Bill & Maria's - The Traveling Agent - FAQ Page!

Welcome to our "FAQ" page where you can find many answers to a variety of common questions. Click any link below to view them. If you don't happen to find your answer on this page, don't worry, all you need to do is contact us and we will be happy to provide you with the answers you seek.

 Who are you, and what travel services do you offer?

 What is Travel Professionals International And Where Are They Located?

 Why do most TPI Agents I talk to work out of their homes?

 Why should I purchase travel through you, rather than an online travel company?

 Do most of the online travel suppliers offer cheaper prices that you?

 Is there any advantage booking direct with a vacation supplier over booking with you?

 Do you charge service fees for booking my travel, and if you do, how much?

 Can we book our travel through your website?

 What's the deal with travel insurance, and do I really need it?

 I am planning to travel by myself, will I be safe?

 Do I need a Passport?

 If I book with your travel company, how do I pay for my flights, hotel, vacation, etc...?

 When do I receive my travel documents, and how do they get sent to me?

 What if I lose my ticket? Do I contact you or the tour/airline company?

 What if I need to cancel my booking? How do I obtain a refund?

 How private are my personal details with you and your travel company?

 

 

 

Who are you, and what travel services do you offer?

 We are two professionals that have been working in the travel industry since 2001. After working for several large corporate and vacation companies, we made the decision to go on our own to service our clients the way we wanted. We started our own travel company with the affiliation of Travel Professionals International under the name Bill & Maria's - The Traveling Agent. We sell our travel services locally in Winnipeg, MB, but also we provide our services to anyone around the world. You have to love technology.

What is Travel Professionals International, and where are they located?

 Travel Professionals International (TPI) is a member based Professional Travel Service company, that provides professional travel agents like us to utilize their vast travel resources, reservations systems, and all other sources that make us just as efficient as any local retail travel agency out there today. The only difference is that most of the Associates work from their home and not in a retail office. For more information on TPI, please visit their website here:Travel Professionals International. Or if you would like to become an Associate/Affiliate and run your very own travel business, we recommend you contact us to explain the options available to you.

Why do most TPI Agents I talk to work out of their homes?

 TPI (Travel Professionals International) Associates have many options to run their travel business, including storefront or they have the option to work out of their homes. The choice to work from our home offers our clients value, convenience, and flexibility. There are no set office hours or any restrictions that a retail office may have, plus we can easily accommodate your busy schedule. Also running a travel business from home allows us to be extremely competitive with many of the larger local retail and online travel companies! Due to having lower overhead and operating costs, much of the savings is passed on to you, all without compromising our customer service.

Why should I purchase travel through you, rather than an online travel company?

 There's no question you have many options available to you locally and also online. Online travel stores provide convenience, but what they lack is the customer service and follow-up. If you book a flight, hotel, car rental, or even a vacation package with an online supplier, you normally do not receive important follow-up, especially from a live person. When you deal with a live travel agent, whether you book in person, over the phone, or via our website, you will always have peace-of-mind knowing that we are available to monitor your booking and ensure that you receive everything correctly. If for any reason out of your control there's any issues with your booking, such as airline schedule changes, tour cancellations, or activity at your destination you need to be notified about, we keep on top of this information, and if you need to be notified immediately once we are aware to make the necessary changes.

Do most of the online travel suppliers offer cheaper prices that you?

 Not necessarily true! It always seems that they offer cheaper deals because they have the ability to post on their websites a ton of discounted vacations, flights, hotels, and many other products. However, on average we always have clients contacting us later, because the low price they saw actually was not available when they went to proceed further to book.You see, they still advertise the lowest price, but does not mean that you will get it for you travel dates. Now don't get us wrong, we believe you can find great deals online, but please keep this in mind! We also have access to all the same booking reservation systems as many of these online travel companies, and more than likely if that trip and price is available for them, we can access and offer the same to you as well. The big difference between us and online travel suppliers is that we will never advertise a lower price if we know it's not available to you.

Is there any advantage booking direct with a vacation supplier over booking with you?

 Yes you can book direct with many of the vacation suppliers, however, we don't see any advantage! In many cases their pricing is higher than what we can offer, and one important thing to note is that if you book direct with them, you're fully responsible to check and monitor your booking for any errors (by you or the tour company agent). Things such as wrong name spelling, dates, or you may have booked the wrong destination by mistake, plus you need to monitor any tour/flight cancellations as well. From the day you book with us, we take care of your file by confirming all information is correct, and if there are any errors caused by the supplier we booked with, we immediately fix them. We watch over your booking to ensure no changes or cancellations occur, and if they do, we notify you as soon as we get the information. For paying the same price, you get peace-of-mind someone is taking care of you and your vacation.

Do you charge service fees for booking my travel, and if you do, how much?

 In most cases we do not charge services fees for booking vacation packages, hotels, flights, and other related services we offer. However, there are situations where we must charge a fee, such as when an airline we make a reservation with does not pay us a commission. If we do charge any fees, they're the lowest in the industry, and we are flexible, so if we feel the fee is unjust, we have no issues waiving them under a special situation.

