Australia & New Zealand Travel Agent Review: Sydney, Abel Tasman Park, kayaking, Nelson, Dart River jet boating, Fox Glacier...

I would take the time to research it myself and book everything myself. I think I thought it was harder than it actually was. I think if I had planned it all myself I would have easily saved a lot of money. [Travel Company Comments] 1. From the beginning consultation we understood keeping within the client’s budget was important. The itinerary we initially presented fulfilled on the destinations, activities and budget they were wanting. The subsequent changes to accommodation (Queenstown and Fox Glacier), were to more expensive hotels, and we were happy to oblige, but those changes were above the initial budget. 2. Abel Tasman kayaking. There are a few kayak operations in the Abel Tasman National Park. We do not always book the cheapest operator, we book the most reliable. We choose operators with the better trained guides for our clients. Some operators will operate only on certain days, or cater to the backpacking market, or only when minimum numbers met. We don’t work with every kayak operator. Only the ones we feel comfortable sending our clients to. 3. Queenstown accommodation “far from the center of town”. The accommodation we originally suggested had self-catering facilities and was within the budget. It is 2 blocks from the center of town, and arguably closer to downtown than the hotel they asked to be changed to. 4. The boxed lunches on the Milford Sound cruise do need to be prebooked, but they are not the only food/dining options. The boxed lunches are an additional cost – again, because we were trying to keep within their budget we did not prebook them. Because budget was stressed as important, we didn’t load the itinerary with breakfasts, meals etc. 5. We could definitely have done a better job advising them of the drive time from their hotel to the Abel Tasman kayak tour and in supplying more travel tips for New Zealand. 6. Ms Quock-Perry states she felt like we “didn’t go above and beyond, or do anything to help me save money, except choose lower end hotels”. After presenting several itinerary options and then issuing their airline tickets, Ms Quock-Perry noticed the spelling of her husband’s name on their airline tickets was incorrect. We went to Virgin Australia and asked them to reissue their airline tickets, waiving the change/reissue fees. We didn’t make a big deal of this at the time... I don’t even think we told her we had done so… in hindsight perhaps we should have. I am sorry she experienced our service as so-so, but glad to read she thought the trip and the destination was amazing.