TravelWits: Self-Book Luxury Hotels With Special Travel Agency Perks

Generally speaking, the best way to book luxury hotels is through a travel advisor who has access to programs offering extra perks at properties. These perks can include things like upgrades, breakfast, a property credit, and more, all with competitive pricing.

Historically there has been no way to self-book a vast majority of these kinds of rates online. That’s no longer the case, so for those who like self-booking (or who just want to be able to look up rates on their own), I’d like to talk a bit about TravelWits. Long story short, this is a fantastic tool that lets you look up these special rates and book yourself, though you do need to request a password (it’s a requirement that many of the individual programs put in place).

TravelWits basics, and why you might want to use it

There are all kinds of programs that offer special perks for stays at luxury hotels. These include programs like Virtuoso, which aren’t specific to any brand. But there are also brand specific programs, like Accor Preferred, Belmond Bellini Club, Four Seasons Preferred Partner, Hilton for Luxury, Hyatt Privé, Mandarin Oriental Fan Club, Marriott STARS, Oetker Pearl, Rosewood Elite, Shangri-La Luxury Circle, and more.

Historically, there have been limited opportunities to book these rates directly online, but that’s no longer the case. TravelWits is described as an “AI-powered one-stop search and booking tool for travel agencies and advisors,” and it gives travel advisors the ability to allow clients to book stays on their own online.

So when you use TravelWits, you’re still booking directly with a specific travel advisor, but you can book through their portal. For example, Ford’s team at Ford Beckett Travel has a TravelWits page, which can be accessed at fordb.travelwits.com. There you can directly book virtually all of the rates and perks that he and his team ordinarily have access to.

Let me be clear — TravelWits is just the company providing the technology that makes this happen, while booking through the TravelWits link would result in the same kind of rate that you’d get if you booked with an advisor. The intent is that TravelWits isn’t just for clients, but it’s also supposed to simplify the booking for travel advisors, so in many cases travel advisors also reserve bookings for their clients through the website.

Note that unfortunately this page is password protected, as that’s a requirement of many of these programs. So while you might find some people have TravelWits pages that aren’t password protected, that’s because they’re not displaying all the potential programs and rates.

The password also isn’t allowed to be posted publicly, so if you’d like access to this TravelWits booking tool, you can email [email protected] (it doesn’t have to be a long email — just mention you’d like the TravelWits password). Once you have the password, you can even share it with others.

Of course you can use this if you want to make bookings, though you’re also welcome to use this if you’re curious to see how the various rates compare, as this is one of the few ways you can do so.

In the interest of full disclosure, Ford Beckett Travel receives a commission on most rates that you book, just as would be the case if you booked directly through them. Of course your support is appreciated, as it’s a way to support us in a way that’s hopefully mutually beneficial. Of course you should always book in the way that’s best for you, like if you have any credit card perks or benefits that would offer value, as those can’t be stacked here.

How to book luxury hotel stays through TravelWits

Once you have access to the TravelWits page, what’s the booking process like? Well, you can enter where you’d like to stay (you can enter the hotel, check-in date, and check-out date), and then just hit “Search.”

Once you get to the results page, there are all kinds of additional ways that you can filter options. For example, you can search by hotel name, hotel group, the cost, the location, or a bunch of other options.

The beauty of TravelWits is that it shows all kinds of different rates. It shows publicly available rates (refundable and non-refundable), as well as rates that offer extra perks. If a property belongs to a special program offering extra perks, you’ll see the name of that listed, along with all the benefits offered. Always make sure you read the description carefully (including the perks, cancelation policy, etc.) before booking.

Then the booking process is really straightforward, and you can enter your email, name, and even loyalty number. Yes, with hotels belonging to Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, etc., bookings through these special programs are eligible to earn points and elite benefits.

You’ll then receive a confirmation email directly to your inbox. Note that this gives you an option to manage your trip directly, and you can even cancel your booking directly through that link. To do so, click on “View trip” in your confirmation email (which has the subject line “Client copy”), and then on the right side you should see the “Cancel” option.

If you book, someone from the Ford Beckett Travel team will be in touch within one business day to recap the details of your booking.

Who is best off booking through TravelWits?

TravelWits is only available to travel advisors and their clients, so when you book through TravelWits, you’re still booking through a travel agency. The way I see it, there are a few strategic uses of TravelWits.

For one, it’s useful for just being able to get a sense of luxury hotel rates online (including programs offering extra perks), even if you’re not actually sure you want to book.

Furthermore, many people simply prefer self-booking, and don’t want to wait for back-and-forth emails. TravelWits lets you book your preferred hotel instantly, 24/7. So if you often book through an online travel agency or credit card portal because of the convenience, this is an alternative worth considering. Keep in mind these proprietary programs often have better rates, and let you combine promotions with extra perks.

Furthermore, many travel advisors have a minimum revenue requirement for bookings through an advisor. For Ford Beckett Travel, that’s currently $1,000, but that minimum is waived if self-booking and self-managing the stay through TravelWits, so that’s another way it can be used.

So TravelWits is by no means for everyone, but it’s a nice example of how technology is being used in a win-win way to simplify the luxury hotel booking process, for those who value this kind of convenience. Like I said above, in many ways this basically gives clients access to the same back-end technology that travel advisors may use to book their own clients.

Bottom line

Many travel advisors can offer extra perks for stays at luxury properties. While this generally requires “manually” working with a travel advisor, TravelWits is a great tool that automates this process a bit, and lets consumers see all the rates that their advisors would have access to.

Ford Beckett Travel has just launched this, and you can access the tool at fordb.travelwits.com. However, the page has to stay password protected to remain compliant, so if you’d like the password, just send an email to [email protected].

Hopefully this is useful for some people, and also, your support is very much appreciated! If you have any questions, feel free to post them here, or email [email protected].