Last year, I wanted to plan a mother daughter trip to Italy. I had never been to Europe so I thought it would be wise to consult with a travel agent. I picked this agency based on a Google search and by reviewing their website. They seemed knowledgable and professional so I stopped by their offices.
When I arrived, I was greeted by Rachel. I gave her an outline of what we wanted to do. The most important thing was to attend a papal audience. I also wanted to see the Uffizi in Florence. I had some airlines miles I wanted to use so she explained I would need to book my flight on my own and she would take care of the lodging and tours. We talked about dates and she advised us we just needed to pick any timeframe in September except the last week. The pope was scheduled to be in the US on the last week of September so that date was out.
After we met, she emailed me some recommendations and prices and my mom and I began to plan our trip. It took us a few weeks to decide everything we wanted to do. I contacted Rachel with my flight info so she could book the tours and hotel. She informed me that the dates I had selected were dates where no papal audiences were available. When I did some additional research, I found out papal audiences occur on Wednesdays and we were flying in on a Wednesday evening and out the next Wednesday afternoon. I was a little frustrated that she hadn't mention this to me when we initially talked, but I figured it was my fault for not doing any research before I booked the flight.
We finalized our plans and I provided her with a credit card that was earmarked for this travel. She booked the hotel and excursions and sent me confirmation and receipts for the booked items. Instantly, I had questions. For the Florence tour, the price much lower than what she quoted me. I emailed her to confirm that tour included admission to the Uffizi gallery and she assured me this was correct and that the lower price was correct. I felt reassured and dropped the issue.
Within the next 2-3 days, I was notified by my credit card company that my credit card info had been stolen by someone in New York. Someone had attempted to buy a computer and some other high ticket items. I was issued a new card and the charges were removed. I notified Rachel and figured the breach must have occurred when she booked with one of the tour companies.
The time of our trip draws near. She asks me to come in and pick up my travel vouchers. I come in, we chat and she promises to email me an itinerary. I am still waiting for that itinerary.
When we leave for Rome, we run into some weather issues and are delayed in our connecting city. I call Rachel to see if she can assist and find out she is on vacation. I end up talking to a lovely travel agent named Mecy who straightened everything out and was very attentive and helpful. She is the only reason I gave more than 1 star on this review.
The day we depart for Florence, we learn that we are booked on the wrong tour. We were booked on a self guided tour where we travel to Florence with a group, they provide us with a map and let us roam the city for a few hours. It did not include admission to the Uffizi as Rachel had previously confirmed. We were lucky because the Uffizi still had available tickets and our tour guide was able to get this straightened out for an additional fee.
In my opinion, the point of using a travel agent is to get some recommendations and help figuring out how to maximize the time on your trip. I will say the tours Rachel did recommend were nice. We especially enjoyed a wine excursion to Tuscany. However, I didn't feel like I had a positive experience. I felt like I did most of the research and work - I ended up putting together our itinerary, I found out that the pope does another blessing on Sunday that we could go see, I figured out all of the transportation while we were in Italy (I don't even remember discussing this with her). As a result, I think I would save time and would not use a travel agent in the future. read more
