email?
Paul independent or is he part of a travel agency?
Margaret Pan from Astor Tours is great. Fluent english, excellent service and never screwed up on me in 4 yrs!!
Ph: 02 25458199
Do any other travel agents offer the there-and-back-again-on-the-same-evening ticket that Interlink can provide? [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/hk-and-back-in-one-day/20716/8 my post on the subject)[/url]
Also - when recommending agents, would people kindly help out by giving as much information as possible i.e. address and phone number and linking to the agent’s web site if it has one. Thank you.
I have used David’s (Vivian) for close to 2 years now and travelled to US, UK, Korea, Japan, India, Thailand, China, HK…(my job requires me to travel almost every month).
I have never compared the prices but I don’t mind paying a little more if they don’t give me a reason to compain. And…they never did.
I am mighty surprised to hear experiences to the contrary on this board.
Tickets in the last minute, seats on fully booked flights, tracking refunds, making sure to get my miles credited on different airlines, always making sure of my meal/seat preferences are taken care without my having to ask each time, even keeping me posted during the typhoons about airline announcements …
The only time I had a problem, they even presented my wife with a perfume to say sorry and make it up…
I would strongly recommend David’s and Vivian Hsieh to any one who is looking for a travel agency.
[quote=“Juba”]Do any other travel agents offer the there-and-back-again-on-the-same-evening ticket that Interlink can provide? [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/hk-and-back-in-one-day/20716/8 my post on the subject)[/url]
Also - when recommending agents, would people kindly help out by giving as much information as possible i.e. address and phone number and linking to the agent’s web site if it has one. Thank you.[/quote]
We’ve used Skyline Tours before for just these kinds of runs. They helped us book a HK run in about 4 hours using a China Airlines flight. Cheap too, under 7k at the time. Website is in Chinese and there are no English agents AFAIK.
Generally speaking, we’re okay with them after buying several tickets with them. We deal with Mei Ru Lai 0225230123. Office at Rm B, 4Fl, No. 100, Nanking E. Rd, Sec 2.
I’ve used David’s Travel a few times but finally had to stop because I was tired of correcting their math all the time. Everytime I bought a ticket from them, when I went to pick it up they would tell me that they forgot to add on some sort of tax (airport tax, war tax, etx.) Then they would increase the price by more than the tax was. For example, if I bought a ticket for 29,000 they would say that they forgot to add the extra taxes and I needed to pay and extra 500 for airport tax and another 500 for war tax etc. They would then say that the total price is now 33,000. When I pointed out that if you add up all the extra taxes and add it to the price of the ticket it should only be 30,000. Usually they would say sorry and say the price is only 30,000.
The thing is that this happened everytime I went there and it did not matter who I used to book the ticket. They always made addition mistakes in there favour. This happened about 3 or 4 times and I finally had enough and refused to have anything to do with them since. I should have stopped after the second time but I guess I’m a little slow.
Anyway, I refuse to use David’s and tell everyone I know not to use David’s.
Saw their banner ad: Whose Travel, Taichung
They have a very decent site. Especially their visa section. Any one have any dealings with them?
I also have dealt with Peter at Trump Travel, Kaohsiung. I am impressed with their service for my China/Beijing trip. Professional and quality. Not the cheapest but worth the value add they provide (English speaking, knowledgable, quick response, accurate). I second another poster’s endorsement of them.
[quote]Saw their banner ad: Whose Travel, Taichung
They have a very decent site. Especially their visa section. Any one have any dealings with them? [/quote]
I have used them twice to Canada. I talked to Dale Mackie, the owner (and a foreigner), who was very helpful and quick. He told me everything I needed to know about my flights.
I also shopped around a lot and I couldn’t get a better or cheaper route than with them. They shipped the tickets to my door (well my gf’s door) here in Taipei (they are based in Taichung).
I also recommended him to my ex roommate who just left to go back home. “Easy Breezy”, he said of his experience dealing with Dale.
3 Hits, 0 Strikes so far.
They would have had to given me a good full-body massage (to work out the kinks from them not leaving enough time between my flights so I wound spending the night sleeping on a bench at the San Francisco International Airport), and a few thousand dollars so I could have called in sick and wouldn’t have had to go practically straight from the airport to work because of their fuck-up with not actually booking my seat. Perfume would have been nice considering how I had to spend three days in airports or on a plane. Nothing doing, thank you.
Getting ready to go on yet another flight booked by Jeannie. I use her an average of 1.5 times a year and have travelled to the US three times (after this trip), London, the Philippines, and Bali (twice) through her. I am very happy. Despite my infrequency, she still remembers me and my seating preferences. I am extremely happy with the business class deal she gets me with Cathay Pacific when I travel to Bali.
I have talked about her to my foreign co-workers and almost all of them have used her services until they left Taiwan.
