Traveling with a group of 16 can be overwhelming so I knew there would be a lot of benefit to working with a travel agent on this trip. I found Amanda through a FaceBook group and TripAdvisor, and she booked all of our tours and transfers. (We booked our own hotels because I thought it would be easier for each family to individually handle their reservations and figure out what kind of room they wanted, what they were willing to spend, etc.).
I first reached out to Amanda to book a trip for spring 2022. But with covid restrictions still in place, we decided to push the trip out for a year. When I reached back out to book in June 2023, Amanda immediately picked right back up where we left off.
Amanda was so easy to work with. We gave her the guidelines of where we were staying and the types of tours we were interested in and she came up with an amazing itinerary for us. She expertly juggled our group of 16, quickly adjusting everything based on which members of the group decided to participate in which tours and what their ages were. The logistics of such a large group can be overwhelming and I was so appreciative of Amanda handling everything for our group.
Amanda’s communication was excellent. She created a WhatsApp group with all of the different families so that we could easily reach her with questions both before and during the trip. She sent out an amazingly detailed itinerary. Each day was laid out with all the information we needed – the activity, the tour provider and contact information, the pickup time (highlighted in red), a description the tour, and what was included (activities, meals, etc.). It was so great to have everything laid out for us like that. The itinerary document also included a super helpful “What to Bring” section broken out by the individual tour.
And even though we had all the information perfectly laid out for us already, she messaged us every afternoon with instructions for the next day and to check in to see how everything went that day. Her customer service was wonderful.
She also went above and beyond to help us retrieve a cell phone that had been left on one of the tour buses, to recommend restaurants and souvenir shops, and to answer any and all questions that anyone in our group had. She was always quick to respond and so friendly and helpful.
I love to do my own trip planning but I still see the value in a great travel agent. I did tons of research and went to Amanda with a list of activities and a general vision for the trip. She pulled it all together into a perfectly crafted itinerary. She used her local knowledge and experience to book all of the tours with the top guides. And she did the less glamorous parts of travel planning, like handling all of our transportation logistics. And I love having a local point of contact in case of questions or emergencies. Amanda was there for us whenever we needed anything.
Amanda planned and executed our trip perfectly. Her communication and customer service was top notch. She was a joy to work with and I would not hesitate to use her again or recommend her to my friends and family.
