Expert advice on selling family travel from agents on the front line

You sell what you know, and that applies to family travel as much as it does anything else. When you, the agent, are the one schlepping car seats and strollers, grabbing for air sickness bags, changing diapers in airplane lavatories, and discovering that kids clubs offer playtime for parents as well as for children, you learn the ins and outs of the niche on a whole new level. Following are recommendations from some agents who specialize in family travel:

Build in extra time. “Traveling with kids takes on a whole different logistical nature,” says Barbara Oliver, CTA, ECC and owner of All Together Now Travel, a home-based agency in Valencia, Calif. It’s one thing to catch an airport shuttle when it’s just you and your laptop and carry-on bag. It’s an entirely different matter with kids and their paraphernalia in tow. You can’t wing it when traveling with kids.