Heh, heh! David’s is one of those travel agents that doesn’t want to know you unless you’re booking US$10,000 a month with them. I have been using Interlink for years, but for a recent trip I heard of a very cheap price from a friend, so I rang the woman he recommended up. Naturally enough, after quoting me a thousand or two less than Interlink she rang back to say she had forgotten the Absent Minded Travel Agent tax and the price was Blah-de-blah-de-blah. No thanks. I’ve also had travel agents quoting me prices on flight for which I know the agency prices have not yet been negotiated, so they are making them up. Usually around Chinese New Year. Happy days. I used Jenny Su a million years ago, but I can’t remember whether they ripped me off or not… Probably.
[quote=“Ric Flair”]
Interlink is - as we call it in wrestling - “the drizzeling shits.”[/quote]
I second this sentiment. If you’re not going to help, just say so, no big deal.
My phone call and my promise for an email with needed info.
No email that night from me so a call from them the next day.
I sent an email that night.
No reply.
I called the following day and received a promise for a reply and quote.
Nothing.
A reminder email is sent.
My wife calls the following day.
Nothing.
(edit: Finally got a reply very late the night I wrote this. Quote is a bit on the high side.)
I have used a lady called Ellie for 14 years now and she has never let me down. Sometimes on real last minute requests. She works for Tong Lien Travel. It is a Chinese agency but her English is great. You can reach her at:
02-2592-9657, 02-2593-0327 fax. 02-2599-7046 and the site is tonglien@ms26.hinet.net
I head to Canada every summer and other trips in Asia in winter. She is helpful and will try almost anything to make it work for you. Very informative. I have tried others but they just didn’t work out. That’s my 2 cents worth.
About 6 weeks ago, I was shopping around for airline tickets to home. I emailed most of the travel agents that are mentioned in this thread. I got several good offers, but at the end, the offer from Champion Travel made the most sense. After closing the deal with Champion I informed via email all the other travel agents including Janet from Superstar Travel that I have found a better offer, but was hoping for future business.
Well, about 1 month after my email I received a phone call from Janet, sounding really upset and asking in a very inpolite way if I still wanted the tickets. After explaining to her that I sent her an email 1 month ago and that I excepted another offer, she just hung up the phone. I have not experienced such an inpolite and rude response from anybody that I did business with. I high recommend not to use Superstar Travel if you don’t want to be treated like a bag of cash and not like a person or a future customer.
Which travel agents will simply quote you the actual price without later tacking on the insane “tax”? I’m looking for a reliable travel agent that can get me cheap tickets to Hong Kong ($4000 or so) or Bangkok ($6000 or so) with no BS.
I am flying through Bangkok, and the price they quoted me initially, was what I paid. I booked with Lori from Champion Travel, I can give you her email address if you like. Everything worked somewhat smoothly, overall satisfying.
[quote=“Surf”]I have used a lady called Ellie for 14 years now and she has never let me down. Sometimes on real last minute requests. She works for Tong Lien Travel. It is a Chinese agency but her English is great. You can reach her at:
02-2592-9657, 02-2593-0327 fax. 02-2599-7046 and the site is tonglien@ms26.hinet.net
I head to Canada every summer and other trips in Asia in winter. She is helpful and will try almost anything to make it work for you. Very informative. I have tried others but they just didn’t work out. That’s my 2 cents worth.[/quote]
Add my 2¢ and double that total!
Ellie has been my main agent since 1990. If you tell her you are price conscious, she’ll work to keep costs down.
These people work in a pressure cooker. While Ellie is always polite, I try to keep phone calls, emails, and visits to the point.
Regarding Whose Travel in Taichung. Dale is a good honest guy, there office is just down the street from us. If you are looking for good packages to South East Asia and beyond he can help you find something. For local travel he partners with Green Island travel for tours to Hualien and Green Island
Regarding Whose Travel in Taichung. Dale is a good honest guy, their office is just down the street from us. If you are looking for good packages to South East Asia and beyond he can help you find something. For local travel he partners with Green Island travel for tours to Hualien and Green Island
This is a big endorsement for Champion Travel Service. I just got back from a lengthy multi-city tour that they arranged for me. Not only did they get me a better price than the same single-city trip would have cost, they were friendly, consistent in communication and with good English skills.
The agent I dealt with is new, her name is Cynthia Shen. On a Friday afternoon just before the deadline for buying the ticket was up I ran into a visa problem and she held the reservation until the last minute when I got it cleared (at 4:55) and then delivered the tickets personally to me on Saturday at my apartment building simply because I wanted to meet her to say thanks. In addition, she kept up communication with me via email when I was on the road to confirm the return trip that was waitlisted. This is the best service I have experienced here or anywhere. Can’t recommend her more!
CHAMPION TRAVEL SERVICE
Cynthia Shen
TEL : 02-25616250 ext 214
TEL : 02-25319075
FAX : 02-25213091
E-Mail:ahshen5@champion-travel.com.tw