To start, I will admit I had never utilized a Travel Agency before to book a vacation. However, for…read moremy family's and I Summer vacation trip to Japan it really felt like an arduous task when I tried to do research of where to stay, visit, etc. I did not know what to expect when originally coming across L & B Travel on the app Thumbtack. When I reached out I was assigned Sebastian. From the very beginning Sebastian was extremely friendly, patient, understanding and most importantly, very knowledgeable and transparent. I initially sent him over a bullet point list of what I was looking for and details of our trip. We then scheduled a short call to discuss my trip and confirm some trip details. Very quickly thereafter Sebastian provided the initial itinerary that was extremely spot on, which made me appreciate that he listened intently and captured every single detail of my trip request. I immediately felt more relaxed knowing that Sebastian really cared about my trip and wanted to get things right, right out of the gate. As part of the itinerary that Sebastian provided, it included a phenomenal package of hotel stays, flights and tours across 3 cities in Japan at cost-effective rates. Things I would 100% not have been able to find/secure on my own. Sebastian was able to get me everything we wanted in our trip and within our budget. I could not believe it! Fast-forward to once we were in Japan... We had a tour one day to Mount Fuji and the third party company that Sebastion had procured our tour from, had delayed our tour voucher and still had not provided it as of the morning of our tour. From Japan at 8am local time, as my family and I waited outside the tour bus, with 20 minutes left before the bus would leave for the tour, I called Sebastian for his help. In less than 5 minutes he called me back and retrieved the voucher from the third party and emailed it me, so we would not miss our tour. Sebastian sprung into action immediately and saved what could have been a very disappointing day, into a day my family and I will never forget in such a wonderful way! As we were getting close to ending what had been an incredible vacation to that juncture, I reached out to Sebastian as we were gearing to heading to our final city (Osaka) in Japan for our final 3 nights, asking if he could do anything about our hotel lodging as I felt our jr. suite would be too cramped for my family of 5. Again, Sebastian sprung into action immediately and was able to pull some strings and upgrade us to a larger suite that was perfect for us AT NO ADDITIONAL COST. All in all, reaching out to L & B Travel and being fortunate enough to work with Sebastian was the best thing that could have happened to my family and I with our vacation as everything turned out beautifully, as we really had the time of our lives. That being said, I recommend L&B Travel to anyone and everyone, and I recommend Sebastian to all who are looking to plan a trip. He really knows his stuff, but you get a guy who is honest, patient, understanding, hardworking and transparent, and who did all the heavy-lifting to get my trip planned successfully. I have found my travel agent and without a doubt will continue to use L&B and reach out to Sebastian for all of my future trips/family vacations. From my family and I, THANK YOU, Sebastian and L&B!!

Excellent responsiveness. Good detail, helpful advice and customized service for a complicated…read moreitinerary. Highly recommended. They were even careful to follow up and respond while I was traveling. They suggested alternatives and a way to adjust plans mid way through our travels.

Suzie Q's Fun Facts:…read more This is a branch office of a larger travel agency chain (apparently) based out-of-state. If you're not careful, they will pawn you off on another branch, even if you ask for someone specific at this office...... =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ .... .which is exactly what happened to me when I called this office, asking for Jim Berkeley (who has high reviews on Yelp). I have a big birthday coming up, and am in the early stages of planning a trip to Mexico with my girlfriends to celebrate. But knowing little about Mexico, and feeling not at all like putting work into planning this trip myself, I decided to splurge on a travel agent to do the work for me. I stumbled upon Destinations & Adventures randomly on Yelp. Since it was highly rated, I decided to give them a shot. But when I called to ask for Jim Berkeley, I was told he was out of the country leading a trip. Instead of Jim, I got a call back only from a random woman in Nashville, TN (Arlene Santos, with the high-falutin' title "Director of Client Services"). This, despite having specified that I'd be willing to wait for Jim to call back once he'd returned. Arlene and I chatted. I explained what I was looking for, and she offered to assist with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. (I think she may have even said something like, "that's a bit of a difficult one.") Now, I know what you're thinking: Why bother with a travel agent who isn't enthused about helping me? I guess I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes to my detriment. But then, the first red flag: Arlene later e-mailed me that she'd have me an initial quote and some package ideas by a certain date. But that date came and went, and no quote. When I followed up with her several days later, Arlene promised a quote "by the end of the day" - but then, she only sent the names of two hotels, without any pricing or explanation (with pricing to follow later). When I finally got pricing 1.5 weeks after Arlene and I had first spoken, the pricing didn't include anything but just hotel rates (which I could have looked up myself on Expedia). No explanation of how or why she chose those two options, and she said activities weren't included. Also, I'd specifically asked her for daily pricing, since not everyone in my party would be staying for the full trip duration.... but her pricing was weekly, not daily. Amusingly, Arlene's e-mail had added tersely: "Kindly advise which one you are interested in," as if there were absolutely no room for discussion on the matter. It was these two random hotels or nothing. It was clearly time to cut bait. I responded that I thought there was a disconnect, and added: "As it took you 9 days to provide pricing for two hotels, I'm wondering whether you may be too busy to assist me? If so, I'd rather not waste your time, and instead I'll move on to another travel agent. Please let me know." Arlene's frosty response: "Sorry for not being much help. I believe it will be best for you to work with someone else." This "Director of Client Services" should be locked away in an office and never be permitted to assist clients again. Just saying. Buyer beware!

