How we work and fees
Plainly, from the first email
How a trip comes together, what it costs, and where your money goes. Most travellers pay us nothing at all. Where there is a fee, it is one number, stated before we start, and it comes off the trip.
- Hotels, cruises, set tours
- No fee
- Custom multi-stop journeys
- CA$400, credited
- First reply
- One business day
The sequence
Six stages, the same person at every one of them
Simple hotel bookings skip straight from the first conversation to booking. Expedition voyages and custom journeys use every stage.
- Week one
First conversation
You tell us where, when and how you like to travel, through the enquiry form or by email. We reply within one business day, then half an hour by phone or video. No obligation, and we tell you then whether a design fee applies.
- One to two weeks
Design and quote
One document, day by day, with the reasoning beside each choice and the full cost in the same place. Most trips change at least twice. That is the useful part, and revisions are included.
- When you say yes
Booking, with benefits
We book through our host agency and apply Virtuoso benefits wherever the property or line takes part: breakfast for two, an upgrade when one is free, a hotel credit or amenity. Your trip portal opens the same day.
- The months before
Before you go
We track every deadline: final payments, passport validity, visas, medical forms for the ship, park permits. About a week before you leave, we write to each hotel so nobody at the front desk has to work out who you are.
- On the road
While you travel
Your itinerary sits on your phone, with every confirmation attached. If a flight is cancelled or a ship changes its route, you message your advisor and we rebook while you wait.
- The week after
Home again
A short debrief: what worked, what we would change, which room you would ask for next time. It goes into your traveller profile so the next trip starts further ahead.
Fees
One fee, for one kind of trip, and it comes back to you
Hotels, cruise lines and tour operators pay us a commission when you book through us, and it is built into the price you would pay anyway. That covers most of our work. A custom journey across several stops takes days of design before anything is booked, so it carries a design fee, credited in full to the trip when you book.
Hotel stays, cruises and set tours
You pay the same rate you would pay booking direct, often with more included.
- Hotel stays, with Virtuoso benefits where the hotel takes part
- Ocean, river and expedition cruises on set departures
- Small-group and set-departure tours
- Rail journeys on scheduled departures
Commission is paid to our host agency by the supplier.
Custom multi-stop journeys
A design fee for trips we build from scratch: several regions, private guides, bush flights, a voyage with land on either side.
- Charged once, after the first conversation, never before
- Credited in full to the trip when you book
- Covers the design, revisions and the full written proposal
- If you decide not to book, the proposal is yours to keep
Per trip, not per person. Stated in writing before any work starts.
How payments work
Your money never passes through a personal account
Every payment goes either to the supplier directly, such as the hotel, cruise line or tour operator, or to our host agency, Trevello, which processes client payments for every booking we make. You will never be asked to send money to an advisor or to The Travelling T directly.
Usually paid at the hotel at check-out, or prepaid to the hotel where the rate requires it.
A deposit at booking and a final payment about 90 to 120 days out, paid to the line or operator.
Invoiced by our host agency and shown as a credit on your final trip invoice.
Every deadline appears in your trip portal with the amount and who it is paid to.
What you get
Everything about the trip in one place, and a person on the other end
Included with every booking, at no charge. See the trip portal
Your trip portal
A private itinerary that updates as plans change, with every confirmation attached. Add it to your phone's home screen or export it to your calendar.
Your advisor, on call while you travel
One number and one email for the whole trip. If something goes wrong at two in the morning your time, you message us and we start fixing it.
Deadlines tracked for you
Passport validity, visas, final payments, medical forms and permits, with a reminder well before each one is due.
A note ahead to every hotel
Sent about a week before you arrive, and again the day before if anything has changed.
Virtuoso benefits
At participating hotels: breakfast for two daily, an upgrade when available, early check-in and late check-out when possible, and one amenity set by the hotel.
A debrief when you are home
So the next trip starts with what you loved and leaves out what you did not.
Cancellations and insurance
Read the terms before you pay, and insure the trip the day you book
Every supplier sets its own cancellation terms, and on expedition voyages they are strict: deposits are often non-refundable, and the closer you are to departure, the more of the fare is at risk. Your proposal sets out each supplier's terms in plain language before you commit, and the portal shows the date each penalty changes.
We strongly recommend travel insurance that covers trip cancellation, medical care and emergency evacuation. Polar and remote trips often require evacuation cover as a condition of boarding. Insurance is arranged through our host agency's licensed desk, so the advice comes from someone licensed to give it.
The CA$400 design fee is credited to the trip when you book. Once the trip is booked it forms part of the trip cost, and supplier terms apply.
Will I pay more booking through you than booking direct?
No. Hotels, cruise lines and tour operators pay our commission out of the same rate you would see on their own sites. At hotels in the Virtuoso program, you usually get more for the same price: breakfast, an upgrade when one is free, and a credit or amenity.
When does the CA$400 design fee apply?
Only for custom journeys with several stops that we design from scratch. We tell you on the first call whether it applies, and nothing is charged until you have agreed in writing. When you book, the full CA$400 comes off the trip.
Do you book flights?
Yes, as part of a trip we are planning, so connections line up with ships, transfers and bush flights. Many travellers prefer to use their own points for long-haul flights, and we plan around those too.
Who do I call if something goes wrong while I am away?
Your advisor. You will have one number and one email for the whole trip, and every supplier contact is in your trip portal. On ships and remote lodges, the expedition team or lodge manager is your first call, and we handle everything that happens on land around them.
Is my money protected?
Payments go to the supplier or to our host agency, Trevello, never to a personal account. Every booking is made through the host agency, under its IATA and CLIA registrations, and you receive a confirmation from the supplier itself.
Can you help if I have already booked part of the trip?
Often, yes. A second opinion on a plan you have already made is a real request, and so is building the rest of a trip around a ship or lodge you have already secured.
How far ahead should I start?
For Antarctica, gorilla permits and peak safari season, twelve to eighteen months is normal, because the best cabins and camps go first. For a few nights somewhere very good, a few weeks can be enough. Our month-by-month planner shows the best season for each destination.
Ready when you are
Start with a few questions about the trip, and only a few about you
Two short steps. We reply within one business day, and nothing on the form commits you to anything.