Berkshire Travel Inc. celebrated its 23rd birthday in September of 2009. Over the last 23 years Lucy has chaired national committees on cruising, luxury travel and media relations. She has taught cruise and professionalism seminars for travel consultants and agency owners and wrote a column on those same topics for Travel Weekly, a national trade press magazine. Lucy is regularly quoted in consumer media and has appeared on a local Fox News affiliate in NYC. She is a frequent guest on The Travel Show, hosted by Erik Hastings on WABC 77 AM radio.

Lucy Hirleman is a (CTC) Certified Travel Counselor and a (MCC) Master Cruise Counselor.  These combined certifications, CTC from The Travel Institute and MCC from Cruise Lines International Association,  represent the pinnacle of travel industry professionalism and a personal committment to continuing education.

Trip Deposits…

If a NEW caller knows exactly what they want (e.g. I’d like a week in Aruba or I want an escorted tour of Ireland) we provide one courtesy quote with no deposit required.

However, if the request is something that requires PLANNING, ROUTING or RECOMMENDATIONS, and you are not a repeat client, we require an upfront deposit for the trip planning. This DEPOSIT is usually applied to the trip.

Fees...
We have a “ticket fee” for airline tickets. This fee is reduced if it is accompanied by a tour/cruise or other trip/vacation components.  Consolidator tickets do not usually have a fee. 

When we place clients in hotels, bed and breakfasts, apartments, villas, etc., which do not pay commission we have either a flat "trip planning rate" or a "per night fee" depending on the complexity of the trip or components involved.