told her what to do so she could get to Turks and Caicos.

So why couldn’t she board with a Passport Card? According the U.S. Department of State, a passport card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at, here is the big red flag, land border or sea ports-of-entry only. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air. As this lady was flying to Turks and Caicos she was required to have a passport book.

Picture from Pixabay

So why is there a passport card? The passport card is very convenient to have as it is the size of a driver’s license and can easily be carried around in your wallet. It is much less expensive than getting or renewing a passport book. The passport card also contains an RFID chip that according to the U.S. Department of State does not contain any personal information. When the chip is read, it “points” to your secured information in one of the government databases. Border Patrol can then access your information and photo identification. Each card comes with an RFID blocking sleeve, just in case.

If you plan on crossing the Mexican or Canadian border often, a perk of having the passport card is that you can go through Ready Lanes. These are certain lanes at the border that can expedite inspection when you are crossing the border. Not all ports of entry have these lanes, but if you are interested in learning which ones have these Ready Lanes you can visit www.travel.state.gov.

If you are an avid cruiser and leave from ports of call in the US, then having a passport card is a convenience. But next time you are flying out of the US, please keep in mind to grab that passport book on the way out of the house so you don’t get denied boarding at the airport. Having the wrong identification will surly have you starting your vacation off on the wrong foot, and could cause delays in getting you to your destination.

If you have any questions about photo identification for travel, please contact me with any questions or visit www.travel.state.gov.

NOTE: Life is Better Traveling always recommends a Passport Booklet even when cruising out of a US port. Why? If something were to happen and you were left behind on the island, you would need a passport booklet to return back into the states. The Passport booklet is just a few dollars more, and is good for 10 years, so we always recommend getting a passport booklet.

Hotel Rooms, how to tell if they are clean

Mary Yohannan on

What is REALLY in your hotel room?

5 Places You NEED to be Checking

Recently I have been traveling a lot which means I have been staying in a lot of hotel rooms. Some of the hotels received not so good reviews, so I was cautious as to what to expect in staying there. For one of the hotels, the reviews consistently said that it wasn’t the cleanest. I understand everyone has different perspectives as what is clean, but I always like to be prepared. After seeing several shows on what actually gets cleaned in hotels, I have started a cleaning and checking routine when I walk into any hotel room. Here is what I do:

1. Check the bed/mattress for bed bugs. I look for reddish coloration, tiny black marks, and yellowish small dots around the edges where the mattress is sewn. You can also move the mattress back from the wall to see if anything starts to move up the wall. Needless to say, if I see any of this, I immediately ask for another room.

2. Check the sheets. If there are hairs, discoloration, or any visible stains this to me is a clear indication that the sheets have not been changed since the last person occupied that room. It has been known for years that the top spread does not get changed between guests, but the sheets must be changed for me to stay in that room.

3. Check bathroom. There are several things in the bathroom that need to checked.

a. The shower/bathtub needs to be looked at closely. Is there hair in the drain still? Is there mold anywhere including on the shower curtain? Are the last person’s shower items still there?

b. I also lift the toilet set to see if there are any stains under the seat and also to see if the toilet bowl has been cleaned. There are many times I have walked into someone else’s “stuff” still in the toilet.

c. I check the towels to see if they are damp. They may not have been used by the last person, but were in there when they showered and got ready.

d. Is the sink area clean? Is there a new soap dish or is it a re-usable one? I also bring my own toiletries so I don’t have to worry about the ones they provide, but you should check them to see if they have been used by someone else.

4. Make sure the locks on the doors work. This sounds simple but I can’t tell you how many times I have been in a hotel room and the dead bolt to the door doesn’t work, or the lock on the patio door doesn’t work. I don’t take those things lightly, as anyone can easily get into my room when I am not there or when I am sleeping.

