KEEP IN MIND: They are LUXURY travel planners. They don't do "cheap". They can work within your budget but will try to do so comfortably and conveniently so you receive the best impression and services at your destination. FOR CONTEXT: We started planning our trip to Australia/New Zealand from LA in 2015. We spent about $9K for two people including several flights (internationally and 4 domestically), lodging, excursions,some food, and some souvenirs. Laura was our planner and she was great! We are so grateful to have found and gone with DUE for planning. At first, we were unsure of the value we were getting through going with them. We've seen friends plan their vacations through their own research and on a budget which made us second guess what we were doing. But during and after this trip we realized and appreciated the service provided. We know that we wouldn't have chosen some of the hotels or excursions we stayed/did based on individual price if we planned ourselves-- our Queenstown helicopter ride for example which we LOVED. Having land and airfare bundled together for 2 people didn't sound as "bad" and we felt like the price was worth was we got. I'm sure we were saved significant money, getting us the best value for our dollar, through their partnerships and discounts Third, they are the experts! We wouldn't have known what to REALLY do or how to order the trip, etc. It saved the stress of booking/confirming/logistics and allowed us to just enjoy traveling from place to place, checking in/out, and ensuring we were on time for our appointments. DUE made it EASY! Plus we were not stuck with the typical sightseeing, walking aimlessly, shopping.. we had experiences-- unique ones! Lastly, communication was great. Very responsive, especially to my changes and questions. Overall, we are very happy working with DUE and highly recommend them for any travel to their destinations. They also have partners that work in Asia/Africa. Like I said-- LUXURY travel so it's perfect for honeymooners, retirees, and any family willing to splurge a bit. NO CHEAP here. read more

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Shannon planned our "Lord of the Rings" tour in New Zealand and we could not have asked for a better experience. The accommodations were perfect for our family and her suggestions for food and activities made it easy for us to enjoy this journey on our own comfort level. This trip was truly a dream come true! We fell in love with Queenstown and were even able to get a private lesson at New Zealand's tallest bouldering wall. All of the expenses were clearly stated and the holidays were communicated so we knew what days businesses etc. would be closed. I highly recommend Shannon at Down Under Endeavours. read more

Hello, I have only ever found Down Under Endeavours to be most helpful, most knowledgeable, and most capable. They have booked trips for friends and my friends returned singing their praises about upgrades, insider tips, and introductions that otherwise would not have been made. They have only ever received the highest compliments and accolades for their attention to detail, budget-consciousness, and fun factor! I've met with the owner, Corrinne, on multiple occasions, both personal and professional and have only found her to be dedicated to her work, willing to take on any task for her clients, and utterly customer focused. We have worked together to promote the River North (Chicago) Association and she more than competently completed what she said she would do. I'm sorry about these other less than glowing reviews (unsurprising that Corrinne would place her neck on the line in a public forum to make her clients happy). That has never been my experience, at all, and I would encourage anyone to book their travel with them, especially to the Land of Oz and/or New Zealand. If you would like to speak further, please contact Corrinne and she can place us in contact. Sincerely, Patrick Shaughnessy Ullr Insurance San Francisco read more

We just got back from a trip Shannon planned from down under endeavors for my husband,son and I to Australia and New Zealand.. we had an amazing time because it was so well planned and thought out .. we never ran into any issues and Felt every day we were doing something alittle different and fun for us all.. loved all of our hotels, Excursions and especially the people we met along the way.. we will definitely use Shannon and down under endeavors again:):):)):! read more

Shannon & DUE Gave Us A ROCKSTAR HONEYMOON! If you do not want to read my novel of a review below here is basically all you need to know. For our honeymoon, we went snorkeling and scuba diving on the reefs of Fiji, went ice glacier hiking on the mountains of New Zealand, went Bungie jumping, went on wine tours and explored every inch of New Zealand. We took international planes, private puddle jumping planes, helicopters, boats, trains and had a rental car.The amount of planning that went into the logistics alone was worth it. Every detail of our honeymoon was precisely planned to perfection. End of story: if you want a honeymoon or vacation (holiday) that your family and friends will talk about forever, do yourself a favor and book with DUE! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where do I start ... First I will say if you are reading this review you are probably doing your due diligence and being cautious before jumping into something like myself. I must say at first I hesitated because it's 2018 and why do you need a travel planner when you can look everything up on Google and plan your own trip right? Well, I could not be any more wrong. Below I listed some of the benefits of Deep Under Endeavours. 1. Shannon: She is out of this world amazing. If everyone who works at DUE is as precise and wonderful as Shannon you are in for a treat. My wife and I planned this trip over a year in advance. We must have asked Shannon an exhausting amount of questions via email, phone and video conference calls. Shannon was beyond helpful and always there to help when we had questions or concerns. 2. Expertise: Can you plan a honeymoon or big trip across the world by yourself; absolutely. . . Will it be as organized and precisely planned like DUE will offer; absolutely NOT! From the moment you start your adventure literally everything is taken care of. We actually booked our own flights and there were times that Shannon said, this is a tight connection; this airport security is great; it says it will take you this long but it actually takes this long; stop and check out this stop; don't forget to bring this; do you have dinner reservations for this night and so on. 3. Logistics/Planning: On our honeymoon, we took multiple planes, private boats, helicopters, private planes, trains and had a rental car. Everything was planned out perfectly. (i.e - When you get to this location, turn right and go through the sliding glass doors, there you will be picked up by xxx and will bring you to xxx where you will receive your voucher to get on your boat. You are already checked in but call this number to confirm, give yourself xxx amount of time before confirming. You will have xxx amount of time before your boat departs so check out this location that is within walking distance when waiting and etc.). 4. Price: I'm not going to lie. My master plan, in the beginning, was to pay the initial deposit, receive the travel itinerary and then plan everything myself. You cannot beat DUE prices, trust me, I tried. You pay for top-notch service as well as discounts on everything that is planned. 5. Do it: Seriously, you are still reading this? Just do it! My wife and I have the travel bug and cannot wait for our next adventure with DUE. Trust me, DUE will plan a trip is once in a lifetime (...or if you book multiple trips with DUE, a couple times in a lifetime :) read more

