Frequently Asked Questions

We are based in Austin, Texas. Being a modern travel company, we do not have a storefront and work from wherever we just happen to be. Ask us where we are, you might be surprised!

If you are local to the Austin, TX area and we are working in town, we are happy to meet by appointment. Coffee on us!

Travel professionals earn from a combination of fees and commissions. We are able to offer low planning fees in anticipation of the future commissions we will earn from your travel. 

The fact that we have the ability to earn commissions, does not mean that you will pay more —in fact, you will most often pay the same or less as we know all the tricks of the game or the best way to book.

Do you think Expedia and Booking.com work for free and just love providing all of that information just because? With the billions of dollars they rake in every year, you may consider how they earn that. 

When you work with a travel professional at Soul Free Travels. you are getting beyond service. Period.

There are many ways to get in touch with us. We are more than happy to answer questions, offer guidance and support for any and all travel related issues.

You can:

• Call us at +1 512 915-7045

• Email us at hello@soulfreetravels.com

• Find us on Facebook and have a chat or send us a message.
• WhatsApp chat or call, a Google chat or meeting, whichever you prefer!

There is much to know about how the Covid Pandemic may or may not put a damper on your plans.

The situation is fluid, so things can change on a daily basis for any given destination. For each client, we will make sure that you have all of the details related to your particular situation.  We will arm you with a checklist for things you’ll need to do and we will provide you with all of the pertinent information.

We will also work with any travel providers that may be involved to ensure that things go as smoothly as possible and in the event that things go awry, we will be there to act on your behalf—protecting your travel investment is our job!

In the event of cancellations, almost all travel providers are being more than flexible and are going above and beyond in their efforts to keep travelers as safe as possible. Many are offering easy ways to reschedule or cancel altogether. Again, case by case basis here, but we will always keep you informed.

For your peace of mind, we always recommend travel insurance. This is the only way to cover you monetarily when you need to cancel for your own reasons. 

If you would like to do some research yourself, one of the very best tools is IATA’s TravelCentre. 

Yes, we do have fees. Please see our Services page for all of this information.

Early Birds Get The Worms! 

It’s not unheard of to plan a couple of years in advance for certain destinations and also for places that have limitations to the number of people and/or closures at certain times of the year, such as Machu Picchu. Space fills up fast! Other places could be last minute. Case by case, and we will let you know our suggestions.

Virtuoso® is the leading global network of travel agencies specializing in luxury and experiential travel. Through our affiliation,  we are able to procure perks and special privileges with our travel partners. This includes over  1,800 of the world’s best companies such as hotels and resorts, cruise lines, tour operators, and other travel related suppliers.

What that means to you is when you work with us and book with a Virtuoso® affiliated brand, we likely have something very special for you that you won’t find on your own.

Look for Virtuoso® throughout our site and contact us to see what’s in store for you. 

In simple terms, as it relates to travel, force majerue means things happen that are out of the control of the provider of a service and because of this, when and if they happen, the service provider cannot be liable for these things.

Force majeure events are typically defined as certain acts, events or circumstances beyond the control of the parties (airlines, hotels, tour operators, travel agents, etc) for example, natural disasters or the outbreak of hostilities. Pandemics would also fall into this category and you should know all about this by now. Earthquakes, tidal waves and volcano explosions do happen from time to to time. Remember when Iceland’s volcano haulted flights in Europe? Or that little pandemic called Covid-19?

Force majeure excuses one or both parties from the performance of these contracts (scheduled flight, hotel closures, itinerary changes, etc) in some way following the occurrence of such events.

The underlying principle you should be aware of is that on the occurrence of certain events which are outside a party’s control, that party is excused from, or entitled to suspend performance of all or part of its obligations. That party will not be liable for its failure to perform the obligations, in accordance with the Force majeure clause.

For a more detailed explanation you can visit our Terms & Conditions page.

So happy you asked. This is closely related to force majeure. For our purposes, when we say “within reason” we mean to say;

We do not not have magical powers to control things like the weather, the airlines rescheduling or flat out canceling flights, little things like world-wide pandemics or acts of war.

You might be shocked to learn that there are people who fail to understand this. So, in the words of Forrest Gump,  “$%it happens.” 

Within reason also means that we are available to our clients 24/7 to handle,—to the best of our abilities, any issues that may arise. For example, if you have booked your airline tickets with us, and the airline cancels your flight, we will handle the minutia of dealing with the airlines and working out the best possible solution for you. If you did not book your flights with us, and wanted to save $25-$100, then you get the pleasure of dealing with the airlines. Any exceptions would be at our discretion.

When it comes to travel budgets, we are pros at delivering amazing holidays with incredible value. We love to save our clients money and do it without you having to ask. When we say “travel budget” and “within reason” in the same sentence, that means, no, we cannot get you a room at the Four Seasons or private time at the Taj Mahal for $100. If you want something utterly unheard of, this would be another time that we should just part ways. Within reason, does, mean that we will make every effort to get you the best rate, with special perks, and we will bend over backwards to deliver you exceptional service. We love pleasant surprises and work hard to make those happen for you.

So, we think you get it. We are here to make your travels easier and as enjoyable as humanly possible. We’ll jump through hoops for you and be thrilled to do it—within reason, of course.