5. Clean all touchable items in the room. Once most of my checks have passed and I have decided it is a good room to stay in, I get out my antibacterial wipes or a nice cleaning wipe and start to wipe down all things that people touch. The remote control, the phone, any light switches, all door handles, mini-refrigerators, coffee-makers, etc. I try to wipe down as many things as I can especially when the kids are in the room because they tend to touch everything!

6. Check under the bed! Some beds you can’t check under, but the ones that you can you will find the most interesting things people leave behind. I check under the bed because I want to make sure there are no cleaning products stored under there or anything like old food. This can turn into a bad situation when you have kids who like to play on the floor.

These are a just a few things that I do to make sure that I have a pleasant stay at any hotels, and to make sure that my family and I are safe.

When you book your vacation with a member of the Life is Better Traveling Team, you are supporting local families and business. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past 4 years, we have become an AMAZING travel agency due to your support!

Photos by Mary Yohannan

I use a Travel Agent for the same reasons you do…

Mary Yohannan on

I use a Travel Agent for the same reasons you do…

I have not always been a travel agent. Before I was a travel agent, I used a travel agent to book my vacations. I needed help, support, and understanding of the “W’s.” Where, What, and WOW. I always wanted to make the most of my time while I was on the vacation, but for me the problem was that I didn’t have the time to do all the research.

I always knew where I wanted to go whether it was a region, country, or city, but I didn’t know the logistics of the best routes to get there, where to stay, what to see, and what was one thing that was going to WOW me while I was there. Now, when I say WOW me I don’t mean that I needed my adrenaline at the highest level. I just wanted one thing while on the vacation that for me to look at it, taste it, or feel it and I would say WOW. Something that would leave such an impression on me that every time I would think about it I would experience that same feeling over and over again. Even with all the guide books that I purchased, there was always one suggestion from our travel agent that gave us the WOW.

Today, I will still use a travel agent to book a vacation for me if it is a place that I have never been to and want to make sure I get the full experience. How do I find a good travel agent? If I don’t personally know someone who I met at a professional development conference, then I go online. A survey done in 2016 found that of those asked how they found a good travel agent, 47% of the people said online and 31% said through word of mouth. So how did they find a good travel agent online? There are many websites where you can put in your zip code and find travel agents in your area and who specialize in the area where you want to take your vacation. You may still get a long list of agents to weed through, but the best way to determine who is the best to work with is by their reviews.

Travel Leaders has a really good site where you can find travel agents in your area and the agents will list their specialties including European vacations, Australia, etc. It will also show you if they have any reviews. The reviews are posted by actual clients of those agents who have used them to plan their vacations. Another good place to look for honest reviews from clients is on a travel agency’s Facebook page. These reviews are posted by actual clients as you can see their avatars next to their reviews.

When I am reading reviews, there are a few key things that I look for. Do the reviews talk about making the planning stage easy or effortless. Do the reviews say that the person will work with them again. Do the reviews explain what the travel agent did for them. Do the reviews include any WOW’s that occurred while they were on the vacation.

As I always say, if you find a good travel agent DON’T let them go!

P.S. I would love for you to check out my reviews from all of my amazing clients…CLICK HERE

When you book your vacation with a member of the Life is Better Traveling team, you are supporting local families and business. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past 4 years, we have become an AMAZING travel agency due to your support!

All inclusive resort, what does it mean?

Mary Yohannan on

What does it REALLY mean to an “all-inclusive” resort?

You found an amazing deal on a travel website for an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean, so you decide to go for it. You get to the resort and it is as beautiful as the pictures. After settling
into the room you decide to head down to the pool for a nice refreshing cocktail. You order your favorite drink over the rocks and the bartender asks you if you want to charge it to the room. With a confused look on your face, you say you have the all-inclusive package, but the bartender tells you that it doesn’t include top shelf liquor. With the drink in your hand, you agree to charge it to the room.

