An advisor I coach once watched her trip fill so fast it scared her, more travelers meant more work than she could imagine surviving. My advice was not to cap the trip. It was: raise your price. If you're scared, raise it by hundreds. Make it worth your while. Fear of demand is not a problem; it's information.
“If you're scared, raise your price. Make it worth your while.”
The rule
If you raise prices and still sell out, your prices were too low: so raise them again. Price is the only lever that simultaneously reduces your workload and increases your income. Every other fix (more staff, more systems, more hours) costs you something. Price costs your buyers, and the ones who stay are the ones who value you most. Luxury clients don't flinch at fair pricing for exceptional work; they flinch at chaos.
Claire's own numbers
One advisor's price raise, same destination
sold out at seven travelers
An advisor Claire coaches nearly doubled her per-person price and still filled the departure with seven travelers.
Source: Claire B. Soares, from her own travel business and live trainings.
Pricing is also how you protect your life
- I don't run trips over New Year's, from Thanksgiving on is my personal time. The business is built to afford that.
- One weekday is blocked entirely as CEO day: working ON the business, not in it.
- Client calls live on two days a week, not five. Scarcity of access, priced correctly, reads as luxury, because it is.
Underpricing feels humble and it is actually a plan to burn out. Set the price that makes the work worth doing, guard the calendar the price affords, and let the trips that fill anyway tell you what you're really worth.
Common Questions
How do I know if my travel prices are too low?
If a launch fills fast enough to frighten you, or if the work no longer feels worth the revenue, the price is too low. Claire's rule is that if you raise prices and still sell out, raise them again.
Will raising prices lose me clients?
It will lose the clients who were shopping on price, and those are typically the most demanding ones. Luxury clients rarely flinch at fair pricing for exceptional work.
How often should travel advisors raise prices?
Whenever a launch fills faster than the workload can comfortably absorb. Claire's test is simple: raise the price, and if it still sells out, raise it again.
Written By
Claire B. Soares
6× Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist, Certified AI Consultant, and founder of Travel AI University. $3.4B+ in enterprise travel software sold to Google, IBM, Boeing, the federal government, and the DoD; $16M+ in luxury travel sales with Up in the Air Life.
About Claire
