The Hottest Travel Trend this Year – Be Right Back Travel

I want to let you in on a little secret – the hottest travel trend this year!  Be Right Back is the world’s first travel subscription service and is the most exciting travel experience this year.  Hailed as the Netflix for Travel by the Telegraph and with substantial backing from Founders Factory and the founders of Lastminute.com and Made.com, Be Right Back is set to transform holidays forever.  I sat down with one of the co-founders, Greg, to talk all things travel and this fabulous concept they have created.

(If you cannot wait until the end of the article to sign up, use the code Shelley18868 for your exclusive discount! FREE CREDIT to the value of £20 when you sign up!!)

1. Greg, thank you for taking the time to discuss Be Right Back with us. I must admit, I was very excited when I came to learn about your brand.  Personally, I think it is the hottest travel trend right now – can you explain how the concept works?

That’s a great question Shelley and one that many people ask us as there is no other service like this in the travel space, which probably explains why BRB was billed as the “Netflix for Travel” by the Telegraph!

The way BRB works is incredibly simple. For a fixed monthly fee of £50, we deliver 3 trips per year to surprise destinations in Europe, with flights and hotels included.

There are 3 stages to the process:

• • 

    Create your account & trip: Upon creating your BRB account, you provide your personal travel preferences such as your ideal break type (culture, romantic, adventure, etc), who you like to travel with, your preferred airports and you get to select which destinations you’d like to go to from your bucket list (we currently cover 60+ destinations in Europe). Once your account is activated you can create your first trip by selecting your travel dates (you have full control of when you go away) and your trip type. You then have 30 days to update your preferences and invite your friends on your trip.

  • Trip Locks: 3 months before you are due to travel, your trip will lock, at which point you are fully committed and cannot update your travel preferences anymore. This is when our team of travel experts enters in action and sources amazing trips for our customers.
  • Reveal: 1 month before travel, we reveal the destination to you by sending you a postcard in the mail, with a personal note from one of the founders with a few recommendations – be it something to see, a great restaurant, an interesting bar or an event to attend. 48 hours after receiving your postcard, your whole trip is revealed in your BRB account, at which point you can see your flight details, what hotel you’ll be staying at, your hotel vouchers as well as a city guide and an ATOL certificate (all our trips are ATOL protected).

Then you go away and have an amazing trip….and the beauty with BRB is that the minute you land back in the UK, you can already book your next trip in less than 60 seconds, meaning you always have something to look forward to in your calendar.

2. It’s a brilliant idea – how did you come up with it?

That’s the million-dollar question! The short answer is that we wanted to make travel hassle-free!

BeRightBack was founded in summer 2018 by myself and my co-founder Alex. We’re both passionate about travel, but are two very different kinds of travellers:

I am originally from France and a passionate traveller. I have visited over 40 countries and am always on the hunt for my next holiday destination. But as a regular traveller and having spent over seven years working within the travel industry, I became increasingly frustrated with how little the experience of booking a holiday had improved, with very little changing in a decade. If you really look into it, the booking process in 2019 is pretty much the same as what it was 15 or 20 years ago with the onus still being on the customer to do all the heavy lifting – from researching to booking their trip.

And despite a few businesses bringing a different take on travel (e.g. Airbnb), the process for customers is still the same! If anything, these new players have only made the research process even more complicated and time consuming for customers! It’s no wonder the average weekend break takes 10 hours to organise!

As for Alex, he was struggling for time and inspiration when booking his holidays. Keen to travel more often and ensure he had a trip in his calendar to look forward to, but unsure of the best locations to suit his [limited] budget, Alex had even resorted to giving his friend £200 to book a trip on his behalf just so he didn’t have to deal with the hassle of booking.

With the backing of start-up incubator Founders Factory, together we developed the solution to the problem: a subscription holiday service for young professionals that – for a fixed price of £50 per month – would provide three quality trips per year to a wide selection of European destinations, with no extra hassle. With that, BRB was born.

