What It Actually Costs You
In 10 Seconds: Here’s the part everybody’s afraid to ask about outright, so let’s just say it plainly. For most trips, working with me costs you nothing extra at all. For a handful of complicated ones, there’s a planning fee, and I’ll tell you exactly why before you ever agree to it.
You’ll Learn:
- Why booking through an advisor usually costs the same as booking it yourself
- Where that price actually comes from, and who’s paying it either way
- The specific kinds of trips where a planning fee shows up
- Why that fee is not a markup, it’s a reflection of the hours something took
The Part Most People Get Wrong
Most people assume hiring a travel advisor means paying more. Makes sense, it sounds like an extra service, so it should cost extra, right. Here’s the actual truth. Hotels, resorts, and cruise lines build a commission into their pricing whether you book direct on their website, through a big online travel site, or through an advisor like me. You are paying that commission somewhere no matter what you do. The only real question is what that money is buying you. A server farm, or a person who’s actually watching your trip.
That’s why for the vast majority of what I book, all inclusive resorts, standard cruises, straightforward hotel stays, there’s no fee to you at all. You’d have paid essentially the same price booking it yourself, minus the part where I catch the problems before they become your problems.
Where a Fee Actually Shows Up
There’s a specific category of trip where I do charge a planning fee, and it’s not random. Fully independent, custom built trips, F.I.T. for short, where I’m stitching together flights, hotels, transportation, and experiences from scratch instead of booking a packaged product. Personalized road trips where I’m mapping out stops, lodging, and logistics across multiple days and multiple towns. Lengthy multi destination trips where you’re hitting three or four places and every leg has its own moving parts.
🗺️ Jani’s Tip: I had a client once ask me why a two week custom road trip through three states had a planning fee attached when her cousin’s all inclusive to Cancun didn’t. Fair question. Her cousin’s trip was one hotel, one flight, one contract, done in an afternoon. Her road trip meant researching six towns, comparing a dozen small inns with no commission structure at all, building a day by day driving plan, and coordinating reservations that don’t come as a neat package anywhere. That’s not five percent more work. That’s a different job entirely.
Why It’s a Fee, Not a Markup
There’s an important difference between the two. A markup means I’m charging you more for the same product to pad my own pocket. A planning fee means I’m being paid for hours of actual custom work that has no commission attached to it at all, because nobody’s selling a bundled product for a self designed road trip through three states. If I didn’t charge for that work, I’d be doing it for free, and that’s not sustainable for me any more than it would be for you to work for free at your own job.
I’ll always tell you upfront if your trip falls into fee territory, and roughly what that fee looks like, before you’ve committed to anything. No surprises buried in an invoice later.
Quick Reference
One Last Thing…
If you’ve been holding off on reaching out because you assumed it’d cost you more, I hope this cleared that up. For most trips, it won’t. And for the ones where it does, you’ll know exactly why before you say yes. Let’s figure out which kind of trip you’re planning.
XOXO, Jani ~ Personal Travel Advisor | Take Time To Travel, LLC
Updated September 2026
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