Making  travel plans can be fun and exciting. Whether for business or travel,  selecting items to pack and planning schedules at your destination are tasks that most of us look forward to on some level. However, before you  step foot on a plane, train, automobile, or boat, make sure you have  these five things in order:

1. Health insurance

Few things are more frustrating than having to visit a doctor or hospital while you are away from home. One thing that is definitely more frustrating than the visit itself is trying to figure out how you will pay for it if you do not have health insurance. Before you leave town, check the coverage on your health insurance. Some plans pay a certain percentage of visits that occur outside of the state or country and some do not. Even if your health insurance plan covers foreign travel, it may do so on a limited basis.

Make sure you know the limits of your plan before you leave. There are supplemental travel health insurance plans available if you need additional coverage for while you are traveling. It is better to be over  insured than to be under insured when it comes to health issues while  you are away from home.

1. Immunizations

Make sure you have all the required immunizations you need for the  area you will be visiting. Different countries and states have  immunization requirements that travelers must adhere to if traveling to  that area. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has required  vaccinations listed on their website for reference. It is suggested that  you visit your doctor four to six weeks before you leave to ensure that  all the vaccinations you must have are given and have time to settle  into your system to provide the optimal protection.

1. Life insurance

Most people do not like to think of experiencing a fatal event while  traveling, but tragic things can happen. If you pass away while you are  traveling, having your life insurance in order before you leave will  help your survivors to be able to make your final arrangements without  having to worry about how to pay for everything. If you are planning to  travel in the future, it is a good idea to obtain your life insurance  well in advance of your trip, if you do not already have it.

1. Alternate travel plans

Just in case there is inclement weather in the area where you are  departing from or entering into, or other circumstances that can affect  your travel, make alternate arrangements. Taking a little extra time to  make sure you can still safely get where you need to go if something  happens is worth the effort.

1. Verified connections

Because people sometimes use different venues to book different  aspects of travel, it is easy to get connections mixed up or to book  them over each other. Make sure to check your dates and times carefully  to prevent a connection error, where you may have to sit overnight in a  place you do not want to be because your connection leaves in the  morning rather than in the evening. Take different time zones into  consideration when doing this verification.

Dearest Tripologists:

2011 was an interesting year for many, including me. I thought with this post, I’d give you a bit of my life, both professional (at Rand McNally and Tripology) and personal, in hopes we’ll all gain something from “connecting” during the holidays.

My team and I conceived, created and implemented two phenomenal strategic partnerships for Rand McNally and Tripology.  First, is our strategic alliance with USA TODAY where we have joined forces to find the best small towns in America via a project called “Best of the Road®”.

This national promotion, which started in April, culminated with a three week road rally where five teams of amateur videographers drove from New York to California, each taking a different route to discover the best small towns in five categories; Best for Food, Friendliest, Most Fun, Most Patriotic and Most Beautiful. As each team crossed the country visiting the six towns in their assigned category, they chronicled their adventures by blogging, tweeting, uploading videos, and posting photos along the way.

Over 670 towns, their residents as well as the public watching and joining in online all participated in the promotion.  It is no wonder the program generated over *500 MILLION* media impressions in a few months.  To see more and to learn about this year’s Best of the Road, go to www.bestoftheroad.com.

The other major strategic alliance is with Travel Channel. Put simply, TV viewers of Travel Channel and visitors to their website now have options to visit Tripology to submit trip requests, based on Travel Channel programming. More details can be found in our newsroom online http://www.tripology.com/consumer/news/ This, as you can imagine, is a huge win for Tripology, our Tripologists and frankly, travel agents in general. Indeed, 2011 was a great year professionally.

Personally, it was wonderful as well. My family (my children are now four and three years old) and I got to do a fair amount of traveling; we hit the beach a few times in places like the Bahamas, Florida and yes, Chicago. We enjoyed the outdoors on a small lake in upper Wisconsin, fishing and watching majestic bald eagles fly from their nests above the cabin.  We also spent a bunch of time back East, visiting friends and family in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  We have quite a few trips planned for 2012, including Greece to visit family and then hit the beaches on Crete, where my wife and I were married nearly twenty years ago (yes, a “destination wedding” before the term existed).

