So What Does a Travelzoo Deal Expert Do?

When I was planning a trip to Ireland with my mom for my first Travelzoo Experience, a perk in which employees take the same trips our members do, I emailed her a link to the vacation package that I wanted to book. A full day later, she responded and said, “I did research last night, and this is the best price I could find. Let’s book it!”

To which I said, “You know that’s my whole job right?”

I mean, hello:

OK, it’s a lot more than that.

But at the end of the day being a “Deal Expert” — as my byline proclaims — or a “Producer” — as my business card displays — means that it’s my job to guarantee that any deal with my name on it is truly the best rate anybody is going to pay for that experience, period.

Getting there, however, takes a few steps:

FIRST, some background:

We’re divided into verticals, and that’s how we become “experts.”

The highlighted portion is how we’re organized internally, too!

For example, I started in Local (restaurants, spas, activities), and now work on Hotels. Other producers work exclusively on Cruise, Destinations, Transportation, Entertainment and Vacation content. Watch what it looks like in our offices.

SECOND, we spend A LOT of time researching.

Once we receive a proposal, we research every detail, and that’s how we know it’s a “deal.” And by every detail, I mean every detail:

Ultimately, the evaluation process looks something like this, but with spreadsheets and screenshots and hyperlinks and lots of emails:

If the deal is not the best rate out there, then we won’t publish it. If the deal could be better, then we try to make it better by negotiating with our travel partners.

So, THIRD, we spend a lot of time NEGOTIATING, too.

And this feedback from our publishing team:

Eventually becomes this headline on our website:

FOURTH, we test book:

Once we finalize the content with our publishing team and travel partner, we’re off to the races. That means editing photos, writing copy, executing contracts, and test booking the deal to make sure it’s easy to get the deal, exactly as we’ve said it is.

While the deal is live, we continue to test book it, and update the story page as we learn about new blackout dates, price points that have sold out, and other important information.

Then, we do it all over again. After all, we’re some of our own best customers.