Any Recommendations for Travel Agency?

[snowbell42]

Hi, any of u out there has any idea or recommendation s to which travel agency is gd for which countries?

Eg.I heard pple said SA is gd for tours to Europe & Chan Bro is gd for some other Asian countries.. anyone out there can help or recommend which agency is gd?

Still squeezing my brain juice to thk of some romantic places for my honeymoon end of tis yr & also having a budget constraint of coz travel agency is most impt lor.. so wanna get opinion fr u gals/guys out there first b4 i go for the travel fair in Jun so tht i know which agency to focus on for whichever countries i have in mind lor

TIA

 

[midas]

i booked with chan bros to europe last yr...not bad

if u hv multiply id i can add u...can see the hotels they used for my trip.

 

[dleo]

I ever worked in a big travel agency. Based on my opinion, most big or medium agency are about the same. They are quite particular in using a good and reputable overseas operators. Most of them are of long working relationships for many years.

When choosing a tour package, please choose based on the itinerary and not price. Cheaper price means lesser things to see or going to places where the admission is free and lots of "shopping". Thus why usually the price of bigger agency is higher. Not because they mark up very high, it is due to the itinerary and good overseas operators used.

For your info, in house travel fair price are usually better compared to NATAS fair. In house travel fair usually held one or two weeks before NATAS.

 

[snowbell42]

midas,

yes, i m in ur multiply already

will take note of the hotels

DD,
ic.. thanks for the info.. tht's y i curious to c if any travel agency is gd for which countries, other than the itinerary lor hehe

at the moment i have a gd impression of chan bro..

oh in hse travel fair is held in their own premise itself?

 

[dleo]

It depends on the travel agency. Sometimes they hold in their own premise and some outside. Yeah, Chan Bro is quite particular about their overseas operators. I think Chan Bros is strong in China, eruope, australia, korea, japan and etc. Hong Thai also not bad.

 

[snowbell42]

DD, ic.. thanks for the info..

will take note of the in-house fair

NATAS is usu ard mid may - jun??

 

[dleo]

Usually held in March and Sept.

 

[s__h]

if u prefer hokkaido and drive urself, i can recommand a tour agency that do that

 

[julee]

i went with ctc to switz and italy last march.
superb! very good service; the tour leader (from ctc) was very knowledgeable about the places we visited. many of those from my group were regular with ctc's europe tours, having been impressed by the agency in their first european trip with it.

 

[s__h]

Your tour is depended on the other country tour guide as well despite being the same singapore tour agency.

So if u got a good and responsible tour guide, u will enjoy.

But then the same singapore tour agency on the exact same iterary may not necessary get the nice tour guide

 

[s__h]

melbourne apartment is part of the membership...also avaliable for $134 per night !!

its website is http://www.docklandsservicedapartments.com.au/location/

 

[lolitalo]

I jus rtn fr 9D Yunnan trip with Hong Thai and will NEVER join their tour again. Too many hidden costs - 6 "optional" tours for 9D trip! For those who took all the "optional" ended up paying extra $400-$500 per pax. We did not join the "optional" show at Lijiang & were left hanging at the carpark for 2 hrs to wait for the rest. This is what they meant by "optional". The SG tour leader has no sense of responsibility and knowledge of itinerary & place (kept giving wrong info). Throughout trip only played with the 2 kids in the grp and totally ignored the rest of us. Not once did she ask if everything was ok. We even had to check in ourselves during rtn flt as she was busy playing with the kids!!! Behaved just like she's on a paid holiday. We are expected to tip for this type of service??? My family will never join Hong Thai again.

Joined SA for Korea tour last year end. Enjoyed it tremendously. Most of the cost were covered, i.e. no hidden cost. The leader was very responsible & hotels were v good. Highly recommended.

 

[merling]

yes HONG THAI SUX! never go to their agency! i went for their shandong trip..sux to the core the food is lousy..n we paid like $1.4k per person.

Hotel is good 4stars but like wat lolitalo mentioned they have lots of hidden n optional and extras! n tips r quite alot!

we dun even have a SG tour leader can u believe it! everything done by ourselves. i would advise pls dun go hong thai u will regret!

trust me!
i tell all my frens not to go hong thai!
Asia Pacific not bad. SA CTC Chan Bro all thumbs up!

 

[stonefire]

hi Snowbell42,
U may wish to ctc Collyer's World Travel (ex-Travelex) as they are planned my honeymoon trip to Europe last year. V.professional as they are the Rail Europe experts & agent in S'pore to issue & bk all europe rail, Amtrak in US & also Japan Rail. Give it a try...u won't regret. Tel no.63172128 or email them [email protected]

Yup CTC,ChanBros & SA is gd too but pretty common..y dnt u try this one instead.. Like me.. Sumthing for a change yeah..

