Dear Tammy: I'm wondering what to do now that resorts are opening up, yet airlines are not currently going to all newly opened resorts. What do you suggest travel agents do when they find themselves in this situation?
Tammy: Great question! While it's really great news that so many resorts are beginning to open up again, if airlines aren't traveling to these newly opened resorts, this can cause quite the traveling dilemma. I recently experienced this, so I have first-hand information and advice for agents who find themselves in this type of situation.
I booked a trip for some of my regular clients to visit St. Lucia in October. Even though the resort is now open and ready to welcome travelers once again, there are currently no airlines going there. So what does this mean? It means that he had to cancel his $22,000 trip to St Lucia! I think this is extremely inconvenient for travelers at this time.
This makes it necessary for travel agents to confirm that their clients are able to book a flight to any resort they want to travel to. Know that it may be necessary for some travelers to choose another destination that carriers are flying to right now.
Most of all, pay close attention to making sure that you book a resort that agrees to refund your clients just in case they happen to experience any problems during their travels. Because the airlines are so up in the air right now, agents need to make sure that they can not only book a resort stay but also buy an airline ticket to get them there.
This is a huge problem, as what's the point of opening up resorts in popular vacation destinations if there's no way to get people there? Regardless, keeping current with COVID-19 traveling information is definitely a must.
My advice is to pay close attention to all of the airlines right now and where they're traveling to. Also, understand that some flights don't travel on certain days, or that some connected flights might also be a problem. Airlines nowadays are making multiple stops, making it so that travelers may even need to spend the night in other cities before reaching their final destination.
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