Benefits of Hays Travel

Hays Travel is the largest independently owned travel agency in the UK. They specialize in quality holidays and are well known for their excellent customer service. They are independent from tour operators, which mean they offer a much larger range of traveling opportunities. Luxury cruises, low cost flights, late deals, long haul specials, package holidays, and tailor made getaways are some of the main services that they provide. Hotel rates can be exclusively negotiated during the holiday season for extra competitive pricing. The company has 3 call centers and 35 branches, although the main branch is based in Sunderland, England.

History

Hayes Travel was founded in 1980 by John Hays, a travel entrepreneur. Hays started his first branch with no previous industry experience and with no more equipment than a desk in the back of his mother’s children clothes shop. After a few years in Seaham, Hays set up a second shop in Sunderland, the same place the now holds the Hays empire headquarters. The move required a huge investment of over 130,000 pounds, but the company managed to expand by subletting to other offices. Slowly, its number of travel agencies began to grow and by 1990, it had eight offices.

This company has continued to be successful to date, and has a revered reputation throughout the world for their quality customer service, adequate pricing, and good value. In addition to operating travel agencies, the company also includes home working, websites, calls centers, and hosts a total of 300 agents.

The Hays Travel Independence Group was formed in 1995 as a consortium for retailers who wanted benefits from the buying power and back office expertise of the company. This group is made from more than 130 various independent traveling agencies that can be found in the UK and as far away as Hyderabad. Hays Company now employs over 800 people and was recognized as one of the Top 100 companies in the UK.

Advantages and Perks

The Hays Company specializes in helping people to find their perfect holiday or getaway vacation. Travel advisors are always available to give impartial and specialized advice to help every customer to help them find a vacation area that suits their budget and their specific needs. All additional factors, such as insurance, transfers, and car hire can also be arranged by the agent beforehand. A foreign exchange bureau is provided with branches all across the North East where you can change your currency free of commission.

There are more than one hundred independent travel agency retailers operating under the bonds and licenses of this company. This means that there are other agencies, which you can sign up with agents that provide many of the same benefits as the Hays agency itself. This can be convenient if there you are in an area that does not have a Hays company presence.

Signing up with the Hays travel group will provide you with a personal travelling consultant to help you plan your holiday by searching through hundreds of destinations, accommodations, and cheap flights. You will need to tell the agent your preferences so they can tailor make your holiday to meet your specific needs. If you already have some plans of your own, simply tell the agent so he can incorporate them into the overall package. Even if you already have a pre-planned destination, you can still benefit from the cheaper Hays travel exchange rates and flight tickets provided by your agent. They may also be able to tell you the best time to travel and which accommodations are the cheapest.

A specialized flight search program is available on their website so you can find cheap flights to almost any destination in the world. Last minute flights can also be booked for long distance destinations like the Caribbean, Canary Islands, Europe, Canada or the US. You can find you discounted flight by simply searching for your airport, and typing in the date and destination. Their flight searching machine will scan hundreds of airlines to make sure you get the best fares. If you book early, you will get the best price and choices for almost any holiday.

A large selection of Hays travel cruises is available for destinations like North America, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Far East, the Red Sea, and Alaska. They have teamed up with some of the leading cruise lines to provide special discounts and offers on the best cruise ships in the world. Cruises can be almost anything that you want them to be, because there are new destinations every day. Facilities can include restaurants and bars, gaming arcades, kids clubs, sports facilities, spas, and much more. Whether you are on a honeymoon or have a family with young children, the extensive array of itineraries and ships provided by Hays Travel will ensure that there is something for everyone to do.

Holiday Companies and Vacation Options

Each year, couples and families looking to go on holiday or take an extended vacation have to decide how best to approach their off time. Some prefer to plan their own transportation, accommodations, restaurants, and travel guides, while others prefer to skip the headache and have holiday companies plan an all-intensive vacation for them. There are many holiday company and travel agent services locally as well as internationally, so that it is nothing more than a meeting with one company in order to plan a tour or trip to a resort. While these companies naturally cost a certain fee or commission, some experienced agents may be able to book bargain rates on airfare or hotels, making the service pay for it.

Many of these holiday company outlets provide their services mostly or even exclusively for businesses. Chartering planes or yachts for company holidays, these companies work with individual businesses to plan a corporate retreat or company paid vacation on any continent. Adventure Life is one such company, a travel agency based out of Montana with offices on both east and west coasts. Their itineraries mostly focus on Central and South America, with over a hundred planned trips into the rain forests, hiking trails, mountains, deserts, beaches, islands, and caves about the continent. In addition to the destinations themselves, Adventure Life maintains a small flotilla of luxury yachts that not only transport customers to their destination, but provide the means to go anywhere in the world. Indeed, chartered yachts from Adventure Life have reached both North and South poles as new businesses look for adventures for executives, employees, and clients.

