About Us
Your Travel Consultant
Jeff Whitfill
After enjoying a successful career in the corporate world as an IT Consultant and IT Administrator, I decided I was ready for a change. During a cruise, I met a travel agency owner who thought my travel experience would make me a good travel agent. I joined her Disney based agency and fell in love with travel planning. I was able to combine three things I am passionate about: travel, Disney, and helping people. In no time, I decided to start my own travel agency, E Ticket Travel.
As it turns out, the skills I developed in the business world proved invaluable to my work as a travel consultant. Research, organization, creativity, and attention to detail are all essential skills for a travel agent. In reality, travel planning and IT consulting are quite similar: my role is to understand something, make a recommendation, and develop a solution. Only now, I work with people and vacations instead of with computers and data.
Over the years I have been fortunate to be able to travel to some wonderful places. Earlier in my life, vacation meant a visit to the Disneyland® Resort and other Southern California theme parks. As I grew older, my vacations evolved into cruising and visits to more exotic and extraordinary places. Even though I have broadened my travel to include things other than theme parks, my year still isn't complete without a few visits to the the Disney Parks®. I am still a kid at heart, which is why I love planning Disney and family vacations.
My travel resume includes:
Why Choose E-Ticket Travel?
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF TRAVEL AGENCIES OUT THERE. SO WHAT SETS US APART FROM THE REST?
Free Service
Our services are always free when you book your travel through us. Travel vendors pay us to help you! While many travel agents offer free planning, the level of service you receive at E Ticket Travel goes beyond just booking your reservation. We are here to help you with all aspects of your vacation.
Save Money
E Ticket Travel will save you money. We have have affiliations with larger agencies and travel groups that give us access to the best deals and pricing. After travel is booked, we stay on top of any specials or sales and will rebook your package if it qualifies for a new promotion. Some travel vendors have fixed pricing or require travel be booked directly through them. No problem, that's where our incentive program comes in.
Our experience, creativity, and expertise can also save you from overspending on your vacation. For example, trying to book a family of 5 on a cruise usually restricts your choices to a more expensive room or suite. However, we know that if we break your family into two smaller rooms, you can save money and sometimes end up with more space!
Incentives On Your Travel
We provide generous incentives or rebates on most cruise and vacation packages. The exact type of incentive varies based on the type of travel and the travel vendor. For example, most cruises will receive an onboard credit, which is spending money for you to use on your cruise. Other incentives might come as gift cards, freebies, or upgrades. No matter how you get them, E Ticket Travel incentives are a great bonus for booking with us. Click here for more details on our incentive program.
Travel Experience
We have visited a wide range of popular U.S. and international destinations which means that we have a good idea of what you'll be encountering on your trip. In many cases we have been to your destination and may have even done the same things you'll be doing. Just look at the pictures on this page and you'll get a feel for the variety of places and activities we have experience with.
Our travel experience sets us apart from our competition. If you call an online discount travel seller you will most likely be speaking to someone in a call center who has little to no travel experience. They won't be familiar with your selected type of travel or have firsthand knowledge of your destination. They will probably answer your questions from a list of frequently asked questions.
We don't claim to have been everywhere or be an expert at everything. If we are not a good fit for your destination or desired type of travel, we'll tell you. If you would still like to work with us, we are always eager to help and learn new things!
More Than Just A Booking Agent
Some travel agencies are there just to make a reservation for you and collect their commission. E Ticket Travel knows there's much more to planning your vacation than simply making a reservation. You may have questions about what to expect, need advice on what activities to do, or need help arranging transportation.
When calling an online travel site for assistance with those things you may find they're not willing to help beyond making the reservation. On the other hand, we are here to help whenever you need us, before, during, or after your travel. We'll arrange custom tours, make sure you get where you need to go, and be there to help if things don't go as expected.
Dedicated To The Success Of Your Vacation
As a small business, every customer is important to us and our success is measured by your satisfaction. You will have a dedicated travel planner whose job is to get to know you and plan the best vacation possible. Our hope is to always exceed your expectations and earn you as a customer for life.
If you're like us, you have goals and expectations regarding your vacation. You've envisioned all of the fun things you'll do with your family and friends. You've pictured the look on your child's face when they meet Mickey Mouse for the first time and imagined how excited they'll be when they get to swim with the dolphins in the Caribbean. We get it. We understand that your vacation is a precious opportunity to spend time with your family and friends. We promise to do our best make your vacation dreams a reality and help create those memories that will last a lifetime.
Always Do The Right Thing
Integrity and trust are VERY important to us. We promise to ALWAYS do the right thing and NEVER make a recommendation or decision that is not in YOUR best interests. Simply put, we will never do something for you that we wouldn't do for ourselves.
We think it is important to know who you are working with. Here are a some things we pledge in our commitment to always doing the right thing:
- NO OVERSELLING - Some travel agencies participate in overselling, the practice of selling you more than you need. This can be done through pressure to upgrade, purchase add-ons, or by simply not notifying you of less expensive alternatives. Their goal is to convince you that the more money you spend, the more you'll enjoy your vacation. Unfortunately, their motivation may be increasing their commission rather than what's best for you. At E Ticket Travel, we do not assume "more is better". Our goal is to understand what is important to you and match you to the right package. From our initial conversation we'll get an idea of a good starting point for your vacation. Based on that starting point, we will provide options that are both a step higher and lower so that you are aware of your options. From there, we'll continue to refine your vacation to get the right sized package for you.
- RESPECT YOUR BUDGET - E Ticket Travel never wants our clients to spend beyond their means. If you have a budget, let us know and we'll respect it. We'll never pressure you to spend more, but will instead help you understand how to spend your money to make the most out of your vacation. Our strategy is to focus your budget on experiences that will make lasting memories instead of unnecessary or inconsequential things.
- AVOID VENDOR GIMMICKS - There are a number of ways travel vendors try to influence travel agents. For example, some vendors may offer higher commissions to get travel agents to recommend them over another vendor. They sometimes hold contests or give bonuses to agents who have the most bookings in a given month. None of these things matter at E Ticket Travel. We make our recommendations based on what is right for our clients and not based on commissions or silly contests.
- ALWAYS CHOOSE THE BEST VENDOR - Given the choice between booking with an unknown or substandard vendor that pays a commission or booking with a trusted vendor and making little or no commission, we will always choose the trusted vendor. This actually happens quite often, especially when booking excursions, activities, and transportation. Your satisfaction and successful vacation are our primary concern and not our commission.
- NOTIFY YOU OF BETTER PRICING - Pricing on travel fluctuates over time due to promotions and changes in demand. We closely monitor promotions and sales from the vendors we work with. If you have booked travel with us, and we find a new promotion or sale will save you money, we'll let you know. How many businesses will proactively reduce the price on something that you've already purchased? When we call someone unexpectedly to tell them a new promotion will save them hundreds of dollars, it makes us happy! We look at it as an investment in our relationship with you. We're earning your trust and building our value so that you will be a customer for life. Just so you know, not all packages are eligible for pricing changes. Some vendors are very accommodating and will simply apply a new promotion to an existing package. Other vendors may not permit changes or may assess a change fee. But, rest assured, if we can save you money, we will let you know.
Cruise and Family Vaction Experts
We specialize in family vacations and cruises because those are the vacations we take ourselves. We have over 300 days on property with Disney, over 100 days cruising and have visited several Southern California and Orlando area theme parks and attractions. We know the information, tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your cruise or family vacation.