I’ll start with something you might not expect a luxury travel advisor to say: Not every trip needs a travel advisor.
If you’re booking a quick weekend away, know exactly where you want to stay, and enjoy handling the details yourself, you might be perfectly happy booking it yourself.
But if you’re planning two weeks in Italy, a safari in Africa, a milestone celebration, or a family vacation with several generations involved, that’s a different conversation.
The question isn’t whether you can book the trip yourself. Of course you can. The better question is whether doing it yourself will get you the trip you actually want.
And when you’re investing significant time and money into a vacation, that distinction matters.
What Does a Luxury Travel Advisor Actually Do?
Let’s clear up a common misconception.
A luxury travel advisor isn’t simply someone who books flights, hotels, and dinner reservations. You can do most of those things online. The real work happens before anything is booked.
It’s understanding how you like to travel, asking the questions you might not have considered, and knowing how all the pieces should fit together. For example, say you’re planning your first trip to Italy. You want to visit Rome, Florence, Tuscany, and the Amalfi Coast. You have ten days.
Can you technically fit all four into one trip? Probably. Would I recommend it? Not necessarily.
I’d want to know what you’re most excited about. Is it food and wine? Time on the coast? Exploring cities? Do you enjoy changing hotels, or would you rather settle into a place and get to know it?
Maybe the better itinerary is Rome, Tuscany, and the coast. Maybe Florence deserves more time. Maybe you don’t need the Amalfi Coast at all. Those are the decisions that make the difference between a trip that looks good on paper and one that actually feels good while you’re traveling.
A travel advisor should help you make those decisions before you’ve committed your time and money.
What Are You Really Paying For?
When people ask whether a luxury travel advisor is worth the cost, I think they’re often looking at the wrong part of the equation.
They’re comparing the price of booking a hotel themselves with the price of having someone arrange it. But the value of a good advisor isn’t simply the transaction.
1. Expertise that goes beyond online reviews
There are thousands of beautiful hotels in the world. And thanks to Instagram, Google, and endless best-of lists, it’s easier than ever to find them. What’s harder is knowing which one is right for you.
Two hotels can have the same five-star rating, similar nightly rates, and equally beautiful photographs, yet offer completely different experiences. One might have exceptional service but a formal atmosphere. Another might feel more relaxed and personal. One could be perfectly located for exploring, while the other requires a car every time you want to leave. Neither is necessarily better. But one may be significantly better for you.
That’s where firsthand knowledge, destination experience, and relationships with hotel teams become valuable. I don’t want to recommend a hotel simply because it’s expensive or looks beautiful online. I want to know whether it makes sense for the person staying there.
2. Relationships that can improve your experience
One of the biggest advantages of working with a well-connected travel advisor is access to relationships. As part of the Virtuoso network, we have access to a global community of hotels, destination specialists, cruise lines, and travel partners.
These connections can help us understand a property beyond its marketing materials, identify the right people to speak with, and coordinate details that matter to our clients.
At participating hotels, eligible bookings may also include benefits such as breakfast, property credits, or upgrade opportunities, depending on the property, rate, and availability.
Those extras can be valuable, but I wouldn’t choose a hotel simply because it offers a credit. I’d rather have you in the right hotel without an extra amenity than the wrong hotel with $100 to spend at the spa.
The relationships matter most when they help us make a better recommendation or create a more thoughtful experience.
3. Someone who understands the whole trip
A hotel might be beautiful, but if it’s in the wrong location, you’ve created unnecessary complications. A private tour might sound wonderful, but if it requires a three-hour drive after an overnight flight, it may not be the best idea. A great itinerary considers more than individual reservations. It accounts for arrival times, travel distances, energy levels, pacing, interests, and the way you want to spend your days.
This is particularly important for more complex trips, where one decision affects everything else. Sometimes the most valuable recommendation I can make is to remove something from an itinerary rather than add another experience.
4. Time you get back
Planning travel takes time.
Not just the fun part of looking at beautiful hotels, but comparing room categories, understanding cancellation policies, researching destinations, coordinating transfers, reviewing itineraries, and making sure everything works together.
If you enjoy all of that, wonderful.
But many of our clients have demanding careers, busy families, and limited free time. They want to be involved in the decisions that matter without spending every evening researching them.
A good advisor should make the planning process feel easier, not create more work for you.
5. Support when plans change
Even a carefully planned trip can encounter disruptions. Flights are delayed. Weather changes. Hotels occasionally make mistakes. A planned experience becomes unavailable.
