happy national travel agents' day!

Guess what today is? Uh, well, if you have to guess, you probably didn't read the headline of the article that you just clicked on.

But, yes! Today is National Travel Agents' Day! We'll celebrate the traditional way. First, we wake up extra early to see if the Travel Agent bunny left us a basket of candy. Or maybe we'll have to search for eggs in the yard! Then, we'll be sitting around our Travel Agents' Day tree and opening presents...which we bought for ourselves. Of course, we'll all wear green and drink beer, because if you don't wear green on Travel Agents' Day, legend has it that you'll get pinched and the leprechauns will see to it that you don't book any clients to Ireland for the rest of the year.

In the afternoon, we'll have a big cookout with patriotic red-white-and-blue bunting, right before the big Travel Agents' Day fireworks display.

 And then, we'll all sit down to a big turkey dinner, where we give thanks for all of our awesome clients who trust us to plan their awesome vacations.

So, we'll definitely be celebrating, today. And you should, as well. Here are a few things to celebrate:

• Travel Agents are the OG travel hack. Think you've got an awesome insider tip? Well, we've got ALL. OF. THEM.
• When we talk about "connections," we're not talking about flights. We've got relationships with travel providers that can make a big difference whether you're looking for exclusive amenities, or an advocate if (heaven forbid) something goes wrong while you're traveling.
• If time is money, think of a travel agent as your asset manager. 
• Even if you're one of those rare people who enjoys searching yourself to death on the internet, once you find something to book, keep in mind that you're paying commission to one of those online websites--and they're not actually taking care of you when you travel. D'ya know who will take care of you? Your travel agent.

We're incredibly grateful that people trust us to plan their vacations, and we take that responsibility seriously. We're members of ASTA--the American Society of Travel Agents, which is the professional association of travel planners and tour operators. We've been certified at Verified Travel Advisors through ASTA, as well! Meaning--we've done the coursework to know what we're doing, here. Also, we're members of CLIA--the Cruise Line International Association--so we're connected to that sector of the industry. If you're an LGBTQ+ traveler, know that we're proud members of the IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association). And, we've got many, many certifications from the tour operators, resorts, cruise lines and destinations that we use. 

We don't do all of that just because we like getting little logos that we can put on our website. (In fact, we stopped downloading them, because there were too many.) We get those certifications so that when you call us and say, "I want to go to [insert bucket list destination of your choice]," we can leverage our relationships to find something that will work for you.

So. Happy Travel Agents' Day! If you're thinking of booking a trip soon, give a travel agent a shot at planning it! And, if that travel agent happens to be us...well...we've got your back!