Traveling toward experience and success

When you are ready to plan a vacation, having an expert who knows about your desired destination and how to find the best deals will help you have a great experience.

Prime Time Travel has been planning trips for more than 40 years. When it opened on April 1, 1980, the company was primarily focused on corporate travel and did not have a leisure travel department. That was until Victor Neal was hired on August 5, 1991, to make a new department helping people plan vacations.

Neal was born in Brandon, the UK located about two hours northeast of London, in the Greenwich Mean Time Zone GMT). The GMT marks the starting point of every time zone. He jokes that he’s always been on time ever since.

Now the owner of Prime Time Travel, Neal said he loves helping people. “We look after people, and we do it in a way that is nice,” he said. “We try to do our best with everything.”

Creating experiences for people

Prime Time Travel’s forte is international travel; however, the staff of six plan cruises, Disney vacations, and domestic trips, along with arranging airfare, hotel, and car rentals.

“We do pure travel agency things, but we also build private tours,” said Neal. “Most people won’t tackle them on their own because they might not have the knowledge of the area, and they are time-consuming to plan. I enjoy doing them because it keeps my juices going.”

Private tours are very customized for each group trip or family vacation and include more than strictly lodging and transportation.

Covid has been a difficult thing for travel, but Neal and his staff work to stay informed on other countries’ regulations. “We have no idea what other governments are going to do, so we have to find out,” explained Neal. “But, that’s what we’re here for. We do it as diligently as we can, but just dealing with COVID has been so different. It’s not straightforward.”

Neal is hopeful that once Covid restrictions are lifted, things will get back to normal, but whatever the rules are, he and his staff are flexible. He has customers who have been rebooked four times. “I watch over people, making bookings, and if I can save them ten dollars, I will do it. That’s what I do, and I enjoy it!”

Future Travel

Neal is a world traveler, but two places he specifically mentioned he has not visited are New Zealand and Alaska. He is taking a group to Alaska next year to experience the Alaskan Railway Train from Fairbanks to Denali National Park and then a cruise back to Vancouver. He hopes to travel to New Zealand in the next two years.

Neal also has two daughters and three grandchildren. Both of his daughters live on islands, the Isle of Mann located in the Irish Sea between England, Ireland, and Guernsey near the French coast.

The Community

Prime Time Travel enjoys working with local nonprofits to arrange special travel opportunities for their fundraising efforts. Neal is also proud of the repeat customers and the relationships that he has formed over his 30 years working in Edmond.

“They become friends so it’s that trust we have,” he said. “You always get a very honest opinion from me. Some people don’t like it, but if I don’t think it will work, I tell people. Our business is very personal.”