In the past, your clients might have been asking about the lowest price, the busiest and most energetic destination you could think of or the cheapest cruise you could find. But long gone are the days of travelers trying to snag the best deal. Future travelers are not only putting a high emphasis on health and safety, but also on flexibility. Having a flexible policy, as well as a flexible mindset, is crucial now more than it has ever been. This begins with working with a travel advisor. Agents showed their ability to quickly maneuver through all the obstacles the coronavirus pandemic tossed their way, and they didn’t hesitate to do whatever it took to ensure their clients’ trips were canceled, rescheduled, refunded, etc. And in this new era of information overload, working with a travel advisor is necessary. One of the most essential steps in ensuring your clients have flexibility is making sure their reservation includes travel insurance to cover their trip investment. When working with ALG Vacations, each of its brands offers a comprehensive insurance option to go along with the vacation booking. If insurance didn’t use to be something you discussed with your clients often, now is the time to change that. Travel insurance covers issues both big – such as having to cancel a trip – and small – such as a missing piece of luggage. Having a vacation covered with an insurance policy provides both you and your clients peace of mind. As confidence begins to increase, more and more travelers will be booking future trips. However, this pandemic isn’t over, and hurdles will still come up throughout the process. It’s important to help your clients to have a flexible mindset, and this means working with companies that have flexible policies. Knowing that clients may have to alter or cancel their vacations due to circumstances out of their control, ALG Vacations recently announced it is eliminating change and cancellation fees. This will help agents to build consumer confidence during the booking process.

“ALGV remains committed to doing whatever we can to be the family of operators that offers the very best pricing and most lenient policies,” Jacki Marks, executive vice president-trade brands, recently wrote in a letter to travel advisors. “Because this year especially, we are thankful for the collective mindset that has allowed us to learn, lean, and grow TOGETHER, and it’s important to us to continue to contribute to it.”

Apple Leisure Group Vacations (ALGV) has just announced the consolidation of its individual brands’ vacation-package benefits programs into one robust, straightforward collection that’s even easier for advisors to pitch to their clients, called ‘ALG Vacations Exclusive Perks’. Previously, each of ALGV’s brands—Apple Vacations, Funjet Vacations, United Vacations, Southwest Vacations and Travel Impressions—operated its own separate perks program, such as ‘Exceptional Values’, ‘Insider Circle Perks’, ‘Hotel Exclusive Benefits’ and ‘Partner Privileges’. Now, combining the best of ALGV brands’ offers, the all-encompassing ‘Exclusive Perks’ program will offer customers the same unique, complimentary extras, regardless of which brand they’re booking through. Available offers will still vary depending upon which hotel brand, specific property and, in some cases, room category that clients are booking. What they will have in common, however, are that these benefits aren’t available when booked through other operators or travel providers, including hotel-direct and OTAs outside of the AGLV family; and, that the perks offered go above and beyond those that are frequently found within the industry. “Unifying our offers as a single program creates greater transparency for our travel partners,” ALG Vacations Executive Vice President, Trade Brands, Jacki Marks said. “By putting them all together, we’re better able to leverage the strength of our collective brands to negotiate competitive advantages for our agents and shared consumers.” The merging of its multiple benefits programs results in a single, well-curated portfolio of privileged Exclusive Perks. These might include: —Roundtrip private airport transfers for multiple passengers. —Special complimentary excursions, such as a sunset sail or cenotes tour. —Exclusive tasting sessions and private cocktail parties by invitation only. —Preferred check-in and check-out in reserved areas, ideal for social distancing. —Private airport lounge access, complete with complimentary snacks and beverages. —Special programs, like the Kids Concierge package, which includes in-room amenities and events, cooking classes, face-painting, themed kits and more. —High-floor room assignment for best views and property locations. —Spa credits. —Poolside VIP amenities, such as cabana and daybed rentals. Participating hotel brands include such major players as: —AMResorts, including Secrets, Dreams, Breathless, Now and Sunscape Hotels & Spa Resorts, plus Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts. —AIC Hotels & Resorts, such as all all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotels and UNICO and Nobu concepts. —Barcelo Hotels & Resorts, including their Palace line and Occidental hotels. —Blue Diamond Hotels & Resorts, such as Royalton, Royalton CHIC, Hideaway, Planet Hollywood and others. —Globalia, which encompasses all BeLive Collection properties in Punta Cana. —Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, from Grands to Selections. —Karisma Hotels & Resorts brands. —Brands across the La Coleccion portfolio, including Live Aqua, Fiesta Americana, Grand Fiesta and Explorean. —Oasis Hotels & Resorts. —RIU Hotels & Resorts, including Palace properties. —TRS Hotels & Resorts by Palladium.