Why H&B Costs a Bit More Than Other Golf Travel Companies

Now, you may be asking yourself, “What kind of company tells their prospective travelers that they’re more expensive than the competition?”

Well, you’re not the only one asking that question… Our competition is asking it too.

As you can probably already tell, Haversham & Baker is different from other golf travel companies. First, we're different in our approach to your research. We're happy to share the key things you should consider when comparing golf travel companies, even if it means we're not the right choice.

We've even provided insight to one of the most common questions we receive in our early conversations with prospective travelers: Do I really need a golf travel company?

We’re also different in our approach to planning. Different in our belief of what constitutes a great golf trip. Different in our unmatched service and execution of the trip itself. And yes, because of all this, we’re a little different in terms of our pricing.

A Golf Trip That’s Uniquely Yours

The first, and perhaps most important, reason Haversham & Baker is a little more expensive than other golf travel companies is our commitment to truly custom golf trip planning.

You may have noticed that many companies talk about custom planning, yet their website is littered with stock 7 day/6 night/5 round itineraries. Those pre-packaged trips don’t exist here, because an experience crafted to your precise desires and expectations can never come wrapped in the same cookie-cutter package taken by everyone else.

The combined experience of our Planning team is a primary reason why H&B can employ a truly custom approach in the first place. Our team is composed of former PGA Professionals and veterans of the golf business, with decades of experience serving private club members between them. The fact is, no other company comes close to matching their level of knowledge and expertise. Without that knowledge base, it’s no surprise that so many companies choose to fall back on those stock itineraries.

Before they put a single piece of your trip to paper, your H&B Expedition Planning Manager is going to first invest the time to get to know you, your travel companions, and the overall dynamic of your group. By doing so, they’ll gain a clear understanding of those desires and expectations, allowing them to craft a trip that is built solely around exceeding them.

In the end, this approach to planning may cost a little more, but you can rest easy knowing that you won’t waste a single dollar or minute of your trip on experiences that aren’t of value to you and your group.

“You may find a little better pricing, but you won’t find the attention to detail, service and access that Haversham & Baker provide. A trip like this needs all of those to come together to be successful.”

~Aaron Krueger, PGA - Wakonda Club

But It’s More Than a Golf Trip

In addition to custom travel planning, nothing has distinguished Haversham & Baker more than our steadfast belief that your time off the course is just as valuable to your overall experience as your time on it.

We call it The Good Life, and it has formed the bedrock of our company for over 30 years. And yet, it largely remains a novel concept in our business.

For most golf travel companies, sightseeing is an afterthought that’s relegated to “if it happens to be on the way to the course” status. Dinner reservations, personal touring, private whisky tastings? For those, be prepared to fully embrace your new part-time job of online travel research.

On the other hand, when you travel with Haversham & Baker, you can throw away the guidebook and log-out of TripAdvisor. You have the H&B Concierge in your pocket. With that comes the peace of mind of knowing that every aspect of the Good Life during your trip has been chosen with the same level of detail as the other arrangements of your Expedition.

What’s more, every hotel, every restaurant, and every sightseeing experience has been personally vetted by a member of our team. We’ve invested hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of research on the ground across the pond, ensuring that every recommendation we make meets the exacting standards of both our company and our travelers.

That investment may have a small influence on the cost of your trip, but it’s impact on the value of your experience simply can’t be overstated.

“It was a perfect trip. The courses, the hotels, the dining, and our driver, John Murray, all exceeded our high expectations. Listen to H&B… They know what they’re doing!”

~Joe Campolo, Bob O’Link Golf Club & North Shore Country Club

Taking it from the Range to the Course

Every golfer knows that it’s one thing to have your swing dialed in on the range, it’s quite another to execute it on the course. The same holds true for golf travel. All of the fine details and arrangements made during the planning process fall flat if they aren’t matched with an equal level of precision and service during the trip itself.

A typical week-long overseas golf trip requires the execution of 40 or more individual decisions, reservations, tee times, etc. While we’d love to claim that they go off without a hitch 100% of the time, sometimes stuff just happens. In those rare cases, we feel the mark of a great company is how they respond when bad things happen to good people. Most of the time, these glitches can be handled swiftly by our contacts on the ground (more on that later), but in the rare cases that they can’t, you have the Batphone - our 24/7 travel assistance hotline.

“Having made other trips to Scotland and Ireland with other companies, I would rate H&B as the top in all-around service and experience.”

~Dan Hermann, Evansville Country Club

While you won’t reach Batman or Robin, you will speak with a real, live senior member of the H&B team who is ready, willing, and able to find a solution. The video above shares a few tales from the Batphone.

And yet, the Batphone is just one example where the expertise and resources of Haversham & Baker leads to a successful golf trip. Other things like our smartphone app containing all of your travel details, to the all-important relationships with our golf, accommodation, and driver-host partners, all contribute in varying degrees to the success of your trip.

Simply put, an H&B Expedition draws on decades of accumulated value which, in turn, is redeposited into your experience.

“When I travel with H&B, there’s a network that I’m partnering into there. You deliver the best drivers, who are there for you every time you need them. You partner with the best accommodations, who are familiar with your clientele and with what they want.

Quite frankly, if I do it on my own, I don’t have that network. When we have a trip that goes smoothly from beginning to end, so much of that is attributed to Haversham & Baker and what they deliver.”

~Ian Dalzell, PGA - Huntingdon Valley Country Club

We understand that admitting we’re a bit more expensive than other companies is different. But like us, our travelers are typically a little different as well. They understand that cost is merely one-half of the overall equation here. The other, more important half, is value. That value comes by way of our truly custom approach to trip planning and our commitment to the Good Life off the course, as well as the accumulated relationships, resources, and expertise required to deliver a successful trip.

All of this may come at a slight premium over other golf travel companies, but the value received on that investment is returned many times over and continues to pay dividends long after you’ve returned home.