Talk to the office or call a travel agent in Seattle before you book anything

Three speeds, and which one you are on

A request for a quote, meaning one place or one pairing and a rough month, is answered inside one working day, whether you write it or call a travel agent in Seattle and say it out loud. A question about a trip already arranged jumps that line and is answered on the day it arrives, because somebody is usually standing on a platform with a bag while they wait.

Everything else, the long question about whether two coasts fit inside nine days, may take two. No clock times are printed anywhere here, and the omission is deliberate. A row of times tells you when a room is occupied; it does not tell you when your answer lands, and the second thing is the one that matters. So the wait is published instead.

What a useful first message contains

Five things make an answer worth reading: which entries caught your eye, the rough month or week, how many of you there are and how the rooms should split, how many nights you actually have, and anything that changes what works. A knee that dislikes stairs, a child who wilts in heat, a diet, or a wish to sit still in one place all belong in that last part.

What not to send is shorter. No card numbers, no scans of documents, no dates of birth. The form asks for a name, a way of replying and what you want, and nothing beyond that is needed to write you a quote. Anything more would simply sit in a mailbox where it has no business being, which helps nobody and protects nobody.

What the telephone is for

The number at the foot of every page reaches the same room that reads the writing. Some things go faster aloud: whether a pairing is too much for nine days, whether a long drive is worth the morning it eats, whether a coast is doing what it usually does that month. Anything settled aloud is written down afterward and sent to you, so nothing important survives only in memory.

Calls go one way. This office never rings somebody who has not asked it to, sends no text messages, and passes no number to anybody else so that they can. If you leave a number in the form it sits there unused, unless the words asking for a call sit next to it. Writing is the main road here and the telephone is the shortcut.

Asked about this one more than once

I wrote and nothing came back. What now?

Look in whatever folder your mail program uses for filtered messages, then write again to desk@farevacation.com. An office that answers twice is better than one that answers never, and nobody here will mind the repetition. If the first note went astray between us, the second one usually lands.

Can I talk to somebody before deciding anything?

Yes, and a conversation commits you to nothing at all. Use the number printed at the foot of every page, say what you are turning over, and ask whatever you like. Anything agreed aloud is put in writing afterward and sent to you, so you are never left relying on what either of us remembers.

Is there a form I have to use?

No. The form exists to make a first message easy to write, not to make it compulsory. A plain note to desk@farevacation.com saying roughly where you want to go and roughly when is treated exactly the same way, read by the same people, and answered on the same footing.