How Much Does a Travel Advisor Cost?

Short answer: my vacation management fee starts at $250 USD for domestic trips, $500 USD for international, and $1,000 USD for a destination wedding with the honeymoon included. For hotels it often adds nothing, because the rate matches the hotel’s best flexible rate and layers VIP perks on top.

It is the question almost everyone asks before reaching out, so here is the honest answer, no runaround. With me there are two ways to work together, and both are transparent about cost from the start.

The short answer

My vacation management fee starts at $250 USD for domestic travel, $500 USD for international, and $1,000 USD for a destination wedding with the honeymoon included. It is charged per itinerary, paid upfront once you sign a simple planning agreement, and it is always separate from the cost of the trip itself. That fee reserves my time and covers the full research, design, and management of your trip from start to finish.

Wait, don’t some travel advisors work for free?

Here is the part most people do not realize: hotels, resorts, cruise lines, and tour operators pay advisors a commission when we book them, at no added cost to you. The price is the same whether you book direct or through me, so a huge amount of what an advisor does effectively costs you nothing extra. In fact, if you just want to book a hotel or rental car yourself and still unlock VIP perks, you can use my preferred-partner booking link with no planning fee at all, and still get upgrades, resort credits, and daily breakfast where available.

So what is the planning fee for?

The fee is for the custom planning, the part that has no commission behind it: the hours of research, the itinerary designed around you, the reservations and timing, the VIP recognition arranged at each property, and having a single point of contact who monitors everything and is reachable before and during your trip. Commissions reward the booking; the fee reserves the deep, personalized work that makes the trip yours.

What you get for it

• A trip researched and designed end to end around your style, budget, and who is coming.
• VIP recognition and perks (upgrades, credits, breakfast) at the hotels I book, where available.
• Every reservation, detail, and timing handled, so you are not managing spreadsheets.
• One point of contact who monitors your bookings and is there if anything comes up while you travel.
• Planning in English or Español, whichever you prefer.

How the fee works

• Starts at $250 USD domestic, $500 USD international, $1,000 USD for destination weddings. Disney is planned at the domestic rate, starting at $250 USD.
• Destination weddings, from $1,000 USD. That covers venue and resort sourcing, the vetted vendor shortlist, your guest room block, and the honeymoon. Your wedding guests book through Marina at no charge to them.
• Per itinerary. For a group of families on one shared itinerary, that is a single fee; families with separate itineraries each carry their own.
• Paid upfront, once you sign the planning agreement, before planning begins.
• Non-refundable and separate from the cost of your travel.
• Hotel research only. Already planned your own trip and just want Marina to research hotels and present a curated proposal? That starts at $100 USD for her time, separate from any booking and from the perks you receive by booking through her.

Where a solo booking quietly goes wrong. Most countries enforce a six-month passport validity rule, and travelers tend to learn it at the airport when it is already too late. Booking the wrong room category, missing a resort fee, or picking a non-refundable rate are easy to do alone, and when a flight cancels at 11 pm you are on hold with everyone else, with no one in your corner. That is the difference the fee buys: someone who catches those things before they cost you the trip.

Is it worth it?

If you want to book a single hotel night, honestly, use my free booking link and keep the perks. The fee is worth it when the trip matters: a honeymoon, a multi-family group, a first trip to Disney, two weeks across a country you have never been to. That is when custom planning, insider access, and someone in your corner turn a good vacation into the one you talk about for years. Not sure which fits? The first step is always a complimentary discovery call, with no obligation.

Want the bigger picture first? Read travel advisor vs. travel agent or, for the parks, do you need a Disney travel agent?