The useful first message is a short one. Dates, a destination or two, how many people are traveling, and the one thing that cannot flex. From that we can tell you within a day whether the trip is straightforward, whether it needs full planning, and roughly what the planning fee would be.
What happens after you write
We reply within one business day, usually with two or three questions about pace and priorities. Then comes a twenty-minute discovery call, which is free whatever we decide afterward. If the trip is a simple one, we will say so and tell you to book it yourself. If it needs work, you get a fee range on that call rather than a surprise later.
Useful before you write
Three pages answer most of the early questions: how planning services work, what an advisor actually costs, and which hotel perks come with booking through an advisor. If your trip is still in the research phase, start at the family travel resources page instead.
Existing bookings
If you are already a client and something has changed, write with the confirmation reference in the subject line. Disruptions, rebookings and anything time-sensitive are handled as they arrive rather than in the next queue.
Before the first reply
The desk works from one inbox, so a message reaches the same people who plan the trips rather than a support queue. If a question depends on a date, a season or a fare, we check it before answering instead of sending a guess, which usually adds a day. Send the trip window, the number of travellers and the one thing that cannot move — dates, budget or pace — and the reply will be built around that constraint rather than around a brochure.