I contacted Barbara about booking a group trip (10-20 people) and to get a quote. I sent her all the information I had found on Expedia so she could research options. She replied that I was looking for a "deal"... well of course I am! What person when booking a trip isn't looking for a deal? Should I be paying double? Her reply was rude, arrogant and extremely unprofessional. She wasn't willing to help me unless I was to pay a consulting fee, which is strange because every other travel agent/agency I have contacted is willing to do so. I wish I could rate her service/business as -5 stars. Unless you have a relationship with this woman, or are willing to pay her special "fee" don't bother to contact her. read more

Barbara's response time is incredibly slow. I looked back on my email history and my first email to her was sent on 4/5 but trip details wasn't finalized until 4/25. All she had to do was book lodging in 2 cities, train tickets between cities, and one tour. On top of slow response time, she offers little travel insight. She also charges a fee for her services, first time I have ever been charged by an agent, and felt stuck with her as a result. My next annoyance was lack of customer service. I called her to introduce myself and she blurted out all these things she wanted me to put in an email for her to start trip planning. Personally, it would have been more professional for her to provide me a quick questionnaire to fill out to make sure she had all the necessary information. Then as she was slowly booking things, at one point I had asked if she could put all this information into one summarized document. I'm not asking for much here... and her response was, "Unfortunately, they are all E-documents through separate emails. I suggest you print them all out as paper document to take with you, while keeping the bookings/confirmations in your email as back up." Hmm, weird because every travel agent I have worked with in the past always provided me a summary sheet without me even asking. Had she taken the extra 5-10 minutes to just PDF all the documents into one neat file for me because that was all these separate documents were, she might have actually come off as a professional instead of lazy. This just further agitated me that I had to dig through a bunch of back and forth correspondence with her to find these documents. When I arrive in Rome, my annoyance with Barbara just goes through the roof. My accommodations in Rome is not this cute modern apartment that I was shown but a gross old Italian mess with couches dating back to my grandmothers era. The place is so dusty that my husband and I were congested every night (it was fine once we were outside). At that point, I lost it and sent Barbara a pretty nasty email. After almost a full day of travel, I just wanted to relax and I was far from that. I asked her at one point in our correspondence, prior to my trip, if the place she booked was like an airbnb, which I did not want, and she assured me it was not and ran by a hotel group. It wasn't. It was basically some Italian guy who's father owned a couple units in this building and they were doing short-term rentals. I should know, I own a short-term rental so I am very familiar with all this. Upon my disappointment with the place, the guy tells me the hours he's available which on Sunday was like 12pm-7pm. Does this sound like a hotel management group? Shouldn't Barbara have researched into this a little farther if i specifically asked her if this was like an airbnb? Had she simply googled the name of this residence she would have seen on other sites that there are different apartments types but she only looked at TripAdvisor and there was not much reviews. Fact is, she did little to no due diligence and now I was stuck in something I would have never agreed to had I known the truth. I told her I was scared of what she put me in for the Venice portion of our trip but she cancelled that because they had issues with my credit card... a total blessing in disguise since that was probably another airbnb. Barbara suggested we do a late train to Venice and our arrival wouldn't be until 11pm so chances were I probably had no way of getting into the apartment because she didn't think to ask about all these details prior. Her knowledge of travel is either very antiquated or she's just careless or both. I don't know but either way I paid the price for it. I spent my first day in Rome scrambling and researching to find a new hotel for Venice. Barbara offers to help but I have lost all trust and faith in her. I also wonder if she only reached out because i started cc-ing my friend who referred me to her. Barbara calls me and tells me that my "expectations and price don't go hand in hand." Such a huge slap in the face when I was already boiling with anger in a crappy old apartment and it didn't make that much sense to me because I have stayed in Europe before and have always been able to find nicer hotels in this price range. Upon my review of our emails, I point out to her with our email as backup, that she misunderstood my budget and it was in fact DOUBLE of what she thought. Had she carefully read my email to her early on or clarified with me if she was unsure, this mess perhaps could have been avoided. I tell Barbara that I should be refunded for my accommodations in Rome because I specified to her early on I didn't want an old style place or something that was ran like an airbnb. She tells me if I feel this way, I should take it up with my credit card company. What a great way to end my vacation when I go home... argue charges because my travel agent didn't do her job. read more

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If you're travelling, use Barbara! My parents used her for their anniversary trip to Hawaii. After they had left, my sister and I thought it would be fun to surprise them with their anniversary present in Hawaii. Barbara took care of everything!!! ... and my mom and dad were surprised by an amazing Hawaiian luau. read more

Barbara was fantastic! She helped me & my husband book complicated round-trip flights for 4 people. We came into her office totally clueless, and she gave us fantastic options without making us feel overwhelmed throughout the process. She shoots it to you straight, too -- which we really appreciated! Her very extensive travel experience made us immediately trust her recommendations for getting around France. Highly recommend Barbara at Amcan travel! -Hilary read more

Barbara Robinson of Amcan Travel is exceptional in her work. She is clearly someone that values the importance of customer service because her follow up on my travel inquiries and requests is always prompt and very professional. Furthermore, she is an avid traveler so she usually can give you firsthand recommendations based on your travel criteria and needs with everything from car rentals, tours & activities, hotels, etc... I highly recommend Barbara and Amcan Travel! read more

