David’s is without question the worst. I had two problems with them on two consecutive tickets. The first one was printed wrong. The departure time was printed 25 minutes later then reality. I arrived at the check-in (HK) only to be told sorry the counter is closed. But I thought I still had about an hour no you only have 30 minutes and the counter is closed. Well after a little pleading and then some more pleading they allowed me on but if I was any later I don’t think they would have. The second problem I had was the same but I checked way before my departure so I showed up early (well earlier then if I followed the ticket). David
I can also vouch for Margaret over at Astor. She has helped me on numerous occasions. She can sometimes be a bit slow replying to emails, and quite on the ball other times. One thing in her favor is that she has always given me good advice and helped me find the cheapest fairs and bargain packages. Anywhere else, the sevice at Astor might rate mediocre, but for Taiwan they are pretty much tops in my opinion. Their staff is not huge by local standards. That, combined with the fact that everyone seems to ask for Margaret, it should seem no wonder she gets a bit swamped from time to time.
I have used Astor for three years, but the woman I know there is Wylie, not Margaret. They’ve been excellent.
My friend insisted that we change to Interlink, but they messed up our booking and could only get a new booking to Thailand 2 days later than we had planned to go.
We tried BuylowTravel, booked online, paid (Monday), and made the flight we wanted three days later (Wednesday).
www.buylowtravel.com
But I’m back to Astor for my Chinese New Year traveling.
I have recently dealt with Mira at Interlink and was more or less satisfied. I had to rattle her cage a little to get the process going, but I consider that more of a natural state of affairs here than something that an agent is lacking in.
By the way, a tip to the uninitiated: a personal visit can work wonders. If you turn up and turn up the charm, you may find that service increases a bit in return. Just remember how many blind calls these people get a day. And how many of them don’t buy a ticket, but just want route prices.
A smile and a bit of sympathy might be worth it for you.
We like to use Yolanda Chen. She was at Jenny Su Travel and then moved to Deluxe Travel. She has always found us flights even on short notice. Last year we decided Friday night at 9PM that we wanted to go to Bangkok the next day and she found us a flight, met us at the Travel agency the next morning and even showed us where to get the airport bus in relation to her office.
Her phone number is (02) 2517-6259 and they are on Nanking Road.
Try Tong Lien. Ellie speaks English well and is very nice, fast and pretty good. Don’t know if they advertise in the English papers, but they’re good. TONGLIEN TRAVEL SERVICE
TEL 25929657 FAX 25930944
David’s is awful! Last year I tried to book a flight home with them for Christmas. I wound up flying standby the whole way there and back because they didn’t reserve a seat, they just requested it. I spent New Year’s Day flying over the Pacific and had to go to work hours later when I had originally asked for a 12/29 return flight.
Then I went through Interlink with Jeannie to plan my trip around the island. She openly told me that what I wanted was not something she could help me with since she did more expensive tours than I could afford, but spent over an hour helping me plan my trip out, despite the late hour that I came to their office. I promised myself that when I booked my trip, it would be through Interlink with Jeannie. I just got back from my trip home and I am very satisfied with the service they provided. Unlike David’s, I not only got the flights that I wanted, but I also got to choose my seats with Jeannie giving me advice on which seats would be best for me. I plan on being a regular customer now.
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I reckon this would be a good topic for a poll. It’s getting kind of hard to keep track of the winners !
I vote for Champion – Sheree’s been helping me out almost since I started my grad program in Singapore.
Tell her exactly what you need and she’ll do her best to accomodate. She also makes sure that I’m are on the mileage programs of all the airlines I use (budget is my greatest concern so I tend to mix and match airlines depending on the season’s specials) and she ensures that I get credited with each one.
I even tell her straight that I’m comparing her pricing with agents in Singapore and Manila (depending on where and when you’re flying, originating cities are usually the better deals right?) and she keeps on trying to get me the best deals.
Easy to work with, good prices, language is not an issue – thank heaven’s i was referred to her (many thanks, ed 
)
btw, if you do call her, mention that you saw her posted up at Segue. That should give her a kick
You’re free to set one up or wait until I find the time to set one up. It’s on my list 
I always use Maria at Interlink. I found them through their ad, and going to their office for the first couple of times certainly helped. Now, we mostly deal by email or telephone, but she’s been very patient with me, and I’ve never had problems with my bookings so far.
HTH
Iris
For my recent Hong Kong trip I used…
OK Tours at 6F, 76 Nanjing West Road near the Chungsan b[/b] MRT station. They speak English well and can arrange your ticket over the phone and e-mail you an itenerary. Also you can pick up the actual ticket at the office. They accept credit cards. I also bought a ticket out of Taiwan to show the visa office in Hong Kong, which OK Tours refunded when I came back (minus 1000NT). Here’s their number: (02) 2550-2466
Interlink sent my plane tickets to my job as I requested. I got them the day after my reservation was finalized. Mention me to Jeannie when you book in case she hasn’t seen these posts. She picked me out the last time I praised her for her hard work on…that other website.
well mira at interlink took my bookings for new year and promptly quit her job but luckily I had double booked with another firm. She was very nice when she was on the phone though, lovely lady!
I’m amazed none of you are discussing the crazy way travel agents in Taiwan seem to block book tickets and only open them up a month or weeks in advance. The travel industry in Taiwan needs some sort of RyanAir to come in and shake things up.
Interlink consistently quote myself and my friend higher prices on flights home before…last one I got quoted 4500 higher on interlink for bookings on the same flights as the travel agent I use now.
You must also be careful to ask them what is the average price at what time of year…they have quoted me current prices before when they should have quoted me sort of average price for chinese new year or summer peak. If you feel comfortable overpaying 10-20% on flights that are already overvalued good luck to you. I will admit though that the staff there, including Sean was very polite to me.
The travel agent I use is called James (cloud travel service)
, ChungSiao b[/b] E.Rd, section 1, speaks great english, will deliver tickets, very professional and has always given the lowest or equivalent to other quotes I have got. I would thoroughly recommend him.
James 2394-9911 …you have to ask for him by name.
I’ve nothing bad to say about David’s. Always delivers the goods, promptly returns my calls, finds me last minute deals at great prices, bumps me on flights. Polite, courteous, service with a smile. Had you then!!!
Back in the real world, if you know which airline you prefer you can always reserve your flight with them directly and then shop around for the cheapest quotes from the travel agents quoting your booking number. Works for me…
Bon voyage
Getting ready to go on another flight arranged by Jeannie Leng next month. This time to London. She got it for $10,000 cheaper than I expected and almost $18,000 cheaper than the cheapest flight I could find online. I love Interlink.
I’ve used Jenny Su since around '88 or '90 and they have always been great; they even help me fiddle my yearly ticket home to include my son, business class. Cool by any standards.
I have been buying tickets through a travel agent that’s a friend of a friend. He lives in Chiayi (I am in Taipei, so he express mails the tickets to me), but has always been giving me great rates and found me seats when things were usually “booked” (i.e. Chinese New Year).
If you are in the Chiayi/Tainan/Taichung areas, I would especially recommend him. In Taipei, he can send my tickets to me in about two days by express. His name is Jimmy (forgot the last name) and cell number is 0936995476 and e-mail is paul127kimo@yahoo.com.tw.
Shameless promotion? Maybe, but I’ve gotten better service and prices from him than the other agents in town.
Had a good experience with Sean at Interlink. Got my trip together very quickly.
I recently used Sean at Interlink for Vietnam tickets and visa and the whole thing went like clockwork. Will be using him again.
For those in Tainan, I can recommend an good agent with a professional command of English by the name of Julia. PM me if you want her office number or e-mail address.