Luxury Travel Advisor in Tampa: What You Actually Get

A woman from Hyde Park called me last winter with a browser problem. She had so many tabs open for her parents' anniversary trip that her laptop had slowed to a crawl, and no two prices matched.

"If I hire you," she asked, "what do I actually get?"

If you're searching for a luxury travel advisor in Tampa, you've probably wondered the same thing, so I'll answer her the way I would answer you.

Start With Who You're Hiring

Start with the paperwork. Florida law requires anyone who sells travel to register every year as a seller of travel, unless they qualify for an exemption.

Ask for the registration number. It costs you a minute, and an advisor who hesitates has told you something.

I'm Sabine Harris. I've been traveling for 37 years, and I still start every new client with a conversation.

What I Do Before I Quote Anything

I ask who is coming and what went wrong on your last trip, then what would make this one worth the money to you. Those answers decide which ships and hotels I look at.

Next comes the comparison. Two river lines can show similar fares and include very different things, so I price a Tauck sailing against a comparable one from another line and add whatever each fare leaves out.

The rest of what I handle is on my luxury travel planning page.

What a Luxury Travel Advisor in Tampa Does That a Booking Site Doesn't

The woman from Hyde Park worked out her own tab problem about halfway through our first call. Each site had been pricing a slightly different version of her parents' trip, a different cabin on one and no transfers on another, so of course nothing lined up. Once the dates and the cabin matched, the pile of tabs turned into a short list.

That side-by-side step is easy to describe and slow to do by hand, so I've put it in a table.

	Booking it yourself	Luxury travel advisor
Comparing options	You compare tabs and fares	Same dates and cabin, side by side
What the price covers	You read each line's inclusions	Tips, drinks, and transfers added up for you
If plans change	You call each supplier	Your advisor helps you rebook
Who knows your trip	A support line	The person who planned it
Cost to you	The fare	The fare; some advisors add a planning fee

Booking yourself works well for a flight and a hotel. The picture changes when a trip has more pieces, say a Viking river cruise with a hotel night on each end, because every extra piece gives a price or a date another chance to slip.

What Happened With the Hyde Park Trip

The tabs were only half of her problem. She hadn't yet asked her parents what they wanted from the trip, so we started there. How do they like to spend a day, and how much walking is too much for them?

Their answers changed which options were worth pricing. I priced what was left on the same dates and cabin, then called her with two choices, each with its tips, drinks, and transfers added in. She closed the tabs while we were still talking.

She picked one on the second call, mostly because she could finally explain the price to her mother in a single sentence.

The Training Behind the Booking

I'm a Tauck Certified Specialist and a Viking Certified Expert. Viking runs a four-module academy for its advisors, and those who finish it can earn the Certified Expert title, so the line itself trains the people who sell it. I'm also a member of ASTA, which says its members are held to a strict code of ethics.

For ocean sailings, a line like Seabourn sells a wide range of stateroom categories, and matching a client to the right one takes up a good share of my work. The same goes for Silversea.

None of this says why you would pick an advisor in Tampa over one in another state, and that deserves a straight answer.

Does It Matter That I'm in Tampa?

For the booking itself, mostly no. Cruise lines and tour operators don't care where an advisor sits, and I plan trips for travelers outside Florida as well.

Where Tampa matters is the paperwork. Florida's seller-of-travel rule covers any business located in the state and any business that sells travel to people in Florida, so an advisor in Tampa and one in another state answer to the same office.

The business behind this site is Southern Girls Travel, LLC, a Cruise Planners franchise, based in Tampa. If you live nearby and would like to sit down together, ask me about it.

Common Questions About Hiring an Advisor in Tampa

My FAQ page has more answers.

How much does a travel advisor in Tampa, FL cost?

That depends on the advisor. Some are paid a commission by the cruise line or hotel and charge you nothing extra, and others add a planning fee for bigger trips. Ask on the first call, and get the answer in writing.

Do I need to live in Tampa to hire a Tampa advisor?

No. Most of the planning happens over the phone and by email, and I work with travelers in other states too. Living nearby just makes a coffee meeting easier.

What should I ask before hiring a travel advisor?

Their Florida registration number comes first. After that, how they're paid, which suppliers have trained them, and who picks up the phone if your flight changes while you're away.

Can a travel advisor get me upgrades or VIP perks?

Sometimes a supplier attaches a perk to a booking and sometimes it doesn't, so no honest advisor will promise you an upgrade. I can tell you what's on offer for your sailing and dates before you pay anything.

Tell me where you're thinking of going, even if it's only a rough idea like a river sailing or a PONANT expedition, and I'll build a personalized itinerary with the real totals. The easiest way to reach me is through my contact page.