Thank you for considering using me as your booking agent! I’m sure you’ve already read the differences between using a booking agent or booking yourself online, and now you’re trying to decide if you’d like to use me.
Well
Who Am I?
Hi! I’m Carly from Atlanta! Teacher by day and booking agent by also day… and night! I’ve been traveling solo since I graduated from college at 21. Most of the time I went alone and sometimes I’m able to drag friends along with me. I’ve traveled by planes, trains, and automobiles… as well as buses, ships, and ferries. I’ve now been to all 7 continents and as of this writing, over 70 countries.
I tell you this, so you understand the full weight of experience I have in planning trips and anticipating problems!
What Can I Book?
As an independent booking agent, there is a lot that I can book for, however I mainly specialize in a few categories:
- Small Group Tours
- Flight and Hotel packages (like All-inclusive!)
- Cruises
I can do custom itineraries, but they can be very time consuming and they do come with an extra fee. The bookings above do not come with a fee since I would be paid through the company.
What About Money?
This might depend on which company you’re booking with, but as an independent agent, I have access to the booking portals, so I am putting your information directly into their sites under their agent platform. Payment will then be processed by the company, not me.
It depends on how far in advance you’re booking and the company you’re booking with, but most allow for deposits!
I like to do payments over the phone, so all of your information is protected and safe.
How Is Booking With Me Different?
Price-wise? It’s the same price or possibly cheaper. There is no extra fee for booking with an agent a pre-built package or tour.
Let me say that again for the people in the back! There is no extra fee to book a tour or package! The company pays me, not you! The only time there is an extra fee is for a custom and specific itinerary because of the extra work that comes with it, but we will discuss that beforehand.
Bonus!
If you live in the US, I will mail you a lovely packet with a color-coded table of contents of all of the materials that you’d need on your trip! If you’re not in the US, I will send you a digital copy 🙂
Extra Bonus!
If you book with me, you also have access to all of my advice and experience. Since I’ve traveled so much, chances are super good that I have been where you want to go! I can tell you what to expect, what to pack, and places to see! I am available via email, chat, or text, and I will answer any question you have!
And Finally…
I hope nothing does go wrong, but if something does, you have me to deal with all the nonsense, so you can focus on just having fun!
Testimonials
Please check out my testimonial page to see what others have said about using me as their booking agent! Here are some highlights!
Carly is awesome to work with!!
Carly made our trip to Antarctica so easy!! We had no idea where to start when planning a trip to Antarctica. Carly helped laid out all of the options we had and the pros/cons of each. It was great that she had first hand experience in Antarctica and on some of the cruise companies. I would highly recommend her to others!!
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Working with Carly was very easy–it was like asking a fellow traveler for assistance which is wonderful. Knowing Carly has the experience I could trust her advice. Booking the Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan tour was easy and her insights for hotels on my extra days were helpful along with inputting my flight details with G Adventures. I would definitely use Carly again and appreciate her insights!
Highly Recommended!!!
Carly helped me book my family trip to Peru with Intrepid. It was our first time joining a group tour and I was very nervous about how it would all work. Carly gave me expert advice, insights and tips! It definitely helped that she had personal experience travelling to Peru! It was a pleasure working with her and I would not hesitate to book another trip with her in the future!!!
Well Taken Care of on our Trip of a Lifetime
Planning a trip like this takes a lot of time and effort. Carly started by making a Zoom presentation to my two traveling companions and I on the various options for Antarctic tours. After understanding what we were looking for, Carly encouraged us to use Quark. What a recommendation!! All aspects of the Quark crew were top notch, from the tour guides to the dining room / kitchen staff to navigation to housekeeping.
It was almost a year between the time we committed to the trip and actually left for it. During that time, Carly was very responsive to questions we had while preparing. Even after the trip, she continues to take care of us, helping me get a refund for one of the services I paid for but didn’t use. I give Carly my top recommendation.
Amazing guidance for an amazing vacation!
Carly helped me find the perfect trip based on my wants, needs, and timeline. I ended up going to Bolivia with G Adventures. She arranged everything and sent a detailed itinerary with everything I needed. She was always available to answer questions. I had the time of my life on this trip and am so grateful!
Smooth sailing in Egypt
I usually book my trips independently, but I knew Egypt would be a tricky one. I meet Carly in the Girls Love Travel Facebook group. Since we are both teachers, we hit it off. She helped me book a 10 day trip through Egypt. She was professional, flexible and easy to work it. I will reach out to her in the future when I feel safe traveling again. Peace, love and travel!
Carly found the PERFECT trip for us!
I happened to meet Carly in a women’s travel Facebook group when I started asking questions about the best photography equipment if I was to go to Antarctica one day… SO GLAD I MET HER! After considering companies online on my own, we turned to Carly to help suggest a trip that would best fit our desires and budget. We were two women in our late twenties and my best friend’s father in his 60s. With Carly’s help, we secured the perfect trip and found reasonable discounts that worked for us.
