It’s easier to explain pricing once than apologize for quality forever. (Zig Ziglar)

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times, “Quality is the best business plan”.

But what is a quality vacation?

A quality vacation has several components. Let’s take a fun in the sun vacation for instance. 99% of our fun in the sun vacations are all-inclusive. When dealing with all-inclusive properties, the first consideration for us has always been sanitation and cleanliness. That’s more important than ever these days, isn’t it?

The quality of the food and beverages is another top concern for us. After all, if you’re paying for those meals/drinks up front, they need to be enjoyable, and safe, don’t they? I prefer resorts that offer restaurant quality food. Not cafeteria food, not fast food. Wholesome, good food. I don’t necessarily have to come home bragging that I had the best meal of my life at the resort, but I do need to be able to brag that I had several delicious meals. I think you’re probably just like me in this regard.

What about the rooms? Most of us want a room that’s comparable to the level of comfort we have in our own homes. Impeccable cleanliness is a “must”. I prefer resorts with twice a day maid service and turn down service. That way my room is always fresh, clean, and well stocked.

Location is another determining factor. If our customers are pool people the beach isn’t as important, and vice versa. All beaches and pools are not created equally. That’s yet another reason why we make such a huge effort to experience the resorts firsthand before recommending them to you.

Distance from the arrival airport is another consideration. If you’re going on a 3 night get-away to Cancun you don’t want us putting you in a resort that’s a 90 minute drive from the airport, do you?

Speaking of your drive to the resort, we include private round trip transfers in your package. We don’t want you sitting on a motorcoach that holds 50 people, waiting 45 minutes for yet another plane to land and the coach to fill up before you can begin the drive to your resort.

We also include cancel for any reason trip insurance with your package. These days those great cash back policies are extremely expensive, but the good news is our suppliers now offer very inexpensive insurance that still allows you to cancel for any reason, but you’ll get a future travel credit rather than cash back. Our customers don’t care about getting the cash back; they just don’t want to lose the money, so this is a perfect option.

Let’s talk about flight schedules. If you want to go Cancun Monday-Friday, we want you to be sitting on beach enjoying lunch at the resort on Monday, not coming into the lobby at 9:30PM, worn out with nothing to do but unpack and get in bed. You’ll pay for Monday either way, better to be at the resort early, enjoying it most of the day, right?

We also want you leaving the destination to come home mid-day on Friday. Not at 6AM. The trip back home is always tiring; we try to plan your flights in a way that makes it as easy on you as possible, with plenty of time in customs and immigration.

You can have it one of two ways when it comes to all-inclusive resorts. You can have great flights, relaxing transfers, good food, comfortable accommodations, and attentive service complete with insurance coverage at a fair price point, OR you can get a really cheap trip and have horrifying flight schedules, transfers that take hours, food that is not what we consider to be safe or edible, rooms that are not clean to our standards, and service that’s nonexistent, with none of it protected by travel insurance.

“We aren’t interested in making sales; we are interested in making customers for life. We want to earn and deserve your trust.”

We offer a wide variety of inexpensive all-inclusive trips, but rest assured we will not compromise on cleanliness and/or safety to meet a price point. We aren’t interested in making sales; we are interested in making customers for life. We want to earn and deserve your trust.

It’s exactly the same way with cruises. There are some truly terrific ships and companies out there and then there are some focused on “how low can you go” and their customers reap the havoc of those experiences. That’s another hard pass for us; we just don’t want the responsibility for that outcome.

European tours/river cruises/independent travel are again, the same thing. We offer mid to upper level hotels in the best locations. We know you aren’t going all the way to Europe to stay in some backwater hovel. A college kid backpacking across Europe is not our customer. A couple who has worked hard for their money and want a great European experience at a reasonable price point is our perfect match.

Zig Ziglar said “It’s easier to explain pricing once than apologize for quality forever”. I hope you’ve enjoyed the way I’ve tried to explain our price point. Quality vacations, with the most bang for your buck, are the gold standard around here.

Your globetrotting friend,
Joy