You start to wonder what you booked with this deal vacation you are on. Is it just the top shelf alcohol that is not included? What other items, activities, food, drinks, etc will you have to pay for? Often when someone books an all-inclusive resort, they truly believe that they are paying for everything upfront including premium alcohol, food, activities, transfers, and resort sharing to name a few. Unfortunately, the term all-inclusive can sometimes mean more exclusive. All of this is usually explained in the fine print when booking the vacation, but when you think you are getting an amazing deal who reads the fine print! I know I don’t.

The truth is, if you want an all-inclusive resort then you really do want to pay for everything upfront. You have set your budget, and you want the food, drinks, transfers, activities, and resort sharing to all be included in that cost. You don’t want to have to pull out your credit card for any extras. But how do you know that everything is TRULY included in the pricing? Besides reading the fine print, look for key words when a resort is advertising. Sometimes you will read alcohol is included but that doesn’t mean premium alcohol. When it comes to food, the advertisement may say that the resort is a la carte, but if you wanted to eat at one of the specialty dining restaurants at the resort it may not be included in the all-inclusive pricing. Many resorts boast about their onsite activities including water activities, but have you ever noticed that they do no specifically say “motorized” water activities or games such as bingo. Be cautious when the wording says “some” activities “may be included.” Many times when you book your vacation you forget that you will need transportation to and from the resort. Transfers can be very expensive once you get to the destination, so getting them included in the package pricing upfront will help save you money.

Trying to find the best all-inclusive resort for your next family vacation, one where you won’t have to pay more out of pocket when you get there, can become overwhelming and exhausting. The good news is I am going to give you 4 nuggets of advice to help you make it easier:

1. Give up on the deal. The saying “you get what you pay for” is always TRUE and when it comes to all-inclusive resorts it holds VERY TRUE!

2. Sit down and figure out a budget like you would for any other vacation. When you have a budget to work with you will find many more resorts that are going to fit your needs, without having to get out the credit card on vacation.

3. Look for key words on the resort’s website that would indicate what is NOT included in the all-inclusive pricing. These words include: some, limited, a la carte, minimal fee, varying, typically

4. Call a travel agent. Why make it harder on yourself than you have to. Pick the destination and then let a good travel agent do the research on which resorts will fit your needs.

Don’t forget to tell your travel agent at Life is Better Traveling to give you a quote for travel protection when planning your next vacation.

P.S. Call me this year to plan your AMAZING All-Inclusive vacation. I guarantee we will plan the perfect vacation for you!

When to Buy Travel Protection…

Mary Yohannan on

You and your travel agent have been planning your vacation for several weeks. You have come to a decision and are excited to be putting down that initial deposit. You are done with travel planning for now, or are you? One last thing that your travel agent should be talking to you about at this time is purchasing travel protection for your vacation. You are probably not even thinking about travel protection, but I am here to tell you that you should be and this is the time to think HARD about it!

The pressure of purchasing it right after you just put down a large deposit can be too much think about, and I am here to tell you, that is OK. You don’t have to purchase the travel protection plan right away. Most travel insurance companies allow you to purchase travel protection up to a certain number of days prior to departure of your vacation. You will not receive time sensitive provisions, which we will discuss in a bit, but you will still receive good coverage. My recommendation is that you make sure you have made up your mind to purchase travel protection before final payment of your trip is due. At this point, you have had enough time to really think about the coverage you will receive and whether or not it is right for you and your family.

Most travel insurance companies offer a few BONUS waivers or time sensitive provisions if you purchase travel protection within in so many days of your initial deposit on your vacation. The most common two are:

Pre-Existing Medical Condition Waiver. What this typically means is that if you have had any medical conditions so many days prior to the effective date of your policy, then they would be waived and possibly considered a covered reason if you needed to cancel. Some travel insurance companies are 60 days prior to the effective date and others are as far out at 180 days.
Supplier default or insolvency of a supplier such as an airline, cruise line, tour operator, or other travel supplier.

You really are getting more coverage when you purchase your travel protection within the travel insurance companies requirements to get these time sensitive provisions.