Barbara of Amcan Travel Agency has been my travel agent for going on ten years now, and I could not be happier. My husband and I travel internationally for ecotours, and our itineraries are sometimes complicated, involving flights to out-of-the-way places. When I plan a trip, Barbara answers my innumerable questions promptly and patiently, and then finds flights for us based not just on price, but on factors such as airline dependability, layovers, "bad" airports, etc., which makes our trips easier and more pleasant. When we need a hotel booking before an ecotour, Barbara recommends places that are much more fun and interesting than the usual airport hotel. If problems arise with flights, Barbara is there to fix things. When our flight out of Dubai was cancelled, Barbara worked with the airline to make sure they would cover the cost of a hotel for the night. But most importantly, Barbara is on call for when we REALLY need her. My husband and I got COVID on our recent trip to Morocco, and Barbara scrambled to cancel our original flights, and then found a way to get us home that was equally convenient and did not cost us a penny extra. She even told us we could call her late at night if we needed her help. Expedia is not going to do this for you! Given this level of personal service, I think Barbara's fees are very reasonable, and she is worth every penny. I am so glad I found Barbara and Amcan Travel, and I recommend her highly to anyone looking for an excellent travel agent. read more

Wow! The owner just posted her response to my downgraded review. She's totally stalking me. I never told her my profession, and after refusing her request to take down my review, she looks me up!! How creepy is that?! Barbara has no accountability for her actions and continues to blame the customer for her poor services. In my case, she failed to follow up with me when I was trying to obtain her services and now she is trying to hide it by asking me to remove my review. Yelp is very clear about owners interfering with reviews. She apparently has NO shame! In her last "private" correspondence she said she would post our emails. I told her to go ahead because it would show the world how I was treated. And now she's posting she has too much class to post them? What about the email correspondence she posted in Samantha's negative review? She wasn't above posting those. Did she change her mind in posting my emails because she knows it doesn't help her case? What does mentioning my profession have anything to do with any of this? Barbara, to be VERY CLEAR, You dropped the ball in attaining me as a client. You even acknowledged this in one of your "private" correspondence. Should I post it? I answered all of your questions and You decided to NOT get back to me. You are the problem in your own process you listed out below. I was looking for your help, but ignoring me when I was interested in your services is not going to win my business. Now you won't leave me alone about my honest negative review? Stop trying to skew your ratings and accept the fact you make bad assumptions about prospects. Of course there will be negative ramifications for it. Get a life and stop stalking me and harassing me about your negative review!!!!!! Yelpers! If you want Barbara's undivided attention, just write a negative review! read more

In the age of the internet, who needs a travel agent? You do if you travel where things might go wrong. When I have used Barbara and Amcan things usually go great, but it is so nice to know if anything goes wrong, missed flight, bad hotel, etc,,, One phone call to a familiar voice takes care of it all. A small price to pay for a lot of peace of mind. read more

What I love about Barbara Robinson is that what you see is what you get. By this I mean that she follows through with what she promises and she will also surprise you by doing more than what is promised. She is definitely someone to trust when you are planning your next vacation. You will get all you asked for AND MORE!!! read more

I know Barbara Robinson professionally and she is an excellent resource for traveling. She actually travels to the places she sends clients so she can know with confidence that her customers will enjoy their trip. Also, I have spoken with people after their return from a trip that Barbara planned and they always have great things to say about their trip and the reservations that Barbara made. read more

Amcan Travel is excellent in covering the "what ifs? Flight delay due to weather? No problem to make your connecting flight with Amcan...one call and you get Barbara and you have a relationship with her and you know you are going to be taken care of... not to mention she has been everywhere so you can get first hand advice what is best for your trip. I have heard nothing but good things from others about her service as well. read more

Barbara has helped me and also many of my friends with their travel arrangements. She is fast, organized and so very knowledgeable. She can save you time and money with your travel plans. And she is so pleasant to work with. I don't know how she does it all! I highly recommend Barbara - and I do- to all my friends and relatives! . read more

Barbra has been unendlessly fantastic. I seriously had to make a new word just for how good she actually is. She has helped fix a complicated ticket with stays in two countries not once but twice! Very short layover times, and quite a few times she has found lower prices than what I could find, and I can spend a ton of time searching for deals. The times of how long the flights take are fantastic. She is straight the point, and no complaints about why is there a problem she just gets things DONE. She has eased so much of my stress just because how quick she is. I wish I could thank her more but a great review says a lot more. I used to think why need a travel agency, now for my large crazy trips that need to be taken twice a year from now on, I can't do it without her. read more

We are so thankful for meeting Barbara. We found her because of all the great ratings on Yelp. She helped my husband and I learn about cruises. We met her on a Saturday for about 2 hours and she helped up get all set up for an Alaska cruise. She was always very responsive to our emails and phone calls. We are very thankful to Barbara! read more

I've been a customer of Barbara's for 8 years. Traveling without her help can be a risky proposition. Flight delays, cancellations, missed connections are some of the areas where her value really shows. A simple call or email explaining the situation and she'll have answers for you immediately getting you back on your way. Try doing that through an online travel site. It's nice to know someone with her experience that can help alleviate the stress related to traveling, especially when traveling with a family. So contact Barbara for the simple or the complicated, she makes it easy for you. read more

Amcan was really helpful with booking a flight and looking at various hotels for an upcoming trip to Japan. Barbara was responsive and found great flights for me. I am pretty travel savvy and usually make my own arrangements, but she definitely did a better job than I could have on my own. I recommend talking on the phone at least once - she is really knowledgeable and gave me some tips that I wouldn't have thought to ask for via email. read more

I called during business hours. Got the machine. Left a detailed msg. It's been 3 days. No call back. I called again. Got the machine again. This company just doesn't care. read more

I called Barbara to help me apply/obtain a visa for an upcoming trip to China. She was very responsive and helped me fill out the application at her office the same day. The pricing for the service to send my application to the embassy in San Francisco was reasonable, and the turnaround time was very fast. Her follow up email communication was appreciated as well. read more