Policies

Dear Friends,

As you know, the agents at The Joy of Travel customize each reservation for every single customer.

To help you understand our occasional service fee requirement, as well as change fees and cancellation fees, I’ve attempted to explain them all in the details below.

I know it’s confusing. Please do not hesitate to call your agent at The Joy of Travel for clarification. That’s what we are here for. We want you to fully understand every single component and aspect of your upcoming trip.

Planning/Service Fee:

In specific instances, due to a significantly higher than usual investment of our time and energy, we require a planning fee.

If your travel request is one that would require an up-front fee, the agent you have contacted will let you know immediately. The fee is paid directly to the agent who is working on your itinerary. It is a flat rate whether you book the trip or not and is nonrefundable.

Destination Weddings, for instance, require an upfront fee. Complicated multi-stop independent travel itineraries require a fee. Fees vary depending on the level of complication and the time involved in planning the itinerary/event. Minimum fee is $250.

Change Fees:

Once an itinerary has been completed, your agent presents you with the comprehensive final details of the booking.

At that time, we ask that you confirm each component prior to applying your deposit.

After application of the deposit, an invoice will be presented to you, again reflecting the full details of the booking, and including the payment that has been credited toward the balance due.

This is your final chance to make any changes without incurring a change fee if you request said changes within 24 hours of the issuance of the invoice.

Change fees include but are not limited to:

  • Changing travel dates

  • Changing/correcting names

  • Changing resort/hotel or room category

  • Changing destinations

  • Removing/adding passengers to your reservation

  • Changing airline seats or schedule

Please understand that any changes to the reservation will cause the booking to be re-priced at the current rate. This means that it is highly likely the price of your vacation will increase, on top of the change fees that you will incur from the agency.

To protect you from any fees, we encourage you to take the time to meticulously look over every detail of your trip prior to application of the deposit, as well as immediately after receipt of the invoice when the deposit has been applied.

Those are your two chances to make changes without incurring change fees.

Agent Change Fee of $50 per change is payable by Venmo or Zelle directly to the agent making your changes, prior to any changes being made, or any investigation of ability to change.

Please note that your approval to pay the required deposit is our confirmation that you have read and accepted the terms of our change fee policy.

Cancellation Penalties:

On all reservations there is a cancellation penalty. In some cases the travel insurance covers it. On others, some bookings with “future travel credit/voucher” insurance, the cancellation penalty is sometimes deducted from the amount of your future travel credit/voucher. This is not applicable to all bookings across the board, and it’s clearly reflected in both your pre-deposit itinerary as well as your post-deposit itinerary/invoice. If you have a cancellation penalty on your booking that will be deducted from your future travel credit/voucher, it will be explained by your agent in advance of your payment of the deposit, as well as clearly delineated in your itinerary and invoices.

Please note that your approval to pay the required deposit is our confirmation that you have read and accepted the terms of the cancellation penalties.

Travel is a complicated business. The Joy of Travel always wants to provide crystal clear, totally transparent operational policies. Again, if you have any questions about any of the policies above, do not hesitate to reach out to your agent at The Joy of Travel. They can explain each policy in detail.

Thank you and Bon Voyage!

Joy Crutchfield
Founder, Owner, CEO