Over 95% of my clients purchase some kind of travel protection to cover their vacation. The next time you get ready to book your vacation, I HIGHLY recommend that you add the amount of travel protection into your budget. It makes it a lot easier for you to make the decision to purchase it right away so you get the time sensitive provisions, and you don’t feel that it is an added expense. A good rule of thumb in figuring out this expense, is if you are under the age of 55 travel protection will cost you between 10 – 15% of your total vacation. If you are over the age of 55, travel protection will cost you between 10 – 20% of the total cost of your trip.

Don’t forget to tell your travel agent at Life is Better Traveling to give you a quote for travel protection when planning your next vacation.

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Let’s talk about what you get with Travel Protection, because you may be missing out!

Mary Yohannan on

You have been saving up your money for a few years to take your dream vacation. You are at the airport and the gate attendant announces the flight will be delayed due to mechanical issues. This delay causes you to miss your connecting flight to your final destination. Many hours later you get to your destination, and you slipped on a wet spot in the lobby landing flat on your back. You feel a pinch, and have trouble standing up straight and walking. At this point you wonder if the universe is telling you that you shouldn’t have taken this vacation, then you remember, YOU HAVE TRAVEL PROTECTION! You can use your travel protection to cover all of these weird occurrences.

Facts show that 17% of those who traveled had their travel impacted by medical problems, natural disasters like a hurricane, or mechanical/carrier caused issued which delayed their trip for more than 3 hours. When you have purchased travel insurance, also called travel protection, there are three main services that you are getting:

1. Medical Coverage

Most insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicad, do not cover a person outside the borders of the United States. Your credit card may have some medical coverage, but you may have had to purchase your trip with that card, and even then, the coverage amount is minimal. Hospitals outside of the United States will require a person to make full payment before they are allowed to leave the hospital, no matter how much the charges may be. This could lead to a financial hardship on the whole family. With Travel Insurance, you have several tiers of medical coverage and it can either act as your primary medical insurance or secondary medical insurance.

2. Travel Arrangements

There are many things that can happen including trip cancellation, trip delay, and trip interruption. Life happens and sometimes things happen right before a trip that forces you to cancel but the supplier might have 100% non-refundable cancellation policy. But your travel insurance doesn’t and you can recoup the cost of that trip not taken. Did you know that when you have trip interruptions you can be reimbursed for meals, lost luggage, and missed connections?

3. Concierge services

Most people don’t realize that travel insurance companies offer this service. Want to go golfing? Call the travel insurance company and they will set up a tee time for you. Did you forget to send flowers to your mother for her birthday before you left to go on vacation, call the travel insurance company and they will send flowers, balloons, or a cake. There are so many possibilities to use this service and it is all part of the plan you purchase.

Travel Protection is for everyone who is going to take a vacation or even a small trip. If your credit card offers travel protection, you really need to make sure you check what is covered, how much is covered, and if you need to have purchased your vacation with that card to get the coverage. Since becoming a travel consultant, I have been purchasing travel protection for myself and my family even when we take small trips here in the United States. Why do I do this? I know that it is there if I need to use it, I know how much I am covered for, and if I need any reservations somewhere I can call the concierge services to do it for me. Oh, and it also gives me peace of mind.

Stayed tuned for next week’s newsletter about knowing what you get when to purchase travel protection. Also, if you know someone who is about to take a vacation and haven’t purchased travel protection, please forward this email onto them and tell them to sign-up for my HIGH CONTENT newsletters about travel BELOW….

The Top 3 motivators for purchasing Travel Protection, which one do you say?

Mary Yohannan on

In my last newsletter I discussed the importance of making sure to give your friends, family, or neighbors a printed copy of your itinerary in case something were to go wrong on your vacation. It is great that they have this, but what do YOU have to protect yourself and your family when something goes wrong? Who are YOU supposed to call when you have to go to the local hospital or medical express station? Who do YOU call when you missed your connecting flight which also caused you to miss boarding your cruise?

