Question 1

What does Vellora actually do?

Accepted Answer

Vellora plans a mystery / surprise trip end-to-end — the destination is chosen by Vellora against the answers you give, then composed, reviewed by a human, and booked. You control the budget, travel style, pace, dates, interests, must-haves, and dealbreakers; Vellora chooses where you’re going and assembles the flights, stays, activities, and dining. The destination is revealed the morning of departure through the Vellora dossier. Mara — your AI concierge — is in your booking’s chat from deposit through the morning you’re home, working hours 9am–9pm in the trip’s time zone. A named human agent joins the same chat only if you added the human-concierge add-on at checkout, with 12 hours of support, 9am–9pm in the destination’s time zone.

Question 2

What does "Planning scope" and "Travel standard" mean?

Accepted Answer

Two independent choices the customer makes — they are not the same axis, and the price reflects both. Planning scope shapes how much composition work goes in — how Vellora organises flights, stays, activities, and dining against the selected planning level: Basic (essential composition — accommodation, the airport-to-destination trip, one anchor activity, simple dining recommendations), Curated (three dining reservations, daily cadence, the full itinerary), or Extensive (multi-region routing, deep sourcing, named-agent review). Travel standard shapes where Vellora sources from — Value, Comfort, Premium, or Luxury — applied to hotels, dining allowance, ground transport, and airfare level in proportion. Each estimate is bespoke — it varies by party size, ages, rooms, nights, dates, departure airport, airfare, lodging, dining, transport, activities, supplier charges, taxes/fees, and any upgrades you choose.

Question 3

How does Vellora’s pricing work — and is it a flat rate?

Accepted Answer

No flat rate. Every estimate is refreshed nightly and revealed at the end of the guided flow, with the assumptions listed next to the number so you can change them. The lines are always the same, in this order: Supplier trip cost (the parts that flow to suppliers — flights, lodging, transport, activities, upgrades, taxes); Vellora planning fee (15% of the supplier trip cost, $99 minimum — covers composition, the dossier build, and Mara, your AI concierge); optional Human concierge add-on ($299, 12 hours of named-agent support, 9am–9pm in the destination’s time zone). The estimate varies by party size, ages, rooms, nights, dates, departure airport, airfare, lodging, dining, transport, activities, supplier charges, taxes/fees, and upgrades — and the assumption list is shown on every numeric surface, with an "Estimate updated <date>" stamp.

Question 4

Are hotels, flights, and stays actually booked?

Accepted Answer

Yes — hotels, flights, and stays are real reservations against real inventory, held under your name. Every line in your dossier falls into one of three states, and we name which: Recommended = we suggest it for your taste; Requested = we have asked the supplier and are waiting to hear back; Booked/Confirmed = the supplier has agreed and your booking is locked. The difference matters — "recommended" is a suggestion we are happy to swap, "booked" is held against your name with cancellation terms, "confirmed" is final. We never promise guaranteed availability on a supplier we have not yet contacted, and we never claim an instant change we cannot make.

Question 5

What does the human-concierge add-on include — and what is Mara?

Accepted Answer

Mara is Vellora’s AI concierge — included in the Vellora planning fee, in your booking’s chat from deposit through the morning you’re home, working hours 9am–9pm in your trip’s time zone. Mara can route a single message to a named Vellora human during business hours when something only a person can solve. The Human concierge add-on ($299, added at checkout) puts a named agent in the same chat for 12 hours of named-agent support, 9am–9pm in the destination’s time zone — separate and paid, not implied as 24/7. It does not include in-trip on-the-ground support, does not include emergency response in destination, and does not replace the supplier’s own helpdesk.

Question 6

What if my plans change — or I cancel?

Accepted Answer

Plans shift, and we’d rather you travel than lose money you could have used. The 14-day refund covers the Vellora planning fee — refunded in cash inside the window, alongside whatever the supplier returns on their own line. After Day 14 the planning fee becomes Vellora credit, valid on any future booking for 12 months. The supplier trip cost follows the supplier’s calendar — we don’t add a Vellora margin on top of a cancellation that isn’t yours, and we don’t pretend to control it. If the supplier cancels on their end, Vellora re-routes you onto a comparable trip in the same Planning scope and Travel standard if honestly possible; supplier penalties, fare differences, new booking costs, and availability limits may apply and are shown before approval, and the planning fee is returned within 5 business days. Date changes inside the same tier are free up to 45 days before departure; once suppliers are booked, supplier change/cancellation charges may apply and are passed through — Vellora never absorbs supplier change costs. Vellora coordinates the change; we tell you the cost, in plain language, before any card change.

Question 7

Is the destination a surprise?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the destination is composed by Vellora against the answers you give, then reviewed by a human before any supplier is contacted. You can pre-disclose a destination hint in the planner (we honour it as input); we don’t book you somewhere random in either case. The surprise is the headline of the trip: a place picked with intent, sized to your budget, your pace, your standards, your dealbreakers, and the season. The destination lifts the morning of departure — governed by a server clock, never by a client-side guess — through the Vellora dossier. Mara continues composing behind the curtain; she does not pre-leak the destination.

Seven honest answers about how a Vellora mystery getaway works.

Because the doubt is reasonable.

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