Four times I scheduled an appointment with AAA to discuss travel arrangements because it claims to…read moreoffer expert guidance. Four times AAA failed to show up. Anita at 800-222-8252 didn't know how answer my questions, put me on hold while she went looking for someone to help, came back and thought I was that someone, and when I said that I was the caller she'd put on hold, she put me back on hold, and then the call was disconnected. Beth at 866-423-5585 could provide neither expert guidance or any guidance at all. When I asked for information on international driver's licenses (when and where they are required, how to get one, how long they are valid), Beth assured me that she does not issue them, and had refused to answer my other questions. Liz at 617-332-9900 (the branch with the travel agent that did not call when scheduled) said that she had "no way of answering" my questions. Chuck Nardozza at 401-868-6248 said AAA is NOT a travel agent, it just "helps booking flights", and it matters whether I am ready to book now. Sure I am if it will move the ball along, but no, AAA will not call as scheduled because there are other callers who are people who need help. And I am not a caller? Or I am not a person? Or I do not need help? Several emails, one letter and half a dozen calls later, I give up. It is not worth either the annual fee or anyone's time trying to pry services out of AAA.

I think that many of the employees here are pleasant and eager to help . But, if you have the…read moremisfortune of dealing with Sue you will have a miserable experience She comes in to work every day cranky, miserable and eager to give you a hard time. she does not want you to get your service completed in. She wants to tell you how you have not measured up. I was sitting and waiting my turn andI observed her giving everyone a hard time. She is clearly not interested in " service". she wants you to fail in your mission. if Sue comes near you, run, hide! she does not want to help you.

I just read an article in the New York Times called Technology In a Self-Serve World, Start-Ups…read moreFind Value in Human Helpers. Afterwards, I felt called to update my review write about a local business whose services I use, enjoy, and feel are valuable. I think in our world of high tech, we all need services that have a personal touch. Look at the trends--companies like Stitchfix are thriving because people want to feel someone cares about them, knows them, and takes their interests, concerns, and personalities into account. (Stitchfix has stylists that learn about you and send you clothes, going after a niche market of busy women that don't want to spend time in stores. I haven't used Stitchfix so I can't recommend them personally, though I know people who have. What this points to is the trending of #Convenience. I ordered cardigans for my mom and I and it came with a beautiful handwritten note, heck even my new mattress from Casper came with a handwritten note "sleep deep." It is very nice but easy to do, but that is not building a relationship, it is a one time gesture from a cutesy marketing team. The difference behind Active Travels is the genuine caring and service tailored to you. They don't eschew technology, they blend it with their own knowledge and scores of travel writers and agents. When I went to Asheville last year, I got 10 pages from Steve about things to do and where to eat, and even to definitely order the squid ink pasta at Curate, and brunch at Biscuit Head and Sunny Point Cafe in West Asheville.This is part of why I use and recommend Active Travels, run by travel writer Steve Jermanok and his wife Lisa Leavitt who is an agent. Both are well traveled and have friends and contacts all over the globe, and better yet, they are locally based in Newton, but can be contacted from anywhere. Beyond convenience, I really feel people need more handholding than ever in these troubled times. We need to be cared for. A search engine may be efficient, but it doesn't care about you. Lisa & Steve will. Steve once joked to me that someone said to him "Why open a travel agency? You might as well become a cobbler." Well, I actually use my cobbler a lot--another local place to recommend--The Soleman in Waban, Ma. Read about them all on Yelp!

I work for a third party company that works in conjunction with this travel agency and the rudeness…read morefrom Terry was shocking. There was no need for her attitude with me when all I was trying to do was help her. She then hung up out of frustration and said she would find someone else to work with. Then she called back immediately and got another agent proceeding to tell them I was 'Useless'. Not a great attitude to have. Terry may appear super friendly and ever so nice to you customers but if you want to book with someone who is kind to the people that actually book the tours for you I would highly suggest going elsewhere.

I had never used a travel agent before meeting Terry, but she has demonstrated on several occasions…read moreover the years as to why you should ALWAYS use a travel agent (especially her)! To name just a few of the things she has helped us with in the past 2 years: Booking a multi-resort honeymoon in St Lucia & Barbados Modifying a a multi-resort honeymoon in St Lucia & Barbados (thanks COVID!) Rebooking and re-modifying a multi-resort honeymoon in St Lucia & Barbados (thanks again COVID!) Very recently - recommending an amazing resort that neither my wife or I would have ever found on our own that served as a destination for both my 40th birthday as well as a post-vaccination getaway. In addition to the recommendation, Terry also did price comparison, optimized our value add-ons for the trip, negotiated the to/from airport transfers, and really just managed all of the logistical components so that all we really had to do was show up and enjoy! We highly recommend working with Terry for any travel needs. She will take good care of you! Thank you, Terry!