This time of year is filled with family traditions.  One of my favorites with the kids is the annual toy donation; where we go through the house and do the “Donate or Keep?” project; I hold up a toy or doll and ask the owner (aka my kids) “Donate or Keep?” We’ve explained there are children less fortunate who won’t get many toys at all for Christmas. We also threw in the “fact” that Santa won’t bring new toys unless we know how to share and be kind to people in need.

My four year old daughter gets it; she rifled through the easy ones, but needed a tiny bit of coaxing on a couple of dolls. My three year old son however, shocked me in his first participation of the tradition; he kept screaming “DONATE!” with the fury of a stock broker trying to quickly unload some of his underperforming assets.  After a dozen or so “DONATE!” shouts, I looked at my wife and she gave me the look of a mother who has raised an angel of philanthropy. You know, the “he may look like you, but inside he’s all me” look.  I then handed him is own bag and he walked around the playroom putting most of his toys in the sack, leaving out only essentials; Buzz Lightyear, Matchbox cars, Army men and a few stuffed animals which included “Yogurt” the bear who was appropriately named when my son spilled (you guessed it) yogurt on him.

I have to admit, I was proud of him.  So, we walked around, my son barely able to pull his third bag.  As we tied each bag, we told our kids how proud of them we were.  My daughter said she was happy to give these toys away.  My son heard that and exclaimed, “Wait Daddy, you said Santa wants us to *share* so when do we get these back?”  It turns out 2011 was also the year my son actually listened to what I said. Needless to say, we had to go through the bags again, but still, not much came out and yes, I was still proud of him.

So as we talk about angst at work and the emails and joys (read “horrors”) of business travel, this is a great time to think of those things that really matter; health, family, friends and those less fortunate than we are. Kiss your children often. Don’t complain if your siblings always call at the wrong time, just enjoy that they can call at all. Hug your parents if you can. Call them if they’re far away. If they’re gone, close your eyes and be with them for a while. Think of wonderful New Year’s Eves past. And remember, you’re making a wonderful holiday moments for your children to remember in the future. What will they remember about this year?

Finally, donate what you can, even if it is just some time at the local shelter or a can of food at a local food drive or dropping off old toys and books to kids that don’t have any.  Even the smallest of donations helps and I promise, it’ll make you feel great.

To all our Tripologists and industry partners, whatever holiday you’re celebrating, we wish you all the very best of health and happiness. We look forward to a successful 2012.

Warmest wishes from the entire Tripology  / Rand McNally team!

Best regards,

John

PS “Hot Spots 2012,” hosted by John E. DiScala (aka Johnny Jet) will debut on the Travel Channel Jan. 1 (at 9 p.m. and midnight EST). The one-hour special features the travel expert revealing insider tips, and the best 2012 has to offer from travel destinations around the world — including New Zealand, Belize, Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island and Canada. He also gives a “first-look” at the new Harry Potter Studio in London and visits Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America, which is the first commercial spaceport built exclusively for passenger use. Johnny Jet travels more than 150,000 miles (and visits more than 20 countries) each year.

With so many people getting so many emails, your email to customers and potential customers has to be perfect. Today’s post focuses on one of the most important parts of your email; the signature.

I, for one, get about a hundred emails a day and my biggest complaint about email is that most people don’t include a signature.  I’m not suggesting a glorious John Hancock should emblazon your email, but specifically, your customers are looking for basic contact information.  If you don’t include contact information in your email, read on.

First, this is not going to be one of those long, boring technical posts about HTML signatures, bandwidth, etc. However, to be clear, I’m a big fan of keeping email signatures in text format, without pictures and logos.  This is primarily because so many people read email on mobile devices and an HTML signature might not end up looking like what you intended.

This post is also aimed at the US market.  Sorry, but my EU friends have lots of other legal requirements related to email signatures I don’t dare address.  With that out of the way, let’s get started.

It is simple common courtesy to include basic contact information in an email signature. Just signing it “Mary” isn’t enough.  Remember, you are operating businesses and this email signature is your calling card. You must strive to be “easy-to-do-business-with.”  On that note, here are some of my thoughts.

