stevento

We always traveled a lot, and I enjoyed planning our trips, which tended to be very fast paced, very complicated affairs, involving frequent moves and changes of place.
As we traveled with kids, during their school breaks, that worked for us, and we've traveled to over 70 countries (some very briefly, some multiple times).

Recently our situation changed, and we have enough time for a 7-10 day trip every month.
Our budget has improved as well, and is about $30k per trip (although we've never come close to spending that much for a trip... by a very very very long shot)
So what was a labor of love before is becoming a chore.... especially since we have some "requirements" for our travel.
For example, we are spoiled over the last 10 years and will only fly premium cabin for TATL/TPAC. In the past, we've only flown on points. Since now it's just the two of us, we can fly revenue instead, but I can't bring myself to pay $6-7K for a short TATL flight from NY.
We also like to stay in apartments, villas, or suites, but most AirBnBs look nice on pictures but less so in real life.
And we prefer to stay far away from large resorts, preferring city breaks or countryside retreats instead.

I am not sure where to turn to. I am not particularly interested in group tours or cookie cutter offerings that I see online. We also don't need any handholding and don't require to be met in airports and transported to hotels and so on, that seems to be the focus of the "high end" agencies. Most don't seem to be interested in planning a portion of the trip, and want to take care of the whole thing end-to-end. Not sure if that works for us.

We are very open where to go - with so much time, nothing is a "trip of a lifetime".
But clearly my old way of searching for award availability isn't working... and the fast pace that was tolerable 3-4 times/yr is becoming too exhausting when it's every month.
I like an idea of travel agent or consultant, fee-based or on retainer, who would help plan trips. Ideally one who understands award travel as well, but that might be too much to ask.
Not sure if that's available, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

ABG

If I understand you correctly, there are lots of services that can help you find ways to redeem your award miles.... I just don't know any "Virtuoso" type advisors that get into that side of things.

MSPeconomist

The award redemption services generally are not travel agents.

On FT, there are threads listing Virtuoso agents who participate in FT (luxury hotels forum, IIRC) and award redemption services with FT connections (external miles and points forum). You might wish to consider whether any of these outfits seem to specialize in either the type of travel you wish to do (for example, some Virtuoso agents might have expertise in safari trips, or particular regions, or travel with children) or, especially for the award search services, the airline/alliance you prefer.

KatW

Most TA’s these days, even high-end don’t book air. Many do book villas.

schriste

I was just looking a few minutes ago for AA J award redemption to New Zealand from NYC and for 2 it was a cool 1 million miles . Those miles don't go very far these days.

RichardInSF

This is a topic much discussed on Flyertalk, just not in this luxury hotel forum. But I can't resist giving a few pointers that I have used.

In the miles and points forum go to the subforum "Mileage Run Deals" and then to the subforum of that called "Premium Fare Deals." You have to keep looking every day or two to find something you can use that originates in the USA but so far twice this year I have found two deals I am using.. One got me a round trip in business SFO-LHR-Munich and a second got me a round trip SFO-LHR-Rome, both in the range of $1900-2200. That's a good deal even if you have to add on an intra-European flight to where you really want to go.

You can further add to that by finding a credit card that gives a discount on at least one carrier or by other means. Amex has something called the "international airline program" (IAP) for Platinum and Centurion card holders (although their customer service can be weak). There's a Chase card with a 10% discount on BA, and if you join AARP -- which anyone can do and is cheap -- you can get a $200 discount per ticket on any BA TATL round trip in J or F. I'm sure there are plenty of others that I have missed discussed elsewhere on Flyertalk. Often the various discounts can be stacked.

TPAC is generally harder because the competition appears not to be as strong. But even there often deals can be found, particularly if you are willing to hub in one of the more competitive markets such as Bangkok.

I guess I am a travel planning nerd because I find the search to be enjoyable. I have even found a good airfare first and then used that as an excuse to plan a trip, even though in the end, what I spend on hotels really does end up being much more in total. But then the good hotels really do treat their customers way better than even the most allegedly customer-oriented airlines.

KatW

I love travel planning, too, and especially appreciate not having to juggle miles.

