If you often travel for work or leisure, are planning a large family getaway, or run a travel agency, a travel virtual assistant (VA) can ensure everything runs smoothly, taking care of the small details of your voyage so you can enjoy a stress-free and professionally planned trip.
A travel VA can do several tasks for you, including flight, train, or boat bookings, hotel reservations, organizing car rentals, planning itineraries, insuring your trip, arranging airport transfers, finding currency exchange deals, and much more.
They can organize your trip while adhering to a predetermined budget, saving you time and money.
If you run a travel business, you will find that hiring an assistant is much more cost-efficient than a full-time employee. VAs work remotely and you can pay them hourly. In comparison, apart from giving a full-time employee a salary, you pay benefits and bonuses, which can be expensive.
Here, we have compiled 15 tasks a travel VA can do for you to help your business and ensure a worry-free trip:
- Arranging accommodations: A travel VA can match you with accommodations that suit your needs and budget. This could be a hotel, Airbnb, homestay, or other lodging. They will search different websites (Expedia, Booking.com, etc) to find the best deal, read reviews, compare ratings, and find discounts for you. They will make reservations, handle cancellations, manage date changes, and organize personal requests, if any. Travel VAs are likely proficient in management tools like TripIt and Concur that can be used to plan and manage itineraries.
- Flight bookings: VAs will note your preferred dates, destination, budget, and airline, and search webpages like Skyscanner, Kayak, Google Flights, and other aggregator booking portals to find the cheapest deal. They will know the best time to buy flight tickets, look for airlines with the most luggage allowance, find a connection with the shortest wait time, and use frequent flyer miles or reward points for further discounts. Additionally, they will leverage digital tools to set up alerts when prices drop on your preferred route and airline. Searching for flights can be a tedious and repetitive task that dictates you spend hours in front of a computer searching for an option that suits you. An assistant skilled in these tasks can book your trip in a fraction of the time you would take, freeing up your time to focus on work or your personal life.
- Itinerary planning: Considering your budget, interests, time, and preferences, VAs can draft an itinerary that takes away guesswork from your trip: they can put together a travel plan that includes activities, dining suggestions, tours, museum visits, insider recommendations, and attractions. VAs will also schedule these activities for you so you spend less time in transit between places. Planning an itinerary requires extensive research and coordination between locations to narrow down an optimal route, a product of many working hours. It must also be balanced, so you do not get overwhelmed while on holiday. While a rigid itinerary can lose some of the spontaneity involved while traveling and discovering a new place, we recommend having one to fall back on, which can act as a guide when deciding what to do.
- Make visa and passport arrangements: An assistant can simplify the visa process, which is often complicated. They will do the necessary research and inform you which forms you need to fill in, information that must be provided, schedule appointments for you, and tell you what documents you need to carry with you for your visa interview. Travel VAs are experienced, and their advice will significantly lower the chances of your visa getting rejected or denied. For example, if you want a Schengen visa to visit Europe, an assistant can tell you which European country has the lowest wait times and the highest likelihood of a positive response. VAs will also assist you with travel regulations in your destination country, ensuring you comply with local laws.
- Currency exchange: VAs will compare the best rates offered by currency exchange providers like banks, agencies, and online platforms, streamlining the process for you. They can also analyze market trends and suggest an optimal time to exchange money, giving you the best possible rate. Additionally, they can arrange for a prepaid international travel card and buy traveler cheques for you, reducing the need to carry cash. VAs can use fintech services like Revolut and Wise to give you a hassle-free money exchange experience when traveling abroad, ensuring you pay the least conversion fees and taxes.
- Arranging car rentals and other transportation: Reach your destination and have a car ready to drive! An assistant will do the groundwork for you, namely researching and comparing car rental companies to find the cheapest and most reliable option, find a car that suits your needs, and reserve the vehicle for the required period. They can also arrange your car insurance and other optional items like GPS navigation, car seats, and other accessories. If you do not plan on renting a car, assistants will organize your transport by public or private means: they can book a taxi to and from the airport, find a driver for the duration of your stay, and even research public transport options.
- Prepare a travel guide: An assistant can compile a travel guide in the form of an email, booklet, pdf, etc. that tells you everything you need to know about a place to have a great vacation. This goes beyond travel recommendations and includes information on local customs, dress codes, conduct in public, safety information, and phrases in foreign languages to make communication with locals easier.
- Offer customer service: If you run a travel agency, you can hire VAs who work with your staff to handle customer complaints, answer calls, resolve queries, and provide general information. Since VAs work remotely in different time zones, they can be available 24/7 in case someone on holiday needs assistance. An assistant can change or cancel reservations, make new flight bookings, and more, addressing queries over the phone, email, or social media channels.
- Provide emergency assistance: If you lose your passport, miss a flight, need medical aid, or need to make sudden alternate plans, an assistant can help you by coordinating with the police and embassy staff, find the nearest hospital covered by your travel insurance, contact airlines to book the next available ticket, and manage any other related logistics involved. These actions can help you reduce the stress of an emergency and focus on the problem at hand. VAs can be available 24/7, so you can be assured that someone will always help you. Before you leave on your trip, VAs can compile “in case of emergency” documents that include a list of hospitals, medical centers, and emergency contacts to help you navigate such a situation.
- Budget planning: An assistant can help you plan a travel budget to enjoy your trip within an allocated amount. Part of this can be done using an assistant’s expertise to find deals on flights, accommodation, and transport. An assistant can also set limits for spending on meals, entertainment, and shopping. Further, they can complement this by using a real-time tracker that records your spending and updates you on how much money you have left for each category. Such systems can help you better plan your trip and decide where you would like to spend more, allowing you to stretch your budget without compromising on the quality of your vacation. Apps like Mint, YNAB, PocketGuard, Quickbooks, and Expensify can help track spending and record receipts.
- Find travel insurance: Assistants will find and compare insurance options from different companies and evaluate the different offerings based on medical cover, trip cancellation reimbursement, and other benefits. They will also summarize the fine print of a policy so you are aware of what is covered and what is not. Insurance options can vary greatly depending on the service provider, age, health, and destination; an experienced travel VA can help you make sense of the different policies and select one that fits your needs.
- Calendar management: If you run a business where employees travel frequently, hiring an in-house travel VA can help manage calendars so other employees know who is unavailable and can update timelines and deadlines for pending tasks. A travel VA who works for your company can also be put in charge of flight bookings, reservations, cancellations, making itineraries, processing invoices, and many other travel-related tasks.
- Create packing lists: Based on your destination, an assistant can create a comprehensive packing list based on your destination country’s customs, weather, activities you will engage in, and more. For example, if you plan on participating in activities like hiking, skiing, or diving, your VA can create a packing checklist that includes boots, fleeces, jackets, wetsuits, snorkeling gear, and other appropriate accessories you may need. Doing so will ensure you neither overpack nor forget essential items.
- Travel alerts: An assistant can send you timely travel alerts before and during your trip to keep you safe and updated on developments. They can monitor weather in case of extreme events, keep track of political developments in your destination country, and stay updated on transport strikes that can affect your flight and movement once you land. This important information can help you decide whether to cancel, reschedule, or proceed with your trip with some adjustments. VAs work 24/7, so they can be relied on for timely updates.
- Collect pending payments: If you run an agency, you can hire an assistant to follow up with clients to settle any pending dues, follow up on payment status, and confirm receipt of money transferred. These can include payments for flight bookings, travel insurance, tours, transport, car rentals, and other services. VAs taking care of invoicing and billing tasks leave you free to focus on aspects of the business, like growth, widening your client base, and other strategies.
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Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
