Pat and Bill Jacob have been to 191 countries since buying
Reid Travel in 1974. ‘You need to talk to somebody who has
been there,’ says daughter Lauren, who works with them and
serves as president of the company. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Steve Pike
In the age of Expedia, Orbitz, call centers and automated voice commands, Reid Travel still provides the personal touch that has been its trademark since 1974. After all, there’s something to be said for talking to someone who has been there, done that.
Bill and Pat Jacob have been going there, doing that since 1974, when they bought the travel agency at 326 E. Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton.
The Jacobs have traveled to 191 countries on six continents in the past 38 years, and it’s that experience, along with some strong business acumen, that has made Reid Travel one of the top agencies in the country.
“People spend so much money on a trip, they want to talk to someone before they spend $50,000 and more on a trip,” said Pat Jacob, vice president of Reid Travel. “They want to be able to trust someone and realize they’re getting some darn good advice. You can only provide that if you have experience — and we have a lot.”
Indeed. The Jacobs show pictures of themselves in such exotic locales as the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall of China and on an elephant’s back in Nepal. Bill Jacob has attended numerous cruise-ship christenings, including Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2010.
Bill Jacob’s path to South Florida isn’t much different from most other Northeast transplants’. Tired of the cold and the daily grind of the brokerage industry, Jacob moved his family from New York to Boca Raton in 1974. Shortly after settling in with his wife, Pat, and daughter and two sons, Jacob walked into a real-estate agency to see what was available.
What was available, Jacob was told, was a struggling two-year travel agency founded by the Reid family.
Jacob, a native of Pittsburgh and graduate of Georgetown University, scooped it up. Now a spry 87 (Pat is 84), he still walks the few blocks between his home and office as he has nearly every day for the past 38 years. Jacob is chairman of Reid Travel, which has evolved from a corporate and leisure travel business to a luxury leisure travel business. Reid Travel’s trademark bright orange bag tags, provided to each client, have been spotted around the world.
“We’re not so interested in the Boomers. We wait until they get to our level,” Jacob said with a chuckle.
Reid Travel’s consultants average more than 20 years in the travel industry. Each team member participates in ongoing education through worldwide travel and seminars.
“You can narrow down your selection online — that’s pretty easy — but you often need to talk to somebody who has been there.” said Lauren Jacob, Bill and Pat Jacob’s daughter, who has served as president of Reid Travel for the past four years. “Someone who can say, ‘It’s a beautiful hotel but … ’ ”
The most difficult thing to achieve, Lauren Jacob said, is to communicate to the public the value of the travel agent.
“Most people can look up flights. It’s really how you gain the expertise to know to do certain things when you travel and not to do certain things,” she said. “So when we do trips for people, we’re typically starting as they’re walking out their front door and typically finishing when they walk back through their front door. We make an effort to make it seamless for them.”
“People look forward to going on vacation, so they’re upbeat. There’s nothing like it when a person comes back and says he or she had a fabulous trip. It really makes your day.” Ú
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