Upticks: Travel Time with Liane Lance

This week on Upticks I’m joined by Liane Lance, the co-owner of Picture This Travel. After 30 years in Corporate America, Liane founded Picture This Travel, where she is able to combine her love of travel and helping others.

As the world continues to reopen and many Falcon Wealth Advisors clients express interest in traveling, I’m excited Liane Lance, the co-owner of Picture This Travel, joined me on a recent episode of Upticks. After 30 years in Corporate America, Liane founded Picture This Travel, where she is able to combine her love of travel and helping others travel. Picture This Travel focuses on assisting people and families with leisure travel.

Liane and I discussed her travel agency, how a travel agent can help you, tips for traveling and more. A summary of our conversation is below.

Jake: Thanks for joining me, Liane. I’m looking forward to learning more about your business. I know you have about a dozen agents on your team. Do they specialize in certain areas of travel?

Liane: We all can help plan cruises and trips to places like Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii and Alaska. These destinations are our ‘bread and butter.’ But I personally specialize in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Most of my time is spent developing customized itineraries for clients traveling to these destinations.

Jake: I know you’ve talked about how COVID-19 negatively impacted the travel industry, and you spent much of 2020 working to assure that clients were refunded for canceled trips. As we sit here in 2022, do you have any COVID-related tips for travelers?

Liane: Travelers should know everything is changing all the time. The rules around testing, vaccines and masks from a month ago may not be the same rules in place today. It’s difficult but important for our agency to stay on top of the rules here in the US and the rules of the countries our clients are visiting.

On top of that, airlines are regularly making schedule changes because they don’t have enough pilots and other personnel. We used to encounter three or four schedule changes every two weeks, but now each of our agents confronts three or four schedule changes a day. We’re constantly re-examining the trips we book for clients to make sure the timing and connections still work.

And in addition to airlines, hotels and resorts are struggling to hire enough workers, which of course impacts travelers. With so much volatility in the travel world, I tell our clients it’s a good time to have an agent who has their back. We answer the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Jake: That leads into my next question. Who should use a travel agent and who should not?

Liane: Outside of Alaska, Hawaii, and Disney/Universal Studios trips, most of the destinations we book for clients are outside of the US. I think most people who want to go to Disney or Universal should work with a travel agent, as these trips are more expensive and complicated than ever. If you want to go to a place like New York City, Las Vegas or Palm Springs, you can book that on your own. But if you’re traveling abroad, I recommend working with an agent who can help you navigate this complex era of international travel.

Jake: A lot of people may be curious about this—how are travel agents paid?

Liane: We earn a commission from cruise lines, resorts, hotels, etc. when we book a client for one of their properties. But we also have a fee-based system for clients to work with us. The last two years have taught us we simply have to charge a fee for our time. And the fee was always embedded in the total cost of a trip, but we’re now simply receiving it up front.

Jake: Yes, I think that makes sense to charge for your time. I know you spent a lot of time assuring that my wife and I were refunded for a trip to Europe that we booked for 2020—we greatly appreciate it. What do the fees you charge clients typically cost?

Liane: It varies based on the type of trip. If you want us to develop and schedule a customized trip to Europe, the engagement fee will likely be around $250. Like anyone else, we don’t like to work for free. Charging this engagement fee up front is key to our long-term stability. We sadly saw a lot of travel agents go out of business during the pandemic.

Jake: That makes sense, and seems like a reasonable fee. Are there any general tips you’re giving most of your clients in 2022?

Liane: There is a website we use called Sherpa, which breaks down the Covid rules country-by-country. It’s especially important for people who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine to understand these rules, as many countries are not allowing unvaccinated travelers or are limiting what they can do once they arrive in the country.

If you’re unvaccinated, you’re mostly limited to Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom at the moment. And of course, all travelers are currently required to test negative for COVID-19 within 24 hours of arriving in the United States. We help clients ensure they have a testing plan in place before they return home.

Jake: Interesting. So what are some destinations people seem particularly interested in?

Liane: Italy is always a hot spot, it’s a top destination. Everyone wants to go to Europe right now. We do lots of different types of European trips, using planes, trains, automobiles and cruise lines. We don’t typically book clients for 40-60 person trips. We instead focus on custom itineraries.

And of course your budget is a key element of any trip. We help clients plan their ideal trip within their budget. However, if it’s apparent their budget is not large enough for what they have in mind, we let them know that from the onset. As we all know, everything is more expensive in 2022, including airfare. But we try to find everyone the very best price we can.

Jake: And how about you? Where are your favorite places to travel?

Liane: I love traveling to all parts of Europe, especially Italy and France. And I love traveling to the Caribbean and Mexico. It’s hard to choose a favorite. I really enjoy learning the history of a place I’m traveling to. I’m not great at laying on the beach.

And even when our team travels for pleasure, we carve out some time to see properties that could be desirable for our clients. Last year our entire team went to Cabo San Lucas and inspected 15-20 properties.

Jake: I’m sure it’s a lot of work, but it’s tough to feel too sorry for you if you’re in Cabo!

Many of our clients enjoy reading—do you have any favorite books?

Liane: I like to read mysteries and history. I really like the author Ken Follet. And reading makes travel more fun because I always want to go where I just read about.

Jake: Do you have a life or business motto?

Liane: I simply try to treat people the way I want to be treated. That was what propelled us through the pandemic. And I’m proud our team didn’t lose a single agent during the pandemic.

There were some silver linings to the pandemic. We became more digital focused. Everything we do is now digital; our clients can access everything they need for their trip on their mobile device. And we can now meet with our clients via Zoom, which often makes things easier and more efficient, as we have clients all over the country.

Jake: We’ve experienced something similar at Falcon Wealth Advisors. We now regularly meet with clients through Zoom and also have clients from different parts of the country. I’m a handshake guy, but video isn’t so bad.

Anything else you would like to add, Liane?

Liane: I just would encourage people to travel, and if you have a trip you’ve been thinking about, contact a travel agent. We know when to travel and when not to. We can also know what you can’t miss, where you should dine, and much more. Travel is typically a happy business and working with our clients is fun.

Jake: Thanks so much for joining me, Liane. I’ve greatly appreciated your help over the years. If you’re reading this and want to speak with Liane, I would be happy to connect you. And if you want to financially prepare for a retirement that will feature enriching travel, please contact Falcon Wealth Advisors. You can reach me directly at Jake@falconwealthadvisors.com.

Clients choose to work with us to enhance their financial literacy and explain exactly what their financial plan means to them.

Legal & Privacy

Securities offered through Hightower Securities, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC, Hightower Advisors, LLC is a SEC registered investment adviser. brokercheck.finra.org

©2022 Hightower Advisors. All Rights Reserved.