I have to admit I was always one of those people who thought I could skip the middleman and book an…read moreentire holiday online. From reading reviews for the best places to stay to using SkyScanner to find the best flights it would be as easy as pie. Enter my 2012 holiday to South America and now my 2014 holiday to Africa and Middle East... Enter multiple travel agents who didn't really care, were out to book the tour or flight that would get the best commission and had worse follow up to email enquiries than my telephone provider. Enter a stroll into Flight Centre Unley Rd. In the last 2 years I have dealt with 2 travel agents (Alice and Andrew) who have helped book flights and insurance, offered for me to go away and find better prices that they will match and come up with itinerary suggestions within a week of visiting their store. It wasn't until this experience that I realised that travel agencies like this realise they have to compete with online by offering a quick and easy service and they do it bloody well. It wasn't until our flights were changed mid-South America trip when we had limited phone and email connectivity that I realised the benefit of having a travel agent as they were in contact immediately and ensured we wouldn't miss our flights as a result. When booking a non-standard holiday I would always use Flight Centre on Unley Rd because I know I can get the best price (even compared to online deals) for a quicker and hassle free experience.

As the name suggests, Student Travel Australia (STA) places much of its focus on - you guessed it -…read morestudent travel. If you're a student and you're making plans to head overseas, or even travelling domestically, these guys will do their best to find you the cheapest flights available in a short amount of time. After all, travelling as a student means travelling on the cheap! These days it's pretty easy to cut out the middle man when booking flights, especially with the ease of buying tickets online through budget airlines, and not to mention sites like Webjet or Last Minute that essentially find the cheapest available flights for you. Nonetheless, having a professional does come in handy when you're trying to make last minute plans to travel and you've found yourself up shit creek without a paddle. Some years ago I went to STA to book a flight to Singapore after dismal attempts at finding cheap tickets online. As they're able to see the availability of flights directly from the carriers through their system, they quickly made arrangements for me and secured me a ticket that happened to be much lower than the ones I'd seen online. The student discount I got also relieved some of the stress from my wallet, and they gave me good deals on travel insurance too. And they did it all with a smile.

You don't have to be a student to book through STA…read more They also do special deals if you happen to be a teacher/ tutor, as well as being a regular travel agent. In fact, I choose STA every time over some of the travel agents out there. Not only are they super low-key (too many glossy pamphlets and corporate colour schemes just aren't me), but they focus on more DIY, lower cost and adventure-type holidays, which is definitely my bag. The staff here are super lovely and friendly too and always make you feel welcome, talking about their own experiences and giving you honest advice without being fake or SELL SELL SELL. I found their service to be top notch and genuine, even when I had some problems getting stuck in London (thanks Qantas!). I don't normally use travel agents and this is the kind of place that respects that you want to do your own thing. They gave me a great deal on insurance as well as super competitive flights (though as always I recommend you do your research before hand to make sure you're getting the best price out there, but you guise are smart enough to know that). In all, will definitely use again for OS trips - it's great to have that safety net out there and have someone else do the work for you sometimes, so you can just focus on having a rad time. Highly recommended!!!

What stands out for me is the customer service you receive from the volunteers that run the centre…read more With an obvious passion for assisting you combined with great knowledge of the city and surrounds, it was lovely to chat with them. The centre has a myriad of brochures not just about Adelaide, but on the state as well, and are more than happy to talk to you about what is going on around town. There are also 2 great computers that you can use which have free internet!

Located just outside Myer on the mall, it's pretty tiny which can be severely annoying when you do…read moreneed information because you can't pack too many people in there. The people working behind the desk were lovely and helpful until I asked to put some flyers there, this was when I was doing some hospitality promotional work. There are so many leaflets that I thought, hey, whats a couple more? but no. other than thats, a stack of information available thats mainly for tourists, but it's great to get guides for tours, trails and shows, especially when the the Adelaide Fringe Festival hits town. Go get a free map.

I used Adelaide Transport to organise a Hen's Day back in 2012 and they were the most helpful and…read morefairly affordable ones at the time. We were trying to keep costs as low as possible for everyone involved and for 9 people we paid $45 per head for a 6hour tour. This included picking us up at one location, and a double drop off at the end of the day. When I was explaining that we wanted to do a wineries tour they suggested we go the Mclaren Vale region as a lot of the wineries there don't have a cover charge for groups. They organised the itinerary and did all the bookings with the wineries involved. All we had to do was show up and pay the money. We did stumble into one hiccup when we arrived at Edkhidna Wines, we were told we had to pay $5 per person and there was a wait, even though we had a booking. Michael, our wonderful driver suggested that we head to the pub for lunch and that's just what we did. He even went out of his way to go down the road and hamburgers for those who wanted them. Overall we had a fantastic day and I got to know about a lot of wineries in my local area that I didn't know existed. If you are thinking about organising a tour, I can't recommend them enough. They even called me a week after to profusely apologise for the mix up with Ekhidna, without pushing on the blame either. They really do have a fantastic rapport with the wineries.

From the owner: Adelaide Transport T.BUS - Minibuses on demand. Your taxi alternative for more than four that costs…read morenot much more.