Last year, when in the beginning stages of planning a destination wedding in the Cook Islands, I was steered towards someone who could potentially help me receive a bulk rate on airfare for our group of 50. I was shocked to learn that it was here in my own city of Chicago - just a few miles from where I live - Corrine at Down Under Endeavours! Although I wasn't expecting any miracles, nor a hand-crafted tour of the Cooks, I reached out to Corrine, the owner. She was wonderful, helpful, insightful & said she get back to us with a few days. Nonetheless, she did so, & was able to assist our large group. Both her & her gracious teammate, Ayse Ucarkus, were -constantly- communicating with us, following up with questions in a timely fashion (something I can't stand is when I'm always reaching out & never hearing back in a timely manner) in a professional, yet laid-back & fun. They did so by phone, sometimes text, or emails. I want to stress that they were both consistently swift in their replies to us. They were consistently great, articulate, explained any small issues that arose thoroughly - & always provided immediate solutions, when needed. To be honest, at times we may have been a bit high-maintenance for them when we encountered a few small speedbumps - especially considering they weren't providing a complete itinerary for our group as it wasn't necessary to do so. The takeaway is, they truly took care of us from beginning to end. Period. There's never an issue that's too small or too large for them to tackle &, to provide a resolution. if you are ever at all considering a trip to the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand, South Africa or Australia (Corrine & a few of her staff are initially from Oz), I highly recommend Down Under Endeavours in a heartbeat. Their level of customer service & knowledge of the aforementioned places in the Southern Hemisphere is beyond extraordinary... read more

We had a great experience with this company. We recently went on a trip to Fiji and New Zealand for a 2 week trip for our honeymoon. Katie Marta (one of their Luxury Travel Designers) was awesome to work with. She took our budget and talked us through all our interests and things we liked to do and came up with an awesome trip for us. She went through several iterations even to get the trip exactly how we wanted it. She had a great knowledge of both the vendors for activities and places to stay. She booked literately everything for us and made the whole process of planning our trip so much less stressful and allowed us just to focus on picking things we wanted to do without having to plan logistics and review every vendor. We just recently got back from our trip and it went as smoothly as could be. We traveled around a lot and all of our pickups were on time and in the right place and extremely pleasant. Our accommodations were fantastic (special shout out to "The Dairy" in Queenstown). All of the activities vendors were great and friendly and we had no issues with anyone. All in all we had a hassle free vacation planned for us with everything we wanted and more with great accommodations and vendors and I would definitely choose them again. **Extra side note on cost- We paid $250 flat fee to the company to plan our trip, that's it. The rest of the cost all was from our trip. They were more than worth the cost, not least because Katie was checking LAX to Fiji flights at 10pm one night and got a great deal that saved us almost $200 on what we expected to pay. read more

We chose Down Under Endeavors to plan our honeymoon in New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Now I will say that our experience wasn't bad. Audra, our consultant, was super nice and she was able to organize our itinerary to where we could do everything we wanted to do. She's the reason why this isn't a 1-star review. The reason I am writing a bad review is the pricing. They market themselves as a "luxury travel agency" and when I got the itinerary with prices, I definitely knew they were going for luxury prices. I'm not one to just accept paying a large amount of money without doing some research to see where we could save. Using the itinerary, I looked up everything, thinking I could see where we were spending too much and ask for a downgrade on specific things. What a surprise when I added everything up and found that I was almost $2000 under their quoted CASH price (so we wouldn't have even gotten airline mile rewards unless we wanted to pay an extra $335). I asked Audra if there was a conversion issue because I couldn't understand how the price could be so different. She said that there were discrepancies due to us using non-refundable rate quotes for the hotels, pricing a different tour than they offered, and that their conversion rate was slightly higher (by 2 cents) than what Google said. Again, did my research. I updated all of the pricing and still came out to over $1000 saved if we booked ourselves. Audra contacted other departments in the company and came back with a one-time discount. Still wasn't enough to beat what we were seeing so we decided to book our honeymoon ourselves. I'm currently at $1800 under their quoted price. They put on their websites that "Unlike a travel agent, we don't mark up every item on your itinerary. Instead, we charge a one-time planning fee, and all other costs go directly toward your trip." That doesn't seem to be true and honestly, I don't blame Audra for being limited by what her company gives her for rates. I should have known that a $250 planning fee wasn't enough to pay for this service. The one thing that extremely pisses me off (and the reason why I decided to write this review) is that we decided that we'd at least book our airfare through DUE. I couldn't figure out how they were getting really good prices on flights until after we booked the flights through DUE. Come to find out, if you book a "multi-stop" trip through Air NZ, you get better prices. And just for fun, I tried it out with our booked flights (since I had never done a multi-stop trip before). What a lovely surprise to find out that we were overcharged by exactly $150. I highly recommend that if you go with DUE, please do your research because I'm sure you'll find that you can save your money by booking directly with the hotels and activities. They say that all other costs outside of the planning fee go towards your trip and "our rates are certainly competitive with what you'll find online" but I can't see any truth in that. On the plus side, this $250 planning fee (well I guess $400 total fee, with the $150 extra we paid for flights) got us a super detailed itinerary that we used to book everything ourselves. Not really worth it. read more

