Lauryn grew-up in Toronto Ontario where she graduated from George Brown College’s Marketing program in 2003. In late 2003, she decided to move to Vancouver to be closer to her parents and to save up some money and travel around the world. On Valentine’s Day in 2004, Lauryn met the love of her life and decided to stay in Vancouver permanently. Lauryn started her travel career 2 years later with Flight Centre and has been in the travel industry ever since. Lauryn has had the opportunity to travel the world and visit places including: Jamaica, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, Greece, and Vietnam.
Lauryn has been working for Worldgo as a travel manager since July 2017. She loves working for Worldgo because of the transparency of fares and fees. Lauryn specializes in complicated itineraries, business travel, Disney Vacations, ‘Round-the-world’ tickets, all-inclusive travel, groups, weddings, and honeymoons. She looks forward to helping you solve your next travel need.
We sat down with Lauryn to get to know a bit more about her role, her experiences, and tips for clients.
A Q&A with Lauryn Lantela
Worldgo: Can you tell me what you do at Worldgo and what that entails?
Lauryn: Sure, I am a Corporate Travel Manager. I am responsible for making sure that our clients have all support needed for all bookings and reservations for their business travel.
Worldgo: What would you say is your favorite thing about working at Worldgo?
Lauryn: I love that we’re a close team. We all know our clients intimately because we all share them. We don’t have our own portfolios, so we all get to know everybody, and we all get to know their travel needs. We’re able to tailor clients’ trips and travel needs according each specific clients, which is very nice.
Worldgo: What is the one thing that you do differently that makes your clients’ lives easier?
Lauryn: I like to go the extra mile for my clients, and do things such as signing them up for reward cards that they might not have without them asking them. Sending them an email saying, “Hey, I’ve signed you up for this rewards program. I noticed you’re booking at lot at Hilton, or Air Canada, or whatever it happens to be, and I’ve just earned you a free night!”
Another big thing is choosing the seats before they fly. Making sure they’re not getting bumped off those flights that they’ve paid money for. And taking notes of any special preferences that they may have. May it be meals, or prefering to fly early in the morning, or same day returns, or preferred airlines.
Worldgo: What makes for a good travel management booking experience?
Lauryn: Well, the experience is from the beginning to end, so making sure you’re getting them a quote in a timely manner, with a variety of options, so that they can choose responsibly. It’s about anticipating their needs, getting the booking completed efficiently with no mistakes, and then making sure that they’ve gone on that trip, had a good trip, and proactively dealing with any problems that may arise quickly, as well.
Worldgo: If you had a client that was a small business, what travel management advice would you give them?
Lauryn: The small businesses, I feel like a lot of the time they’re trying to save money, just because it’s extremely important at a small stage. And they have fewer people that travel, so I believe that spending a little bit extra to confirm the receipts, or pre-pay for baggage can surprisingly end up saving them a lot of money in the long run. Getting a Flex fare instead of a Tango fare, or Econo fare with WestJet can actually make a difference in getting bumped off a flight during the holidays or saving them time and money.
Worldgo: What travel management advice could you give to a large business?
Lauryn: So larger businesses, I think they don’t realize that there’s quite a lot of little additions that can save them money, and if they make a few changes to their travel program, it can be quite impactful. That’s something because we’re such a close team, we are able to tailor for our clients. Things such as booking outside of seven days, or booking a Flex instead of a Tango again. In addition the 24/7 support, reporting and other technology offered can make a big difference.
Worldgo: What is more important for your corporate clients? Is it saving time? Saving money? Or, is it better reporting?
Lauryn: I think each of those things are important to every client. I think saving money is always great, but time is huge for everyone. More time to focus on your work and your family; fewer hours waiting at airports and shorter connections that can be huge.
Worldgo: Where do you see the travel management industry headed? I know that requires a crystal ball, but if you had to guess, down the road, where do you see the travel management industry going?
Lauryn: I think that in corporate travel, there will always be a need travel agents. Especially companies like Worldgo who work honestly and transparently for our clients. Who provide the best service and technology and cater the travel program to the specific needs of each client. Companies like ours will continue to flourish and I think the industry will continue to get bigger and better in the future.
For the travel industry as a whole, more people are booking online, but I think that they see these amazing prices, and they book things themselves, and people make mistakes, just like sometimes agents make mistakes on things. It’s really hard to wear that mistake for yourself in the long-run. Whereas for us, we take on the risk. We own our mistakes and we take on that for you.
3 Question Rapid Fire
Worldgo: What is your favorite destination to recommend to your clients when they’re seeking a holiday of their own?
Lauryn: Well, I think there are a few different things I would recommend, but I personally am a beach bum. I love to go sit on the beach. So anytime I can go on an all-inclusive vacation, somewhere down in the Caribbean, or somewhere down South, that’s going to be my first recommendation to people. I’ve probably been to about 30 destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico, so I know what I’m talking about when suggesting all-inclusive vacations.
I wouldn’t recommend things that I don’t necessarily think are great. I know what the great products are down South, and based on specifications that could be given, I think that I make excellent recommendations to anywhere in the Caribbean.
Worldgo: Lauryn. What is your favorite destination that you’ve traveled to?
Lauryn: Absolutely New Zealand, 100%. It’s just so beautiful there, and I just loved it. It’s kind of got a Vancouver or BC type feel, with the ocean and the beauty, but it’s on a smaller level. And I also loved the tropical aspect of it. I just feel like it’s a place that has everything, and I just felt really connected and attached there. I almost wanted to move my family there when I came home. So definitely my favorite.
Worldgo: If you could get on a plane and go on a 3-day getaway, where would you head right now?
Lauryn: Where would I head? You know what? I’d have to say, New York, just because I haven’t been there, and I really want to go. I lived in Toronto. I grew up in Toronto, and so it’s kind of a shame that I’ve never been to New York, and I know it’s not that warm beach destination, but it’s definitely somewhere where I want to go and get off my list.