 

[twinkling_star]

hihi.. if i'm thinking of going to taiwan for free and easy in end nov, where can i get budgeted air tix? i mean, i never sat on a plane before.. lol..

 

[momo23]

Any comments abt ASA?

 

[s__h]

there are several comments abt ASA in some threads already...

some good, some bad

 

[s__h]

hi star,

only 2 budget airline in singpaore...tigerairways and jetstar asia.

go to their website lor

 

[squashy]

I was at NATAS travel fair yesterday hoping to sign up a package for my honeymoon. While we were queueing at the booth of Cxxn Brx I overheard an argument of a customer with the Cxxn Brx promoter about having been asked to queue all over. Apparently he was being directed to the wrong queue over and over again.
When it came to my turn, the promoter at the counter seems very impatient, he is like those "Ah Beng" type sales if you like take if not don't ask question type and he gets that way after I just started asking my 2nd question. Even when I ask if they have date on next yr Jan/Feb he tell me don't know cause not out yet with a corky gesture as though I had just step onto his "tail". So we go off after 3rd/4th question feeling disappointed with the company and end up signing a package with SA. Maybe its because of the crowd at the fair that is keeping him frustrated, but he could at least take a break if he is not in the mood to sell.

 

[stonefire]

Sigh... im jst wondering again..why ppl like to 'stick' to the only favourite and popular travel agencies etc Chan Bros and so on..Already know and heard some of the bad rumours but yet..hmmm.. Why dnt give a try to a different travel agencies instead. Im sure if we dnt try visiting,we never know if they can also provide a better services and a gd deal of packaging price lor.

 

[basker]

My wife & myself 'ban' Chan Bros after our Taiwan trip. Given lousy accomd n food...furthermore their frontline staff r veri snobbish..if u ask more Qs they give u an impatient look n answer with a Y or N....I rather spend my $ else where...we have pleasant experience wif CTC - New Zealand n Australia n Japan, Dynasty - New Zealand, SingExpress-Hokkiado/Inner Mongolia, PrimeTravel-Maldives.. Opps another T.A also quite lousy is Hong Tai- lousy accomd.

 

[hello]

haven't gone for package tour with chan brothers before. had wanted to book their US tours but there's no more early bird discount and hence looked for other agencies since the itinerary is about the same. in the end, booked with CTC. their flight timing is better than chan brothers. price wise competitive too. hope it will turn out good. most imptly, the tour consultant is very knowledgeable and provided very good service to us.

 

[piscesss]

hi squashy,

i planned to book with CB at natas fair yday, but in the end i signed up with Sa tour too. Disappointed with them.

http://www.singaporebrides.com/forumboard/messages/4/534061.html?1190040728

 

[octo]

We went with SA to Korea for our ROM honeymoon. Both hubby and me are so disappointed with their service. SA is definitely not on my list for our future travel.

http://www.singaporebrides.com/forumboard/messages/5/537825.html?1194705278

 

[lizawa]

Just came back from a Hokkaido trip with Chan Brothers. Was really good. The food and accomodation was good. Both the local tour guide and tour leader were helpful. The local tour guide even brought us to places that were not in the itineary ! Felt that the tips given were well spent !

 

[lovelynn0213]

i went with hongthai to korea and taiwan, wasnt too bad.
the food and accomdation very nice.
mostly is china tour in hongthai that realli sux lar. because too many hiden cost. but for taiwan and korea no hidden cost at all and the accomdation at korea is almost 5 star like that. good also very high class. love it alot!

 

[mei_lui]

Hi all,

I think the quality of tour really depends on the quality of the tour guide, regardless of which places you are going to. From my experience, what we call 'Famous Brand' may turn out to cause you bad experience unexpectedly. Perhaps, next time, you may need to know which tour guide is going to lead which tour before you apply the tour, if possible.

'Hong Thai' in Hong Kong is quite good and it has big operation with good appearance in terms of branch and cover every region in Hong Kong (no need to go to Chinatown specifically for booking tour), and it has wide global network with tour operators. I have joined the tour to New Zealand, Europe, China, Australia, Korea, Japan...etc. Don't sure if its quality is the same in Singapore, as I haven't joined any tour nowadays, usaually I plan and book tickets on our own with my husband.

 

[yelody]

I joined Hongthat for their Korea tour before. Its really good!!

Its actually the Yunan guide i guess. If you're aware, all china tours comewith optional tours which you need to purchase. I joined CTC for their shanghai tour before and its the same case.

 

[happy222]

CTC is quite good, join them for my Eastern europe , and also Korea Trip.

