“What do you mean it’s going to cost us $2,000 to rent a car?” asked Sandra as she started to unwind after a tough day at work. Her husband, Mike, now directly in the firing line, was spellbound as well.
Mike had been researching about renting a car for their upcoming vacation to Costa Rica.
He and Sandra knew that taking a vacation was going to be costly. Especially because things had now started to finally open after two pandemic-restricted years.
But this was starting to sound like the beginning of a horror movie.
“Yeah, I read about a car rental apocalypse coming, but $2,000 for a rental is absolutely ridiculous,” concurred Mike as he fist-bumped his son Tim who had just returned from Soccer practice.
“Have you tried talking to Shannan?” asked Sandra.
“I’m sure Shannan would tell us the same thing,” said Mike.
“I mean, she might have access to some special rates from travel suppliers, but I don’t think there’s going to be much difference.” he further added. “Plus, the rates are on the car rental website, aren’t they?”
Shannan, a Travel Consultant, was Mike’s friend who worked at CAA Saskatchewan. Mike and Sandra had always talked about using Shannan’s services someday because of her immense expertise.
But up until this point, they had always booked all their travel needs on their own.
Shannan had been working in the travel industry forever and always loved helping others experience the world just like she did in the past.
Mike specifically remembered Shannan telling him and Sandra about a trip she once took with her family to relax on a Punta Cana beach in the Dominican Republic.
That story really inspired them to take a tropical vacation themselves. Maybe to someplace like Jamaica or Hawaii. They finally decided on Costa Rica, which was surely going to be an adventure.
“Well, it’s definitely worth checking in once with her,” said Sandra waking up a glazed Mike from his deep, focused stare into the abyss of his laptop window.
“Sure,” he responded looking a little uninterested. “I’d rather start researching a trip to Mexico,” he thought to himself. “It’s going to be a lot less costly than this.”
******
Shannan had just finished helping a family book their dream vacation to Disneyland.
Seeing them so happy made her happy. So much so that she could almost hear their smile. She looked around her desk at work one last time before calling it a day.
She was just about to leave when an email popped up on her screen. She decided to ignore it. “Whatever it is, it can wait till tomorrow,” she told herself assertively.
“But what if it’s something really important?” asked the true travel professional in her.
She decided to give the subject line a quick glimpse just in case it was from one of her customers. It was from Mike. The subject line read, “Costa Rica Trip. Help”.
Intrigued, she opened the email to give it a quick read. “Are Mike and Sandra in Costa Rica? Are they in trouble? Do they need help?” are some of the questions that immediately crossed her mind.
After all, being a Travel Consultant, Shannan was used to helping her clients in case they ran into emergencies while travelling. From flight cancellations to lost luggage, she had seen it all.
In fact, she took pride in being able to provide some well-deserved peace of mind to her customers.
She read through the email and was immediately engulfed in an amalgamation of emotions. Part of her was relieved that they were okay. While the other part was excited at the opportunity to help her friend.
She knew that Mike, Sandra, and their kids have been longing to take a vacation for a long time.
True that they had been on a couple of camping trips that year, but nothing really says ‘vacation’ better than escaping the cold with a flight to somewhere tropical.
A smile came upon her face. She adjusted her glasses and immediately gave Mike a call.
******
As Mike shut his laptop down, he started to think about his upcoming fishing trip to Reindeer Lake – a lake in western Canada located on the border between Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Being a true Saskatchewanian, who loved hunting and fishing, he figured that he’d rather plan this trip than the Costa Rica one, which in all honesty seemed to be a little far-fetched right now.
This was a vacation that they had been thinking about for a long time. They had a trip to Sri Lanka planned in early 2020 but the pandemic threw water on that by shutting the world down.
Costa Rica sounded awesome. The beach. The breeze. The booze. It was all going to be great. But it also had to be within budget. Shelling out $2,000 for just a rental car would mean the trip was in jeopardy.
As he turned the lights off and started heading up, he heard his phone ring. It was Shannan.
He seemed a little surprised. Guilty too. He wanted to take Shannan’s help but surely not at the expense of her own personal time. Hesitantly, he picked up the phone.
“Hey Shannan!” exclaimed Mike. “How’s it going?”
“Mike! It’s going great. How’re you and Sandra doing? Hope the kids are doing great,” replied Shannan.
“All good. I hope I didn’t bother you after work?” asked Mike worriedly.
“Hah, it’s never a bother for friends,” said Shannan jubilantly. “I read your email. It’s shocking that they’re charging that much for a rental car. But I think I might be able to help,” she added confidently.
******
Sandra almost dropped the cup of coffee that she had in her hands when Mike told her the news. “Shannan did what!?” she asked absolutely stunned.
“You heard it right,” said Mike proudly.
“You better not be joking, Mike. I don’t want to get my hopes up and then cancel the trip,” said Sandra still visibly shocked at what Mike had just told her.
“We won’t have to,” Mike said. “Shannan was able to get us the rental car for just $500.”
“Hah, I love being in a position where I can say I told you so,” Sandra retorted. “But before I do so, how did Shannan manage to get us a discount of $1,500?”
“You won’t believe me if I tell you. All she did was ask me one simple question,” said Mike.
“Which was…?” enquired Sandra.
“Are you okay with driving a manual transmission vehicle?” replied Mike.
Sandra could not believe what she had just heard. Was it really that simple, she wondered. Was the difference between a $2,000 and a $500 rental car just one simple question?
“Why didn’t we think of this ourselves?” asked Sandra.
“Well, for starters, the car rental website didn’t even give us that option,” said Mike. “It’s only something that travel consultants can see because of their partnerships with various travel suppliers.”
“Furthermore….,” he added. “Even if it was available for us to choose, I really don’t think it would cross our minds because one never knows that such small things can lead to such a big difference.”
“See, I told you we should have taken Shannan’s help from the beginning,” joked Sandra. “We should probably get her to book our whole trip, including flights, hotels, and all that jazz.”
“Way ahead of you,” said Mike with a smirk and a sense of pride. “Going forward, Shannan’s booking all of our vacations.”
******
Travel with someone you trust
When it comes to planning a vacation, we understand that the process can be a little complex.
From choosing the best flights to booking quality hotels to researching where to roam, there are always so many decisions that one must make. And then there’s the overarching cost factor.
Am I getting the best price? Should I look for a different option? Could I have negotiated more? There’ll always be an endless set of questions that can overwhelm you.
Here at CAA Saskatchewan, you can trust us to do all the hard work for you while you sit back and do the one thing that you truly deserve – relax and have some peace of mind.
You can be assured that our certified, experienced, and knowledgeable travel consultants will always go out of their way to get you the best possible prices and book an unforgettable trip for you.
Plus, we’ll also travel with you on your trip. Not literally, of course. But in spirit.
If you run into any emergency, you can trust us to always have your back. Whether it’s a flight issue, a hotel problem, lost documents, or any other travel-related problem, just give us a call.
So, relax. Chill. Breathe. And go have fun. We got this.
