FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #143 What If Your Vacation Could Support Local Nonprofits
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You can book a trip in five minutes. You can also spend weeks second-guessing every choice and still land on the wrong vacation. We sit down with Heijin Mignoli from Dream Vacations to unpack what a professional travel agent actually does and why the “right fit” matters more than chasing the lowest price.
We talk through Dream Vacations’ evolution from Cruise One into a full-service travel planning company booking ocean cruises, river cruises, and all-inclusive land packages. Heijin shares how her own travel history and years in the airline world shape the way she plans for clients, starting with the questions that most people skip: Who’s traveling, what pace do you like, and what will make this trip feel worth it? From there, we get practical about value, availability, and how larger travel networks can sometimes secure better rates by blocking space early.
Then we tackle the biggest misconception head-on: many travelers assume booking with a travel agent costs more. Heijin explains how commissions work, why fares are often the same as booking direct, and why letting someone else do the research can be a true win-win. We also highlight the heart of her work right now: planned trips to destinations like France and the Caribbean where part of her commission benefits two Fredericksburg-area nonprofits, Gwyneth’s Gift and Spreading Smiles at Renato’s.
If you love travel, want smarter vacation planning, or you’re curious about building a relationship with a trusted Fredericksburg VA travel agent, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a getaway, and leave a review with your dream destination.
Heijin Mignoli
Dream Vacation
(540) 226-0375
Welcome To The Neighborhood
SpeakerThis is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 1Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I have a special guest joining me today. We've got Heijin Mignoli joining us, and she is with Dream Vacation. Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2Thank you for having me.
What Dream Vacations Offers
Speaker 1I'm excited about this. I love to vacation, so I can't wait to hear all about this. So let's start there. Share with us a little bit about Dream Vacations.
Speaker 2Well, Dream Vacations started out as a cruise uh booking agency. And then they decided, you know, we don't want to just limit ourselves to cruises. So they branched out and they renamed themselves Dream Vacations. They used to be Cruise One. And some people still know me as working with Cruise One, but now we're Dream Vacations because we do cruises, both river and ocean, and all-inclusive land packages.
Speaker 1Amazing. Amazing. What a fun business to be in.
Speaker 2It is. It is. It's always nice to help people find the right vacation for them.
From Flight Attendant To Agent
Speaker 1Yeah. So tell me what your tell me about your background and kind of how you got into this.
Speaker 2By the time I graduated college, I think I'd been to 25 countries.
Speaker 1Wow.
Speaker 2And after college, I became a flight attendant because I wanted to travel. But then reality kind of set in. You know, I had to kind of stay put to raise children and all that. So, but I still was always interested in traveling. And about 18 years ago, I decided I wanted to wanted to book travel and be a travel agent on the side. And now it's becoming more and more than just being on the side. It's starting to be the full business.
Speaker 1Amazing. Well, you're the real deal. You have traveled the world. So you have real experience that you can share with the people that you work with. So how rewarding is that to you know get to help people in that way?
Speaker 2It's just really fun, you know, and when people come back and say they had a great time or whatever, and uh it's just fun. It's it's fun to help people plan their getaways, their their dream vacations, so to speak.
Travel That Gives Back Locally
Speaker 1Yeah. And I understand that you are giving back, that you have some initiatives going on. So tell me all about that.
Speaker 2Oh, I'm really excited about this. You know, um my husband and I had said for a while there we've been so fortunate in our life. And so we wanted to kind of start giving back through like volunteer work or whatever. And then I thought, you know, I could I could do something with the cruise lines or land vacations to raise money for a couple of the nonprofits. So I'm working with Gwyneth's Gift and also Spreading Smiles at Renato's. Um and we have a few planned trips. And for anyone who is interested in going to France or the Caribbean, uh, we have a certain itinerary, and a pretty good bit of my commission will go to those two nonprofits.
Speaker 1Very cool. Yeah I love that. Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's I'm really looking forward to it. I hope we get a good response from it.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. And both charities do such amazing things for our community. So thank you for doing that. I love it.
Speaker 2I wanted to make sure they were local, local nonprofits too. I think that's important.
The Fee Myth And Real Pricing
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah. So let me ask you this do you find that there are any myths or misconceptions about what you do?
Speaker 2I think the biggest misconception is people think they have to pay the travel agent, and they don't. There's a there's some large travel agencies that might um charge like a minimum fee, but I do not, or our our agency does not. And um, we get paid by the travel companies, so you're not gonna come out of pocket by coming to me and say, Hey, can you look into this or that? Um, and I think that's probably the number one misconception they think they have to pay, or they have to pay additional or whatever. And the thing is, whatever if a person books directly themselves or they book through me, the fare is going to be the same because the cruise line are all inclusive, they're not gonna deduct the travel agent uh commission from it. So, you know, why not let me do the work for you?
