seeking Virtuoso travel agent recommendations (with Wiki)
 

Especially someone comfortable for making bookings that are smaller dollar amounts (say $500-$1000 per stay). I reached out to the individual I had found on this board and he expressed that he is only interested in doing $1500+ bookings, and this is fine with me.

If any Virtuoso travel agents are reading this, I do frequently book for my boss who tends to do $3-5K hotel stays several times a year, so there will be larger commission possibilities.

Suggestions?

I can recommend FTer challett, he is a friend of mine and great to work with. Always responds promptly and follows up with the property to ensure everything is in place for our stay. We had a great time at the RC Pudong in a Club Bund View Suite with airport transfer and everything arranged.

Thanks AAerSTL. Always happy to help a fellow FTer.

DavidO.!!
He was great for me this year. Thanks, David!

In addition to the two Virtuoso agents already mentioned, there are others (Luxury, MarshKing, and ABG spring to mind) who are knowledgable and active on this forum.

Rather than turning this thread into one where everyone +1's their favorite Virtuoso agent, may I suggest we limit further comments just to naming other Virtuoso agents with whom a member has had good experience.

Thanks,
RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels

Edited to add: I just deleted a few posts following this one that contained nothing material other than +1's for already mentioned Virtuoso agents. Please be reasonable about this or PM me if you have a reason why you think my request is somehow wrong. Thanks.

DavidO recommended Alyssa Schulke (www.schulketravel.com) to me.

She helped me book trips to Bali, Vietnam and an upcoming South America cruise. She also helped friends of mine book trips to Bali and honeymoons in various locations. She is very responsive and always very helpful. I'm unsure of her activity on FT.

Thanks for posting that -- I did a search but couldn't find it even though I recalled it was there. Being a mod and having an advanced degree in computer science doesn't seem to mean that you can get the FT search function to do your bidding!

Any reason why he didn't help you himself?

Caroline Mueller with Aldine Travel in St. Louis, MO. Wonderful lady with a wealth of knowledge. She has never mentioned a minimum, nor would I expect her to. A class act all the way!

Yeah, I find the idea of a minimum a bit strange--don't agents want the whole relationship? I may not be typical (and certainly spend less per night than a lot of folks on this board), but I do plenty of <$1500 trips, but I do a decent number of $3-5K trips and some $10K+ trips as well. An agent who isn't willing to do the small bookings isn't going to get the big ones, either.

I have use Suzanne Homme from Protravel in Palm Desert, CA for the last 3+ years. I've given her about $60K+ in business, spread over a few very large trips and numerous very small trips. I routinely have her book 1-2 night stays at $200 - $500 per night. Never batted an eye or suggested any minimums.

She comes up on Google pretty easily, but if you need her information or an introduction, please let me know.

Also, like Alyssa above, Suzanne is on the Saveur Travel Advisory Board.

I did ask DavidO to help - he referred us. Perhaps he had too may FTers pinging him! :)

In any event, my colleagues, friends, and I have been very happy with DavidO's reco of Alyssa.

Great to hear.

Naomi Childs was my TA for years and she is affiliated with Protravel in Beverly Hills. She was the best travel agent I have ever known. Unfortunately, she is now quite ill. Big ^^to Naomi Childs. She was the master of the upgraded room and the impossible to get reservation. Moreover, a very dignified, elegant lady. She loves traveling as much as she loves planning travel.