Most people like to organize contacts into some sort of address book.  Many times we’ll do business with people with whom we have not yet had the chance to exchange business cards (or yes, BUMP iPhones; the app that let’s you bump two iPhones together to simultaneously and automatically swap contact info). Providing your basic contact information allows recipients the opportunity to copy and paste your information into their address book.  This is just in case, oh I don’t know, they want to find your contact information someday…for another trip….at another time. 

As mentioned, many people also read email on their mobile devices.  Providing your basic contact information allows them to call you with one tap of the screen (or a quick scroll on Blackberry) while they’re running through the airport.

So you have now seen me write “basic information” more than a few times, so I’ll be clear.  For me, basic information includes:

1.     Your name

2.     Your title

3.     Your phone number

4.     Your email address

5.     At least one social media username – LinkedIn would be best since you can share all your contact information there.  By the way, not all corporations (read “old school” corporations) like this one though.

6.     Your main website URL 

No, I have not included a street address.  This is only helpful if you do a lot of business outside your time zone or if, for some reason, you still get a lot of snail mail.  Street address though can be found on a website or simply requested when needed.

By the way, the rule of thumb is to keep email signatures to four lines by using colons and pipes (see below).

–

John Hancock
President | Made Up Travel Company
212-555-5555 | jhancock@madeupco.com | http://www.madeupcotravel.com
@johnhancocktvl| LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/johnQhancock

You should also have two versions of your email signature; a longer one for initial emails and a shorter one for replies.

At the end of the day, your clients and potential clients are all time-starved, so do them a favor; include your basic contact information in your email.  Make it easy for them to do business with you.  If not, they’ll assume you don’t want to do business with them.

A Smartphone is a must-have

This post is directed at any travel professional who isn’t carrying some sort of smartphone.  You know who you are.  You’re hanging on to your favorite, little, phone that handles calls and texts perfectly.  Listen, I know how you feel; it fits in your pocket or your purse, the battery almost never runs out and it is easy to use.  Your husband / wife calls, you answer. Your kids text and you text back. Hey, it works.  Trust me, I get it.

However, in today’s fast paced, business environment, your phone needs to be doing so much more for you, especially if you sell travel.  Here are three things you could be doing, as a travel agent, with your smartphone.

1.     Email: you need to be able to send and receive emails while you’re on the go.  Having to sit in front of a computer to actually send and receive email is so 1998. 

2.     Internet: You need to be able to browse the internet, check supplier sites, the weather in other locations and access Google and Bing.  Oh, and you should be buying Tripology leads, on your phone, as soon as they come in.  There, I said it.  Commercial over.

3.     You need to be able to update your facebook and twitter statuses.  If you’re not posting fun and interesting comments and pictures from your world travels, I promise your clients are getting this kind of stuff from other travel agents.  When it’s time for their next trip, whom do you think they’ll call?

4.     To that point, your phone should be your camera.  Take pictures and videos of everything! Guess what sells travel? Pictures.  You should have a hundred really neat shots on your phone that you can email, post, show to your clients and potential clients. 

5.     There are a million apps from which to choose.  Scan business cards, check a flight’s status, read and write reviews of hotels and restaurants, etc. etc. I could go on for hours.

If you are an active, professional seller of travel, a smartphone is not an option.  It is a required business tool.  This isn’t a joke. This isn’t about old-school vs. new school and this has nothing to do with age.  It’s about being open for business when you’re not at the office. It’s about being able to get information, irrespective of your location. It’s about being professional.

Allison Sodha

Dear Tripologists,

I wanted to share an article with you published this week by Travel Research Online written by Tripology India-focused travel specialist, Allison Sodha, on specialization and the importance of developing your own niche: http://bit.ly/eLiQB5

