What are people actually buying from an expert?

When people ask what a travel advisor does, they usually expect the answer to involve destinations, cruise lines, or airline tickets.

Those things are certainly part of the job. But one snowy night in Chicago reminded me they aren't really what matters.

An older couple I was working with was trying to get to Portugal to board a cruise. A winter storm had other plans.

Their first flight was canceled. While one of them stood in line at the airline counter, I started working the phones. Before they had moved more than a few places in line, I had them on another flight.

Then that flight was canceled.

We tried again.

Canceled.

Another option.

Canceled.

By then it was late at night. Flights across the Midwest were disappearing, and the odds of making the ship were getting slimmer by the hour.

While they stayed with family near the airport, I kept working: canceling hotels, rearranging transfers, coordinating with the cruise line's air department, checking delayed flights in the middle of the night. Every time the plan changed, we built another one.

Eventually, they made it.

Barely.

A little while later, my phone buzzed.

It was a text from the wife. She wasn't telling me about the flights. She wasn't talking about Portugal. She wasn't even celebrating that they'd made the ship.

She told me the crew had already taken wonderful care of them. They finally felt like they could relax. They were heading to their cabin to take a nap before dinner.

That was the moment I finally relaxed too. Not because the logistics were finished. Because someone else had taken over caring for them.

People sometimes ask what value a travel advisor provides when anyone can book a flight online. It's a fair question.

The value is peace of mind.

Sometimes that comes from finding the right itinerary. Sometimes it comes from knowing someone else is already working on the next plan.

I don't remember exactly what flights they ended up taking.

But I do remember that text message.