January 2021 Newsletter
Happy New Year! This is what is inside…
- What’s New With ABHT
- Event Calendar
- Recorded Travel Presentations
- New Sample Itineraries
- Recent Blog Posts
- Italian Cooking Class Photos
WHAT’S NEW WITH ABHT
We took some time off for the holidays as it is normally a very slow time of year for us anyway. The whole year has been slow but this is even more so. Usually, after the holidays the trip requests start coming in and we look forward to your calls! We know people are still cautious about traveling and many countries and destinations are not open. The good news is that the vaccines are rolling out and we do feel confident in booking some destinations like Mexico, Tahiti, Africa and Hawaii.
Make sure to check with us before booking your trip online. Not only do we provide you with all the necessary information on your destination but we have access to offers that the general public do not. For example, we just worked on a trip to Hawaii for a client who saw an online 2 for 1 deal that they couldn’t pass up. We don’t blame them for booking it and we are so grateful they contacted us right away to see if we could offer the same deal. They had a heck of a time booking the rooms they needed with the hotel’s website and this family needed other travel items as well. Not only did we match the hotel’s price but we were able to include more costs so our price was actually better than the hotel’s! This family would have had to pay almost 15% in city/room taxes upon arrival but those taxes are included in our price. We saved them about $1600! Plus, to top it all off we were able to include a free breakfast for two people during their entire stay. That is another $560 savings to add to their trip! You never know what you are missing out on if you don’t check with us first.
The same thing happened to a client who went to Mexico last month. She got an email about a 65% off sale at an all-inclusive hotel she wanted to stay at. She forwarded the promotional email to us and asked if we had access to that sale. Of course we did and our price also included the airport transfers so she was very happy with our findings and booked the trip with us. Not only did she get a better deal by booking with us, but she also had our support throughout the entire trip. Yes, we were there for her the night before departure when she was trying to decide if it was safe to travel or not. She went on the trip and we were also able to get her a nice room upgrade as well.
If you are one of our top 50 clients, you should have received a very nice holiday card. We think they turned out beautifully! See the photo above for a glimpse. Let us know what you think if you received one.
Finally, we had another successful cooking class in November and we decided to schedule three more in January! More details are below.
~Your Travel Gals~
Andrea, Monica, Tia & Cara
EVENT CALENDAR
In 2019, we started hosting free, fun & informative destination themed travel nights. Most of them were at our office in Lynnwood but we also experimented with other locations as well. We had some nibbles, wine and bubbly water while we shared some information about specific destinations. However, in 2020, we had to switch gears due to social gathering restrictions and started offering Virtual Vacations instead! Most were co-hosted with other Travel Advisors and our trusted Travel Partners however, we had a few that we hosted exclusively for our clients. We will continue to offer some fun travel themed events that we can do virtually so stay tuned to our event calendar.
Right now, we decided to schedule some more free and fun cooking classes where we talk a little about the destination that the dish is from and we enjoy getting to know you by cooking it together. We recorded the previous ones and we will share the recordings of the upcoming events as well. These events have been EXTREMELY popular and often sell out. We have to go in and add more tickets when we sell out so if you encounter this issue, make sure and email us so we can get you in! Once registered on Eventbrite, you will have access to our Zoom meeting where the cooking class will be presented.
- Sat Jan 9 – Free Spanish Cooking Class (daytime & exclusive)
- Sat Jan 16 – Free French Cooking Class (daytime & exclusive)
- Sat Jan 23 – Free Portugal Cooking Class (daytime & exclusive – RSVP opens soon!)
RECORDED TRAVEL PRESENTATIONS
Since we have started hosting our Travel Nights virtually, we have been able to record them so we can share them with people who cannot attend. Let us know if there is a destination you are interested in learning more about!
- Tour North America Presentation (Aug 20, 2020)
- Cruise the USA with Viking Presentation (Sep 10, 2020 – Access code: !X03VUVM)
- Viking Cruise Night Presentation (Sep 24, 2020)
- Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Presentation (Oct 8, 2020)
- Italian Cooking Class in Oct (Oct 29, 2020)
- Italian Cooking Class in Nov (Nov 14, 2020 – different recipe)
If you missed any of our previous Virtual Vacations, please check out our blog post for the direct links to the recorded presentations. Many have been uploaded to video so there is no longer a need to register to view the presentation! We have traveled all over the world virtually but if there is a place you want us to go to, please drop us an email.
NEW SAMPLE ITINERARIES & PACKAGES
Here are our most recent additions to our website. We want to make sure you check out the Albuquerque page as the Travel Gals are going on this trip and we want you to join us. We bring the fun times anywhere we go! We are also including a new destination page on Monica’s website that features Sweden. She created 3 different sample itineraries/packages on her page. Come find out why she loves this country so much!
- 6-day Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta – Oct 8-13, 2021
- Destination Sweden (Monica’s Website)
- Norway & Sweden Sample Package (Monica’s Website)
- One Week In Sweden Sample Itinerary (Monica’s Website)
- 3-Night Northern Lights Sample Package (Monica’s Website)
What is the difference between a sample itinerary and travel package?
Sample itineraries generally have no pricing and are meant to give a general idea of what you can do and see at a particular destination. Often, these are itineraries we have planned for past clients and have removed all the personal details.
A travel package will often come with a starting price and it generally has a set date or range of dates to travel. The travel package itinerary is already pre-planned and sometimes you will travel with a small group of like-minded travelers. However, many of these packages can be customized for your own personal travel needs.
RECENT BLOG POSTS
We have some new blog posts and thought we should share them with you! Also, in order to save and share our newsletters more efficiently, we started adding them to our blog. We even have a few guest bloggers who provide some more fun content for us. Check out what is new!
- Mostly Authentic Swedish Meatballs Recipe (Jan 2021, Monica’s Blog)
- Hawaiian Holiday Cocktail Recipes (Dec 2020, Monica’s Blog)
- How to Pack Like a Pro (Dec 2020, Guest Blogger)
- Tahiti Destination Highlights (Dec 2020, Monica’s Blog)
- Italian Cooking Class in Nov Recording (Dec 2020)
- Virtual Polar Expeditions Recording (Dec 2020)
- Glamping in Style (Dec 2020, Guest Blogger)
- Italian Cooking Class in Oct Recording (Nov 2020)
- Whitewater Kayaking & Rafting in Canada (Nov 2020, Guest Blogger)
- Nov 2020 Newsletter (Nov 2020)
Do you have an idea for a blog post or want to contribute? Let us know!
ITALIAN COOKING CLASS PHOTOS
We really enjoyed the last Italian Cooking Class that we hosted and here are some of the photos that were shared with us. Enjoy!
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