Your travel agent should be there to help with you some of those concerns, but we don’t always know the nearest hospital or medical facility that will ensure your best well-being. When you have travel protection, the travel protection company is who you call!

Before 2001 only 10% of leisure travelers purchased travel protection. Since 2001, each year the amount of leisure travelers who have purchased travel protection has exponential grown. At Life is Better Traveling, 95% of our clients who book their vacation with us also purchase travel protection. Why do they book travel protection? There are three main reasons why someone purchases travel protection:

1) I want to cover my hard-earned money because the trip was expensive and/or I had to pre-pay a large amount.

2) My medical coverage does not exist outside of the United States and I want to make sure that I am covered.

3) I am nervous about unforeseen events occurring and I know that travel protection will give me the peace of mind I need.

I bring up three good points that most people will ask or say to themselves right before or right after they have purchased their vacation. I am sure even you have asked yourself one or more of these three things. With so many online travel agencies, airlines, and other suppliers making it so easy for you to purchase travel protection for your vacation purchase. They tell you all the reasons you should purchase it and it sounds so appealing to purchase it, but do you know what you are ACTUALLY getting when you press the shiny “Purchase Travel Protection” button?

Stayed tuned for next week’s newsletter about knowing what you get when you purchase travel protection. Also, if you know someone who is about to take a vacation and haven’t purchased travel protection, please forward this email onto them and tell them to sign-up for my HIGH CONTENT newsletters about travel at LifeisBetterTraveling.com.

Be prepared, 17% of American have this happen to them while on vacation

Mary Yohannan on

You don’t want to believe something can go wrong on your vacation, but are your friends, relatives, neighbors prepared if it does?

When your relative, close friend, or neighbor tells you they are going on vacation your instinct is to be excited for them. They usually give a few details about their upcoming amazing trip including dates, where they are going, and what they will be seeing. A few months down the road they call you to tell you they are leaving and you wish them safe travels. As you hang up the phone, you try to remember the details of the trip but come up short in remembering. You shrug your shoulders and say to yourself you will hear all about it when they get back.

The truth is, are you prepared if something does happen? Do you have any of the details including airline, hotel, cruise ship, travel insurance? Are you prepared if they called and told you they needed to you to call the travel insurance company?

In 2014 a survey was taken showing that one in six Americans or 17% of those who traveled had their travel impacted by medical problems, natural disasters like a hurricane, or mechanical or carrier caused issued which delayed their trip for more than 3 hours. Let me make the numbers sound larger, if we had a full Southwest flight of 143 people and 17% of them will have some type of travel issue, that means 24 people on this flight. How about a cruise ship with 3500 people? Almost 600 of those passengers will have some type of travel issue. That is a lot of people. The question is, is your relative one of them?

Even when your relative tells you the details they don’t really tell you the WHOLE DETAILED ITINERARY. If you don’t have the WHOLE DETAILED ITINERARY and you need to contact them, it can become a guessing game of where in the world are my relatives? Don’t let this happen to you. Ask your relative for the detailed itinerary and the information for the travel insurance company in case you would have to call on their behave. Life is Better Traveling always provides an extra copy of the detailed itinerary to give out to a relative, neighbor or close friend just by simply asking for it. We will not let your relative know what you paid for the trip, but they are given the details of which cruise ship, airline, hotels, and travel insurance.

So next time you or your relatives book a vacation, make sure to set aside some time to talk. Talk about the detailed itinerary and explain that you would like them to have this just in case, or why you would like to have it of theirs. No one ever likes to plan for “just in case”, but when you realize how high the number of people impacted is then it just makes sense. And remember that this extra itinerary is free of charge at Life is Better Traveling and we are always looking out for our travelers. Feel free to pass this email along to the people you think of while reading this!

P.S. I just had all my relatives in Europe the last two weeks and having their information on hand gave me peace of mind.

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