What a luxury travel advisor costs in Dallas, and what the fee actually buys

The short answer: planning fees and the trip are two separate numbers

At RB Travel Collective my planning fees are published on my website: $800 for a full custom itinerary of up to one week for a single family, $1,100 for up to two weeks, $150 for destination and hotel bookings, $100 to book a hotel you have already chosen, and $50 for a premium-cabin flight. Last-minute, multi-group and extended trips get a custom quote, and the annual concierge memberships are priced by retainer. The fee pays for my work; the trip itself is priced by the destination, the season, the rooms and how much private service you want.

People often ask me the question as if there were one answer for every advisor. There is not. Some advisors charge nothing up front, some charge by the hour, some charge a flat fee per trip, and some work only on retainer. I publish mine because I think a client planning a meaningful trip deserves to know what the planning costs before the first conversation, and because it clears up misunderstandings early.

What each level of help includes

Most clients do not need everything. The right level depends on how much of the trip you have already decided and how much of the work you want to hand over. Here is how my services break down, using the fees stated on my services page:

• Full service itinerary, $800 for up to one week or $1,100 for up to two weeks per single family: I design the whole trip and book hotels, transfers, activities and excursions through local partners. You show up at the airport.
• Destination and hotel bookings, $150: you know roughly where you want to go, and I help you narrow it down with two to three options in each destination, then book the hotels or a cruise.
• Hotels only, $100: you already know where you want to stay, and I book it and pass along the VIP amenities. This is complimentary for returning clients.
• Flights, $50: first, business and premium economy where it is a separate cabin, for flights to or from the U.S. I do not book economy fares.
• Private charters: quoted on request, because every charter is different.

When the fee goes up, and why

My services page lists three situations where the standard fee may increase and I provide a custom quote instead. The first is last-minute travel, which I define as typically less than 60 days before departure. A short runway means the best rooms, guides and restaurant tables are already spoken for, so finding good alternatives takes more calls, more options and more back-and-forth.

The second is a multi-group trip, where several households travel together. Every household adds flights from different places, different room needs and different opinions, and the coordination grows faster than the head count. The third is an extended trip of two weeks or more, where the number of hotels, transfers and moving parts simply multiplies.

I would rather quote these honestly up front than absorb the extra work quietly, or cut corners on the parts of the trip that matter most to you. In practice the custom quote is a conversation, not a surprise: I tell you which of the three situations applies, what makes your trip more involved than a standard one, and what the fee will be before I start.

What actually moves the price of the trip

The planning fee is usually a small share of a luxury trip. The bigger number is the trip itself, and it is driven by the same handful of choices every time. The trips on my Fora profile start at $500 per night, which gives you a sense of the accommodation level I usually work at, but the total depends on what you put around the room.

For Dallas travelers, flight routing is part of the picture too. A nonstop from DFW in a premium cabin can be priced very differently from a one-stop itinerary through another hub, and the cheaper option is not always the better value once you count the extra hours with young children or older parents. I show both when it matters, so the trade-off is your decision rather than a booking engine's default.

When I build a proposal, these are the decisions that change the total most:

• Destination and season: the same hotel can cost very differently in peak season and shoulder season.
• Room category and layout: suites, connecting rooms or a villa for a family cost more than standard rooms, and change the whole experience.
• Private transfers and private guides versus shared or self-driven options.
• The number of hotels: every move costs a travel day and usually money.
• Flight cabin: business and first class on long-haul routes are often the single largest line item.
• Special experiences, from a private yacht day to a chef's table, that cannot be found on a booking site.

What the fee buys that a booking site will not

Because I book through Fora and RB Travel Collective is a Virtuoso member, I can pass along amenities at partner hotels such as a $100 hotel credit, free breakfast and a possible upgrade. On a single stay, perks like those can be worth as much as the hotels-only fee; I explain how that works in my guide to booking a luxury hotel yourself and still getting the perks.

The larger value is harder to price. It is the experience a local partner can arrange that is not on any website, the itinerary that flows from one place to the next without wasted days, and someone to call when a flight cancels or a hotel loses a reservation. One client whose trip hit several last-minute changes wrote afterward that I handled everything seamlessly, so they could relax and enjoy the trip. That is what you are paying for. If you have heard that advisors always cost more than booking online, I take that claim apart in the most common myths about travel advisors.

Annual retainers for people who travel all the time

For a small group of clients, paying per trip stops making sense. My concierge membership is limited to 25 clients so I can genuinely know each one, and it comes in two forms, both priced as an annual retainer on inquiry.

Unlimited Travel Planning covers unlimited luxury travel and fine dining reservations, access to VIP events and 24/7 concierge service for travel needs. It suits corporate travelers and anyone who flies often enough that one trusted person holding every reservation saves real time. The Lifestyle Package goes further: itineraries built around school calendars and multigenerational needs, vetted resources for babysitting, ski schools and family-friendly private guides, coordination of graduations, destination birthdays and reunions, and ongoing passport and visa tracking. My website notes that the typical Lifestyle client spends over $250,000.

How to judge whether a planning fee is worth it for your trip

A fee is worth paying when the cost of getting the trip wrong is higher than the fee. For a long weekend at a resort you know well, it may not be. For a two-week trip across two countries with three generations, or a celebration on a fixed date, it usually is, because one bad hotel, one missed connection or one wasted day can cost more than the planning did. I describe how that plays out for big family trips in my guide to planning a multigenerational milestone trip.

A few honest questions help you decide:

• How many hours would you spend researching and booking this yourself, and what is that time worth to you?
• How much of the trip is fixed, such as a date, an event or a group, and how expensive is a mistake?
• Will you use the perks, such as breakfast, credits and upgrades, at the hotels you would choose anyway?
• Who will handle it if something goes wrong while you are abroad?

The budget conversation worth having early

The hardest trips to plan are not the expensive ones. They are the ones where the expectations and the budget point in different directions: five-star everything, private guides every day and a suite with a view, for a budget that covers half of it. I would rather say that in the first conversation than after weeks of proposals, and I am not the right fit for a traveler who wants the highest level of service for little or no budget.

You do not need an exact number before we talk. A range for the trip excluding flights, a sense of what matters most and what you would happily trade away, and who is paying for what in a group are enough to start. If you are comparing advisors, my list of questions to ask a travel advisor before you hire one includes how to ask about fees without it feeling awkward.

Getting a quote for your own trip

Most of my clients are in Dallas and the surrounding area, and many prefer to meet in person; others start with a call. Either way, the first conversation is about the trip: who is going, when, what the occasion is, and what a great week would look like for you. From there I can tell you which level of service fits, whether any of the custom-quote situations apply, and roughly what the trip itself is likely to require.

If the full itinerary is the right fit, I design a proposal, we refine it together, and I book everything once you approve. If you only need a hotel or a flight, it can be that simple. Either way, you will know the planning fee before any work begins.

Questions people ask me