Cruise liners and beachfront resorts with golf courses and massage parlors may be some people’s idea of a vacation, but if you would rather spend your time experiencing rugged nature and the beauty of untouched wilderness, Outdoor Adventure Travel is the holiday company to see. They specialize in higher intensity vacations, requiring all customers to be in good enough shape to be able to walk at least two miles without stopping. Many of their treks are on uneven terrain or require cutting across areas without market roads, so only those with a true sense of adventure and purpose are recommended to sign up for such a trip. The hotels that provide shelter are usually very low key; oftentimes users are meant to travel with their own camping equipment on their backs.

Of course, not everyone enjoys the rough and tumble trips. Others go to holiday tour companies looking for all-inclusive packages where each arraignment is taken care of by the company. Tauck Travel is one such outlet, boasting the highest luxury accommodations for their customers on high class, all inclusive travel plans. Tauck has over 100 destination packages including small ship ocean cruises and safaris. Going to each continent (even Antarctica), this company provides one of the highest quality tour services available, but also at the highest cost. Indeed, the average fare for a two week all-inclusive stay is approximately $10,000 dollars. Customers should be certain that they can afford these high prices if they want the good life on their vacation.

If you are looking to travel on a shoestring, however, you need not be intimidated by four figure price tags for housing and spending a hundred dollars at a five star restaurant. Cheap holiday companies provide their customers with bargain prices on sights both in and out of the country. One of the least expensive—though most unorthodox —companies is called Green Tortoise, a bus based hiking trip that carries some two dozen customers about a region of the United States to see and explore. The bus has sleeping facilities so that customers rest by night and hike by day, each time at a new mountain or trail. Indeed, meals are prepared on the bus via communal cooking, mostly vegetarian with organic produce. Prices for these packages go as low as $200 dollars, making them ideal for college students or honeymooners on a low budget. Green Tortoise buses travel in the Pacific Northwest, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Appalachian foothills, and the Florida Everglades.

The difference between these holiday companies and a travel agent is most often that the prices are set for a large customer base. Travel agents work with specific hotels, airlines, and international tour sites without directly controlling any of the vacation. On a holiday company’s program, there is very little that is left up to an individual or outside the frame of the tour.

If you are interested in holiday companies for you next vacation, decide what activities you would be interested in and which part of the world you would like to see. For every part of the Earth there is a business offering a travel package, so enjoy it to the fullest with their expertise.

See Why AA Travel Provides The Best Vacations!

AA travel provides something that is unusual in today’s worldwide economy; they provide service. This company is almost 10 years old, asks what the traveler wants and really listens to the answers. They take their fast and accurate modern day technology and use it to match the customer to the type of vacation in the location requested they will most enjoy. This extraordinary travel provider then handles the multitude and mundane details, allowing this lucky person or persons to concentrate on assembling the needed attire and packing their bags. This company provides the type of service that is usually reserved for royalty.

When this travel agency is contacted, the first discussion centers on location. It does not matter where in the world the client wants to go; there is a fun adventure waiting wherever. The travel consultant can give advice and ideas on things to do with AA travel UK, AA travel New Zealand or AA travel Seattle. Once the destination has been determined the experience and caring of the travel agency becomes evident. Price is only one part of this equation; that part of the service will be covered later.

When planning this far away, luxury vacation part of the fun are the activities and sights that will be seen and experienced in strange and mysterious places. Although people visiting New Zealand rave about the tandem airplane jumps from NZone where they float freely through the air at 15,000 feet with an experienced jumper on their back guiding them and taking in the breathtaking scenery, someone afraid of heights would not enjoy the experience or possibly even survive it. However, an evening spent at the Onsen hot pools near Queenstown enjoying the fresh mountain air and basking in the penetrating, massaging hot water in the private pools secluded in a cedar-lined room with retractable windows with a significant other will create the kind of memories that this travel agency is founded on. These experienced and caring agents pride themselves in matching people to activities that they will enjoy. They are professionals at finding ways for people to experience their dreams; they can assist a person with mobility impairment choose appropriate activities in distant cities and make sure the accommodations are comfortable and convenient. Some people prefer active adventures like biking through wine country while others enjoy gazing at scenery, taking a ferry across Puget Sound or dining at the top of the revolving Space Needle in Seattle. Experiencing a paddle boat ride to the Isle of Wight in England and viewing Osburne House the former retreat of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1845 or the Carisbrooke Castle where Charles I was imprisoned.. Every location has thousands of things to see and do; the best vacations are those where the travelers see and do things they want to experience.