Can we book our travel through your website?

 At this time we do not have a reservation booking engine on our website, but one will be in place in the very near future. In the meantime, you can book your travel with us in person, over the phone, via email, or through our online reservation request forms.

What's the deal with travel insurance, and do I really need it?

 This is a question that can't be answered with a a simple yes or no, because it all depends on where you're travelling and how long you are staying at the destination! I feel strongly that many people travel too often without proper travel insurance, and they don't provide sufficient Medical & Cancellation protection. Whether you're travelling to Europe, Caribbean, Mexico, or within Canada. We always highly recommend that you look into getting sufficient travel coverage, or at least a top up if your company or credit card plan does not provide enough coverage for the duration of your trip. We offer one of the best travel coverage in the industry called RBC Travel Medical, Cancellation, Interruption coverage, which covers up to 44 travel related risks. If you would like more information on the RBC Travel Insurance coverage, please contact us.

I am planning to travel by myself, will I be safe?

 Travelling to many countries by yourself may be safe, and if you are deciding to go solo, we recommend that you first do your research on where you are going to visit, and then once you know, you can visit the Canadian Consular Affairs for any travel advisories. Plus we recommend that you leave a detailed contact list and plan/map of where you're going with family or close friends at home. For example: If you happen to be backpacking where you're not always in one place, we also suggest that if your itinerary changes, that you update your family or friends on these changes and also provide new contact dates they can expect to hear from you. Other than that, always exerise caution, use your gut feeling, and you should have a great time traveling alone.

Do I need a Passport?

 Depending on where you plan to travel, most countries still allow you to enter with a Canadian Government issued Picture ID and birth certificate. However, we recommend all our clients to get a passport, because every year we are noticing more countries are making passports manditory. It only makes sense to have one these days, but if you're not in a position to get one at this time, we highly recommend that you check the country you plan on visiting of their documentation requirments before you book your trip.

If I book with your travel company, how do I pay for my flights, hotel, vacation, etc...?

 Payment can be made by credit card, certified cheque, or cash. Pretty much 99% of clients do their payments over the phone with credit card. However, if you wish to pay by certified cheque or cash in person or you can mail payment (certified cheque) to us. If it's not convenient coming to our home office, we can even provide you our business bank transit number where you can deposit payment directly into the Travel Professionals Interntational Royal Bank business account. Keep in mind though, it's important to know that until payment is confirmed by our bank, we can't proceed with the booking reservation.

When do I receive my travel documents, and how are they sent to me?

 Once payment is made in full for your flight, tour, or vacation package, documents are issued from the airlines or travel suppliers. The standard document issuance is normally 14 days prior to travel depending on the airline company or supplier. Currently most documentation is now Electronic and can be sent to you via your email of choice. However, if you prefer to receive paper documents, we can mail them out to you regular post. If we can't get your documents sent out in time, because of time constraints, the next option would be a scheduled airport pick-up.

What if I lose my ticket? Do I contact you or the tour/airline company?

 With most tour, vacation, and many of the airline tickets now being issued as an Electronic document, all you need to do is go into your email account and print another copy. If you don't have access to your email, contact us and we would be happy to forward a copy to you via fax, or directly to the airline, hotel, travel companies fax or email address of your choice. If for any reason you were required to have a paper issued ticket, we recommend you contact us immediately to forward a Lost Ticket Indemnity Form to be completed, and then we can proceed to reissue another ticket. Note: Usually airlines and some travel companies charge a fee to reissue paper tickets. If you happened to lose your tickets upon arrival, your best option is to contact the airline directly to organise replacement.

What if I need to cancel my booking? How do I obtain a refund?

 This is a good question. Depending on which airline or travel company you book with, there will be certain terms and conditions, plus there may be certain restrictions on cancelling your booking. This information will be presented to you at time of booking your travel with us. For example: If you make a reservation for a discounted flight or travel package, the airline and tour company may have a no-refund policy. if they do provide refunds, there also may be certain restrictions to qualify. All of this depends on the type of travel and also could be based on when you booked, where you're within a period of time where no refunds are allowed. It's best to ask this question prior to booking, and also it's recommended you ask about travel insurance to protect you under situations where refunds are not allowed, and you may have to cancel due to an insured risk. Important please note: Airline charges and cancellation fees may apply to your particular airfare or travel arrangements and as such refunds will only be provided by the airline or travel supplier in accordance with these terms and conditions. To apply for a refund please return your unused airline ticket and travel documents together with a covering letter to the travel company you made your reservation with. Airline refunds may take up to 12 weeks.

How private are my personal details with you and your travel company?

 We have a very strict company policy to adhere to the Provincial and Federal Consumer Privacy Act. Any information given to us is protected under our policies in place, and no personal or financial information will be shared outside of Travel Professionals International without your authority to do so. Our Privacy policy ensures your right to privacy. We will not share your information outside of Bill & Maria's - The Traveling Agent or our Affiliate Company Travel Professionals International without your authority to do so.