Tag: Review

Are Travel Agents Obsolete?

Leave a comment

I am currently in the process of booking my families summer vacation.  I feel that I am very hands on when it comes to finding the best deals, especially in the summertime when deals are few and far between.  The amount of travel websites on the innerwebs can seem overwhelming.  These travel web sites have been very successful at facilitating travelers to book their own airline and hotel reservations online.  So with this huge push from the internet to take over the travel industry, one has to ask, “Are travel agents obsolete?”

If you have browsed some of these travel sites, you have observed that they are amazing in the diversity of travel options that they make available.  And it is impossible to deny that many thousands of people have taken advantage of these services.  Then, there is the business traveler.  The business traveler has needs that are somewhat different than the typical airline passenger.

There are some very specific services that a living and breathing travel agent can provide that simply cannot be replicated by an automated web site like Kayak or Hotwire.   Some of those services that a seasoned business traveler would be hard pressed to live without include…

  1. Focus You as a business traveler are not arranging this trip for entertainment.  You have specific business objectives in mind.  So if you must take time away from preparation for your business task to worry about travel itineraries, hotel and rental car reservations and the like, that is time that you are not being productive for your business.  If you can call a talented travel agent who knows your travel profile well and delegate those arrangements to that agent, they do their job in finding just the right accommodations for you and you are freed to do what you do best, focus on your business and the upcoming business trip.
  2. Economy It is difficult to find that balance between finding the accommodations that fit the demanding schedule of a businessperson on the road and is respectful of the companies travel budget as well.   If you use an automated online travel service, you may have to sacrifice convenience, schedule or location for economy.  A good travel agent will work hard to get you the right itinerary while getting as close the corporate travel cost restrictions as possible.  And they will do it without taking up a lot of your time.
  3. Back up. You don’t need help if your trip goes completely as planned.  But if you encounter problems on the road, you can find yourself in need or rescheduling flights and finding new accommodations to work around canceled flights, weather issues or other unexpected interruptions to your plans.  These travel disasters are not mindful of your tight deadlines to meet your business goals.  But if you have a travel agent who is dedicated to providing you service, he or she can find those alternative routes and resources to do all they can to get you to your destination so you can conduct your business on time.
  4. That personal touch. You may have travel preferences that you want to achieve with each trip you take.   A travel agent has your profile and your travel history so they can do what they can to accommodate your preferences.  But moreover, if you have specific special needs such as a diet limitation or a need for accommodation due to a disability, it will be a travel agent that sees to it that your needs are provided for and you are well taken care of on the road.

 

  1. Complications. If your travel itinerary involves making connections with other business partners who are traveling from diverse offices, complex travel schedules and itinerary challenges that just cannot be described to the generic screens of an online travel service, you can explain these complications to your travel agent and they can work with other travel agents working to organize the meeting and see to it that your itinerary meets your requirements.

 

While the online travel services do provide a valuable and affordable alternative to the general traveling public, it is easy to notice their limitations if you are trying to book a trip that is tricky or if you have specific needs that the screens do not anticipate.  That is why working with a human travel agent guarantees that this travel professional will dedicate themselves to the task of making sure your trip works to your specifications and that you get to your destination ready to conduct business and be successful in your achieving your goals.

The Beginners Guide to Finding the Perfect Hotel Room (at a reasonable rate)

Leave a comment

mardi-gras-1176483_640
After finding reasonable airfare, it is necessary to find accommodations when staying in a city where I do not have any family or friends.  I believe I spend an unbelievable amount of time researching when it is time to book a hotel room. The number one factor for me is location followed up by value. I spend an embarrassing amount of time reading reviews on Yelp. Then I have to follow up to see if the reviews corroborate with TripAdvisor.

Regarding that value component, I hit the interwebs and Reddit to find the lowest rates. Through all that work I realize that my best option is to go to the hotel’s corporate website and join their rewards program.

Through that I found my latest hotel find, Courtyard by Marriott New Orleans French Quarter/Iberville in New Orleans, LA. This Marriott branch was conveniently located about two blocks away from Bourbon Street. The staff was very friendly and allowed us to check-in early! I was struck with how large the rooms were and very clean. The beds felt cozy and I liked how the room had a living area and sleeping quarter.