My husband and I have been traveling with Jim Berkeley and DAI Travel since 2004…read more We've been on several cruises and land tours. We've eaten in a Monastary in Russia and a goat cheese farm in France. We've been kayaking in Croatia and snorkeling in Tahiti. I can't say enough about the staff at DAI. Any last minute changes are always handled without any problem. Our last cruise was supposed to end in Athens, Greece the day of a strike so Jim Berkeley got us off the ship a day early and flew us to Istanbul for 4 days. Our hotel and tours and meals all arranged at the last minute and all wonderful. We will be traveling with DAI for years to come and would recommend you do too.

I traveled with Amiri Travel Agency, and unfortunately my experience was very disappointing. The…read morestaff were extremely rude, the organization was very poor, and they seemed to cut costs as much as possible when it came to providing food and even drinking water for passengers. Some of the staff's own friends were on the trip, and they were clearly given preferential treatment. Whenever we asked questions about this, the staff responded aggressively. Passengers were left waiting and wandering around for hours due to the lack of organization. Based on my experience, I do not recommend traveling with this agency.

Me and my husband had a great experience with this tour to China recently…read more Professional tour guide, five stars hotel and organized daily tours. We also went to japan, Argentina Brazil, France Italy and also local trips with Amiri travel before. I definitely recommend Amiri travel.

I just had a really great call from Miguel S. who was calling to offer me some incentives to renew…read moremy membership. I had been thinking that I would renew, but the past couple weeks have been busy and I had to ask Miguel to call me back a couple times when I couldn't speak with him at that moment. Today was the day, and Miguel called back at the time I had requested. The incentives are great, but I'm waiting to hear on a new client. He offered to take my planned 1 year renewal for now, and call me back after the date I expect to sign the new deal if the incentives for the multi-year (a really good deal!) were still available. During our call I asked him a lot of questions about how to get the most out of my membership. Miguel was super helpful and knowledgeable about website and walked me through all of the answers. He was graciously accommodating if I asked another question that came to mind during that process as well. Like anything, Travel Transparency is a tool for specific travel discounts and solutions and when they align with your personal travel plans, it's really super! I like to take road trips so booking a night here and a couple nights there fit me well, and I can get great hotel prices using Travel Transparency. It's also great for friends, because I bought the membership that allows up to six specific family members, or friends, to book through the site as well, with their own profile.

The travel program was offered to us at $8000 plus 230 annual fees. for this price you get access…read moreto discount hotel prices. The free gift is a rip off. the 2 plan tickets and 2 night hotel stay is 199 per person (resort fees not include) plus 50 activation fee. So $450 for a 2 night stay in 1 of 23 cities. the restaurant gift card is just $25 off once a month. Don't waste your time.

I got my passport in 2 days. I sent over docs and forms in the evening via email and next morning…read moreAPVS gave me an appointment and i picked up my passport the next day. They gave me very clear directions and it was easy and stress free. Worth every penny!

What can I say about American Passport Visa Services... The best!…read moreI was in a bind, my passport was expired, and I needed to fast-track it to have it renewed. I started looking for ways to do this online, and even called a couple of places, and I didn't feel any confidence with the companies I found. I was talking about my plight with my work associate, and he reminded me he had his passport fast-tracked and gave me the name and number of Alida from American Passport Visa Services, whom he used. I called Alida and we were on our way. She was very direct about what we needed to do (and avoiding wasting each other's time). We met up and we took care of business. I felt fully confident in Alida and her work. We talked about timing and to make sure there were no false expectations. I did pay for the expedited services, because of my time frame, and it was worth it! My Passport arrived a couple of weeks later. My anxiety was relieved. I highly recommend Alida and American Passport Visa Services!

I recently went on a trip with friends that Alexis booked for us. 5 out of 5 stars, from planning…read morewith Alexis- picking out the location, etc. to the location itself- everything was handled professionally and in a timely manner. Planning our trip was so easy. And the cabin we booked was fantastic. It had everything we wanted and so much space. I highly recommend booking your next stay through Alexis!

I went to Tampa Bay for a bachelorette and we had THE best time! On top of having a house with a…read morepool Alexis booked a hunk-o-mania show for us on Saturday and a brew tour for Sunday for were great picks. We found out the original place we booked was having plumbing issues when we were boarding to head to Tamp and by the time we landed she already had us moved to a different house that was even bigger than we needed and still with a pool with no extra charges and we didn't have to worry about anything. You can tell she just really wants people to enjoy a vacation with to stress or hassle.

Needed international currency in a hurry! They had the…read moreamount on hand with the best rates and no fees! Really nice agents as well! Highly recommend!

Amazing services !!The store was very organized, friendly,and clean. The young lady was super…read moreknowledgeable and answered all my questions.

Our family has travelled extensively and used a number of travel agents. Sabrina is the first we…read morehave been motivated to review due to her exceptional and refreshing reliability, responsiveness, connections to lodges and tours that might otherwise be fully booked, and recommendations for activities, restaurants and hotels. Even when issues arose on our trip with flights being overbooked, she immediately jumped in and had her local contacts secure seat assignments to relieve the stress.

If Brazil is your destination, Sabrina is the key to a perfect and unforgettable adventure!…read more I have been using Sabrinas travel services for almost 30 years. I starting when she worked for another Brazilian specialty travel company and I stayed with her as she started her own business almost 20 years ago. Ive been to Brazil over 100 times and she is always there to help when problems or changes appear or to give me great advice about Brazil, especially when I was still traveling frequently during the pandemic. The help I've gotten from Sabrina with her knowledge and experience with Brazil is something you would never get from a website or a big box store agency.