 

[honey0236]

Worldwide Honey is very good. I always book Spa Vacations with them.
I went to Thailand, Bali and many places to stay in Spa resorts before. Not bad at all. One of the most polite staffs i have ever seen!

 

[anw041208]

Anybody has gone on any tours with International Travel (member of JP group)?
We are going to the US with them.
Initially wanted to go with CB but no more soace available.
Pls share some experiences.

 

[fairytale16]

Hi everyone,
I would like to share this bad experience I have with this tour agency 'City 99 Asia Travel' at People's Park Centre. PLEASE DO NOT DO ANY BOOKINGS WITH THIS TOUR AGENCY AS THEY ARE DISHONEST WITH THEIR WORDS. I have made a booking with this tour agency for 7days Romantic Tour in Shanghai (that includes Suzhou, Hangzhou, Wuxi, etc.). Prior to booking, I have questioned several times to the tour agent how many are there in the tour group that I have booked that it is supposed to be a GROUP tour. I received answers back that tells me the GROUP tour will be quite big as it is a fixed departure date every tuesday and thursday and that I will know the total number of person in the tour group once I reached Shanghai. To my despair, when I first touched down at Pudong Airport, I got a shock of my life. The driver who receives us told us that the so-called TOUR GROUP is just my mum and I. At this point, I am lost for words and I felt cheated. If I know that it is just 2 of us in this so-called GROUP tour, I would not have booked the tour in the first place. It is totally not acceptable and can you imagine I travelled all the way to Pudong Airport and this is how I am treated. I would like to share with all of you not to do any bookings with City 99 Asia TRavel at People's Part Centre.

 

[starjoy]

any comments on ASA and Dynasty travel? was planning on going Europe with either of them..

 

[pinkpt]

Please do not join SA Tours. I went with them just last Dec 09 for their USA tour because of their reputation but it was really bad. Food and accomodation sucked and the tour guide was sarcastic. It was supposed to be my honeymoon. OMG!! We booked with them during NATAS fair but after the trip, i found out Chan Brothers had better accomodation.

Lukily, we booked a Hokkaido package with CB for tour in Feb 2010 and it was fantastic.

 

[shire]

ANY1 mind to share with me ... which agency / tour packages more people joining ?? planning honeymoon ... [email protected]

 

[blueberrytea]

i've been to China twice, both with CTC.

I would say they're ok. Safe and all that.

But i think it's the China's side - they will have plenty of hidden cost. Like see the panda. We said we don't want. And they let us drop in the hotel to rest.
When we asked the others how's the panda's visit, they said they were all having winter nap. So saw nothing. @@

yet to try other agencies.

My mum normally goes to Chan bros. she said good but then, i found out got some hidden cost also.

 

[basker]

Never join CB after my 1st experience with them...below average food & hotels. As for Japan - the hotels are mostly above avg so no surprises - any agency can provide decent accomodation in Japan. My view is if an agency spent so much $ on adverts & commercial it got to come from somewhere...it's usually the packages.

 

[kohed]

chan bros is always a good choice.

 

[karate]

I have been to korea with CB, their oversea operator is kinda low budget, keep bringing us to eat cabbage with mushroom steamboat! And little top up of meat. For this trip im always kinda hungry after awhile. pretty disappointed with their food, whereas my friend joined ASA, they have great accomodation and food! they had loads of meat like BBQ , black pig and seafood etc.

I think its very subjective over which countries u go to. Each agencies have their own strength, However i have no idea which agency is strong in Europe Group Tour?

Anyone has any idea coz im planning to go for next year CNY.

 

[jascal]

Just came back from Honeymoon... went wif Dynasty n super happy with them. In fact everyone of our tour grp r happy wif them. Though their price is more exp than others (only 100 to 300 more) but the quality of the food n hotel is so much better than others... we even hav 2 nites at a 5 star hotel...anyone need recommendation can PM me n i will intro to the sales person maybe can give more discounts...

 

[kathycute]

I would like to sell my Chan brothers travel voucher worth 2000sgd. Discount negotiable.

Exchangeable to tour packages, air ticket, hotel reservation ( overseas only ) at Chan brother travel.



PM me if interested. Valid Till Jan 2014.TIA

 

[gracelee]

Hi, Kathy
I can't pm you. Pls contact me. Tq

 

[optimint]

contact me too

 

[Phua Poh Sim]

tickets i will go with www.zuji.com.sg =) travel agent my favourite is dynasty travel. went with them to turkey and really enjoyed myself. tour guide was very friendly and accomodating!

 

[adam090]

hi....
i suggests about honeymoon that why people seeking foreign places inspite their home country which is none other than beauty throughout the world, so i think people should prefer their home places for this unforgettable honeymoon trip
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