The bathroom was clean and the cleaning staff did a stellar job of cleaning the room daily. I appreciated that the staff was on point. Being that we were in New Orleans, we had several late nights and even later mornings (really afternoons). I was impressed that no matter what time we left, we always came back to a clean room.

The bathroom was stacked with plenty of white towels and standard shampoo/conditioner/soap if needed. Since I bring my own products, these were not sampled. The shower was hot and could get even hotter (which is always a plus to me).

The only surprise (I will not call it a disappointment) was the view. We had the perfect view of a pretty sterile looking courtyard. Another surprise was the entry to the hotel. You must come up from the street level on the elevator. Then you need to find the registration desk. Again, not a big deal but it did take some getting used to.

The television was equipped with Wifi and they even had Netflix. Full disclosure, I do not travel often so finding out that Netflix is now a “thing” to have on the hotel room television is a score. I was glad the location was away from the “activity” (read noise) of Bourbon Street.

I look forward to going back to New Orleans. I would stay at the Courtyard again but I usually try to stay in a new hotel everytime I go out of town.

How to Fly Frugally

1 Comment

detail-of-beautiful-interior-modern-airport_rPge6Le_nfg

A few positive financial changes in our household have allowed me to travel more frequently.  While still frugal, I have a few hacks that I have found that have really helped me to save money, time, and my sanity when it is time to fly the (not always so) friendly skies.

1.  Be nice.

Yes, seriously.  Being naturally easy-going, being laid back and nice is not too difficult for me.  My husband is 6’8.  He usually has a very uncomfortable time flying.  Being frugal, we don’t want to pay to upgrade his seat.  So when we travel together, I ask for a seat with more leg room for him.  I greet the ticket agent with a smile, show them my husband, and explain that we don’t need to sit together.  This works about 80% of the time.  The other 20% of the time, they don’t have the room to accommodate this request.  Unfortunately if this happens I’m not going to walk away upset.

2.  Join your airlines frequent flier club.

The past few years, I’d be lucky if I found myself needed air travel at least once a year.  Now that I’ve vowed to travel more often, I have joined the frequent flier club to every airline I use.  I keep an open mind to airlines and although I do have a favorite, I will fly almost any airline with a good rate.  I live near three major airports, which is a huge advantage when it is time to travel.  I do have a preferential airport but that’s due to the proximity to my home.  I’ll go to another airport if I feel that it makes my air travel less stressful (i.e. no layover) or if it really is a great deal.

3.  Tweet, Facebook, Yelp, or any other type of review your POSITIVE as well as your negative experience.

We’re quick to review something when we’re pissed off but how about when you are satisfied?  I enjoy writing reviews.  Most of my reviews are positive.  I’m usually a pretty easy person to please so it takes the moons being aligned just right, to piss me off.

Do you have any hacks you’d like to share?  Comment below and don‘t forget to subscribe!

How to use Canva to stand out!

Leave a comment

Are you familiar with Canva?  Canva is a free user friendly graphic design tool that I use to make stationary, Pinterest pins, and pretty much anything else that makes me feel tech savvy without the intimidation of Photoshop (and all those damn buttons).  I used Canva to create this Pinterest pin!Outsource

 

I love that several templates are already created for you, so you can just point and click your way to success.  I started out with the free version but eventually upgraded.  Again, the free version is great, but I upgraded so I could have the ability to add my own graphics and pictures to my creations.

If you haven’t tried Canva, give it a try and comment below.

Completely Add to Your Income with QKids. A review by Guest Blogger Jadie C

Leave a comment

I’m so happy to have Jadie C as my first guest blogger this week.  Jadie is reviewing QKids which is an online school for teaching English to students in China. 

If QKids seems like a good fit for you please use Jadie’s referral code: Jadie7377

You can find the link to apply below.

QKids

I’m now in my 3rd week with QKids, and I thought I’d write my honest review!

All I can say is “Where has this company been all my life?!”

First, the basic requirements (I didn’t make the rules):
• Native American English speaker (or good American Accent I would imagine)
• Live in the US or Canada (not sure if they make exceptions to this, like if you’re a US citizen living abroad for example)
• Bachelor’s degree…. However! I didn’t know the bachelor’s degree “requirement”, and I applied with just my TESOL (and experience) and I got hired. So… I say it doesn’t hurt to try??

