Family & Group Travel Specialists

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While you could use AI to plan your trip, it is not recommendable. Publicly available AI tools comb the Internet for information it deems relevant. The primary source for this information is Reddit with other social media platforms making up most of its other sources. That means you are, in effect, crowdsourcing your vacation planning to amateur travelers without perspective or training. It’s not uncommon to receive AI generated itineraries that include closed establishments or recommendations that don’t align with the travelers’ wishes because it searched a keyword and missed the intent (for example, recommending a zoo to a vegan). By contrast, an experienced travel advisor is tuned into information not readily available on the Internet because we are constantly receiving trade publications, attending webinars, having one-on-ones with sales reps, and personally visiting and testing the places and services we sell.

As with financial advisors, we do not control pricing for what we sell, we are just middlemen. Just as the stock market determines the price of the stocks you buy through your financial advisor, the prices for the travel services you purchase through us are dictated by our suppliers (i.e. hotels, resorts, cruise lines, etc.) and much like financial advisors, there are several different ways we make our money. Some will work off straight commission for the products they sell, others will charge a fee to manage your account, others still will charge a fee and collect commissions. 

As a family-owned and operated agency, we understand that travel brings families and friends together to of create lasting memories. Because we too travel as a family, we know the common pain points to expect and can help you anticipate and be prepared for them. In addition to being fully bonded, licensed, and insured; we are accredited by International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) and are members of the American Society for Travel Advisors (ASTA). When joining ASTA, we promised to abide by their Code of Ethics governing the travel industry.

Sorry, but we cannot book stand alone flights or excursions/activities. Bella Rose is not a ticketing agency with airlines so we must book them through 3rd parties that specialize in booking air for travel agencies. Since air travel is not commissionable, we must add a booking fee to the price of air tickets. While excursions are generally commissionable, we do not piece-meal vacations. Experience has taught us that this can quickly become a logistical nightmare trying to coordinate the services we book with those the client books. As a result, we kindly ask that you book the entire vacation with us.

We don't advertise our suppliers' promotions because they are little more than sales gimmicks designed to create a false sense of urgency for you to book now, or risk losing a great deal. The truth is, most of our suppliers run perpetual promotions. Although they may advertise an ending date for their promotion, more often than not, they follow the promotion with a new one that is only slightly different (e.g. a 60% off first guest promo is followed by a 30% off the first two guests promo).  We don't believe in gimmicks and we always look for the best available deal whenever we book our clients on a vacation. In the end, the best way to ensure a great deal on your vacation is to book it is as far an advance as possible, we recommend at least 11 months out if it includes air since that is when airlines release their flight schedules but if you are not booking air with your trip, you can even go as far as 1.5 years out with some suppliers.

We are a fully independent agency, meaning we are in no way affiliated with any brand. The brands we sell control their pricing, and their promotions. If you see it online, we can book it too, but our contracts with each of our suppliers forbid us from offering rebates or sales. That said, we have taken out group space on some cruises whose rates may be lower than currently offered public rates. These are usually sailings on school holidays when demand is higher and on brands closer to Jacksonville, FL (either JaxPort or Port Canaveral), which also tend to be more popular with our clientele. They may also come with added amenities (like onboard credit) that are not available to the public. However, we cannot possibly take out group space on every cruise so the chances of us having a deal that meets your travel dates and requirements is low unless you are extremely flexible. To see our currently available group space, please follow the QR Code above (and be sure to like/follow our Facebook page while you are there).

As we are a travel agency and not a tour operator, we don’t have any inventory of our own. All vacations that we sell are supplied by 3rd party companies who are vetted by us or our consortia and found to be reliable in both quality of service and of product. If you tell us what you are looking for, we will search these suppliers for the one(s) that best fit your needs.

Some cruise lines do offer discounts to teachers, military and first responders but this varies with each brand. Some don't offer any discounts but will provide an added amenity like onboard spending credit. Some don't do anything or the discounts they offer are the same as or worse than whatever public promotion they have available at the time. Most brands will not allow you to stack a discount onto a promotional offer. With hotels, in most cases those that offer discounts for military, do so by removing our commission from the public rate. That means we would not get paid if we booked that rate for you. Unfortunately, those rates would have to be booked independently.

Sorry, we cannot. Those themed cruises are put together by promotion companies operating as travel agencies. They will receive the commission for bookings made into their cruise and are not typically receptive to the idea of sharing or splitting the commission with another travel agent.

Unfortunately, both AAA and your credit card company operate their own travel agencies to administer their programs. As such, they are direct competitors to Bella Rose Travel and we cannot book their programs.

All cruise lines, resorts, major hotel chains, and multi-day tour companies have a travel advisor commission built into their pricing already, meaning the price you pay is the same whether you book on your own or through an advisor like us (so what do you have to lose, right?). For straightforward vacations we are able to leverage our years of experience and product knowledge to put together your vacation in a fraction of the time it would take a layperson to do so. That's our value-add. Because of this, we don't feel the need to double dip and charge or clients a fee for planning simple vacations. 

Unfortunately, despite the fact the price to book with us is the same as it is to book on their own, some people still choose to book on their own when presented with our proposal (I know, it doesn't make any sense) so we need to collect a credit card authorization from our clients before we start planning in order to guarantee the trip will be booked through us. If you book with us, we won't charge your card for anything other than the vacation. If, however, you do not book through us, you are agreeing to pay us for services rendered up to that point. We hope you will agree that every person deserves to be fairly compensated for their work.