Blog, Travel Tips, & News

More Ways to Get Extras – Amenity Programs

Breakfast on a terrace overlooking the sea in Oia, Santorini, Cyclades, Greece

Continuing from last week, I wanted to share more about the wonderful benefits available through some of the other programs I can tap into on your behalf…

Other Amenity Programs Offered by Travel Agents

Last week I described the Distinctive Voyages program that I’m going to be hosting for in August, and I wanted to share some of the other programs with valuable benefits that may be available depending on your travel plans. Distinctive Voyages is specific to cruises, obviously, and there are some other cruise programs available. The Amenity Departures program offers a variety of amenities to enhance your cruise on many different cruise lines. Many times, onboard ship credits are offered, depending on the cruise line and destination, for $25 to $300 per person. Prepaid gratuities are also a popular amenity offered. Again, all of these benefits are complementary as part of our agency offerings. There are over 300 Distinctive Voyages sailings and over 3,000 Amenity Departures, and 18 different cruise lines (both ocean and river) are part of these programs, so many opportunities to receive these benefits for wherever you may want to go.

Hotel Complementary Amenities

In addition to cruise programs, we also have some other special programs. The Select Hotels and Resorts program is a collection of four- and five-star luxury properties with several complimentary amenities included. This program adds substantial value since it also includes daily complimentary breakfast for every day of your stay, complementary Wi-Fi, some type of value-added item or credit offered by the hotel which is worth ~$100, and also, based on availability at the time you arrive to check in, early check in or late check out, and/or an upgrade when you arrive. As you can see, it is an excellent program for the selected hotel properties that are stellar in their destination, about 1,000 worldwide.

The Worldwide Hotel program has a broader range of hotels. It consists of about 30,000 hotels worldwide. There is obviously a more general list of hotels from two to five-star properties. The specific offers vary by hotel, with about half including breakfast and about 70% offering complementary Wi-Fi. For both programs, the rates are based on a hotel guarantee (which means you don’t pay until you get there) versus having to prepay. We do have other alternatives with prepay offerings that can sometimes offer very advantageous pricing, and prepay doesn’t always mean non-refundable.

All of these are ongoing programs, so they are always available. There are additional special promotions and offers we get for a limited time, and these can vary by travel supplier. So, there are a lot of different programs, offerings, and suppliers that I access to ensure you receive the most value for your travel.