Speaker 1I'm really glad that you cleared that up because I myself thought that that you know it was gonna be more expensive to book through a travel agent. But knowing it's the same and then knowing that you'll do the work for me, I mean that seems like a win-win, right? Yeah.
Speaker 2Well, and the other thing is because Dream Vacations is a pretty large company, and so they sometimes block spaces way in advance, and so they can get better rates. So that's the other reason. You never know, you could get a much better rate by using a travel agency rather than going directly to the travel company.
How She Matches The Right Trip
Speaker 1Amazing. And so walk me through the service. So uh maybe maybe take me through a a relationship. So someone contacts you, they say, I'm interested in going to France. What uh all do you do for your clients? Walk me through that.
Speaker 2Well, I have to get to know what they're looking for, you know, who's going to be traveling with you? Is it is it like a honeymoon experience? Are you going to have young children with you? You know, so we have to get to know what it is you're looking for. And then um I start doing my research. I start looking at what's available, what the pricing is. Um, the other thing to keep in mind though is I may not always come back to the client with the least expensive option because that might not be the right option for you. You know, um, I could put you on, I'm gonna use cruise ships, but I could put you on carnival. But if you're used to very upscale dining and upscale living, you're not gonna be happy on carnival. As opposed to I'm not gonna put a family of four with young children that are very active on, say, Crystal cruise line, because that is a luxury cruise line, which is very la-di-da, and the children are not gonna be happy on that. So you have to find the right uh the right plan or the right vacation for the people that you're working with.
Speaker 1That makes a lot of sense, and I imagine much appreciated by your clients. And then do you also help with things to do while they are on the vacation, or is it just the travel piece?
Speaker 2I can do both, but normally they they don't really ask me to do the other the individual excursions because a lot of times those are offered through the land programs or the cruise programs. But if they ask me, hey, what's good to see, and I have you know organized, like I had one um client that went to Barcelona, they were going to get there before the cruise ship left. So I got them the hotel room and I also told them about what to see, and I got the um the car service and everything, and they took them around and they had a great time.
Speaker 1Amazing, amazing. Well, it it is helpful for someone. I mean, maybe you might have some experience working with clients or maybe going yourself that um someone maybe who's never been to that destination, um, you you you might have more expertise. Hopefully, hopefully. Yes, yes, amazing. So, what is something that you wish the listeners knew about dream vacation?
Speaker 2Ooh. Um I think that I'm really gonna work hard for you. You know, I'm gonna really try to find you what you're looking for, the the best value. Um I'm gonna take care of you. You know, I'm gonna do a good job taking care of you.
Advice For Aspiring Travel Agents
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah. If someone came to you and they said, you know, I'm thinking about becoming a travel agent, what advice would you give them?
Speaker 2I would say it's it's very difficult. It really is hard to, you know, brand yourself, get your name out there and all that. But if you have a plan and you have a good network, you know, it's I wouldn't discourage it, but I would ask them too, why are you doing it? Some people only want to become a travel agent because they want to go on discounted travel. Well, there's other ways you can do that, you know. You don't have to start a business to do that. And I've actually had a number of people come to me, and that was the their number one focus. Um so like if that's if that's why you're doing it, that it's way too much work uh for that. I can I can get you a really good deal. But if if you really want to uh you know work with people and find their vacations and all, uh then yeah, they should absolutely go for it. Um, but you need a plan and it's it's harder than it seems.
Speaker 1Yeah. It seems like it's the type of business that really relies on relationship building. And uh I've yeah, and I um I've met you in person and now a couple of times virtually, and I can tell that that you're you're very good at the relationship building. And so I see I can see why um you're thriving in this business.
Speaker 2Well, thank you.
Speaker 1So if the listeners want to work with you, if they want to learn more from you, where can they find you?
Speaker 2Uh the best way to reach me is probably by texting me or emailing me. Only because, like so many people, when you get a phone call and you don't recognize the number, sometimes you don't answer. So I would say um shoot me a text, 540-226-0375, or send me an email and I will respond to you very quickly. And once I have you in my phone, after that, when you call, I will be picking up.
Speaker 1Amazing, amazing. I'll add all of that to the show notes as well. And thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing dream vacations with us.
Speaker 2Well, thank you so much for having me. And I I appreciate what you do. I love getting the newsletter.
Speaker 1Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.
SpeakerThank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG NeighborsPodcast.com.