Once the destination and time have been determined, these agents really go to work. They use their complex computer systems and superior technology to locate the very best rates for everything; airfare, cruises, tours, hotels and car rentals. They are hard-nosed negotiators and work directly with their many partners to pass savings directly to consumers; their customers receive discounted rates, sometimes as much as 60%. They can even assist travelers with visas.

Providing AA travel insurance protects the financial investment travelers make in these luxury vacations. Travelers insurance does more than just cover the cost of emergencies and changes; it provides people with peace of mind and assurances that their hard-earned money will be used for the purpose they have chosen or returned to them. It protects them from sudden and unexpected losses or changes in plans on the trip by providing insurance for dealing with unexpected storms that change travel plans, trip cancellation, medical problems and damage to baggage. In addition, this program has a 911-travel assistant on call 24 hours a day seven days a week to assist if an emergency arises or a traveler has questions or a problem at home, away from home or in a foreign country.

This marvelous arranger of travel around the world pleases for over 6 million travelers every year. In less than 10 years, AA travel has grown and expanded. Developing a worldwide reputation that continues to meet and exceed the needs of its present and past customers by providing the kind of service that is legendary. With this kind of experience and knowledge in what can go wrong, how it can go wrong and how to make it right, there is seldom a problem they have not experienced before and cannot rectify whether it is in special accommodations, delayed flights or a stolen purse. The best vacations are the vacations where everything goes perfectly from the time the trip is thought of until world travelers returns tired, refreshed and full of wonderful vacation stories which include the personnel and the marvelous suggestions for fun and dining from this professional travel company.

Starting a Travel Business with the Global Travel Group

Are you considering starting your own travel agency or other travel business? If so, one option you can consider to help you begin your endeavor is the Global Travel Group. This company was started in 1992 and united various independent travel agencies so that they could assist people who were developing and starting their own traveling companies. The Global Travel Group boasts more than 600 members who work in various franchises including selling traveling merchandise from books to souvenirs.

The Global Travel Group members generally start their franchises as home businesses, but this is not the only option available to you. However, many choose this route as it helps them to maintain their balance of home and work life during those crucial beginning stages of their business ventures. Then again, if you want to open your own travel agency, a Global Travel Group franchise helps you with many of your business needs.

For example, the group can provide you with an ATOL license that allows you to package your own holidays so that your clients can have more options and flexibility in their travel arrangements. The ATOL group membership also helps protect you and your clients from fraud. The group also supplies you with marketing initiatives such as posters and window cards to make your retail shop stand out from the rest.

Furthermore, the Global Travel Group has business development managers to help you attain the most professional demeanor possible. Start up costs for a retail shop also includes training for two people should you decide this is the way you would like to go. The group even includes hardware such as a CPU, flat screen monitor, full support package, keyboard and monitor with your membership. Software support includes antivirus upgrades, installation, maintenance and repair. You also get a vacation search tool plus intranet and web solutions to keep you competitive with the rest.

If you don’t want to go with a new shop, you can start your franchise with a call center, which has a lower start up cost option than a retail shop. Commissions will depend upon your turnover, which is contingent upon marketing and size of your centre. However, there are many low-cost options to market your call center including newspapers and websites. The Global Travel Group includes training for two people in the start up costs of this endeavor.

Another thing you must consider is what exactly will be your specialty. Global Travel Group holidays for any occasion may interest you or perhaps you might want to specialize in offering honeymoon packages. You might focus in international travel for specific regions in the world if that is your area of expertise. You might even want to include a bookshop that carries books and paraphernalia that has everything to do with travel.

As you are beginning your endeavor, it may be a good idea to ease into your business by starting locally and letting yourself grow from the ground up. You can sell vacation packages in your home town and surrounding areas before going into larger ventures such as taking orders over the Internet or from out of state or internationally. In fact, you can even consider bringing in customers to your hometown for their vacations.

Of course, your success is mostly contingent upon your customer satisfaction. Before you decide whether you want to embark on this endeavor, it may be wise to seek out Global Travel Group reviews to not only see what its members are saying but also to discover what clients of these members feel about their services. This may be a valuable learning experience so that you can learn from others mistakes and know how not to run your franchise. For example, you may be labeled as a scam artist if you entice potential clients to a presentation or seminar but do not deliver on any gifts or incentives offered for trying your services.

Also, try to avoid high-pressure presentations that promise free gifts just for attending if you have no intention of giving away these incentives. Have information on hand for your potential clients to take with them if you want them to remember your services. Be sure you have authentic Global Travel Group paraphernalia on hand so that your potential clients know that you are authentic and that they are protected as consumers when they use your business.

The Global Travel Group has many benefits to offer the budding businessperson whether you are a novice or need a new challenge with your life. If you love travel and want to help others experience this love as well, then a travel business franchise just might be the right thing for you to do. Just be sure to consider all the pros and cons of starting a new business and know that you are ready to take on all of them.