Frequently Asked Questions

Why Craft Travel?

There are countless reasons to work with a reputable travel designer, and fortunately we can say that there are many wonderful and talented designers in this industry.

So, why us? Craft Travel offers you a closely-knit team of professionals (and working moms!) who are highly knowledgeable, dedicated and extremely well-connected. With offices both in the United States and South Africa, we have access to exclusive benefits, competitive rates and personal insider connections that will make your travels truly one-of-a-kind. Once your trip is confirmed, we provide you with a safety net that is simply impossible to achieve when booking on your own.

We are a family-owned and operated boutique shop with a 40 year track record in the travel industry. Here, each team member will know your name, your preferences and every step of your itinerary. We do not believe that luxury is about a price tag. Each of us chose this profession because we truly love identifying exceptional experiences and connecting them with amazing clients whose needs we understand. We thrive when we have a limited number of clients whom we know well and will grant us the honor of planning their adventures. We find no greater joy than receiving an email from you telling us how your trip was unforgettable. 

Don't take our word for it: You can find many of these stories in our Testimonials or Google Reviews. A member of Serandipians by Traveller Made ® since 2019, Craft Travel was hand-picked to join the industry’s most innovative and exclusive community of luxury travel designers and hospitality partners.

How do you work?

In order to provide you with a truly Crafted experience, our team generally works with itineraries starting at five nights or more and/or a minimum spend of $1,000 per day. Julia typically works with a minimum trip spend of $25,000.

We will gladly assist our clients with booking airfare in conjunction with hotel and service arrangements. As we are not a traditional travel agency, booking flights only provides minimal value for our clients where better rates can usually be found online.

Following a complimentary 30 minute discovery call, we will request payment of a $250 nonrefundable commitment retainer to be applied toward the cost of your trip, or $500 for groups of eight travelers or more. Working directly with Julia will incur a starting commitment of $500 per trip, and may be higher depending on the scope of work. This is not a planning fee in addition to the cost of your travel arrangements, but rather a commitment between us and our clients to ensure we can optimize the time of both our team and our valued suppliers on the ground.

We understand that you are trusting us with an experience of a lifetime and want you to earn your confidence. We are happy to provide you with a detailed itinerary and quotation with various options and/or modifications before asking for your full deposit. The price you see on your itinerary quotation reflects the final price to you.

You’re a boutique tour operator. How is that different from a travel agency?

There is sadly a reason the term “travel agent” has often been met with skepticism and distrust. For many years, travel agents acted as gatekeepers between travelers, archaic industry platforms and networks of destination-specific insiders. A travel agent really didn’t need to know very much about various destinations or experiences. The only true requirement was to book flights and maintain a list of good (or sometimes not so good) contacts with operators for each kind of trip: someone for Disney, or for the Caribbean, or for somewhere quite possibly the agent had never heard of until the client requested it.

As we all know, the rise of the internet permanently changed the role of the travel agent, weeding out many of the bad apples and sparing primarily those who were still able to add value for their clients. Perhaps even more significantly, the internet also provided travelers with far more ability to navigate independently by making bookings on their own and accessing true experts directly.

Craft Travel has never been a traditional travel agency. We are, more accurately, a boutique tour operator founded in 1984 as Brazil Nuts Tours, one of the first American companies truly specialized in outbound travel to Brazil and South America. We were the experts travel agents called when their clients wanted to book the Amazon, Patagonia, Galapagos or the Pantanal. Our own love of travel eventually led us to expertise in other parts of the world, first in Africa and more recently Europe and Asia. And nearly 40 years later, many agents are still calling us…though these days they can email too. :)

This is not to discount the place or credibility of travel agents, now usually referred to as “travel designers” to reflect the more nuanced and creative elements of the profession. We at Craft Travel consider ourselves travel designers as well, working with clients in a highly personalized way to understand their needs, interests and expectations. Even before the internet, individual travelers would find us and it was this role in which we felt our value was most meaningfully added. We love what we do and treat each and every trip we plan as if it were our own.

Travel designers are experiencing a rebound first observed several years ago when many travelers began to feel frustrated by the inevitable issues which arise from transnational online bookings. This trend however became even more significant as a result of COVID-19. Though the pandemic nearly rocked the industry to the brink of disaster, travelers recognized that a trusted professional was in many ways more important than ever navigating an ever-changing and often disruptive travel landscape.

Do your programs have any set departure dates?

Customizing your itinerary means you can travel any time you like. We do offer a handful of fixed departure programs (particularly for river and expedition cruises with specific start dates) and the occasional small group journey but otherwise we plan around you and your schedule.

Are your programs escorted?

By their very nature, most of the ecological and adventure itineraries are escorted by specialty and/or naturalist guides. However, the majority of our programs are "hosted". This means in each city you visit, a guide will meet you at the airport, assists you at hotel check-in, gives you a tour of the city and is always available to help you during your time in that city. This way, independence and flexibility, but also have a "friend" in each city. It’s worth noting that our guides are some of our best assets; a warm, caring guide can make all the difference on a trip, and we are proud to say that ours are among the best... feedback from our clients prove it.

Which hotels do you work with or recommend?

While the majority of our work is with high end properties and outfitters, we also know that hotel stars and sheet thread count do not always define the worth of an experience, particularly when dealing in remote areas geared toward naturalist and/or expedition travel.

We do not work with Airbnb; we do however work in various locations with apartment, home and villa rentals. Part of our service is understanding your needs, preferences and budget and identifying the proper accommodations for your journey. As a member of Serandipians by Traveller Made ® we can almost always guarantee that any member property will provide an exceptional experience in addition to the benefits to which you’d be entitled as our guest.

Do your itineraries include airfare?

We do not include international airfare in our itineraries. Depending on the nature of your itinerary, internal flights may be included or may be priced separately. We are happy to assist in optimizing your flight arrangements, whether it be by booking your flights or simply advising the best available routes for you to purchase on your own. Once you have called us or filled out our Trip Planning Sheet, we will determine with you the best course of action based on your needs and preferences.

We have contracts with most major carriers for international routes, and when quoting your itinerary we will use the routing and carrier that offers the best combination of schedule and low fare. If you have a preference, please be sure to let us know.

As stated above, we do not provide air-only services and only issue flights for clients in conjunction with hotel and ground services.

Just who exactly are "Craft Travelers"?

Craft Travelers are curious, discerning travelers of all ages and backgrounds from all over the world! You will see from our client testimonials that Craft Travelers are looking for unique experiences with value, security and fun. And these are exactly the qualities our programs offer in South America, Africa and beyond.