I’ve been designing and managing fully prepaid and packaged Costa Rica vacations for well over a decade now. The packages have always included accommodations, activities, and in-country transportation. Historically, many vacationers have liked these types of tours because it takes the responsibility of planning a trip to a foreign country out of their hands and into those of an “expert.”
Well, these days more and more people seem to want to take a more do it yourself approach. And with “big-box” travel companies dominating the landscape and offering great deals on flight – hotel – rental car combo-packages, a lot of folks just wing it, rather than rely on expert planning.
I don’t really agree that’s the best way to experience Costa Rica. I’ve written about that in the past. Costa Rica is a special vacation destination that requires some logistical planning and know-how in order to really experience the country in a week to 10-day trip. Nevertheless, that’s the way the market is headed. The middle-man approach that I’ve been taking over the past 13 odd years is now going the way of the buggy-whip.
In response, I’ve diversified into other pursuits, like expat tours and consulting and real estate sales. But I still have a site that attracts a lot of visitors looking for help in planning their Costa Rica vacation. If you are reading the words, you might very well be one of them!
And I still want to help.
So, I’ve made a New Year’s resolution in 2017 that I will never sell another prepaid and packaged Costa Rica vacation ever again. But I will offer my services in the form of Costa Rica vacation consulting.
How does that work, you ask?
Well, it’s not that dramatically different that before. I still want to have a conversation with you about your desires and objectives for the vacation. I still will design a proposed itinerary based on that conversation. I will tweak the itinerary as often as necessary to get it just to your liking. I’ll set everything up, meaning make all reservations. But once I do that, I’ll then provide you with simple instructions for paying the vendors (i.e., hotels, tour companies, and transport providers) directly yourself. And I’ll certainly still be available 24/7 to answer questions, solve problems and trouble-shoot before and during the trip.
So, the only real difference is that I’m going to let you pay for your stuff, rather than pass that responsibility over to me. I believe that works better for both of us. One of the hardest parts of managing my business over the years has been vendor payments. Folks, let me tell you, it’s been a nightmarish responsibility and life is just too short for any more of those. So it’s great for me in that way.
But it’s also good for you in a number of ways…
First, you get to make sure that your money is spent the way you intend it to be, i.e., to pay for your stuff. Believe it or not, it’s possible to turn all that money over to an agency, and then they get in financial trouble, or otherwise, and never make your payments. Well, with vacation consulting that’s never going to happen.
Second, you will know exactly what you’re paying for each item on the itinerary. When the package is prepaid for an overall price, you just don’t know. And most agencies will not want to tell you, even if you ask. Why? Because they’ve padded the price with margin. That’s how they make money and stay in business, so you can’t blame them. But, like I said, the middle-man approach is now dinosauric…and you really don’t need to go that route any more.
Finally, when paying directly to vendors, you will get to take advantage of special promotions that they only offer on direct sales. That happens more and more these days and often they will offer you a rate that undercuts my “net” rate, which makes it virtually impossible for me to compete.
I will charge a small fee for my consulting services. For most itineraries that will be $400, but I do use a sliding scale and the fee is a bit more for very large itineraries.
Now, you may be asking does that make the package more expensive than before? Not really, because as mentioned above, you can take advantage of direct sale price breaks that otherwise you would never know about.
Also, this way you will control the timing of payments, rather than paying a large sum upfront, often months prior to your trip. For example, hotel vendors often, depending on the season, only require a credit card guarantee to hold the room and don’t actually charge you until you check out. And activities and transportation can actually be paid after arrival. All that can help you greatly with cash-flow management of what can be a pretty darn big expense, especially when you factor in flights, which have to be fully paid upfront and far in advance.
You can check out more details on the Costa Rica vacation consulting page of my site. The fee covers my time and effort in setting your trip up, as well as making myself available to help you any way needed up until you board your departing flight to go back home.
So, there you have it, Costa Rica vacation consulting, a win win proposition for you and me. I’m not getting any younger (as you can see from the video below) and I would like to enjoy life a little more than I have over the last 13 years managing my business the old fashioned way.
However, at the same time, I still want to offer my expertise, as well as heartfelt desire, for you to have an outstanding experience of Costa Rica that will keep you coming back for more.
Give me a call and let’s get started with planning your Costa Rica vacation!
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