1.       Client is going to Croatia next month and wants to know the best night clubs/beaches in Hvar, Split and Dubrovnik.  What do you recommend? How did you go about your search/compile the options?

Banje Beach Club, Bonj les Bains, Hulu Hulu bar, Carpe Diem Beach, Radisson Blu Mistral Beach Bar. I did some research through influencers.

2.       Client wants to find an inexpensive one-day bike tour in Tuscany. We do not have any internal resources for an inexpensive bike tour company. What are your next steps? How did you get your answer?

I would reach out to a CVB to get local suggestions from them.

3.       What is the fastest way to get from Kyoto to Hakone? What would a schedule look like?  How did you get your answer?

I got my answer on Rome2Rio.com with additional research on car service via google. The fastest way is to train from Kyoto to Odawara (~3 hours) and then get car service from Odawara to Hakone.

4.       What are the transportation options and schedules from Crete to Santorini in July? How did you get your answer?

The options are two ferry options, a fast ferry that takes two hours and a slower ferry that takes four hours. The third option is a short flight for 30 minutes.

5.       John wants to take his wife and three kids to the Vatican when it is closed to the public. What steps do you take to try and make this happen?

I would connect with the CVB to see if they could get us access for the high-level client. If they are unable, I would try the US embassy.

6.       You’ve done an intake call with clients, the Smith family, who would like to visit Rome, the Amalfi Coast/Capri this summer. 2 adults, 2 adult-aged children, like high end hotels but don’t need top tier rooms. Want everything that their fancy friends have done on previous trips. Please provide an email that you would share with the DMC.  

I would like to coordinate a trip for a family of four in Rome, Amalfi Coast, and Capri. It is two adults and two adult children. We are still working on the particulars but below are the items I would like to get started coordinating for the trip:

Car service from airport to the Rome EDITION hotel. Guests will be staying there for two nights

Personal guided tour day of the Colosseum including a high-end lunch

Car service from Rome to Amalfi Coast. They will be staying at Miramalfi for three nights

Elite experience club day at Beach Club Arienzo

Dinner at Le Sirenuse

Transfer to Capri. They will be staying at La Palma for two nights.

Yacht day coordination with lunch

high end chef kitchen tasting experience

Car service to the airport.

7.       You are working on a honeymoon for Mike Williams to Singapore, Bali, Thailand, the Maldives, and Paris. What steps would you take to make sure you can deliver some impressive romantic touches that will wow his wife to be? Contact the airline to ensure champagne on their first class first, notify 1st the hotel to get their first dance song playing in the room upon arrival, send second hotel photos of the couple to be displayed upon arrival, arrange a lantern to be released in their honor.

8.       Mrs. Wilson calls and wants your suggestion on what the best hotel in Milan is for fashion week. You only have a basic knowledge of Milan hotels and haven’t booked Fashion Week before. How do you respond? What would your next steps be? What questions would you want answered?

I would do research on fashion week from the previous years and see where the top celebrities stayed. I would try to find a luxury property that is in the closest proximity to the shows.

9.       You are working on client’s honeymoon itinerary for about 1 month and have been waiting on client to get back to you on whether he wants a private boat to go between Mykonos and Santorini.  You also offer him “Sky Express” which is an airline option and the public hydrofoil as an option.  Client basically ignores you for almost a month despite the fact that you have left several messages.  A month later client finally makes a decision to take Sky Express but it is sold out.  He starts getting extremely upset saying you never told him that you were not holding anything and he never knew there was a time pressure.  How do you respond?  I would express my apologies for not adequately explaining the urgency or providing him a written deadline. I would ensure these steps would be taken in the future with him or another client. I would then express to him the the benefits of the private boat and how it can be a better option over the sky express to help ease his nerves.

10.    You made a mistake in the itinerary you prepared and wrote that breakfast was included even though it was not.  Breakfast costs about $100 per day. Client calls after a 5 night stay from the front desk, about to check out, advising that the hotel said breakfast is not included.  What do you do? I would contact the hotel to see if there are additional comps they would be able to provide the client to balance out the unexpected pricing. If there is not, I would suggest it be deducted from their bill to us.

11.    You sent client business class flight options NYC to Tokyo last week and they just respond that they would like to now book immediately as fares have started to increase. You are about to board a flight to Hawaii where wifi is typically nonexistent. You try to open Sabre to book before your flight takes off but it’s temporarily down for maintenance. Embark has an air desk, but if they book they keep half of the commission (which is over 5k on these fares). What do you do?  I would let the client know about the website maintenance and make it my priority to find wifi when landing in Hawaii to book them asap.

