There are some good vacation package deals out there. What’s wrong with them?

• You may be familiar with the mega-search engines for travel booking,  but you pretty much have to search and create a package on your own. Then, the cost of everything pops up at the end and is most likely much more than what you’d hoped for. You don’t know if you’re getting a good deal or not when choosing this option.

• You might also be aware of travel deal sites, which could list some enticing package deals. However, what you may not realize until later (or at all) is that they are advertising other companies deals in exchange for fees. Once you decide to go with that deal, you’re then re-directed to their website. Different terms and conditions then apply. Stick with the offer and make no changes, and you get the deal, but sometimes, by the time you’re ready to book, that offer is already gone because others have already booked it. You are then left with the next available option, which usually costs a lot more, and is a different deal than the one you had in mind.

• Some online travel agency sites create and list their own deals, and you can further customize it or even create your package deal from scratch. But for efficiency, cost- and time-saving reasons, their systems are often designed in a way that takes away the human element of travel booking. While they might have travel agents available to assist, it’s for booking purposes only. Everything is DIY nowadays. At the front-end, they rely on the Global Distribution System (GDS) to recommend offers on flights, hotels, etc., and you’re left with an overwhelming amount of choices put in front of you. If you don’t know the area you’re staying in, this puts the onus back on the traveler to work things out for themselves.

• What can seem like a good package deal at first is not necessarily the best value, and often includes some things but misses others. For example, many deals don’t include airfare, which is often the most expensive part of the trip. If you want something more, you have to pay extra, a lot extra, plus you have little to no control in customizing it to fit your overall needs. In the end, we are adjusting our schedule to meet the deal, or else you have to pay a lot more.

At MultiCityTrips, we’re experienced multi-city travelers and have first-hand experience in end-to-end planning. We craft our packages based on our traveling experiences because we’ve been through the process ourselves, many times. We know that it’s not always about the deal; it’s the experiences gained throughout our travel journey that matter most. It can’t be just any travel product we choose; these products must meet our specific travel needs.

We know that international multi-city trips are both exciting and rewarding. They are, however, much more complicated to plan and can be overwhelming for those who are traveling to these destinations for the first time. Call us crazy for reversing what currently exists out there…but we think the best package deals should be created specifically to your needs, and everything you need should be included in that deal.