You Submitted Your Travel Design Agreement - Now What?

Your agent will review your request and compare notes based on your initial inquiry (phone call, email, walk-in, etc). If there are any questions or items that need clarification, they'll reach out to you. Otherwise, expect your first proposal in 3 to 5 business days. More custom itineraries may take longer and your agent will be in touch with an update on the timeline should we experience delays in coordinating with our partners.

Our Office Hours are Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM.

Emails and phone calls will be returned during those hours.

Our standard response time to emails and/or phone calls is 2 Business Days.

Although we may respond faster, this is our advised window.

You Love It, but Something is Missing...

Let your agent know of any adjustments you would like to make. We're pretty flexible in making changes or narrowing down options. Sometimes a phone call may be in order to go over what you like/don't like to make sure we're making the most of your proposals. For more extensive adjustments, IE completely different trips (going from Cruise to US RoadTrip; changing from One Destination to Three) we may request an additional Travel Design Agreement.

Read the terms here: Travel Design Agreement Terms & Conditions.

You Love It and You're Ready to Book!

This is great news! At the top of your proposal, there is an "Approve Proposal" button. Be sure to click that to notify your agent that you're ready to move forward with that itinerary. It's important to note that the approval button is not a booking button. Your agent may need additional information from you to move forward (IE, if multiple rooms were quoted; getting traveler details; etc).

Once a trip is approved, we usually get everything booked within 2 business days. From there, depending on the terms and conditions, we may be able to hold it for up to 72 hours. Note, some suppliers (hotels, airlines, tours, etc) may require full payment at the time of booking - prohibiting us from holding any space and leaving you subject to price changes/availability. We quote this information in your proposal so you know what to expect. Be ready to authorize payments in a timely manner according to the payment timeline indicated in your proposal.

How Can I Save Time/Move This Faster?

1. Be detailed in your request(s). If you forget to include a special occasion note, bucket list activity, or are leaving out that you've been dreaming of a once-in-a-lifetime experience - we may not include it. Give us all the info upfront. If you forgot to add it to your Design Agreement, send us an email or give us a quick phone call and we'll add it to the request.

2. Be ready with ALL Traveler Information. If you're traveling internationally, have your passports handy and send us a copy. If you do not have passports, ask your agent for a "Passport in Progress Form". Note, this may delay your travel plans depending on when you wish to travel, when your application is submitted, and the current Passport Agency processing times. We are not a Passport Agency. For domestic travel, have your Driver's License handy (or Birth Certificate for children/teens). Traveler names MUST match your chosen (Required) Form of ID for travel.

3. Watch for Invoices. All of your payments are submitted via SSL Encrypted Authorization Forms. It's important to note that these forms are not directly applying payments. They are an authorization for the agency to submit your payment to the supplier (hotel, airline, wholesaler, tour operator, etc). If you submit a payment, you will not see the charge instantly nor receive an immediate receipt. Unless stated otherwise, payments must be submitted by 5 PM. Any after-hours payments will be applied the following business day. If you are not ready to make payment by the due date/time OR If the following business day is outside of your payment due date we cannot guarantee availability nor the same price.

Between Deposits and Final Payments

Once you've made your deposit you are locked in for an amazing escape. You are welcome to make payments at any time between your deposit date and the Final Payment. As a reminder, payments may take up to 2 Business Days. Any after-hours payments will be applied the following business day.

Yes - you can pay off your trip early.

No - we cannot extend final payments (Supplier/Tour Operator rules, not ours).

You are welcome to make changes to your itinerary but please read your terms and conditions. Many changes may have additional penalties/fees associated with them (Changing travel dates, changing accommodations, etc). Name Changes are typically not allowed, especially for airlines. The closer to travel you get, the more complicated changes become and the higher penalties are. We strongly recommend Travel Insurance and will quote it during your Design Process.

Add tours/special experiences. Have you dreamed of swimming with the whales? Rappelling a waterfall? Dining under the stars next to the Colosseum? We have a multitude of experiences to choose from to enhance your trip and help you create lasting, cherishable memories. Come up with your own ideas and we'll find the right fit, or ask us for suggestions based on your interests. Remember, traveling is a unique experience to each traveler - so be sure to tell us YOUR interests, even if they seem crazy (Yoga with Llamas? Check. Beer Spa Treatments? Yes!).

Check your emails for inspiring articles, travel tips, suggestions, and more. We do not have these for every destination, but we do like to send these approximately once per month when applicable.

Between Final Payments and Departure Date

Let the countdown begin. It might be too early to start packing, but it's not too early to finalize any of those tours you might be interested in. If you're traveling to a major city like Paris, Rome, New York, Budapest, etc ask us about making dining reservations in coveted locales.

Our Travel Documents are detailed. We give you destinations guides (over 600 cities and counting), "Before You Go" reading suggestions, Travel Tips, Packing Lists, arrival instructions, photos, videos, and more. These documents are sent approximately 2 weeks before departure. It's important to note the word "Approximately" - as sometimes it is 10 days before travel. If you need your travel documents sooner, give us a call and we will do our best to expedite this information for you.

Our Travel Documents are NOT printed. Instead, we condense them into a handy (and exclusive) Trip Plans App. For the average 7 days trip - this can be 50 pages or more of information. For a 10 to 14 day trip, it could be 75 pages worth. If you'd like a printed copy, we include instructions for how to print the summary in your Trip Plans Invite email. If you would prefer us to print your documents, print fees start at $10 for condensed and $25 for Full Packets (over 30 Pages). This does not include postage if requesting them to be mailed.

Leading up to your departure date, we send reminders for any travel requirements (Hello COVID testing) and how to check-in for your flights. And of course, we send a "Bon Voyage" to touch base with you before you leave for any last-minute questions.

Between Departure Date and Coming Home

Your Travel Documents will include important contact information - those 24/7 Support Numbers are valuable! If you run into a complication, please utilize the contact information in your documents. If you must speak to your agent - calling is best and will get the quickest response. Emails are not monitored after hours.

Don't forget that your confirmations, documents, vouchers, and arrival/departure instructions are all located within the Trip Plans App (Travel Documents).

We send trip check-in emails to make sure your vacation is going smoothly - if something is amiss and you believe we can help, please let us know. We cannot remedy these situations after you return home if we are not made aware during travel.

Of course, we do our best to ensure these mishaps are not experienced and if you're having the trip of a lifetime - please let us know! We absolutely adore it when our guests send photos of their travels and happy memories. It's always appreciated to tag us on your social media too (Instagram: @sunflowertravel /// Facebook: @SunflowerTravelWichita).

When you come home, we like to follow up with a "Welcome Home" email and phone call to recap any tips YOU (the now experienced traveler) have for our future guests. If you think we're as great as we think you are, be sure to Leave us A Review.

We hope this Travel Design process answered most of your questions about What to Expect.