The Travel Nanny Field

Travel Nanny Skills - You are young...Start traveling on vacations...Learn how to travel alone and amuse yourself!  

• Business skills such as learning how to plan your own travel looking for the best deals, being organized and prepared.
• This is a profession about working with parents as travel can be stressful and your job is to help them relax. It helps if you have good instincts about adults, see trigger situations and diffuse when possible.  Sounds like you need to be a psychologist?!  Close to it at times!
• Flexible!  In a travel career things change at the drop of the hat!  You have to know how to go with the flow.  Sometimes you need to take the initiative to fix things.

Pause for a travel story!

I know I said I was just talking business here but sometimes a story illustrates a point better!

I work with a family from Australia once or twice a year.  I fly to Perth, Australia (think 22 hours of flying from Austin, Tx) and they have a travel agent that does all the trip planning.  The first year I just assumed the agent would do everything correctly.  There were so many mishaps in that trip that next year he changed agencies.  I also made my own mental notes.

Some of our flights were on Qantas and some on United Airlines.  I made sure I had the itinerary for all the flights this time.  We fly from Perth to Sydney and rest one night.  Then we fly to Honolulu for 2 days.  From there we go to San Francisco for two days and then to the final destination of Boston where I say good-bye.  In one month I meet them back in Boston and we start the return trip.

I noticed in Hawaii that my family had no Frequent Flyer numbers for United.  This struck me as wasteful since they do enough miles to qualify eventually for a free trip!  I went online and with their permission, got everyone FF mile numbers.  I also noticed we had no assigned seats from Honolulu to San Francisco to Boston and return.  We had experienced last time what happens with no assigned seats as we found ourselves scrambling for seats with at least me and the children being together.  I had stepped up to the plate in Orlando and advocated for seats.  My family hires me because dad is a nervous flyer and hates complications.  I see my job as making sure all the travel goes smoothly from counting suitcases, making sure we have seats together etc.  

I managed to secure seats for all the flights except Honolulu to San Francisco and told dad we needed to get to airport early to make sure I had time to advocate for our seats.  Due to a traffic jam on the way to airport we were pushing the time limits.  Sure enough, United had a delay on another flight and there was a long line of re booking passengers.  I managed to advocate our way to the front of one line.  By the haggard look on the United Reservationist's face, I knew we were in trouble.  

United:  You are too late, we don't have time to get your bags on.  The flight is getting ready to board.

Dad is turning red.  I ask him to go take the children and have a seat and mom and I will figure it out.

Me:  Technically, we are here early enough to qualify.  What is the real problem?

United:  A delayed flight and we are now overbooked.  Look give me a moment and let me see what I can do.

Me:  It has to be so frustrating for you!  Please just do your best for us.  We have had problem with the seating from beginning and I worked for two days getting us all seats.  These are frequent flyers and with over $6,000 in tickets, we just need to find a way to make this work for all of us.  I appreciate your help!

United:  Thank you for understanding, please just give me a moment.

Mom and I are waiting and I keep a smile on my face!  She just motions "it's all yours"!

Finally...

United:  Look, I can't get you on this flight.  BUT I will give you another day in Honolulu at a hotel, and some food vouchers.

Me:  Well, it is raining in San Francisco and we did have one extra day we can give up.  But you know that means a taxi ride back and to again tomorrow!

United:  I will give you taxi vouchers.

Me:  Can you make sure we have seats together the rest of the trip?  Is there anything else you can do for us that would make my dad happy?!

United:  Tell you what.  I will give each of you $250 vouchers for future travel!  It's pushing the envelope but I will do it!

Me:  Why, that's so nice of you.  I appreciate that and I know it will make the dad feel better about United.

Needless to say Dad was happy with the extras and Honolulu was beautiful that day so another day in paradise we could do!

Flexible...Know your airports (each airport has a different time allowance for checking in bags....have some inner charm and confidence!  My client always says no one can resist when I put on my southern charm face!