Why I’m an Airline Travel Specialist

I take pride in arranging what is usually the least pleasant part of a trip, the air travel, and making it as painless as possible.  If I do my job well, the clients don’t remember the plane rides.

Destinations Visited

Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Madagascar
Latin America: Peru
Additional countries: Bermuda, United Arab Emirates

Specialties

Airline Travel and Stopover Hotels

Education

BS in Aviation Management, Salem International University (formerly Salem-Teikyo University)

Career History

Customer Service Lead, US Airways.
Adventure Travel Consultant, Wayland Travel / ATD.
Charter Flight Coordinator, Caesar’s Entertainment.

Most Recent Trip

My most recent trip was to Madagascar.  It was a fun and definitely more  rustic than our upscale southern Africa journeys.  Safari guides here boast that “unlike on the mainland, there is no wildlife on this island able to kill you” – and it’s true!  Activities consisted of a lot of walks in rainforests, day and night, in search of lemurs and other wildlife.  I also had a chance to check out market day in the village of Ifotaka, which was a genuinely authentic experience; no touristy “performances,” just local people getting together to sell and trade livestock, tobacco, clothing, linens, household goods, and so forth.

Recommended Travel Experience/Destination Right Now

As the air guy, I’m going to put my own twist on this.  Wherever you go, be sure to have someone knowledgeable planning the airfare.   A professional will help you balance all the factors, including comfort, cost, route, and price.

Favorite Airlines

Delta

Delta flies just about EVERYWHERE, and even the economy seats are pretty comfortable.

Emirates

Emirates offers fantastic business class fares on a pretty consistent basis, and complimentary chauffeur service to their business class customers.  They also offer complimentary hotels for forced stopovers in Dubai.

Southwest

Great fares for domestic flights and bags fly free!