Advertisement Let us assume two things:
n We want a special vacation.
n We have money.
We will be going anywhere we want. We will travel first class. We will stay in the finest hotels, eat the finest meals and drink the finest wines. All of our rooms will be suites, and they will have balconies. There will be staff members to meet our every need, and they will be happy to do so because we tip generously.
We will not be doing the Danube on a dollar a day.
The wealthy do travel differently than the rest of us, but is a thousand-dollar-a-night hotel room really worth it?
“To some people, it is,” said Dave Friedman, owner of Friedman’s Hobbit Travel in La Crosse.
They want escorted tours that accent luxury. They travel to exotic locations in private jets, top-of-the-line cruise ships and stretch limos. They pay hefty sums and expect exceptional service.
They also are pretty rare.
Friedman has been affiliated with his travel agency for 26 years, and in that time he has had one client who said “price is no object.”
Peg Binash, with the AAA Wisconsin travel agency in Onalaska, has booked an around-the-world trip that cost her client close to $60,000, but she agreed such customers are extremely rare.
What happens when a customer contacts a travel agent and asks about a vacation?
“We automatically look for the best price,” Binash said. But sometimes that is not what is wanted, she noted.
Sometimes customers want to spend extra in hopes of having a more spectacular vacation. Honeymooners sometimes want more expensive and memorable trips, Friedman said.
Sometimes the kids get together and pay for a special trip for their parents, Binash said.
“And sometimes it’s people you wouldn’t suspect,” she added. She particularly remembered a man who came into her office looking for an Alaskan cruise. “He wrote out a check for $11,000,” Binash said, and he added: “This is what I’ve been saving for.”
Destinations can be anywhere. Golfing at historic sites such as St. Andrews in Scotland appeal to some. Skiing in the Alps attracts others. Some seek the glitz and excitement of casinos, while others prefer natural beauty and viewing wildlife.
Arranging that trip of a lifetime is a thrill for travel agents as well as their customers, Binash said. “I get more kick out of planning a nice trip than going on one,” she said.
Romantic images can influence the choice of vacation spots, Friedman noted. Places such as Tahiti and Fiji invoke “mystical kinds of feelings,” he said. “They sound so good.” However, he advised travelers to do some research on potential vacation destinations, just to be sure that what they will find there meets what is in their imaginations.
He also noted that those multiple-destination, around-the-world trips have requirements other than just money.
“You will need a ton of time also,” he warned. Many trips require weeks, and a few take months.
“You can get tired of traveling, even if you’re in the lap of luxury,” Friedman said. People sometimes start to miss their family, or the dog, or their gardens, he explained.
He also suggested that once-in-a-lifetime trips can be complex for someone not used to planning them. There are visas to worry about, and inoculations. There even can be safety concerns, and travelers and their agents need to stay current on State Department warnings for American citizens.
While planning one of those money-doesn’t-matter trips can be enjoyable, Binash said she actually prefers “to help those on a tight budget.
“Then I feel better about my help.”
Ken Brekke is a freelance writer and former Tribune reporter.
Here are a few examples of the vacations available if you have deep pockets and a wish to travel in style to exotic locations.
The prices are for two people, and include estimated add-on costs for connecting flights from La Crosse, plus insurance and taxes. The costs listed here have been rounded, and could be off by a few thousand dollars. But we don’t care about the price anyway, because we’re rich.
African safari n Tour East Africa’s game reserves and international parks while viewing lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo and rhinos. Travelers stay in tented camps or safari lodges, and the trip features a hot air balloon ride and a champagne breakfast upon landing, assuming you don’t come down amongst the lions. Tauck Tours: 13 days; $20,000.
Cruising Down Under n Travel through Australia and New Zealand, viewing geysers, wineries, a sheep farm and a 19th century Tasmanian convict settlement. You will have a penthouse suite, with balcony, on the ship, and there will be a separate trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Tauck Tours: 21 days; $30,000.
Around the world by private jet n Leave from Washington, D.C., after a reception at National Geographic Society headquarters. Your private jet, a Boeing 757 which has been reconfigured to allow a maximum of 88 passengers room to stretch out, is able to land in smaller airports and allows travelers to fly direct and avoid layovers. Stops will include Peru, Machu Picchu, Easter Island, Samoa, Great Barrier Reef, Cambodia, China, Tibet, the Taj Mahal in India, Tanzania, the Pyramids and the Sphinx in Egypt, and Marrakesh in Morocco. National Geographic expedition: 24 days; $120,000.
View cultural treasures n A private jet will take you and your fellow travelers from Los Angeles to Tahiti, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, India, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Czech Republic, Italy and Russia, returning to Boston. Features include deep-sea fishing, wine tasting, a seaplane flight and a ride on the Eastern and Oriental Express. Abercrombie & Kent: 24 days; $210,000.
This is not Motel 6 n The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, which calls itself “one of the most expensive hotels ever built,” is offering a package of “pure opulence.” Your stay in a palace suite will include daily spa treatments, plus day trips in private jets to: Iran, to create your own Persian carpet; Jordan, to visit the Dead Sea; and Bahrain, for some deep-sea pearl diving. The package also includes champagne sunset parties, opportunities to design your own pearl jewelry and make your own perfume, and golf at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Or perhaps you would rather relax in your suite, which will have a 61-inch plasma television. Emirates Palace: 7 nights; $1 million. Better hurry. At this price this package won’t last long.
