Chances are, if you’re a travel advisor, you’re familiar with the names Apple Vacations, Travel Impressions, or Southwest Vacations. Yet travelers and those new to the industry might not know about this interesting segment of travel: the vacation packager.
So what’s a vacation packager, really? What benefits can they bring for travelers booking trips with them — and for the travel advisors who book travel through them for their clients?
Let’s take a deep dive. We’ll introduce you to a few of the biggest names in the vacation packager world and discuss why they might be the best option for travelers and their travel agents alike.
Let’s get started!
Vacation packagers straddle the line between tour operator and travel agency, but they’re not either. Instead, they package trips into easy-to-understand bundles that often include airfare, accommodations and transfers to and from the airport. They might also include tours or experiences, tickets to certain attractions, bus bookings or rental cars.
There are typically two different types of vacation packagers: traditional travel packagers and airline travel packagers. They’re practically the same: they both offer bundled vacation packages, which provide commissions for travel advisors who book their clients’ trips through the packager.
Yet airline packagers go further to offer the ability to earn and redeem airline loyalty rewards points for booking travel through them, and only operate their flights through their own airline.
Many vacation packagers partner directly with host agencies and consortia to encourage travel advisors to use them to book their clients’ trips. Some of the most popular include ALG Vacations and Travel Impressions.
Vacation packagers can specialize in different types of travel: Apple Vacations, for example, began selling packages to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and Hawaii, but has since expanded to offer trips all across the globe.
ALG Vacations, meanwhile, recently created the Luxe Collection, which offers vacation packages to some of the most highly rated luxury hotels and resorts in the world.
One of the biggest names in the vacation packager world is ALG Vacations. It’s a vacation packager in its own right, but also offers several other well-known brands underneath it, including Apple Vacations, Funjet Vacations, Travel Impressions and more.
Apple Vacations is known for supporting travel advisors for 55 years, and has been a well-known staple for those booking travel to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and Hawaii. It currently offers packages across the globe and specializes in exclusive nonstop flights.
Funjet Vacations has also been around for 50 years, and was rated by Travel Weekly readers as the “Best Packaged Tour Operator Overall” in 2020-2023. It offers packages for travel across the globe, but specializes in domestic destinations and Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. Hotel and airport transfers are offered a la carte.
Travel Impressions trips have been sold through travel advisors alone since 1974 and specializes in luxury vacation packages across the globe. It’s a preferred brand for many travel consortia and offers travel advisors the benefit of high commissions and great expertise.
Pleasant Holidays is another well-known vacation packager. It offers custom vacations to 83 countries focusing on upscale and luxury travel across a wide selection of brands, from 17 ocean and river cruise lines to 180 hotel chains and 80 airlines.
Camels in front of the archaeological site at Petra, Jordan. (Photo Credit: Pleasant Holidays)
But aside from a great selection for travelers to choose from, it’s also beneficial for travel advisors, too.
“Pleasant Holidays offers competitive commission, marketing and educational trips based upon annual sales volume as a performance-based company,” said Jack E. Richards, President and CEO of Pleasant Holidays. “Travel advisors are engaged and serviced by a team of full-time business development managers (BDMs) located throughout the U.S. along with an inside sales support team. Our Travel Rewards Incentive Program (TRIP), exclusively for travel advisors, awards points for all FIT & Group bookings redeemable for personal or business travel to any destination offered by the company.”
That’s often the focus for vacation packagers: providing travelers with an easy travel booking experience while supporting the travel advisors who make it all happen for their clients.
It’s a symbiotic relationship.Travel advisors receive commissions by booking their clients with a vacation packager, but clients will often receive special amenities like onboard or resort credit, simply by booking through a vacation packager.
Now let’s get into a segment of the vacation packager world: the airline vacation packager. These include American Airlines Vacations, Southwest Vacations, United Vacations, Air Canada Vacations and Delta Vacations.
They all offer something similar for travelers: the ability to earn and redeem airline loyalty reward points for booking travel packages across an airline’s network.
Southwest Vacations, for example, offer benefits like no cancellation or change fees for airfare, earning Rapid Rewards points for bookings and two free checked bags on every flight. Travel advisors who book their clients through the vacation packager will also earn 3 percent air commission on most flights.
Delta Vacations is the vacation packager for Delta Air Lines and offers similar benefits. SkyMiles Members can enjoy earning Medallion Qualification Dollars by booking flights, hotels, cars/rides and activities, earn up to 10,000 miles per person on every vacation and use their miles to pay for their vacation.
“We are thrilled to support Travel Advisors by offering them the ability to give their clients enhanced travel perks, such as access to their full vacation itinerary in the Fly Delta app, real-time flight updates, baggage tracking and free Wi-Fi onboard (where available),” said Kama Winters, President of Delta Vacations.
Puerto Vallarta’s Romantic Zone (Photo Credit: Delta Vacations)
“What really sets us apart? Only with Delta Vacations do your clients earn Medallion® Qualification Dollars (MQDs) on the total cost of the vacation package, getting them closer to elite status even faster,” continued Winters. “With no blackout dates and the ability to cover part or all of their next trip with miles, they’ll come back to you time and time again to book their next getaway.”
It’s also the only airline vacation packager with the ability for travel advisors to book travel for their clients with rewards points with no negative impact on their own commission. Advisors are also offered destination training programs and educational opportunities, with its Delta Vacations University expecting to relaunch in 2025.
In short, vacation packagers, whether they label themselves as travel companies or tour operators, provide a supportive network for travel advisors to learn and sell travel, while also providing great travel packages for travelers—often with benefits they couldn’t get anywhere else.
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