Anatomy of a package

My budget was $5,000.

My instructions were to plan a trip to the Caribbean or Mexico, using one of the many packages offered by Continental Airlines Vacations, Delta Vacations or United Vacations.

My benefactor was MLT Vacations, the tour operator marketing arm for the above three.

As part of the "editor experience," I could bring a guest and customize the package to add tours and extras, but I had to stay within budget.

Thus began my trip planning, an option not frequently offered in my line of work, which more often than not is typified by a press trip invite, an itinerary subject to the agendas of the tourist office or the resort, and an e-ticket confirmation email that arrives a day or two before I'm scheduled to depart on an early morning flight.

I'm pretty much at the mercy of a schedule that I've had no say about, unless I have specified in advance the areas I want to see or the people I want to interview.

So here's how this all worked.

I was given a specific voucher number that included an "e-certificate" with a value of $5,000 and told to call MLT's call-in center in Minot, N.D., which is manned by 300 agents six days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Central time. 

My voucher number routed me to agent Denae Vaughan, one of 12 res agents assigned to Delta Vacations' Lifestyle Collection of luxury and romance packages and Continental's similar category of luxury packages called Select Escapes. Both are subcategories within each brand's product line.

Travel agents booking MLT's packages go through the firm's online agent-specific site at WorldAgent Direct or contact the call center as I did. Although I later learned that Vaughan knew I was a member of the media when I made my first call, she worked with me as a regular customer, guiding me through the entire booking process as she's done for countless clients since joining MLT in 2006.

I didn't give her much to work with. I gave her my travel dates, specified a four-night stay and told her I wanted an all-inclusive resort but not an intimate, couples-only property, since I was traveling with my grown daughter.

I did not want a family-friendly resort. I see enough of my own grandchildren to be content to keep kids at a distance on this trip.

My daughter is a foodie, and I knew she'd want lots of restaurant selections at the resort.

Free in-room Internet access also was a requirement.

Mexico is a new beat for me as a reporter, and I was curious to visit the Riviera Maya, having already been to Cancun as well as several of Mexico's west coast resort areas.

Given that information, plus my location in Virginia and my daughter Karen's location in Florida, Vaughan worked out an itinerary using Delta as the carrier, finding the best connections for Karen and me to meet up in Atlanta and fly to Cancun together. 

 Delta Vacations' luxury line offered a choice of more than a dozen resorts in the hotel corridor south of Cancun down to Playa del Carmen and beyond.

Iberostar's Grand Hotel Paraiso was the best fit, given my wish list. There are actually five resorts within Iberostar's Playa Paraiso complex, and that satisfied the restaurant requirement, since a stay at the Grand entitled us to use any of the restaurants at the other four properties. It is adults-only with a good mix of ages, friends traveling together, parents and grown children on vacation and couples.

That was all locked in and confirmed within 23 minutes.

Was I still within budget?

Vaughan assured me I was, even with the package components included in Delta Vacations' luxury packages, such as first- and business-class roundtrip air for Karen and me; bonus miles in Delta's SkyMiles frequent flyer program; and all-inclusive accommodations in an oceanview junior suite, with concierge and butler services.

There was more to come.

The Lifestyle Luxury package also included an airport welcome by Trafic Tours, Delta Vacations' destination representatives in Cancun and the Riviera Maya ("The guys wear red shirts. They will have a sign with your name. Avoid eye contact with the timeshare solicitors when you come out of the airport terminal," Vaughan advised me); VIP roundtrip transfers (an air-conditioned SUV instead of a minivan packed with guests staying at a dozen different hotels); and an immediate upgrade at check-in to an oceanfront junior suite.

And still more.

We received a $200 resort credit per room, good for upgraded wines, spa and golf. We used it at the spa.

During my itinerary walk-through with Vaughan, I signed up for an all-day guided tour that included a lunch stop and swim at Cenote Ik Kil, one of Mexico's 10,063 water holes that are part of the country's massive underground river systems; a short tour of the small town of Valladolid (old churches and homemade honey due to a lot of bees); and a tour of Chichen Itza, one of Mexico's Mayan wonders.

And the icing on the cake? Another $200 voucher for the two of us, redeemable for a second Trafic Tours excursion.

We redeemed that for an extraordinary dolphin experience, offered by the Swim With Delphinus company on the Riviera Maya.

Total itinerary planning time, with confirmed bookings: 38 minutes.

The documents were overnighted to me the next day in a leather passport holder, complete with baggage tags, welcome letters and tour vouchers.

Delta checked us in online via an email sent 24 hours before the first flight.

Total tour cost: $4,894.23.

No, I didn't get to keep the difference.