I am a guy that does a lot of executive travel, both personal and
professional.  This requires detailed itineraries and travel work to
be done in advance.  This includes:

1) Researching airline options and fares
2) Redeeming frequent flier miles
3) Hotel arrangements
4) Limo arrangements
5) Meeting room arrangement
6) Meal arrangements
7) Other special needs

No one in my office is trained to do this, especially the air travel
portion which can be extremely complex.

Question:  Are there virual assistants who specialize in private travel planning?

Please direct me to as many as possible.

Hello r2 -

Thank you for your question.  If you require any further information,
please feel free to ask.

What you're looking for is a step above an ordinary travel agency,
defined typically as a "travel management company."  These companies
are very client-specific, catering very particularly to individual
needs.

I have verbally confirmed with the following four companies as to
their ability to handle your specific needs as outlined:

Travel and Transport (in top 6; see below)
http://www.tandt.com
2120 S. 76nd St.
Omaha, NE 68124
Monica Colligan 
(402) 399-4589

Navigant (in top 6; see below)
http://www.navigant.com/Products/TravelSolutions/TravelSolutions.aspx
203-978-5022 (Contact: Emily Roos)
112 Prospect St.
Stamford, CT 06901

Williamsburg Travel Management
http://www.willtravelmanagement.com/
Williamsburg Travel
Management Companies
Suite 100
1830 Water Place
Atlanta, GA 30339
Voice 770 952-0430 -
Fax 770 952-0598 
Contact: Michael Morrison, extension 231

All Travel
http://www.all-travel.com/
(800) 300-4567-USA 
FAX (310) 312-5053 |
Contact: Herbie, extension 134

--

Additional companies:

World Travel BTI (in top 6; see below)
http://www.worldtravel.com/CDP/Webform1.aspx?DeploymentID=4&PageID=1
1055 Lenox Park Boulevard
Suite 420
Atlanta, GA 30319
(p) 404.841.6600 800.342.3234

Carlson Wagonlit (in top 6; see below)
http://www.carlsonwagonlit.com/page.asp?pageID=1&currentLanguage=1&currentCountry=24
701 Carlson Parkway
Minneapolis, MN 55459-8208
MS-8208
763-212-2197

Shorts Travel
http://www.shortstravel.com/shortstravel/Difference/about_us.asp
6340 Glenwood Building 7
Overland Park, KS 66202
1203 West Ridgeway Avenue
Waterloo, IA 50701
913.677.7777
info@shortstravel.com

Omega World Travel (in top 6; see below)
http://www.owt.net/
1233 J St. ? Sacramento, CA 95814
916-441-6899 ? 800-253-5637 ? 916-441-3677 fax


This google search term will uncover many more:

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22travel+management+company%22&btnG=Google+Search

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Search strategy:
"travel management company"
"travel mangement companies"

Additional information:
American Express, WorldTravel BTI, Navigant, Carlson Wagonlit Travel,
Omega World Travel, and Travel and Transport are amongst the largest
companies in the world that perform these services, per Business
Travel News Magazine
(http://www.btnmag.com/businesstravelnews/index.jsp).

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 13 Sep 2004 12:36 PDT

One additional one, also in the top 6:

American Express 
http://home.americanexpress.com/home/corporations.shtml?open_home=corpstop
Small Business Travel Services
866-321-8627 
5000 Atrium Way
Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054

---

Request for Answer Clarification by r2-ga on 09 Oct 2004 08:06 PDT

Thank you for your answer, but it is not on point.

I'm looking for a virtual assistant (a person), not a large company.

Can you find me specific individuals who work on their own as virtual
travel assistants to do this?

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 10 Oct 2004 09:39 PDT

Hello r2 -

Thank you for your clarification request.

I will take another look and see what I can find.  This may take 1-3 days.

Thanks,

jbf777

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 12 Oct 2004 10:25 PDT

Hello again -

Can you tell me what you're expecting to pay either per project or per
week/month/year for this person?

Thanks,

jbf777

---

Request for Answer Clarification by r2-ga on 17 Oct 2004 12:21 PDT

I will pay what is asked, either by the hour or by the job

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 18 Oct 2004 08:50 PDT

r2 -

Here are some more resources.  If you have any questions, please don't
hesitate to ask.

Travel Experts is a referral point for independent contractors that do
the services you've outlined.  I have spoken to Sharon Fake at this
organization and confirmed that she can definitely give you several
names of individuals you could contract:

Important: be sure to reference "Google Answers" when calling:

Sharon Fake
"Travel Experts"
http://www.travel-exprts.com (no "e")
919-846-2544

---

Another organization, National Association of Commissioned Travel
Agents (NACTA), has told me they might be able to provide you with
some names.  You'll want to send an email to nacta@aol.com with your
specifications:

http://www.nacta.org
703-739-6826
nacta@aol.com

---

The following contact is a travel industry employment placement firm. 
They place people into job openings in the travel industry:

Ms. Martha A. Robinson, CTC
President
Travel Career Network, Ltd.
44 School Street
Suite 705
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 722-0079 Ext 1
marty@travelcareernetwork.com

Did you ever fill your Travel Coordinator position?

No, I didnt

Have you found a virtual travel planner yet?

You could also contact an air charter broker specialist, one of the
best ones is, http://www.airbrokernet.com/Aircraft_Jet_Charter_Services.html
give them a try, they have always taken care of all my executive jet
charter needs in the most professional way.