~What you are about to read could save you a ton of cash on booking your dive trips~

[Firewalker688]

Hello there,

My name is Scott and I have been lurking around here for a bit and enjoying the wealth of knowledge available on this site. Something I am curious about is do any of the dive clubs or groups of divers have a travel agent they book through. This is not a random question as my wife is a travel agent. She just booked a trip for a group of 12 to dive in Cozumel for one of the local dive shops. The prices she got were far lower than what they were able to get on their own (even doing it as a group) The prices were good enough it made me jealous I wasn't getting to go too!

In fact she submitted the quotes today and they are already getting prices lined up for another July trip.

Many people are very familiar with the ol' middle man and the raising of the cost with every one who gets in the line. Something that is a surprise to many is you can book through a travel agent who does the homework for you, makes the calls, books it all...... at a LOWER cost than you can get by booking yourself even on expedia/kayak/priceline. You might be wondering well someone is paying the agent. You are right. The destination pays the agent and not the client. You might think well that just makes them send the divers to one place. Not so much. They all pay almost the same price so the places who give the best diver experience get more people pointed their way. If my wife and I dive, we are able to try a new place and see if we liked it enough to recommend it to other divers. It doesn't mean you can't stay where you want to...just some places are known to give great experience and value.

If you are already getting a trip lined up I would encourage you to simply compare prices on what you can get vs what my wife can get for you. She has proven time and time again she can get the same thing for less. It's not some fancy tag line. It's just the truth. Diving is something we really share the love of with each of you and we would be glad to see how much we can save you during the purchase of something you will already be buying in the first place.

Please believe me when I tell you I am not a troll. This is far from a scam. I am not sure if this post is considered something that should be a paid ad. If so please advise. We are hoping to provide a service to the community that will prove itself as a fantastic idea many times over.

I invite any of you to PM me with inquiries about bookings or any other questions I may be able to help with. It will be easy to see if we can save you money on your trip. I am betting yes.

Thank you for your time in reading this. I wish each of you nothing but happiness.

Scott

Be well

I plan on posting this in a few of the dive club sub forums but I will refrain from looking like one big spam bomb.

My wifes FB page is in my sig if you want to contact her directly or just like the page and stay tuned for deals coming out on cruises, trips, etc.

 

[BDSC]

Can you give some specific examples of how much your wife can save folks by booking thru her?

 

[mselenaous]

Yes this can be true is many cases. There are several dive travel specialists that support ScubaBoard and get good reviews from SB divers. Not limiting the list, but these pop to the top of my head at the moment:
Bay Adventures
Caradonna
Maduro Dive Fantaseas
Weaver's Dive Travel
Worldwide Dive & Sail
Agressor & Dancer Fleets
Explorer Ventures

These travel experts usually do all the legwork for you, they KNOW the ops & facilities well. They get great rates not because of the size of one group but because of the overall number of guests they book each year. So you can get large group rates for just a few. And they usually go above and beyond to make things right when there is a hiccup along the way.

 

[Firewalker688]

Hello there BDSC, thanks for the question and thanks for the laugh on your underwater Tebow pic. Wendy will post up some examples of prices by booking as a non agent vs through her. Mselenaous brings up a good point. Having experience with different operations helps the diver get the best possible experience. I think everyone wants to have a trip that give you the best value and least headaches. One thing that gets lost when you think about booking is the leg work as also mentioned. Booking a trip can require a ton of emails, phone calls to the operations and the airlines, waiting for replies, getting the best prices... the list goes on. I don't doubt people can eventually get it done and can book a great trip. What you gain by having Wendy do it is she makes the calls and does all of the coordination for you. She knows when places are running specials that may or may not be advertised because she is in frequent contact with them. She knows how to time airline ticket purchases in order to get best prices. (These can vary by hundreds of dollars within a matter of hours believe it or not) Also if I may mimic Mselenaous once again, it is more likely to get a "group rate" even for smaller numbers of people simply by having a professional relationship with and sending people to a particular operation.

In summary, she might just save you $300/person over what you could book it for or it might be a savings of $15/person but the hidden savings is not doing 9 hours of leg work. I think most people would like to see the cash difference because it has a better impact but if you are a busy person with things to do... those hours can really add up to a lot... not to mention some of the frustration of trying to make the trip flow well.

Thanks again and stay tuned for some side by side comparisons. Feel free to contact either of us if you have any questions or need prices to compare with your normal booking method.

Be well

Scott

 

[Elite Travel]

A lot of the time, the money that I can save you is on your flights. If you have ever priced flights, then you know that depending onwhere you are flying from/to, this is a major part of the overall cost of your trip.I am usually able to save the client money because I know the better times tobook when the flight rates are lower. For example, leaving out of DFW going toCZM, I can beat Expedia’s price by $10 per person. That doesn’t seem like a lot of money, but Isaved you time by doing the research, booking the trip and by being availableto you at all times. Most people areextremely busy & do not have time to do all of this. That is my job, I do it for you. I saved a client $300 on her flight/hotel/carto Georgia to see her son graduate from boot camp. I was able to book a Hawaii vacation for acouple in May with excursions & was able to stay under their budget by$1200. Also, depending on where I bookthe trip through, there is the option to make payments. There is a deposit (usuallythe amount of the flight) & then the trip has to be paid in full 45 - 60days prior to departure. If you book on Expedia, Priceline, Kayak, etc. thenthe trip has to be booked & paid for in full immediately. I am also available to you 24 hours aday. If there is ever an issue thatneeds to be resolved or something else that needs to be booked, you callme. You will get a live person, not anautomated one that you have to wait on hold for. Youtell me where & when you want to go, what you want to do & places thatyou are interested in staying at & I get you quotes & info within 24hours (in most cases). All you have todo is decide if you want that trip or for me to look at other options. I do not charge a fee to my clients. I am paid through the hotels, cruise lines,booking engines, etc. I can’t promise to ALWAYS beat others pricesbut I can promise that if you book through me, it will be hassle free. The only thing that you will have to do is goon your vacation & have a great time!! I look forward to helping you plan your nextawesome dive vacation.
-Wendy

 

[CheddarChick]

Hi Wendy... Do you book the El Cid in Cozumel?

 

[lucky83]

Are you interested in doing overseas sales?

 

[Elite Travel]

Yes CheddarChick. I can book trips anywhere. When are you looking to go?

---------- Post added January 28th, 2013 at 07:51 AM ----------

Hey lucky83. Yes, I would be interested in booking your overseas vacations. Let me know what I can to do help you out.

 

[CheddarChick]

probably some time in late March/early April.
out of MKE or ORD.

 

[cbm32]

CheddarChick, I can book you into the El Cid with my Wyndham points cheaper than you can book there any other way. I have already done this for one SB member and he was thrilled with the way it worked out. Let me know if you are interested.