Faq’s
Your Questions, Answered.
From course details to getting started, this FAQ covers everything you need to know about learning with Complete Getaways. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact our team and we’ll respond within 24 hours.
FAQ’S
For new clients, we ask for a “Plan to Go” deposit — a retainer that covers the planning work that goes into building your itinerary. If you book your trip with us afterward, that deposit is applied directly toward the cost of your trip, so you’re not paying for planning and your trip separately.
In most cases, yes — if you find the identical itinerary publicly available at a lower price, ask your advisor and we’ll do what we can to match it. We can’t guarantee a match against offers that bundle in incentives like gift cards or statement credits, since those aren’t a true apples-to-apples price comparison, but we’ll always tell you honestly where things stand.
It depends on what you’re booking. Property deposits can be as low as $20 per person depending on the resort or hotel. Airfare is the exception — airlines don’t offer a deposit option, so flights are generally due in full at the time of booking.
A named advisor, not a call center. Every Complete Getaways client is matched with a dedicated advisor who specializes in their type of trip — see our team’s specialties and backgrounds on our About page.
Yes — Complete Getaways is licensed and insured, and holds industry memberships including IATAN and TRUE, among others.
Yes — every booking includes access to your own client portal, where you can view your itinerary, check your balance, make payments, and track your countdown to departure, for any type of trip.
For destination weddings, yes — refer a couple to us and you’ll receive $500 once they travel. We don’t currently have a referral program for individual (FIT) trips outside of weddings, but ask your advisor about any current promotions.
Absolutely — tell your advisor your budget, dates, and general vibe, and they’ll shortlist real options with pricing, usually within one business day. [Once live: “Prefer to start on your own first? Try our quick trip-matching quiz online.”]
Our advisors combine access to rates and perks that aren’t published online — amenity credits, room and cabin upgrades, exclusive group space — with real supplier relationships, and they become your advocate the moment something goes wrong, like a cancelled flight or a shuttered resort. A booking site can find you a price; we take responsibility for the whole trip working.
Typically no — in most cases, our rates and bundled amenities beat what you’d find booking direct, and at worst, we match it. You’re getting the same or better price plus a dedicated advisor, not one instead of the other.
That’s exactly where a Complete Getaways advisor earns their keep. Multi-stop itineraries and larger groups may carry a disclosed planning fee, but it buys you a single point of contact coordinating every supplier instead of you juggling five separate confirmations yourself.
For cruises and all-inclusive resorts, 6–12 months out typically gets you the best cabin or room selection and the lowest deposit relative to trip value. For international flights tied to peak-season travel, 2–5 months ahead tends to be the sweet spot. Waiting for a “sale” is often a myth — availability, not price, is usually the bigger risk of booking late.
Airfare and dynamically priced hotel or cruise rates shift constantly with demand, currency movement, and remaining inventory. Locking in a rate with a deposit through Complete Getaways is the only reliable way to hold a price.
It varies by supplier. Cruises commonly require a deposit at booking with final payment due 60–120 days before sailing; tour operators and resorts vary more widely. Your Complete Getaways advisor tracks each booking’s specific deadlines and sends you reminders before they hit.
We can sometimes apply group space, past-passenger discounts, or promotions you wouldn’t see on your own, and we’ll do what we can to match a like-for-like public rate if you find one. Most suppliers enforce rate parity, so the real value is in what gets bundled in — credits, upgrades, perks — rather than a lower sticker price.
No. Commission is paid by the supplier out of the same price you’d pay booking direct; it isn’t added on top of your fare or rate.
As of 2026, routine U.S. passport processing runs about 4–6 weeks plus mailing time in each direction, and expedited service (for an additional $60) runs about 2–3 weeks plus mailing — so 6–10 weeks total is a safe planning window. Travelers with international travel booked within 14 days can request an emergency appointment at a passport agency.
It depends on the destination and your passport nationality. Your Complete Getaways advisor checks current entry requirements per country and can flag e-visa or visa-on-arrival options where available.
Since May 7, 2025, the TSA has required a REAL ID-compliant license or ID (marked with a star, flag, or “Enhanced”) — or an acceptable alternative such as a valid U.S. passport — to board domestic flights. A standard, non-compliant driver’s license alone is no longer sufficient.