Valveking

Richard has a great point above. Airline miles themselves have been devalued a lot. I have found it easiest just to generate as many Amex points as possible and book their IAP program. The key has having a business Platinum card or, better yet, a business Centurion card that gets a point rebate of 35% or 50%. Tickets purchased through IAP with points are treated as revenue tickets so you accrue all the normal benefits.

Ilove2fly

sounds like you are looking for a person traveling assistant. You want someone to pick a destination for you based on latest travel deals, make it interesting for you, step aside, let you enjoy the trip and step in when things go sideways. That’s a tall order. The plus is that you have a healthy budget.

Several of my friends use travel agents to put together custom packages for them. In larger cites they get less hand holding on difficult to get to places or less touristy places they get the proper amount of hand holding. Still they have to pick a destination. One couple has a travel agent in our home city, Houston. They talked about private concert in one of the Eastern European countries. The other couple pick an agent in each major region for example South America, Africa…. They talked about viewing chaotic festivals from a perfectly situated balcony. Unless a travel agent on FT PM you and offer the personalized service, my suggestion would be to start using agents in your home city, NYC and keep changing until you find one that understands your objectives. A good agent should have “friends” all over the world to customize trips for you.

In my opinion, picking a destination based on latest travel deals is the easiest part. Once you decide on an agent to put together custom packages just right for you, it’s easy to get that person to scan for travel deals.

richarddd

Weak may be an understatement. They use Expedia, which has horrible customer service. This can be a major problem if there are schedule changes or other things requiring contact. See some of the latter posts in USA International Airline Program (IAP) relaunched as discount benefit (2017). - FlyerTalk Forums

stevento

Thanks for your reply.
For over 10 years, I've done that too. Traveling with 2 kids, TATL/TPAC, 4-5 times/yr, only Th-following Sunday, only on school breaks, only in the same plane, and only in J or F, and only on miles - one had to become an expert. And like you, I found the search to be enjoyable - when it's a few times/yr. Now that it's become every month, it's a lot more of a chore.
I have and I use all the tools - EF, awardnexus, awardlogic, but it's beginning to take an insane amount of time. Maybe the crazy low availability this year is stressing me out more than usual.

I do have AmEx Biz Plat and use the IAP and the points rebate.

SanDiego1K

I have a notes app that marries between my computer and my phone. I read this forum religiously. As I come across hotel reviews that appeal, I add them to that app. I keep hotels sorted by continent and within continent by country. I also subscribe to the premium fare forum. I get emails for every thread that is started there. I also have a significant stash of miles.

Last December, I put together a trip to Oman based on reviews done by @khabah and others. I found affordable business class tickets to Oman on Qatar at $5K each. We had a wonderful trip. I've got a list of hotels that @KatW has recommended. I've ticked off several of the California recommendations and have ones on the list for Mexico. We're headed to Tanzania soon. There I used a superb agent who specializes in African safaris. I'm a Hyatt person and banded it with Hyatts in Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam and Doha. There's a thread on Vietnam in this forum where I've outlined a trip I plan to take in December. Bhutan opens in September. I expect to go in 2023.

There are Virtuoso agents in this forum who can be very helpful. Some actively travel themselves and have ideas for trips you can consider.

erik123

Pick destinations that are out of season and not so much in the public eye. You'd be surprised how enjoyable those trips can be.

Last minute availability can also be great and cheap. E.g. we travelled air one-way to Asia several times with only a hotel booked the first few nights. It has always worked extremely well and at much lower cost than booking far out.

busy

I work with an agent with a private membership club model which costs about $15K per year. I will sometimes use miles for premium air, but buy it other times. It really comes down to when there is value in the redemption vs purchase. I tend to take trips with a lot of moving parts as well and sorting the right meet and greets (gate), guides, activities, movements, reservations etc can be a bit cumbersome. It sounds like you are looking for bespoke/full service. Fischer Travel does this, but it's a large team and you're not directly dealing Stacy or Bill a lot of the time. Their entry is actually a fair bit higher at $100K. Other groups advertise being more for the young and hip, but really comes down to needs. If you spending $250K/year on travel I would suggest moving in.

KatW

Interesting.