{"id":14149,"date":"2015-04-07T09:15:16","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T13:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/?p=14149"},"modified":"2020-06-22T16:28:39","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T20:28:39","slug":"travel-agent-nicole-deforest-dishes-travel-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/travel-agent-nicole-deforest-dishes-travel-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel agent Nicole Deforest dishes travel tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"nicole-feat\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Travel agent Nicole Deforest from our Guelph location<\/a>\u00a0has been working in the industry for 9 years. With 7 years of travel agent experience, and 2 years as a flight attendant, Nicole is a great agent to help\u00a0book your next vacation. She\u00a0is a Sandals specialist, Disney specialist, Celebrity specialist, and AMResorts Master Agent. We chatted with Nicole to find out some of her best travel tips and secrets:<\/p>\n

Why was the travel industry something you wanted to get into?
\n<\/strong>
\nI love to travel! My family is from Barbados and Trinidad, so I think it runs in my blood. I was even married in Punta Cana at a destination wedding and then took another honeymoon to see more of the world.<\/p>\n

What is your favourite destination and why?
\n<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d have to say St. Lucia, where I had my honeymoon. The views were stunning and like nothing else, the people were so nice, and the food was amazing. For Europe, I\u2019d have to say Italy is my favourite: there are some amazing sights and culture, and the food is amazing.<\/p>\n

\"Nicole<\/a>

Nicole Deforest in St. Lucia on her honeymoon.<\/p><\/div>\n

Let\u2019s get into some of the questions everyone is dying to know. What is the best day or time to book flights?
\n<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s the million dollar question everyone wants to know when they\u2019re trying to find travel tips\u2026For air, I usually tell my clients to look and book in the morning. A lot of people are putting flights on hold, and then if they haven\u2019t book by midnight, there\u2019s all that product left so it might be cheaper, and there\u2019s more available than if you\u2019re looking mid-day. For all-inclusive vacations, it\u2019s really based on supply and demand so there\u2019s no real secret to when you should book.<\/p>\n

So if people are looking for the cheapest option, how is booking with a travel agent cheaper?
\n<\/strong>
\nIf you\u2019re booking with a travel agent, we\u2019re seeing things packaged together from the suppliers so you\u2019re not paying tax twice or paying for flights and then your package, it\u2019s all bundled together so that ends out being a deal if you do the math. At tripcentral.ca, all the prices you see have\u00a0taxes included, so you\u2019re not going to be surprised with a higher cost when you go to pay for your next vacation.<\/p>\n

Why should someone book through you? Isn\u2019t it easier online, from home?
\n<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s better to book with an agent, I always say. I do that dirty work for the clients \u2013 I can add requests for hotels or flights online, which someone booking themselves can\u2019t do, and if there are any mistakes or issues, I\u2019m then the one doing those hold times with tour operators, rather than the clients themselves. Booking with a travel agent also means that we\u2019ll be doing a needs analysis, finding which hotel or destination is best suited for the client. We also provide after-care service, and of course tripcentral.ca has Trip Assist<\/a> for when clients are in-destination.<\/p>\n

Another big thing is that our travel agents have been to those destinations that we book for our clients: that\u2019s really the biggest thing. We offer expertise because we know the destinations and the hotels. If a client is really looking to book online without having to deal with coming into the store or calling an agent, we do have a chat option on our website so an agent can walk you through the packages you\u2019re looking at.<\/p>\n

What is the best place to take my family on vacation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My favourite for a family vacation would be Punta Cana: it\u2019s great for budget travelers, it has an amazing beach and there are just so many options for resorts and programs, depending on your needs. Cuba is another one that is both cheap and cheerful.<\/p>\n

\"Travel<\/a>

The pool area at the Barcelo Punta Cana, one of Nicole Deforests top recommendations.<\/p><\/div>\n

Is there a hotel or resort chain that you recommend over another?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My go-to resorts are always the Barcelo<\/a>, Bahia<\/a>, and Iberostar <\/a>resorts, because of what they offer: they\u2019re really great for everyone. If you\u2019re going to Punta Cana, I\u2019d recommend the Sirenis because it has an amazing waterpark for families.<\/p>\n

What are your best tips for travelers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I get a lot of questions on medical issues like what kind of pills they might need and that\u2019s not something I can give out as I\u2019m not a doctor. I do recommend that people take Imodium with them; you\u2019re going to be in an area with different water and greases used in cooking and that\u2019s not what our bodies are used to here in Canada. With lots of fruity drinks and tropical fruit, your stomach\u00a0might not be used to all those changes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to make sure your passport is valid before you even book: a lot of times your passport needs to be valid for six months around your travel time and I\u2019ve seen customers come in to book and have no idea about the status of their passport.<\/p>\n

Finally, when I travel, I only convert $100-$200 at a time, because a lot of times converting that money back, you\u2019re losing cents with each dollar so smaller amounts are better than a large sum that you\u2019re going to have to switch back in the end.<\/p>\n

Nicole<\/a> is experienced in helping travellers book Caribbean vacations, plan their\u00a0destination wedding, and get away\u00a0to Europe. If you\u2019re looking for help planning your next vacation, call Nicole at 1-800-665-4981 ext. 7341.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Travel agent Nicole Deforest from our Guelph location\u00a0has been working in the industry for 9 years. With 7 years of travel agent experience, and 2 years as a flight attendant, Nicole is a great agent to help\u00a0book your next vacation. She\u00a0is a Sandals specialist, Disney specialist, Celebrity specialist, and AMResorts Master Agent. We chatted with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":289,"featured_media":14351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":""},"categories":[3553,3549],"tags":[3683,3685,3687],"modified_by":"Laura Cooper","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/289"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14149"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22007,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14149\/revisions\/22007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}