After securing our trip, Carly was an amazing resource to us as we prepared and packed. I even got a hold of her via Facebook messenger while in Ushuaia when we had an issue with our cab plans. I trust her completely and would happily book with her again and again.
If you are not sure about going to Antarctica. Go! The Drake Passage was amazing if you are in for the ride. The scenery is breathtaking. The wildlife is unmatched. And, especially on Quark, I felt they had excursion options for all fitness levels! I had just finished chemotherapy and was running slower than normal – and I was capable of doing everything I set my mind to…even climbing mountains and kayaking and polar plunging! The staff always made me feel supported!
SERIOUSLY FABULOUS
Carly was amazing from day one!
I originally booked for a different destination in Saint Martin but there were some issues with the resort. Carly personally spent hours on the phone to get things resolved and us transferred to a new resort. Top notch personal attention to details and even made us an itinerary!!
Seriously cannot recommend this lovely soul enough! So helpful and friendly!!!
So easy and So fun!
I have always planned and booked my own vacations: Iceland, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Peru….But I doubt I will again. Carly made everything so easy and stress free! The tour with G Adventures was amazing, but Carly was also booked my hotels for extra time before and after the tour began. This was one of the best vacations ever partially because I didn’t have to sweat the details! Thank you Carly!
Beautiful Adventure, Perfect Planning
We recently booked a trip to Iceland through Carly, and it was fantastic! We never thought we’d be able to take a trip like this, but with Carly’s help and recommendations, we were able to see the most amazing parts of Southern Iceland. She helped us find the right tour for us in our budget, and by relying on her experience and expertise, we were able to book a tour that enabled us to see so much of the country in just 5 days. She prepared a detailed itinerary for us, and the entire trip went smoothly – from transferring from the airport to our accommodations, meeting up with our tour group, and through the return trip home. We would highly recommend Flight of the Educator, and can’t wait to plan our next adventure through her!
A faboulous trip!
I had a pleasure of boking my G Adventures Morocco trip with Carly Heyward whom I met online in one of the travel groups. Carly exceed my expectations, she went above and beyond of what I expected from a travel agent. Her customer service focus is unmatched. She was very organized and patient in answering my numerous questions. I was super impressed with Carly’s knowledge, dedication and commitment to meeting the needs of the customer. I would not hesitate to book another tour with Carly, as a matter of fact, I am already looking at booking my next trip. Thank you, Carly, for helping us create the memories of a lifetime!
Perfect trip!
My family’s trip to Disney World and Universal Studios was perfect! I especially loved the packet that Carly sent to us; it included our itinerary and our Universal tickets with confirmation codes too. Carly is the best!
An Amazing Adventure
Thank you Carly for booking our trip to Morocco. You were always available to answer our questions and made our adventures go smoothly. We will be reaching out to you again in the future for future adventure bookings.
Travel made easy
We were thankful to have Carly work with us to plan our trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe. She recommended a tour that fit our wishes, always answered questions within a reasonable time frame, and kept an eye on our plans to make sure we did not miss booking any extra hotels, flights, or interesting excursions.
Amazing Experience
Carly helped me originally book a trip to South America. However, due to the civil unrest in Peru my trip had to be canceled last minute. Carly was extremely helpful in changing my trip so that I could still go somewhere else without feeling like I missed out on a vacation. Within a few days I was already booked and ready to go to Costa Rica. It was truly an amazing experience and I can’t think Carly enough for all that she’s done for me!
You need a trip advisor!
I worked with Carly while booking my trip to 5 different countries in Africa. I am so glad I decided to! At first I thought why do I need her its not like I am organizing the trip all by myself- I was using a company. But I was wrong. There was still a lot of deadlines and small details that needed to be addressed like which countries required visas ahead of time, what vaccines were required etc.
She kept everything super organized which led to much less stress on my part. She even gave me this super organized folder that included extra copies of the itinerary, my flights and packing lists that I know keep as a remembrance of the amazing trip I took. I highly recommend Carly!
Carly Cares!
Wanted to go to Jamaica for my birthday with a girlfriend and had NO clue where to stay, what we wanted to do or even where to start! Carly took our financial concerns plus our all-inclusive resort request and managed to come back with our dream vacation all within our budget parameters. Before we left for paradise, she ensured she sent me a customized folder with all the specifications regarding our vacation so we didn’t have to sort through endless emails or stress out about finding answers to questions we had during our trip. There were some slight issues with the hotel accommodations when we arrived but Carly responded within MINUTES of messaging her to try and help us resolve everything! I asked her for a customer service number to call but she insisted on calling them directly on our behalf and made everything better than we could have imagined! HIGHLY recommend contacting and using Carly’s services when planning any travel as she is very knowledgeable and proved to be a valuable resource!