An advisor can’t prevent every problem or guarantee a particular outcome. But having someone familiar with your itinerary, your preferences, and the people involved can make a meaningful difference when something needs attention.
It’s one thing to know a hotel’s general reservations number. It’s another to have an established relationship with the property and know whom to contact.
Is It More Expensive to Use a Luxury Travel Advisor?
Sometimes there is a professional planning fee. Sometimes an advisor is compensated by a travel supplier. Some services may involve both.
The structure depends on the advisor, the trip, and the work involved. The important thing is understanding what you’re paying for and what services are included.
A travel advisor also isn’t automatically going to find a lower price than every booking website. There may be preferred rates or added benefits available through certain partnerships, but those vary. Some promotional or loyalty rates may have their own restrictions or advantages.
I would be cautious of anyone who promises that using an advisor will always be cheaper. Instead, look at the total value. Are you choosing the right hotel and room category? Are the experiences worth their cost? Does the itinerary make sense? Are you spending money on things you’ll actually enjoy?
A $20,000 trip that’s thoughtfully designed around your priorities may deliver far more value than a $25,000 trip filled with expensive experiences you didn’t really need.
Luxury isn’t about making every part of the trip more expensive. It’s about knowing where the investment makes a difference.
When Is a Luxury Travel Advisor Actually Worth It?
There are a few situations where I think working with an experienced advisor can be particularly valuable.
You’re planning a complicated international itinerary
Multiple destinations, different hotels, flights, transfers, private guides, and experiences can become difficult to coordinate. The more moving pieces involved, the more valuable it becomes to have someone looking at the trip as a whole.
You’re planning a milestone trip
Honeymoons, anniversaries, significant birthdays, and other milestone celebrations come with expectations. You might have been saving for years, coordinating schedules, or waiting for the right moment. There’s often less room for disappointment when a trip carries that much meaning.
You’re traveling somewhere unfamiliar
An African safari is a good example. Choosing the right region, season, lodge, and style of experience requires more than finding a beautiful property. The same applies to destinations where logistics, guiding, cultural context, or seasonal considerations play a major role.
You’re traveling with multiple generations
A family trip involving grandparents, parents, teenagers, and young children requires a different kind of planning. Everyone may have different interests, energy levels, accommodation needs, and expectations.
Sometimes a private villa is the right answer. Sometimes a resort with multiple dining options and activities is a much better fit.
The goal is to create a trip everyone can enjoy without making one person responsible for managing everyone else’s vacation.
You want the trip to feel personal
Maybe you’re passionate about architecture, love exploring food markets, or want to understand the history of a destination beyond its famous attractions. The best experiences often come from knowing which local experts, guides, and partners can connect you with the place you’re visiting.
That’s the kind of travel I find most rewarding to plan.
The Bottom Line: Is a Luxury Travel Advisor Worth It?
A luxury travel advisor is worth it when their expertise, relationships, planning, and support meaningfully improve the trip you’re taking.
Not every vacation requires that level of help. But when you’re investing in a significant experience, I think having someone who knows what questions to ask—and who is willing to give you an honest recommendation can be incredibly valuable. At The Shameless Tourist, we believe travel should be personal, thoughtful, and connected to the people and places you visit.
We want you to stay somewhere that feels right, spend money on experiences that matter to you, and come home feeling like your time was well spent. Sometimes that means recommending the most beautiful hotel in the destination. Sometimes it means telling you that the smaller, less expensive property down the road is actually a better fit. And sometimes it means suggesting you spend an extra day somewhere rather than adding another stop.
That’s the difference between booking a trip and designing one.
Planning something special? Tell us where you’re thinking about going and what matters most to you. We’d love to help you decide what makes sense for your next trip.
Wondering if you should use credit card points or work with a travel advisor? Read this recent journal entry where we help you understand the benefits of using an advisor over points.
Kaleigh Kirkpatrick
Kaleigh Kirkpatrick is the founder and CEO of The Shameless Tourist, a luxury travel agency specializing in bespoke, culturally immersive itineraries worldwide. She is a Travel + Leisure A-List Advisor and Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist, recognized among the top travel experts globally.
Known for her firsthand destination knowledge and trusted global partnerships, Kaleigh regularly travels to vet hotels, guides, and experiences—ensuring her clients receive seamless, highly personalized journeys with exclusive access. Her expertise has been featured in Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, and many other publications.