12.    VIP client wants you to get them into Amangiri but it is sold out. It is currently January 15 and they would like to go April 10-14. What steps do you take to get them in? I would connect with someone high up on their sales team to let them know when would like to visit their hotel and express the benefit of this client staying at their property from an exposure/marketing point of view.

13.    Client has you book Four Seasons Chicago for them on 1/20/24. They arrive to check in on 2/20/24 and find they do not have a reservation – they had a typo when asking you to book initially. There is availability, however they have already paid for the room they didn’t use a month ago (client saw the cc charge but thought it was a deposit). What do you do? I would contact the sales team at the hotel to get the no-show rate reversed.

14.    Client wants a summer trip to Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro. Client tells you they want fast paced, no more than 1-2 nights in any place. You work on a proposal with DMC and share it with the client. Client responds “my husband says this is nuts, we can’t travel like this.” You rework the itinerary with DMC and share with client. Next response: “don’t think we want these places anymore. Send me Italy, South of France and Portugal options.” What do you do? Be firm with them and say that in order for us to provide the best in class service, we need more details on the clients wants/needs for the trip.

15.    Client reaches out to you in January for a Switzerland father/daughter trip in August. You work with DMC to plan a trip the clients love, they put down a deposit and book flights. Three days before the trip the client calls you saying “my daughter now wants to go to Iceland. Switch to that for me.” At this point they have paid for the entire Switzerland trip and everything is nonrefundable. Client is furious he can’t get any money back. Wants you to fight with the DMC for it. DMC is now upset with you asking for refund at last minute when terms clearly stated it was nonrefundable at this point. What do you tell the client? What do you tell the DMC? I would provide clear communication and apologies to both parties. I would ask that the DMC agree to provide extra concessions on the clients next trip to Iceland and relay that to the client."

16.    Client wants trip to Norway this summer. You work with new DMC on a proposal which you share with the client. Client loves it, you excitedly tell the DMC the client is ready to book. DMC replies “Great, what % mark-up would you like to add?” Turns out you shared the NET price with the client. What do you do? Express to the client that you would be happy to book it, provide an updated pricing sheet and let them know that the agency fee that is now listed is what covers the high-end travel services that we will be providing.

17.    You work on Greece 60th birthday celebratory trip for client to Amanzoe with their entire family. You have great idea of doing 60 balloons filling their villa on arrival with various photos from their travels taped to them from over the years. You tell the clients wife/kids about your idea and they love it and send you photos. When you ask Amanzoe to arrange, they inform you the cost will be 1500 EUR for this. You never mentioned a cost to the client as hotels have never charged you for this before. It turns out Greece has strict laws on helium tanks and Amanzoe would have to transport the filled balloons from Athens. What do you do? I would ask the hotel to see if they could provide other birthday celebration items complimentary (cake, decor, etc) to build in a bigger package and then report back to the client, explain the laws but include everything additional that would be provided under that 1500 EUR fee.

18.    You have the following items on your To Do list for today, October 1st.   Prioritize the following 15 items in the order you would execute them today:

_3_         Call Mrs. Smith back regarding her trip over Christmas in the Caribbean which is the busiest time in the islands where everything books up quickly.

_2_           Contact the Hotel De Russie in Rome to request a transfer for a client arriving last minute tomorrow

_15_           Call a client to introduce yourself as a concierge on a honeymoon for June in Italy which you just received from a lead agent for a trip. Though it is a few months away, client is extremely anxious to wrap things up since he is going to be traveling a lot on business the next few months.

__  9         Respond to a local tour company in Australia for a honeymooner headed there over Thanksgiving. 

__7          Get rates for a client interested in staying at a nice Caribbean resort the first week in November.

__  8        Put an itinerary together for a couple leaving for Paris and London on October 20th. 

__ 14         Send out brochures on a cruise for a client looking into a sailing early December.

__6           Messenger an itinerary you finished to a client working in mid-town Manhattan.  He leaves in 2 weeks. 

__   12        Call the salesperson at the Montage Beverly Hills to discuss upgrading a client heading there next week to celebrate her anniversary. 

__   11        Call Emirates Airlines to order a wedding cake for clients flying next week to Dubai on their honeymoon.

_10_           Research and respond to an issue with a hotel where you recall the hotel wrote that breakfast was included but they told client it was not.   Client checks out in 2 days and you need to resolve it before then.

__13           Follow up with Air France on a claim which a client made last month for his luggage being delivered 2 days late in India.   

_1_          Client landed in Bora Bora a few hours ago and discovered their luggage was missing.  Deal with a hotel concierge and airline to track down a client’s bags which are missing.

__5           Get the phone number for a driver and guide taking clients through the French Riviera on October 8th. 

__4           Send a VIP request to a hotel manager requesting special attention and an upgrade for clients arriving October 4th.