Meet Centoria Thomas of Travel with Centoria, LLC

I’ve always had a passion for traveling, but as an educator, it’s sad to say I couldn’t afford to travel. I would work multiple side jobs in addition to teaching to save for my annual birthday trip. On May 20, 2019, while sitting in my hotel room in Las Vegas, I started reflecting on how much I had enjoyed my birthday that day. Then I said a simple prayer, “God, I want to travel more. I work entirely too much to only travel one time a year.”

Fast forward to July 29, 2019, I am sitting up watching Big Brother & scrolling social media and saw a post about someone forgetting they received their commission check from booking trips. The young lady who made the post is always traveling with her 2 daughters, so I felt like it was meant for me to see that post to ask her questions. Every question I asked her that night was like music to my ears. I was sold, but there was one issue… I didn’t have the funds to start. It was the end of the summer and I had one more week before I returned to school, which meant another 2 weeks before I would receive a check. I wanted to do it, so I put it on my credit card and didn’t look back.

Since I have a true love and passion for travel, I studied destinations like Las Vegas, New Orleans, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Aruba, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Punta Cana, to name a few, to become a specialist for those destinations. When vendors offered webinars to educate on their companies, I made sure I was tuned in to gain more knowledge.

Within the first two weeks of booking trips, I earned back the money I had invested in starting my Travel Business.

Since becoming a Travel Agent, except for the time frame from April 2020 until September 2020 due to the pandemic, I have traveled at least once a month.

I base the success of my Travel Business on several things: God being number 1, prayers, hard work, dedication, affirmations, support from family & friends, and being good to people. I’m more concerned with providing affordable trips for my clients versus how much commission I can make from their trips. I wholeheartedly believe that if you take care of people, the money will come.

May 27, 2022, I reached a huge milestone and became a Travel Ambassador for my host agency. A Travel Ambassador is a Travel Agent with a strong history of traveling & selling travel and volunteers to train other agents in their own time.

July 22, 2022, after 10 memorable years,  I resigned from the City of Jacksonville as a part-time recreational specialist, one of the side incomes that I relied on heavily to make ends meet before becoming a Travel Agent.

July 29, 2022, is my 3 Year Travel Business Anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to travel. I’ll be in Puerto Vallarta the first half of the week and then Washington, DC the rest of the week.

It has been a breeze from the jump. Even during the pandemic, I was booking trips. I had to deny a few people because they were attempting to travel to locations that weren’t allowing tourists.

Travel with Centoria, LLC is a full-service travel company. My motto is “Life is short. Book the flight.” I’m an Educator by day and a Travel Advisor by night. I provide luxury trips at an affordable rate. Since I love to travel, I never wanted to limit myself, so I can book the following:

• FLIGHT & HOTEL PACKAGES

• HOTELS ONLY

• CRUISES

• VEHICLE RENTALS

• VACATION RENTALS

• VACATION VILLAS

• CABINS

• EXCURSIONS

• THEME PARK TICKETS

• EVENT TICKETS

• ATHLETIC TICKETS

• CHARTER BUSES

• PRIVATE JET

• TRAIN PACKAGES

I’m an Educating & Caring Travel Advisor. There have been several occasions where I have received travel inquiries to destinations that need at least a week to enjoy due to the travel time, and instead of booking the trip, I advise the traveler before I start the research process. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to spend a weekend in Hawaii or Dubai traveling from Florida.

My booking process. I don’t talk to 99.9% of my travelers via phone. We communicate via text and or email, which helps me to stay super organized.

In order to get started, I require everyone  to complete my travel inquiry via the link below where I ask several questions to build your dream vacation. I enjoy planning out every detail of your trip; all you’re required to do is show up and enjoy. Oh & pay of course!

I am a researcher. I use several go-to vendors when hunting down the best price that meets your budget. I also have a saying, “If I won’t sleep there, then I won’t book you there.” I plan each trip as if it were my very own travel accommodations to ensure that you have the best time ever, stress free with no worries.

What do you like best about our city? The Beach. (Laughing out loud.) Don’t judge me, but when I can’t get away, going to the beach makes me feel like I am on an island in another country.

What do you like least about our city? The lack of opportunities for our youth. I wish there were more funding to create more after-school programs for students grades K-12. The ones we have now are limited with what they can & can’t do.