Client Travel Questionnaire Template
Almost every itinerary that has to be rebuilt from scratch was quoted before somebody asked the right question. A good intake form gets the constraints out in the open first, so the plan you present is the one they can actually say yes to.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ Traveler details exactly as they appear on the passport, plus expiry dates
- ✓ Dates, flexibility, and which of the two matters more
- ✓ A real budget question, framed as a range and per person, plus what it is meant to cover
- ✓ Trip purpose, because an anniversary and a conference are not the same brief
- ✓ Accommodation and travel style preferences, with examples rather than adjectives
- ✓ Accessibility, mobility, dietary and medical needs
- ✓ Loyalty programs, airline preferences and seat needs
- ✓ A deal-breakers question: what would ruin this trip
- ✓ Insurance and previous trips they loved or hated, and why
How to use it
- Send it before the consultation, not after, so the call is spent on the plan rather than on data entry.
- Ask for budget as a range with what it includes. "Ten thousand" means very different things with and without flights.
- Get passport names and expiry dates at intake. A name that does not match the passport is expensive to fix after ticketing.
- Always ask what would ruin the trip. It surfaces the constraint people do not think to volunteer, like a dawn start or a long transfer.
- Keep the completed form on file. It is what makes the second trip faster to plan than the first.
What the questionnaire protects you from
Every hour you spend researching a trip is an hour you are not paid for until the client books, and a large share of wasted research traces back to something nobody asked. A couple asks for Italy in October and only mentions on the proposal call that one of them cannot manage stairs. A family wants a beach week and turns out to have a child whose passport expires two months after the return date. The questionnaire moves those discoveries to the start, where they cost nothing.
It also shows the client how you work. A thoughtful intake form signals that you plan trips properly, which makes a planning fee easier to explain, and it gives you a written record of what they asked for if the brief shifts later.
How to phrase the questions that matter most
Ask for dates as a window plus a note on flexibility. "Leaving between June 10 and June 20, back before the 30th, the return date matters more because of work" gives you room to find better fares and cabins than a fixed pair of dates does.
Ask for budget as a per-person range and list what it should cover: flights, accommodation, transfers, tours, meals, insurance. The same figure means very different trips with and without flights, and a range invites an honest answer where a single number often gets a guess.
Collect traveler names exactly as printed in each passport, with dates of birth, nationalities and expiry dates. Many countries expect a passport to remain valid for some months beyond the return, and airlines can refuse boarding over a name mismatch, so checking this at intake prevents the most expensive corrections in the business.
Ask about experience with examples rather than adjectives. "Describe the best hotel stay you have had and why" tells you far more than "luxury or mid-range?", and "what would ruin this trip for you?" surfaces the early start, the long transfer or the shared bathroom that nobody thinks to mention.
Turning answers into a brief
Before the consultation, read the completed form and write a three-line brief in your own words: who is traveling, what the trip is for, and the two constraints that will shape it most. Open the call by reading it back. Clients who hear their trip described accurately relax, and the ones who correct you have just saved you a rebuilt itinerary.
File the completed questionnaire in the client record. Loyalty numbers, seat preferences, dietary needs and the note about the hotel they hated are exactly what makes the second trip faster to plan and harder for a booking site to match.
A filled-in example
| Travelers | Two adults, names as on passports, both passports valid well beyond return |
|---|---|
| Dates | Depart between September 12 and 19, nine to eleven nights; return date flexible |
| Budget | A per-person range stated by the client, including flights and transfers, excluding meals |
| Purpose | Twentieth wedding anniversary; wants one special dinner arranged |
| Style | Prefers small hotels within walking distance of the center; disliked a large resort last year |
| Needs | One traveler avoids shellfish; no mobility limits |
| Would ruin the trip | Early flights and more than three hotel changes |
Mistakes to avoid
- Sending the form after the first call. Then the call is spent collecting facts. Send it first so the conversation can focus on the trip itself.
- Asking for a single budget number. A number without scope is misleading. Ask for a per-person range and what it must cover.
- Skipping passport details until booking. Name mismatches and short passport validity are costly to fix after ticketing. Collect them at intake and check them against the destination's entry rules.
- Filing the form and never reading it again. The answers are your client history. Review them before every new inquiry from the same client.
Client Travel Questionnaire Template FAQs
What should a travel advisor ask before quoting?
Dates and how flexible they are, a budget range and what it covers, who is traveling and their passport details, the purpose of the trip, accessibility and dietary needs, and what would ruin it. The list on this page covers each one.
Is it rude to ask a client their budget?
It is more uncomfortable to present an itinerary at twice what somebody meant to spend. Asking for a range, and saying what it needs to cover, gets an honest answer more often than asking for a number.
Should I use a form or just talk to them?
Both, in that order. The form collects the facts, the conversation gets the things people only say out loud. Unit 5 covers turning a completed questionnaire into an itinerary somebody pays for.
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