I cold called Vivienne Stanley at Crystal Travel for help in securing flights to SE Asia. She was…read morevery prompt with a response to me and had two excellent choices for this somewhat difficult flight from Montana. I would recommend her wholeheartedly.

I had a great experience working with Vivienne, she planned all the flights and hotel…read moreaccommodations, everything was great and anytime I had questions she was very prompt to answer. Also our flight was cancelled and without even giving her a call she jumped in and rebooked our flights. I will definitely be working with her again!

Absolutely amazing…read more We started our journey in Reykjavik with 22 other couples from the States. Our tour guide, Sol, was great! She was a native Icelander and provided us both information and hands on experience in Iceland. The mountains are beautiful and scenic, the water is pristine, and the sky is really a rich royal color. The historic architecture is well preserved and the land is spacious and uncluttered with urban sprawl. The Icelandic People are extremely friendly and their food, especially their fish and chips are the absolute best I've ever had the good fortune of tasting, and their fries would certainly make Ronald McDonald cry! The fries are fresh and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and certainly not like the ones we get here, where they are crunchy in the outside and harder on the inside. The journey was certainly one off off our bucket list, and deserving of a revisit soon!

Odyssey's Unlimited tour of Southern Italy & Sicily…read more As far as we are concerned it was not a pleasant experience at all! Starting from the flights which were the worst due to the economy seats, times, missed connection because we were not allowed enough time to get through the airport, customs, gates, etc. Discovery Airlines was the lowest of the low as far as service, accommodations and comfort. Missing 2 days of our tour really put a damper on our trip. The food on the trip was not at all what we expected from Odyssey after hearing "5 star - everything included " - 5 star? 2 at best! We spent more time on a bus than we expected. At least 3 days we were on for 5-6 hours. The day trips 2 hours each way. Then stopping at gas stations or truck stops to use the restrooms was disgusting. When we had time to ourselves we were left in tourist traps to "shop". How many magnets and aprons do we need to buy? The food as I mentioned was disappointing. One night we were served a bowl of beans, half a boiled potato and a boiled piece of chicken. When we mentioned it to our tour director she said "It's the food of the region." We had two nice dinners with the group. The rest of the time we had meager portions and basic food. We enjoyed our dinners on our own better. I hate to say that this experience has squashed my desire to travel with Odysseys ever again. We have traveled with Trafalger to Rome and Tuscany and the experience was far better. Motor coach w/bathrooms, better restaurants and a more lively and exciting tour. I am disappointed with the value and experience of this trip for the money we paid. When you are counting the days until you get home, that tells you it wasn't a good fit for us.

Rima has always been amazing over the years. We only realized how good she is at her job and how…read morededicated she is to her clients over the last few months when we had a lot of unexpected travel that required constant changing due to family health issues. Rima was always, and I mean always there to help us, she was super quick to respond and was able to find us options and solutions. She provides such a valuble service with true professionalism and compassion and knowing she is our person to turn to gives us such peace of mind, especially in these uncertain times of air travel. We will probably never book any flight or trip without her!! Thanks you Rima!!

I found Bler Travel on a Google search, after trying AAA and not getting my emails returned. I…read moreemailed Bler out of the blue asking for flights to Italy. I knew exactly what I wanted for flights, times, airports, airplanes, etc. I'm only giving them 2 stars because they responded to me immediately. They just returned my email with flights, no introduction, no "hi, my name is", nothing. They just kept emailing one flight after another with zero attempt at any pleasantries or interaction. Each flight was crazy expensive or not what I asked for. I asked twice that they call me and provided my number, yet they continued to just email flights. Then, they just stopped all together. Lazy, cold, unprofessional, and ignorant. I found them on Google, that's how businesses are found by new potential customers. Let them cater to their regulars, obviously they don't care to earn new customers.

Whew, where do I start? First off, if you are looking to get a call back from these folks, you'll…read morehave to wait for a few days. The agent we worked with was pretty gruff and didn't seem to be interested in answering our questions, etc. We weren't upset, until we realized that she'd booked our flight to return the day before our trip ended. Once we caught it, she changed the flights, but never sent us the new flight details. Three un-returned calls later and we finally called the supervisor. He was able to finally send us our flight info. Look, customer service is not their thing, at least in my experience. Take your hard earned money and spend it elsewhere. I think you'll just be bothering these folks if you try to have them book any trips for you. UPDATE: In the end, the folks at CC Travel did fix the issues and our trip went off without a hitch. While that doesn't erase the bad experience we had with them, it did end with a good trip.