Second, the application requirements:
1. Along with resume, they ask for a 1 minute video demo with a brief intro (name, state, education), and you telling or reading a short story as if to a child. They will be looking for things like enthusiasm, body language, facial expressions, proper lighting and sound.
2. You will need to provide a screenshot of your computer system specifications (the page on your computer that says what processor/RAM/OS, etc you have)
3. Your availability. They offer up to 38 slots a week (more during school holidays), typical Chinese hours, Monday through Saturday early EDT hours (5:-40am-8:10am), and Friday and Saturday EDT nights (7:40pm-10:50pm). You must be available at least 6 hours a week.

Third, the hiring requirements:
1. Install WeChat and Qkids software
2. Ethernet cable (they really stress this), and headset
3. Self-paced study/practice materials training (paid)
4. 2 demo lessons/sessions with the staff (paid)
5. 3 trial lessons with kids (paid)
6. You’re hired!… if you don’t get hired, your training is still paid!

Fourth, what they’re like:
After an initial good, and in the end not-so-good experience with GVE, I decided to look at other options, and I’m so glad I did! Qkids impressed me from the beginning with their training, communication, and professionalism! I have never once felt lost or alone, they are very helpful and always available right away (or within a reasonable amount of hours, time difference after all). My schedule was completely full by the second week! No begging for hours here. Their platform is easy to use. (I used to look at the lessons for a few minutes before each shift to review them, but after the second week this wasn’t necessary any more. They are simple, fun, interactive, and user friendly) Classes have up to 6 students in them (all classes paid at same base rate). Unlike with zoom, you can see all the students faces at once, and can easily mute/unmute as necessary. Activities are arranged by individual and group types, so it’s not overwhelming. The kids ages are 5-12. Because the platform is so fun and interactive, they are happy and eager to learn!

What I don’t like: WeChat is annoying. It’s not the teaching platform, but the chat program used to communicate with the staff. They require a QR code or approval from your cell to log in to another device, and if you lose your cell, like I did for a few days last week, you can’t get into WeChat at all. I was thankfully still able to contact them when I needed to via email. I also don’t like that even though I’m working, say, 5:40-8:10, I’m only getting paid 2 hours, not 2.5 because there’s down time in between lessons that we don’t get paid for. I guess this is pretty typical for online teaching jobs, it’s not the first time I’ve encountered this. At least with Q Kids, we don’t have any reports or evaluations to do!

Time off:
No dock pay!! No 6 month (or any) contract commitments!! They do ask for 24 hour notice for time off, and ask that you not have “too many” (interpret as you can) short-notice absences. Classes are scheduled Sunday for the following week. I actually didn’t realize this my first week, and checked my schedule the Friday before instead, and missed Monday and Tuesday altogether thinking my first class was Wednesday. They forgave me when I explained and took the absences off my record.

Pay:
$16-20/hr. The base pay is $8/30 min class. You get a point for each day you show up to class, and you lose a point if you’re absent. The points equal dollars, so if you’re present in every class each week that’s an extra $1/30 min. You get an extra $1/30 min for getting good ratings by the students/parents. So if you do the math, $16/hour is easily actually $20/hour. I’ve actually always been scared of working for a company that does rating systems, but so far, the parents have been gracious 🙂 Once in a while you might have a “standby” lesson in one of your slots (In 2.5 weeks, I’ve had one of these). If there is no need for you to fill in, you will still get paid $4/30 min class just for being available. If there is a system glitch and you can’t teach, you still get paid. If no students show up, you still get $4/30 min class!

Have I missed anything? Feel free to reach out to me, I’m happy to help! I was referred myself, and I’m happy to refer you, too!

How to apply?
Email Apply at QKids with your resume, 1 minute demo video (can be an attachment or a YouTube or cloud link), screenshot of computer specs, availability, and, if you would be so gracious, my referral ID too: Jadie7377 🙂 (yes, there’s a bonus potential for me here:-)

One more thing, If you do use my referral code, please send me an email so I know who I’ve referred, but also because I’m more than happy to answer any questions, give you tips, guide you through the process, etc!

All the best to you!!

Jadie 🙂QKids