Since starting my travel business, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Dubai not once, but twice. I originally went for my birthday. But shortly after making plans for the birthday trip I started my own travel group and what do you know, the most requested trip was Dubai. So I made plans to return just 4 weeks later.
I invited several friends to join me on my birthday trip to Dubai. For several reasons, only one of the 40 plus invited ended up actually going. The number one reason I suspect was cost. The trip was over $3,000.
Now I’m far from rich. I don’t usually even know how to save that well. But I was determined to do what I needed to do to make this trip. I mean I had 2 years to get it together and a full time job. So it looked pretty possible to me. I just knew others would feel the same way. NOT.
Then I had one friend who appeared to be on the edge of deciding to go with me. But the next thing I know she opted for another much cheaper trip. She shared the itinerary with me and it looked exactly like mine. I thought, how can the same trip be more than a thousand dollars different in price? I knew there was only one way to find out. Compare notes AFTER both trips. So that’s what we did. We learned quite a bit.
In fact, weeks later we are still finding out the difference between our two trips. Many things listed on her itinerary that she assumed would be an experience turned out to be a drive by viewing while mine was actually an experience.
So, here are a few things I now know that you have to consider when comparing packaged trip prices and selecting a travel group to join.
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- Who are you traveling with? There are so many travel groups now, and they are NOT all the same. Make sure the people in the group seem like people you’d want to spend a week with. Hopefully they’re people you will want to travel with on future trips as well. What’s the age group? What do the people look like in the group photos? You can even click on some of the group member profiles to see what you have in common. What is the group leader like? People usually follow someone they have something in common with. I’d hate to sign up for a trip and most of the people are in their 20s and I’m now in my 50s. I remember reading a post where a woman complained about being cropped out of the group pics because she didn’t look like the rest of the group (they were Japanese, she was black). The whole reason so many black groups exist now is to avoid that kind of treatment.
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- What is the group size? My group trips are usually limited to 12 to 32 people. The group that my friend traveled with was more than 200 people. That’s bigger than a family reunion. Depending on what you like that could be enjoyable, but it better be cheaper. I do know the more intimate a group experience the more you’ll pay, but you’ll have a totally different experience.
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- What is included in your group’s packages? I’ve seen groups that advertise really low prices only to add on 15 different options when you get to your destination. So you end up spending your spending money on tours when you could have been paying for them right along with the hotel and airfare. Or you’re sucked in by the low advertised price – which will often attract cheap people. If that’s your crowd, you’ll fit right in. If not, don’t get pissed when nobody wants to do the extra stuff you want to sign up for.
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- Check out the conversations in the group. You can easily tell if a group is just not for you just by the dialogue. If you can’t have a meaningful conversation in the group it probably won’t happen in person. I find myself reading and rolling my eyes quite often in some groups. Those are the ones I know I wouldn’t want to travel with. I once had to leave a group because I got tired of the group administrator’s snide comments. To each his or her own I guess.
- What activities are included? My group tends to like wine tasting, shopping, and a little down time to do their own thing. Some groups are all about the party, party, party, and more party. You do not want to get stuck with a group for a whole week or more that will have you running from one club to the next if that’s not your thing. And if you want to drink and party for days on end you don’t want to be stuck with the sunbathing kick back crew. Get to know who you’re traveling with by joining the social media for the group, and make sure you read anything posted in the group that tells you what you’re getting involved in. My group, and many others, post rules and expectations but many people don’t read them. And then they end up asking 50 questions later. Just read before you proceed. That will save you a lot of time in the long run.
After comparing notes about our trips, we both concluded that we got what we paid for. I appreciated the smaller group size, private tours included, quality and calibre of the group members on the trip, and totally appreciated every minute of my experience. My friend on the other hand felt like she missed out on quite a bit while in Dubai and wouldn’t recommend travel with the group to anyone in her circle. Fortunately, for her she got a do-over when she went with me on my second visit to Dubai.
As always, you get what you pay for. Sometimes you just have to budget for it, but it will be so worth it.
We’ve been on quite a few amazing adventures since Dubai. If you’d like to join us next time click here.