Cheers,

Veronique

1.       Sell to someone who knows you: Go back to your database and pull up all the names of all the people that booked a vacation for travel in the spring of 2010, 2009 and 2008. Call them. Email them. Contact them somehow with a few vacation specials for spring 2011; something like one Greek Island yacht cruise, one Caribbean resort stay and one family friendly Florida or California trip.  Have a few “close to home” long weekend road trip ideas handy as well.  We have plenty at RandMcNally.com.  Of course, make sure the trips are relevant to their preferences.  These are just examples. You get the idea.  I can’t imagine there’s a single American who doesn’t need a vacation. All things aside, this is a perfect time to market travel.  This covers your existing customer base.
2.       Get Moving: Get back in the swing of things of finding new customers. If you’re already a Tripologist, log in to Tripology, update your profile and start taking advantage of the lead activity.  “Fish where the fish are” as they say.  If you haven’t updated your profile in a while, you should. We’re happy to help if you need us.  Simply contact one of our Relationship Managers. 
3.       The New York Times Travel Show is the place to be: If you’re in NYC or can travel there, register NOW for the New York Times Travel Show, taking place Feb 25-27 but especially the 25^thwhich is exclusively open to travel professionals.  On that day I’m Chairing the “Focus on Specialization” series of panels and presentations. Topics include everything from “Opportunities for Growth,” “Finding Customers in a Down Economy,” and “How Social Media can help you become a specialist.”  After the presentations, the trade show floor will be open just for travel professionals. This is your time to meet with all the suppliers. You should meet a sales manager from every one of your favorite tour operators and cruise lines. These are the “connections” every consumer expects you to have and these are the folks that will get you out of jam if needed.  For more details on the NY Times Travel Show, visit http://bit.ly/NYTts
4.       Blog, Post, Tweet, Rinse and Re-tweet: Start blogging about the most amazing vacations you’ve taken or sold. If it’s cold where you live, talk about warm destinations. If you live in a warm climate, talk about ski vacations. If you’re land-locked, talk about cruises. Get it? People want to get away. Include pictures; people love pictures! Feature some of your clients and have them send you photos of their vacation. Heck, tell them to send you photos from their vacation. Then, tell everyone you know about your blog.  If you can’t commit to blogging regularly, for heaven’s sake, make sure you are talking up vacations and travel advice on facebook.  If the whole social media thing is still foreign to you (please PLEASE tell me it isn’t), get some help from your kids or grandchildren. Just don’t expect them to friend you on facebook.
5.       Seriously. Get a new phone: Buy a new smartphone. Yea, yeah, I know… your phone works just fine…and has for the past five years. If you’re carrying around a mobile phone that is more than two years old, it is time to upgrade and I mean really upgrade. You’re phone should be doing a lot more for you than ringing. Your phone should allow you to get online, research, post to social media platforms, get email, take pictures and videos and yes, buy leads from Tripology while you’re out and about. Seriously, a smartphone can make it so you’re never “out of the office.” Your goal for 2011; be open for as many hours a day as you can and be as productive as you can in those hours. 
6.       Be Unique: Here’s an idea, carry around a smartphone with dozens of pictures of beach, sand and ocean.  When you meet with a potential client, show them the pictures and say “I can get your toes in this sand in a week.”   Silly, but fun, right? 
7.       Smile, would you? If you’re calling people, be chipper and be positive. Don’t go overboard, but you’d be amazed at how important a good attitude is.
8.       Be Persistent: Half the battle of getting a new customer is being at the right place at the right time. People are time-starved and you may need to push a bit to get a new client. Don’t be rude, but don’t be shy either. Most times, you won’t get the business unless you ask for it. You’re not an order taker, you’re a Pit Bull, I mean travel specialist!
9.       You’re Fired! Fire your time-wasting clients. I know this one is scary, but it’s time to get serious.  You have three months to get the start of the year under your belt and do so profitably. You won’t have time for time wasters.  If you find someone is taking up too much time without yielding results, cut them.  Let them waste someone else’s time.
10.   “Gimme an E!” Finally, do you need some enthusiasm? We can help. Follow us on twitter (@tripology), facebook (www.facebook.com/tripology).  We give advice on how to find customers. We share sales ideas from successful Tripologists. We’ll even try and make you laugh every once in a while.  Life is too short not to laugh regularly.  Plus, we’re on all the social media platforms to hear what *you* have to say. Want to tell us something? We’re listening.  Make sure you check out all the Rand McNally Social Media accounts as well.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Do you have any more? If so, let me know. Post them on our Facebook page or send us a tweet. Now go get busy and happy selling!