ETIAS, the EU’s new pre-travel authorization for visa-exempt visitors, is not yet required. As of August 2026 it’s expected to become operational later in the year, with mandatory enforcement not starting until around April 2027. Once active, it will cost €20, cover roughly 65 countries, and remain valid for three years, with fee exemptions for travelers under 18 or over 70.
EES is the EU’s new digital border-check system — a facial photo and fingerprints captured at first entry, replacing manual passport stamping — that has been rolling out through 2025–2026. There’s nothing to apply for in advance; you simply go through the biometric process at the border.
It’s optional but strongly recommended for any trip with significant non-refundable costs (cruises, international trips, all-inclusive packages) or when you have health considerations, since it protects the money already spent if illness, injury, or an emergency forces a cancellation or interruption.
Typically: trip cancellation/interruption reimbursement, emergency medical and evacuation coverage (important since most U.S. health insurance doesn’t work abroad), baggage loss or delay, and travel delay reimbursement.
An upgraded add-on that reimburses a percentage of trip cost — usually 50–75% — for cancelling for literally any reason, not just the specific list of reasons covered by a standard policy. It generally must be purchased within 14–21 days of your initial deposit and requires cancelling a set number of days before departure.
As soon as possible after your first deposit. Waiting forfeits CFAR eligibility and pre-existing condition waivers, both of which typically require purchase within a short window of the initial payment.
Refund eligibility depends entirely on the supplier’s cancellation policy and how close to departure the cancellation happens. Many packages become non-refundable once final payment is due — exactly the gap trip insurance is designed to cover.
Usually only partially, and only outside certain cutoff windows. Your Complete Getaways advisor will spell out the specific cancellation schedule that applies to your booking at the time you book.
Your advisor handles rebooking and refund or credit negotiations on your behalf. This is one of the biggest reasons travelers choose Complete Getaways over an anonymous online booking — there’s a real person advocating for you when there’s no direct customer-service line to call.
We monitor advisories for booked clients and help rebook or relocate the trip. Standard trip insurance usually doesn’t cover “fear of travel,” but named-storm and covered-disruption clauses often do — another reason to buy insurance early.
Requirements vary by destination — yellow fever certificates, for example, are still required for entry to parts of Africa and South America. We point clients to official destination health guidance and recommend a travel clinic visit for anything beyond routine vaccines.
We track government travel advisory levels and supplier-specific alerts, and will flag any elevated-risk areas within your itinerary.
We generally recommend a no-foreign-transaction-fee card as your primary payment method, a small amount of local cash on hand for taxis and tips, and notifying your bank of your travel dates in advance.
This varies enormously by country and trip type — cruises often auto-add gratuities, and some all-inclusive resorts discourage tipping altogether. Your advisor can provide a tipping guide specific to your itinerary.
These are airline- and fare-class-specific and change often, so we confirm current allowances for the exact airline and fare you’ve booked rather than relying on general rules of thumb.
Meals, drinks, and some activities are standard, but the specifics — alcohol brands, excursions, gratuities, Wi-Fi — vary widely by resort brand. We clarify the fine print before you book so there are no surprise charges on arrival.
Ship size, itinerary pace, and cabin type all shape the experience. We match first-timers to lines and itineraries suited to their travel style — for example, a smaller ship with fewer sea days for someone unsure about cruising.
It’s the surcharge solo travelers pay because cruise and tour pricing assumes double occupancy. Some suppliers waive or reduce it during promotions, or offer roommate-matching programs, which we can seek out on your behalf.
Yes — we coordinate lodging that works across ages and mobility levels, group activities, and logistics like connecting rooms or multi-room villas, which is one of the more complex trip types to book without help.
It depends on the redemption value. For high-value award availability, booking direct with points may be the better move — for anything involving a deposit/cancellation policy or added perks, booking through us often nets more overall value. We’ll tell you honestly when your own points are the better deal.
Not guaranteed, but our supplier relationships and loyalty program tie-ins can often secure upgrades that individual travelers can’t access booking on their own.
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