Questions · Do it yourself or hire someone
Plan the group trip yourself, or hire a travel advisor?
Book it yourself if it's a few rooms at one hotel, everyone pays their own way and the dates can move. Hire a travel advisor when there are a lot of rooms, the date is fixed, people are coming from different places, or you don't want to be the one chasing everyone. Notched Travel Co. plans the second kind.
Last checked 24 September 2026.
- Two couples, one hotel, one weekend: do it yourself.
- A fixed date, a lot of rooms, many cities: get help.
- Hotels count rooms, not people.
- Rooms booked through an advisor usually cost the same.
When you don't need us.
Two or three couples, one hotel, a long weekend, and everyone books their own room. You'll be fine. Book it, share the link in the group chat, and pick a restaurant.
Same if the dates are loose. If the trip can move a week when the hotel fills up, most of the hard part goes away.
When it changes.
The trip gets harder fast once a few things stack up. Any two of these and it's worth a call.
The date is fixed. A wedding, a milestone birthday, a race weekend or a trade show can't move, and the hotels near it fill up early.
There are a lot of rooms. Hotels count rooms, not people, and a group of rooms is priced by asking, not by clicking. There's no group rate to look up. Someone has to ask the right person at the hotel, and know what to ask for.
People are coming from different places, on different flights, at different prices. Someone has to keep track of who lands when, and who needs a ride.
Money is coming from a lot of people. Somebody always pays late or asks to switch rooms twice.
You're the one it landed on. That part's the real test. If you'd rather be at the trip than running it, that's what we're for.
What you take on by doing it yourself.
Calling hotels without knowing what rate to ask for or what they'll add for a group. Reading the hotel's fine print and not knowing which parts are normal and which parts you can push back on. Remembering every deadline. Answering the same question from fourteen people. Handling the changes, which always come.
None of it is hard on its own. It just adds up, and it all lands on one person who probably has a full-time job already.
What changes when you hire someone.
We go to the hotels for you, compare what comes back, and send you two or three options with the one we'd book. Everyone books their own room from one link. We go through the hotel's terms with you before anyone books.
Then the trip around the rooms, if you want it: the driver, the dinners, the afternoon together, and one plan on everyone's phone. The one you talk to is the one planning it, start to finish, and we're on call while you travel.
The rooms usually cost the same as booking yourself, since the hotel pays us. Planning the whole trip starts at $250, and the exact fee is in your quote.
Questions.
Is it cheaper to book a group trip myself?
Usually not. The room rate through an advisor is normally the same as booking direct, and the hotel pays the advisor. The planning fee is only for the work beyond the rooms.
We already have a wedding planner. Do we need a travel advisor too?
Maybe. Wedding planners usually handle the venue, the design and the day itself. Where the guests sleep and how they get there is often left to the couple. We work alongside the planner on that part.
Someone at work usually plans our team trips. Why hire out?
They can keep planning it. We take the travel side off their desk: the hotels, the rooms, the drivers, the dinner. They stay the one who decides.
We have our own travel company already. Can you still help?
Yes. Send us the dates and the place and we'll put our option next to theirs. You can keep whichever is better.
We're not ready to book yet. Is it too early to ask?
No. Looking early costs nothing, and group trips go better when they start early. The best places fill first.
Not sure yet? Ask.
Tell us the occasion, roughly how many people and when. If you don't need us, we'll say so. We reply within a couple of business days.
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