The Benefits of Joining a Travel Club!
Travel or holiday clubs cater for people of all interests, shapes and sizes. There are as many different travel needs as there are people and for the most part the most vacation clubs are geared directly to their likes, dislikes and lifestyles.
The main benefits
Most of the popular travel clubs, cruise liners , or on-line travel clubs will have various types of clubs catering to various people. The benefits of joining a travel club among others are:
- finding people with similar likes, favourite destinations and adventurous spirits.
- families can hook up with other families of like interests, ages and sizes
- whole sale buying power makes it more affordable.
Most travel clubs are associated with certain airlines, cruise lines, hotel chains or resorts. Some travel clubs offer unique benefits as offered by companies that they are associated with. When choosing a travel club, you should carefully consider the value of these added benefits.
Most travel clubs have initial sign-up fees and/or yearly membership fees. Some travel clubs reward you for your diligent payment by adding reward points to your account. Whether they do this or not, the fees are more than made up for with the savings you get by booking your holidays through the club of your choice.
Travel clubs motivate you to take more breaks more often. To get the best value for your money you need to take a holiday at least once or twice a year for singles or couples, and at least once a year for families (since the more people involved usually requires a higher membership fee). Not all travel clubs require a higher fee for larger families, so it is important to take this into consideration if you are part of a larger family.
Some travel clubs offer an incentive for introducing friends and family to their product, but giving you discounts on their products. Other travel clubs have decided to market themselves by means of network marketing, which means that you can earn an extra income from marketing their products.
Travel clubs, especially international ones often offer access to all-inclusive resorts. This is a foreign concept to most South Africans as this is not the type of package that we are accustomed to. All-inclusive resorts offer packages that include all your food, as well as all your non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks and often water sports and activities offered by the resort. This is a must for those who like sticking to their budget or who travel on a tight budget. On these types of holidays you lock your wallet in the safe when you arrive and only take out when you depart again.
When you are new to the whole concept of traveling outside the borders o your home country, it could be rather intimidating. By traveling in a group, you will feel safer and less unsure of yourself. Some travel clubs also offer value added services like concierges services, which can also enhance your travel experience.
What not to expect!
One thing that you should not expect out of a travel club would be to be able to go where you want, when you want, at the price you want to pay. Some travel clubs have evolved and they do offer you self-catering opportunities, at really awesome prices.
There are travel bartering sites, where you make your desires known, and a person or business may get back to you with what you asked for, or something very close to it. Some of these sites allow you to post your travel wishes, and travel agents, travel clubs and even people with travel vouchers that they can no longer use can get back to you with offers. Whether you take the offer or not is up to you.
When the travel bartering is done on-line with a stranger, there is always the case of buyer beware to reckon with. But when the travel bartering is done on a recognized travel bartering club, of which you can join for rather inexpensive membership fees, you are guaranteed of the validity of the holiday package that you barter for, as the holiday bartering site only accepts tenders from people who can prove that they do have what they are bartering with.
No matter what your lifestyle or travel desires, there is a travel club that will cater specifically to your personal requirements and wishes. Simply type what type of travel club that would intrigue you into your Internet search engine, and browse through the many returns. Before doing business with any of the travel clubs, check with the Better Business Bureau or the Travel Industry to see if there are many complaints against the club. Always, always make sure that you make an informed decision, that you are not rushed, that you are not pushed into a corner. The last thing you want is that buyers remorse ruins your holiday experience!
You can also ask our travel expert for some advice!
roaringstrawberry 