I’m not interested in travelling on a tight budget or looking for the cheapest hotel/restaurant etc. I have limited vacation time and want to enjoy my travels to the fullest! But I haven’t had the best experience with local travel agencies so I want to try the more “prestigious” ones. What are some of the biggest pain points about luxury travel agencies like Abercrombie and Kent or Virtuoso? Are they as personalized and private as they seem or could they do better?
Abercrombie and Kent isn’t a travel agency, they’re a tour operator. If you want a traditional luxury travel agent then you’ll want someone who is with Virtuoso as that’s the highest ratesd consortia, which is essentially a invite only membership for luxury agencies. I’d also look to see if they’re Forbes endorsed as there’s only 40 or so agencies that are and it’s an independent validation on their ability and also reputation in the industry. This is how I chose with agency to affiliate with when I was switching and what clients should look for as well.
I would suggest a Virtuoso agent. Sometimes they can get you benefits that you can’t get if you book on your own.
Good questions.
So, Abercrombie and Kent isn’t really a travel agency but a travel operator in the luxury space. They are more well known for their group trips although they also do private trips. They invest a lot in branding and before joining the travel industry I always looked up to them. Then I got into the industry and learned that they don’t really do personalized trips, heavily mark up everything and tend to stick with hotels that give them preferential rates/commissions but not necessarily the best hotels. I inspected 9 hotels in Bangkok and the hotel that I liked the least was the Peninsula and it’s the one they use the most. So.. if you are looking for a group premium travel experience that it’s already designed, try them. But I would really recommend going with an agency.
Virtuoso itself is not an agency but an “association” of agencies, hotels, and other travel companies - it’s meant to be a sign of excellence but there are exceptions. Definitely try using a Virtuoso agency but do your research. Look for one that resonates with you the most - some parents love using agencies owned by parents - check out their fees, experience, and minimum spend. For example we work with 1K per person per day mins (and in some countries slightly more). And check out for reviews or if they’ve been recognised by any major company, like Conde Nast or Travel + Leisure (like us :))
And the big pro of using a travel advisor is not only the expertise and personalisation but it’s that you’ll have someone vouching for you. You can ask any 5 stars hotel and they’ll tell you that after their super recurrent clients, they’ll prioritize guests that booked through a TA over others (including those who use the Amex portal) - and you are paying the same rate. You can try out the experience by booking a hotel with a Virtuoso agent (+ info on profile)
Also, sometimes it’s hard to know if a tour or hotel you found online it’s really good - they all seem to have +4.5 stars reviews. But luxury TAs work with partners in each destination who vet hotels, drivers, and guides and even get you access to things not found online (however, this is not cheap).
Highly recommend the bespoke “agency” we went with but it depends where you’re going? They specialize in South America so if you’re going there feel free to dm me for their details. They customized literally everything for us (hotels, activities, cars) based on what we wanted. It wasn’t cheap but it was well worth it. We did Argentina and Chile - such a great experience that we’re thinking of booking them again for colombia!!
Look into Wendy Perrin’s WOW list.
I am also a luxury travel advisor and virtuoso agent and curated itineraries for my clients friends and family. Having traveled personally to over 30 countries over the last 30 years I have much more experience with the industry than many that are just starting in the business. Happy to send along my info.
The benefits of working with a more prestigious travel agency is that they have a wider portfolio of mostly/only luxury properties they book often. This could mean they have great relationships with the properties directly to support you for upgrades or if anything goes wrong. They can also tell you which luxury properties are popping off or not worth the hype. And added perks, of course.
The downsides may be higher planning fees than you’re used to (many are moving into a membership model now) and being turned away as a client if you’re not booking enough/lucrative enough. Hope this helps!
Source: used to work for a bespoke luxury travel agency before going independent
Instead of Abercrombie and Kent or Virtuoso, I suggest traveling with Haute Jets. I recently traveled in their G650 and my experience was outstanding.
I’m a virtuoso advisor and the itineraries I craft are custom to the clients preferences, while partnering with the best on the ground partners for private experiences. I would be happy to chat with you to see if we’re a good fit!
You should find an agent on the virtuoso website that fits your needs and reach out to them directly. If you’re looking for full itinerary planning there are a lot of agents that specialize in that on virtuoso. A lot of agents specialize in different things these days. I personally specialize in finding really nice hotels for my clients and VIPing them with an overflow of perks and never will charge a client a fee for my service, but don’t really build out full itins with flights, etc.