Are you in it for the LONG HAUL? Pt. 1

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake.

The great affair is to move.   

-Robert Louis Stevenson

What do mean the flight from Toronto to Tokyo is 13 ½ hours?  If Japan is that far away then forget it!

Ever get this reaction from clients who are looking to explore new destinations?  One of the problems is that when they find out the actual flying time, they tend to want to return to a ‘comfort destination’—one where you hop on the plane and 3-5 hours later, you are lying on a beach or buying your Park admission tickets.

Coach your clients

So what is the role of the travel professional?  Put the ‘journey’ into context and actually ‘coach your clients’ on how to enjoy the long-haul flight as an adventure in itself. 

Who wants to travel far away?

Travel Counsellors, simply put, ‘counsel’ their clients about travel options.  Going to a new destination half-way around the world can be an exciting suggestion to clients of all generations.  We know from our research that:

• Mature Travellers are looking for new experiences in safe destinations, often with groups of like-minded travellers. 

• Baby Boomers have most likely  ‘been there—done that’.  You need to find out what type of holiday they have enjoyed in the past and then creatively suggest something to build on their past experience.  If they sat on the beach in Varadero, Cuba, perhaps they would like to sit on the beach in Jimbaran Bay, Bali. 

• Generation-Xers want to do something that their parents did not do. They want to be different and many want to spend the money to enhance their holiday.  Something out of the ordinary may be a good suggestion.  Instead of re-visiting the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, try the pyramids in Egypt, check out the colossal statues in Abu Simbel, and meander through the columns in the real Temple of Luxor.

• Generation-Yers like group activities where they can assert their independence—and spend some money doing it. This group will most likely NOT need coaching when it comes to long-haul flights.  Hop on the plane, turn on your ipod, and wake up in Rio!

Pre-requi-seats

Novice travellers don’t concern themselves too much with seat selection as they don’t know the seating protocol for long distance flights.  Travel Counsellors can play a key role here in providing sage advice. 

• Some enjoy the window seat    
• The Pros: They have a view and also a ‘wall’ to prop up their pillow while they sleep.
• The Cons: You will probably be travelling at night when there will be nothing to see anyway.  Unless you bring your own pillow there is usually a gap between the seat and the window and your tiny airplane pillow will keep falling down.  And you will have to disturb the people sitting beside you each time you need to use the washroom or stretch your legs.

• Some enjoy the aisle seat   
• Pros: You can be master of your own domain.  Go to the washroom or go for a walk whenever you choose; have a bit more ‘space’ on one side of you; flag down the flight attendant without having to push the concierge button. 
• Cons : You will have to move when your seat mates want to go to the washroom or go for a walk; you have to ensure that no arms or legs are in the aisle when the flight attendants wheel the serving cart up and down the aisle or whenever another passenger walks by.

• No one prefers the middle seat.  Unless of course you are travelling with a companion where one of you will have the window or aisle seat. 

• Many people don’t like the back of the plane. That’s where the washrooms are located and sometimes it gets noisy in the galley, where the food is prepared.  Also, if you are in the back of the plane, you will have to wait until all the rows in front of you disembark before you can get off the plane, and then line ups at immigration may be very long.  Travel counsellors should counsel their clients to pre-select their seat and not have the airline assign it at the last minute, as they often will assign seats at the back of the plane and work forward.

Be a seat guru to your clients

Need extra help with this?  Sites such as www.seatGuru.com  will have the seating plan for just about any airplane currently in use.  You can show your client the layout, check where the ‘not so good seats’ are located (at the very back, next to a washroom, near the serving galley, window seats without a window, etc) and provide counsel.

Stay tuned for more tips on surviving the long haul in Pt. 2, coming later this week!