3. Who do you think would benefit most from a subscription with BRB?

In an attempt to make travel accessible to anyone and everyone, we have designed the product to address 3 core pain points when it comes to travel:

• • Lack of time to organise; 

• • Inability to save for travel; and 

• • Group travel is painful.

So, if these three things are your bug bears when it comes to travel, BRB is definitely the solution for you!

4. I understand that you have created BRB with Millennials in mind, however I think it is also a fabulous idea for young families. We generally find ourselves very time poor and funds can be constrained if we have lost a salary or one parent is working part time. So, well done!

For those whom are interested in signing up, what destinations can subscribers expect to visit? And can they take a friend?

We have sent customers throughout Europe and they’ve stayed in absolutely incredible properties!

Some of the latest trips we have delivered include a 4 star hotel located opposite St. Stephens Basillica in Budapest, a 3 star boutique hotel in the centre of Lisbon’s vibrant Baixa district, a 4 star hotel on the island of Murano just outside Venice with amazing views over the river and a 4 star boutique hotel 3 minutes from the Promenade des Anglais in Nice!

Other destinations include Bologna, Amsterdam, Marseille, Stockholm, Oslo, Rome, Porto, Prague, Lake Como, Barcelona, Bratislava and many more!

In terms of who you can travel with, there are essentially 2 options:

• • Go Solo: Perfect for solo travellers or those wanting to travel with their friends but who prefer to keep their subscription (and billing) separate!
  • Go Together: This plan allows you to always take a +1 with you. The great thing with our Go Together plan is that you do not have to take the same person on each trip!

Whether you are on our Go Solo or Go Together plan, you can use our TripSync feature which essentially allows you to invite friends on your trip – how easy is that? 

5. Sounds so easy and stress free – the perfect solution for all of us whom live in a constant state of busy. Do you also provide tips on transfers, restaurants and sightseeing for the destination?

You’ve read my mind!

The pain points in the travel sector do not stop at the booking process for flights and hotels. Trying to find things to do in destination can be an absolute nightmare and customer reviews aren’t that helpful in helping me make a decision as to what is most relevant to me. It’s also super time consuming.

So whilst our current value proposition is focused on flights and hotel for a fixed monthly subscription, we’ve already started looking at providing customers with additional services.

 At present, all BRB customers going on a trip get access to a city guide with unique recommendations tailored to their specific needs. They can also book a range of experiences through our platform.

Over time, we will look into international expansion and launching our very own BRB app, which BRB members will be able to use whilst travelling. The app will not only contain all their travel documents, but the aim will be to encourage members to network with each other and to try out new things.

We’re really excited about simplifying travel for everyone, so our customers can spend their time experiencing their trips as opposed to planning them!

6. Finally, I’m guessing it is a safe bet that you love to travel. What is your favourite European destination and why?

I absolutely love travelling, meeting new people and discovering new places, cultures and foods.

The fact that I was born in France and grew up in the middle of the French Alps, means that I am naturally attracted to the outdoors – whether it’s a relaxing weekend by the ocean or an action-packed weekend in the mountains.

I’m also a huge foodie and I love beautiful architecture. So to me, Porto is one of those cities that offers everything I could wish for. An incredible slow-paced lifestyle close to the ocean (perfect for surfing on a sunny day), amazing food and wine (from Polvo to Natas!) as well as incredible architecture.

That being said, I’m happy no matter where I go. What truly matters is who I am with!

That’s great to know – I am planning a trip to Porto for later in the year.  Greg, thank you for your time today and providing some insight into Be Right Back.  I am dubbing it as the hottest travel trend of the year.  I have already signed up for my subscription and I cannot wait for my first mini-vacay!

Wander & Luxe readers – if you are like myself and think this sounds like the hottest travel trend right now, sign up and get started by clicking here. Use the code Shelley18868 for your exclusive discount!  FREE CREDIT to the value of £20 when you sign up now!!!!

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