FAQ

Travel experts with a penchant for detailed planning and deep local knowledge, we craft custom itineraries that effortlessly balance exploring, learning and down time. When you choose I Spy Spain, you can travel confidently off-the-beaten-path and immerse yourselves in the country’s vibrant culture.

A Local Connection

We don’t just plan remotely and send you on your way. We have staff located in Spain for a local connection, with real-life experience of how things work and the best way to navigate them. No matter what may go wrong, we’ve got the solution, and will be ready with answers to any questions about Spain you may have.

We’re Travel Pros

When it comes to travel experience, we’ve put in the miles, traveling to lots of countries. We know what it’s like to be on the other side of the itinerary and are generous with our tips about language, customs, travel insurance, luggage, and cell phone usage.

Excellent Customer Service

We provide a high level of customer service. Starting in the planning process and continuing throughout your trip, you can rely on us to facilitate a truly remarkable experience, bridging any gaps between cultures and ensuring your comfort.

Family Focus

Travelling with kids? The I Spain Spy team all have kids, with age ranges spanning from toddler to teen. We’ve been there, done that, and made the lasting family memories of our own, so we understand what it’s like to travel with companions of all ages.

Some families want the trip focused on the kids and everything planned around them, while others want to adapt a regular adult trip to their kids’ ages. We’ll determine your style of travelling with kids before we start the planning process.

No Commission Means No Compromises

You pay us a flat consulting fee for our time, expertise, and work. Unlike travel agents who earn commission for booking you into highly specified accommodations or activities, we’re completely free to reach beyond the expected and craft a well-rounded and unique itinerary.

Transparent Pricing

There are no hidden fees or markups when you choose I Spy Spain, all of your costs are completely transparent. You pay us the flat consulting fee, and your credit card is used to pay each vendor directly.

To put it simply, travel consultants offer a highly customized experience. They will take your interests, dreams, and desires, and, using their deep local knowledge, craft a completely tailored holiday to suit.

There is so much information out there on any given destination, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed in the planning process. You’ll find endless must-see lists and travel articles, some written by people who have never even been to the places they’re recommending you go. Travel consultants have relationships with locals in your destination and experience actually traveling there, so you’ll enjoy traveling off-the-beaten-path and seeing the country like a local.

Travel consultants are also useful to travelers embarking on complicated trips, planning to visit  multiple destinations or are traveling with a group of friends or family of several generations.

The I Spy Spain team is available to you while you’re on vacation in Spain, ready to help when life throws a wrench in your carefully laid plans. We are available 24/7 for travel dilemmas. These could include calling a tow truck and arranging for a new rental car, providing alternate travel arrangements during a train strike, translating in the event of an emergency, or cancellations due to illness.

Yes, we can create a trip for up to 25 people. Our standard planning service is for groups of 5, so large group pricing will apply to groups of 6 or more.

Yes, if there’s an itinerary you like the look of, we can take it and make it completely your own. These pre-packaged tours are often more expensive than our custom-crafted trips, so you’ll save money too! We’ll help by:

• Upgrading the hotels
• Including better choices of restaurants
• Using private guides instead of group guides
• Adjusting the transportation to avoid being stuck on a bus
• Providing access to beautiful and significant landmarks with personal guides that should not be skipped and that were not included in the packaged tour.

 We’ll not only adapt the tour you found, we’ll improve it.

It could be up to a year in advance. We suggest a minimum of 6 months for high season trips to avoid disappointment. For off season trip we need at least three months.

To start, the business model is the main difference between a travel consultant and a travel agent.

Travel Agents (or Advisors) are commissioned salespeople that receive three revenues from each client: commissions on travel product sales, mark-ups of items, and the fees they charge for these sales. They sell flights, hotels, cruises, packaged tours, and more from their preferred suppliers and receive commissions for the sale of these products. They also charge fees for doing this, and mark-up their products.

Because they must use their time selling products that earn them the commission, Travel agents cannot allow themselves the time needed to take care of the special little details or recommend unique experiences. Extras like recommending stops on the way, where to park, and creating route map are generally not included.

On the other hand, travel consultants (or experts), like the staff at I Spy Spain, are not about selling products. A travel consultant is an expert that charges a fee for the time they spend creating a trip tailored for a client, and for the knowledge they bring with them to make a client trip a great overall experience.

Rather than referring to a standard rolodex of suppliers, travel consultants pull from their deep local knowledge and a network of contacts to create a unique trip for their clients.

Travel consultants are also transparent. They do not mark-up costs, add hidden fees, or bundle your trip in a convenient package with a list of included items.

You’ll be presented with choices for every part of your trip and work together to make it a truly personalized experience. It’s a long, thorough process.

Above all, travel consultants have the knowledge and the time to create a great trip for you and deliver details beyond just a list of reservations. You’ll learn the better routes to take when traveling in Spain, where to stop to get the best photos, the best place to park when you get to that tiny town, the best restaurants, and even that 10-minute detour into a town on market day.

Creating a trip this personalized takes time and care.

The other main difference between a travel consultant and a travel agent is Knowledge.

Travel Consultants are experts in their field. For us, it’s beautiful Spain.

The information gathered by travel consultants is first-hand. They’ve been there and experienced the places, the people, the food. They dominate the language. At I Spy Spain, Spanish is our first language, and we’re educated in the culture, history, and lifestyle of the place.

When travel agents consider themselves experts in their destination, what they actually have is expertise in selling the products in their chosen destination.

A travel agent who wants to specialize in France will pay to make familiarization trips to their suppliers’ properties (hotels) in France, wherever these may be. They will learn all about what each property has to offer, along with the surrounding attractions, so they can make a better sell of this product (hotels) to their clients or to advise them which of their supplier’s properties better fits their needs.

They become specialists in selling different properties in their chosen destination. There’s nothing wrong with this, it’s part of their business model, but it does not leave much freedom to craft truly unique experiences.