Vacation.com

• Travel Accommodations
• Simple Process
• Travel Agents
• Social Media
• Featured Vacation Activities

Travel Accommodations

Virtually all travel accommodations can be made through the Vacation.com platform. Users can start their research and booking process by filtering through destinations, interests, or available discounts or specials. Flights, hotels, and rental cars can all be reserved online and the thousands of results can almost guarantee the ideal situation for the traveler.

Simple Process

Vacation.com seeks to make vacation planning as simple as possible as demonstrated by its straightforward website and approach to travel.

Travel Agents

Customers can even take advantage of certified travel agents to help maximize savings and ease the burden of booking a vacation. To find an agent, users will simply need to input their zip code and find an agent that can hep them with their needs. This is not required as users can book travel entirely on their own, but it is an additional resource to help struggling users. It does not cost anything for users to identify an agent that can help them with their needs. By using travel agents via Vacation.com, travelers will be able to make custom plans with a human being versus an automated system. Customers will have the chance to work with agents who specialize in different parts of the world and different activities and aspects of travel such as:

• European culture
• Small ship cruises
• River cruises
• Family reunions
• All-inclusive resorts

As shown, Vacation.com sets itself apart from many of its competitors with its travel agents and human approach to travel planning. Another plus due to Vacation.com's listing and organization of travel agents is that Vacation.com makes it easy to email or call the desired agent. Each agent has his or her profile on the same page explaining his or her story and personal interests.

Social Media

Facebook has proven to be an effective channel for Vacation.com to showcase its offerings through pictures and written content. There are even exclusive offers for those who stay up-to-date on the social platform offers. Twitter has been an effective channel for Vacation.com customers to have their questions and concerns answered quickly as shown by its feed. Travelers can expect a quick response when tweeting directly to Vacation.com about a booking or clarifying a Vacation.com policy.

Featured Vacation Activities

For those who want to go on a vacation, but are not entirely sure what to do or where to go can sort through popular vacations. Featured vacation activities are also available to browse. Frequent or corporate travelers can quickly see what their peers take part in while on the road. These activities can include but are not limited to:

• Wine tastings
• Sand castle building
• Performances by killer whales

Business professionals will feel they fit right in with Vacation.com's culture of rest and relaxation aimed to relieve the stress business professionals receive from the 9 to 5 corporate hustle. Vacation.com not only hopes to make it easy for customers to contact travel agents, but also simplifies the process of leaving customer satisfaction reviews helping agents stay accountable.

• Lack of Unique Rewards Program
• Not Geared Towards Younger Travelers
• Limited Travel Agent Reviews

Lack of Unique Rewards Program

Unlike most travel booking sites, Vacation.com does not have their own rewards program. Travel rewards programs are expected for a larger part of the traveling population are part of the reason why sites such as Travelocity and Expedia are able retain customers. That means there is not necessarily a monetary incentive to continue booking through their platform.

Not Geared Towards Younger Travelers

Millennials are not the target market for Vacation.com judging by the profile pictures of most of the travel agents listed. Travelers under the age of 30 may need to look elsewhere for travel bookings if planning vacations with a real human being isn't crucial to booking the next cruise or organizing the next scuba diving trip. Vacation.com isn't millennial-friendly for a few other reasons:

• No mobile app
• Zero Instagram presence
• A less colorful, modern website

Limited Travel Agent Reviews

Although it is possible for customers to leave reviews with each travel agent they work with, a substantial percentage of travel agents listed by Vacation.com don't have any reviews which anxious travelers can use as a reference. There's a major risk of hiring the services of a travel agent who has not proven him or herself. Travelers will have to merely take this travel agent for her word and trust that she'll meet their needs and expectations despite having zero customer satisfaction reviews. Travel agents who do have reviews may only have as many as four reviews completed. To sum it all up, Vacation.com is not an ideal travel site unless:

• Traveler prefers making plans with a human being you've never met who lives within driving distance of you.
• Users are comfortable with enlisting someone's services who has never been rated or reviewed by traveling peers.
• Travelers do not plan on needing travel protection or a rewards program for a return of your hard-earned cash.