John

10 Tips for Traveling with Kids

A travel industry friend just called and asked me about a post I wrote a while ago about traveling with kids.  He’s taking a trip with the family next week and asked me to send it to him.  It’s been over a year since I wrote it, so I thought a quick re-post would be fine. Enjoy! - JOHN

I have a feeling I’m going to catch a lot of heat for this post, but I have to tell you about my feelings about kids on planes.

For years, I’ve been traveling on planes listening to screaming, misbehaving and crying kids. I must admit something very dark; I hated kids on planes. Just the sight of them made me cringe.  I would spy them in the waiting areas and try to judge how misbehaved they’d be and what my odds were they would be sitting within one row of me or worse, next to me.

I recall one flight, I was sitting next to a man (he in the aisle and I in the middle seat – so I was already pissed) and the two little brats, er, I mean children behind us wouldn’t shut up. The man next to me continued to read his Wall Street Journal as if there was nothing wrong.  As the kids bounced and yelled, he kept reading.  Then the kids started playing “go fish” as they threw their cards and proceeded to slam the tray table connected to my seat repeatedly.  All the mother did was kept repeating “Calm down, you are bothering the nice man in front of you.”  (Ya think?) However, after one hundred times of saying this, I’m sure all the kids heard was “way to go, make more noise.” One last slam and I turned around and said to the mother “I normally am a nice man, but the fact you continue to sit there and do nothing while your children bang on my chair is unbelievable to me.”  Her response? “Sorry, but they’re only children.”

The slamming stopped for a few minutes and I commented to the guy sitting and reading his newspaper.  (Note: he hadn’t moved and, to my amazement, was still calmly reading.) “Do you believe this?”  His response? “I’ve got four kids at home. This is nothing. I honestly don’t hear a thing.”  I couldn’t believe his response and thought for a moment, he might have been their father; you know, a dad who travels with the family but acts as if he doesn’t know them.

As for me at the time, I never thought I could deal with kids on a plane. That is, until my wife became pregnant with our first child. I knew, at that moment, I was going to have to grow up and get with the program.  One thing I was sure about was 90% of a child’s behavior on the plane was in direct proportion to the effort put forth by the parents. Yes Mom and Dad, your children are your responsibility on planes or in hotels or anywhere else for that matter. Ignoring them in your own home is fine. However, ignoring them while they slam my tray table isn’t.

Fast forward at least eighteen years. I now have two children under three years old. Both are avid flyers.  My wife and I have, over many flights, put together a list of things we do and bring to make sure we have a good flight, not only for us, but for the people around us.  It’s not a foolproof plan, but it’s pretty good. So, here goes.

