Personalized Travel Planning with Purpose and Expertise
At Trips & Ships Luxury Travel, your journey begins long before takeoff. We don't just book trips — we design deeply personal travel experiences that reflect your style, purpose, and dreams.
Our design fee ensures you receive expert consultation, customized research, and tailored recommendations based on decades of experience and insider access. This fee allows us to dedicate the time and attention your trip deserves, whether it's a private villa escape or a multi-stop European itinerary.
We apply design and planning fees to the following services:
Fully Independent Travel
Special Celebrations
Incentive Travel
Complex Planning
Simple hotel bookings, hosted cruises, or all-inclusive resorts may not require a fee. Your advisor will discuss this during your consultation.
Discovery call to understand your travel goals
Research, curation, and proposal of your custom itinerary
Recommendations for flights, hotels, transportation, tours, dining, and more
Access to our preferred partners and VIP amenities
Booking management, confirmations, and final documents
Travel concierge support before, during, and after your trip
"Every single detail was thought through, from the welcome champagne to private transfers. Worth every penny to have someone anticipate our needs before we even voiced them."
— Samantha P., Amalfi Coast Honeymoon
"I tried planning our trip myself, but once Angela took over, it went from good to unforgettable. We gained access we never could've booked on our own."
— Jeremy T., African Safari Guest
No. We assess each trip's complexity and level of customization. Your advisor will let you know if a design fee is required.
We offer a complimentary discovery call to learn about your needs. Once we agree to move forward, the design fee covers the research and planning process.
Once we decide to work together, we'll send a secure invoice. Payment is required before planning begins.
We design every itinerary with care, strategy, and creativity — no cookie-cutter trips here. If you're ready for your next custom experience, let's talk.
At Trips & Ships Luxury Travel, our fee philosophy reflects our commitment to delivering completely unbiased, client-first advice. Unlike high-volume booking agencies that prioritize cookie-cutter packages, our boutique practice invests dozens of hours into vetting suppliers, negotiating exclusive terms, crafting personalized day-by-day itineraries, and monitoring every flight connection.
We do not charge design fees for straightforward luxury cruise reservations, all-inclusive resort getaways, or escorted coach tours. For complex custom itineraries—such as multi-country European tours, private African safaris, exclusive private jet or yacht charters, and destination wedding room blocks—our upfront design retainer ensures you receive undivided attention from Angela Hughes and our senior travel specialists.
The value delivered through our Virtuoso network and preferred partner affiliations consistently exceeds the design investment. Our clients enjoy:
Our role continues throughout your journey. From managing sudden airline schedule disruptions and coordinating private medical or travel insurance claims to securing hard-to-book restaurant tables and private museum entries, you travel with the security of having 40+ years of global travel expertise supporting you 24/7.