Travel Agents Took Advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales

As more travel suppliers take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday to stimulate sales, agents are finding a healthier mix of serious sales prospects that can boost their last quarter revenue.

“This was a very unusually busy Thanksgiving booking season for me,” said Helen Prochilo, at Promal Vacations, in Long Beach, New York. Prochilo said she received two warm leads from the Travelsense.org website run by the American Society of Travel Advisors, who were interested in Black Friday/Cyber Monday offers.

“It feels like people have been sitting on the fence this fall to book next year’s vacation,” said Sonya Toole Little, of Sandcastle Wishes Travel, in Kimberly, Alabama. “I think the Thanksgiving sales got a lot of them in the mood to purchase.”

Prochilo earned her Verified Travel Advisor (VTA) designation this year from ASTA, which bumped up her listing on the search site versus other listed ASTA members. “I have gotten enough bookings from that this year to pay for 10 years of membership.”

One lead purchased a $24,000 Crystal Cruise package and the second booked with Norwegian Cruise Line. The second couple waited to see what Black Friday deals might be available, but as they did, their package jumped $300 in price as cabins literally disappeared from inventory while the couple debated their purchase, Prochilo said.

ASTA wouldn’t disclose any statistics on the Travelsense website over the holiday season, but spokeswoman Erika Richter said the association saw “a notable uptick in visitors,” including a doubling of traffic between October and November, Richter said.

Richter urged any agents looking to use the site for sales leads to review and update their profiles. “Consumers need to get a response ASAP when they reach out to you, especially during a time-sensitive sales period like Thanksgiving,” she said. “Complete profiles with inviting headshots and current info are really important.”

Toole Little primed the pump this season by publishing a newsletter prior to the Black Friday weekend, alerting her existing clients that she had been provided with advance notice about sales with her preferred suppliers. She booked an Alaskan cruise off that newsletter, and also received four cold sales leads for Beaches and Sandals from a social media post.

Diane Bean, from Off on Vacation Travel, in Bangor, Maine, secured a sale from three couples looking for an adults-only Mexico vacation for late March 2020. The couples had contacted Bean before Thanksgiving.

“They had been to Mexico a few times already, and were looking for something different this time,” Bean said. One of the three couples texted Bean a screen shot of an Orbitz Black Friday offer for the Turquoize at Hyatt Ziva Cancun that required taking two different carriers for the roundtrip air, no seat assignments, and no travel insurance.

Before Black Friday, Bean provided a more complete offer higher than, but close to the Orbitz package price [which included airfares that did not permit seat assignments]. “She told me she wanted to hold off and see what she could do for a Black Friday special. I thought I wouldn’t hear from her again,” Bean said.

Then, early Friday morning, Bean received a text message from the client: “Good morning Diane. Can you check prices again for me?” When Bean sent her the relevant offers, the client texted back quickly: “Can you talk?”

“They paid a little more per couple than the advertised offers, but I was able to get them an upgraded room category, confirmed seat assignments, a lower initial deposit than what she found on Orbitz, and travel insurance,” Bean said.

Bean also booked a family of four, including a 12- and 14-year-old, looking to visit the Caribbean. They had been talking to Bean since early Autumn, emailing her when they got back from a Europe trip her agency had arranged for them.

“They said they could go any week, December through March, and crossed off certain destinations,” Bean said. “That was as specific as she got.” Bean found them a Black Friday deal for the last week of January at the Moon Palace in Jamaica for $6,000.

Black Friday advertisements also spurred the closing of a deal with the daughter of a long-time client of Stacey Robertson Ray, of GroupIt Travel, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

They contacted Robertson Ray before Thanksgiving about their August 2020 honeymoon. Robertson Ray was steering them towards St. Lucia based on the couple’s desire to mix relaxation with soft adventure. The couple liked the Hideaway at Royalton, St. Lucia, but were put off by the price. Additionally, the resort is about 90 minutes from the St. Lucia airport, and that would eat into some of their vacation time based on their flight schedule.

Before Thanksgiving, the bride wrote about her future husband: “He’s been looking at sales,” she warned Robertson Ray. “I tried to be honest, and told the couple comparing offers from different resorts, and different packages at different resorts, would be difficult because there are a range of variables,” she said, including terms and conditions on sales, and other restrictions “that wouldn’t allow for apples to apples comparisons.”

The groom wrote her back: “Educate me. I don’t understand.”

“I understood their sensitivity to price, so when they said they wanted to see what came up on Black Friday, I waited for them to send me the offers they were seeing online,” she said. “When I reviewed the offers, I was able to convince them to go down in room category with a non-Black Friday offer I could get them, but still keep their beautiful ocean view, and get them the Royalton’s dining club.”

And with the savings Robertson Ray arranged, the couple could afford a helicopter ride to the airport, giving them hours back on their final day. The couple paid their deposit on Cyber Monday. “They valued me and the time I spent educating them more than the one-bedroom Presidential suite offered at a sale price,” Robertson Ray said.

Cheryl Frank-Jones, of Lez Go Travel, in Snellville, Georgia, found an additional $300 in value with onboard credits for one client, on top of the $200 credit they were receiving through a deal they were ready to purchase before contacting her.

The couple had already been talking with Frank-Jones about a Celebrity Cruise romantic getaway, when Celebrity announced it would be offering a $25 deposit Cyber Monday sale. “We looked at the dates we could book for their preferred itinerary, and got them prepared ahead of the sale,” Frank-Jones said.

The client had also received a special “birthday code” discount in the mail, and asked Frank-Jones if they could use it on the Cyber Monday sale. Working with her Celebrity sales staff, she was able to secure the discount ($100 off the cruise fare), a complimentary beverage package, $200 in onboard credits, and ensured her husband received his military discount (an additional $200 savings.)