1. Kill Germs. Airports and planes are dirty. Bring disinfectant wipes and wipe down everything around your child on the plane; arm rests, tray tables, wall, window shade – everything. Carry Purell and wipe/disinfect their hands and yours regularly. OK, germs killed.
2. Bring extra supplies. The diaper bag has to be filled, complete with any supply that might ever be needed for any possible reason.  Extra diapers and supplies (30% more than you think you need – just in case of delays), paper towels, a cloth towel just in case you have to mop up a spill, plastic bags and ziplock baggies and an infinite supply of wipes.  Bring a little air-freshener too. Trust me, you may be used to your little-one’s spit-up smell, but everyone around you won’t appreciate it.
3. Keep ‘em busy. Children’s attention spans are short at a young age.  I plan the 15-minute activity list.  You should have one activity per 15 minutes. Keep  them busy and they’re less likely to aggravate you and the other people on the plane. Activities can be repeated, but only once an hour.  For us, these include: crayons on coloring books, regular hard picture book, sticker book, etch-a-sketch mini and one of those books with the special marker that reveals hidden pictures as you color.
4. Go ahead, watch TV. Here, television IS your friend. For longer flights, get a portable DVD player or something where you can play Barney, the Wiggles or whatever else you child likes.
5. Popping Ears. Infants cry during take-off and landing because their ears hurt.  So, make sure they’re drinking a bottle during those times to alleviate their ear-popping pain. It has worked like a charm for both of my kids.
6. Extra clothes. Bring extra clothes for the kids…and for you. Sometimes, children get sick, so plan for it. Sometimes children get sick on you which my wife learned on one flight when my son threw up on her. From then on, we’ve each carried an extra t-shirt with us, just in case.
7. Thou shall not kick. If your child is a fan of kicking the seat in front of them (why do they do this?), take off their shoes. One kick and it will hurt and they’ll stop doing it.
8. Hear no evil. No matter how well-behaved you think your kids are, they may cry. So, as soon as the flight attendant comes around offering earphones, offer to buy a set for each of your seat-mates.  On our last Continental Airlines flight, they were being offered at $1, so I automatically bought one for the five people around us.  One man kept saying “you don’t need to do that” but for a buck, it was a good insurance policy, just in case.
9. Thank you and Sorry! Sometimes your children are going to misbehave. It happens.  Yes, they are just kids (Okay? There, I said it.)  Or, they’ll be sick or something just won’t go as planned on the plane. You’ll make a few people miserable. You won’t want to, but you will. When we fly with our children, we carry a dozen gift cards (from Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks).  Most are for $10, but a few are for $50.  We use these as “thank-you” and “I’m sorry” for people that have either helped us (like the flight where my wife was flying alone with my infant daughter and flight attendant held my daughter when my wife had to use the rest-room.) On a flight that was delayed for three hours ON THE RUNWAY, our daughter spilled her drink on the man next to her.  It was just juice and she didn’t mean it, but she was fidgety. He wasn’t upset, but I felt I should at least pay for his dry-cleaning. He didn’t want to accept anything but was pleasantly surprised at the gift-card.
10. Dads – this one is for you. Your wife has enough to deal with so help her. Help her even more than you normally would. Take turns taking your children to the bathroom. Do more than your fair share. Traveling with kids can be fun. My daughter and I love to look out the window on take-offs. We love to look at the clouds.

As you can tell, I’m a firm believer in over-parenting on flights. It’s the right (and polite) thing to do. Your children and your seat-mates will thank you.  I acknowledge that things always won’t go as planned, so you should plan for that as well.  It won’t be easy all the time, but you have to make the effort. Traveling with children can be a great experience.

For those parents who think that ignoring their misbehaved children on the plane is okay and the rest of us should just deal with it – well, no. You deal with your kids.  At least, please, make a real effort.  We understand they’re just kids, but you are the adult.

For the rest of you on the plane, including people like the anti-child-on-plane person I used to be, people traveling with kids (especially single moms) need help, so offer assistance. Every little bit helps.  You’ll see how much they appreciate it.  My mother always says, “Be nice to people and they’ll be nice to you.” 

Kudos to Travel Specialist Jami on the super feedback she received from a happy Tripology client she booked to Hawaii:
“Jami was awesome, she did everything I asked for and very quickly…I will always use her from now on for all my travel needs :)”

Need help getting these type of comments and sales? Tripology can help! Contact us at 800-924-0722.

Cheers,

Veronique

Simply send us an email describing why the destination is your favorite for a quick winter getaway along with your contact information to contest@tripology.com by 12/31/10. Tripology will announce the winner in its January newsletter.

Jennifer Byrne

See what Tripology travel specialist Jennifer’s clients had to say about how she handled the rebooking of their vacation due to a hurricane in the Caribbean:

“Oh-h-h-h, I’d like to add our THANKS for the wonderful recommendation of Half Moon, the generous food tray and your “magical” effect on our stay!!!!!

You told “a friend” at Half Moon to “take care of us” and did they EVER!!!  When Jennifer speaks the Half Moon listens!  The Hibiscus Suites were BEAUTIFUL and you could have square danced in the bathroom - it was THAT spacious!  We were SO THRILLED to have oceanfront views and CAN’T thank you ENOUGH for your professionalism and kindness during the hectic (switch from Windjammer to Half Moon)!!

You’ve been “spot on” on both recommendations….St. Lucia (Jalousie) and Jamaica (Half Moon), Jennifer!!!  2 for 2!

You’ve got our admiration, trust and you WILL be hearing from The Brody’s again in the future, Jennifer!! THANK YOU for everything!!!!!!”

Not seeing these kinds of results? Let us help you: 800-924-0722. Have great stories about your clients, please let us know: contact@tripology.com.

Happy selling,

Veronique