PSA - Do not use this agency if you plan to use hotel points for your trip. When we signed up for trip planning and paid the $250 fee, we did not realize and were not told that the agency has a booking minimum for each trip......ours was $8,000. Since we planned to use our points for hotel stays, we couldn't come close to the 8k minimum needed for them to book the trip for us. We were also surprised they were not willing to lower their minimum, perhaps to 2-3k, and instead, they could have focused on booking the tour/excursions for us that would have hit that minimum. I feel they are boxing out a demographic of savvy travelers who save up their points for big trips, like those to Australia + New Zealand. We have plenty of money to spend just not in the traditional hotel way! To that end, I would also think if you decided to stay in Airbnbs or VBROs on your trip, you would also not be able to hit their minimum since that doesn't count as booking through their hotel vendors (just a thought, our focus was on the points though). I gave the agency 4 stars in this review because we were given great recommendations by our agent Avalon for itineraries around Australia and New Zealand. We learned after the fact that the $250 is for the trip itineraries, and the booking minimum is for the actual service of them booking things for you + the in-country 24/7 support, etc. We value the travel advice we were provided and it certainly helped shape our trip, but we are deeply disappointed we couldn't use their whole service due to the minimum. Thank you Avalon and hope this serves as some insight/advice for Down Under! read more

Laura Tober and her team at Down Under Endeavours move mountains to say the least!! Like most reviewing, we started planning our honeymoon over a year in advance and am 100% positive it would not have been possible to logistically and flawlessly execute without Laura's help!! New Zealand (North and South Island) and Bora Bora were both bucket list locations for me and my now wife. After speaking with Laura we felt confident that with her help we might be able to check both off in one 3 week trip. She did not disappoint and planned an unforgettable honeymoon! We were not an easy client and know we were very demanding at times but Laura never wavered. She kept her poise, patience, and professionalism like only a seasoned vet could. One week before our honeymoon after the entire 3 week trip was planned and the final itinerary reviewed and approved, my wife found out she was pregnant. We told Laura in a panic thinking there may not be time to change or cancel any of our planned adventure activities. Under the tight deadline, Laura once again delivered! She recommending alternative activities that were more suitable for the pregnancy and then booking them in record time. This was one of many curveballs we threw at Laura. She knocked them all out of the park!! Thank you Laura and DUE for making our honeymoon truly special and a once in a lifetime trip!! We will be a repeat customer and greatly appreciate all your hard work, time and fun loving attitudes. P.S. Thank you, Laura for all the gifts and card along our travels!! :) Sincerely, The Marks read more

My experience with Down Under Endeavors goes back 5 years ago but I wanted to give credit where credit is due. My wife & I enjoyed an incredibly relaxing honeymoon as a result of the efforts of these fine people. I have to admit I was a bit of a pain in the ass, constantly changing the details or requesting another quote but they hung in there. It probably took me a month to get the honeymoon booked but that was entirely my fault. I wouldn't have been suprised if they had told me to go pound sand as I had to have been trying their patience. Thanks again...we had a wonderful honeymoon & terrific memories that will last a lifetime. read more

I would highly recommend using Down Under Endeavors to help plan your next big adventure. My friend and I recently went on a three week trip to Australia and New Zealand. Jill, the agent we worked with, helped coordinate over 9 flights, 6 hotel rooms, a trans-nation train ride, and activities ranging from winery tours to ice glacier hiking. A trip of this nature could not be expected to go without flaws, but when we did encounter road blocks, our U.S. and New Zealand contacts were easily reachable. If you are looking for regional experts, Down Under Endeavors is the way to go! I would personally recommend spending as much time in New Zealand as possible. It's magical :) read more

Down Under Endeavours set me up on an outing in Tasmania with Pepper Bush Adventures. The following is my review: As a lifelong outdoor enthusiast, I've visited some of the world's richest natural environments. But those experiences pale in comparison to the day my wife and I spent with Craig and his outfit Pepper Bush Adventures touring the Tasmanian bush. From the moment we were greeted at the airport, Craig worked with us to tailor the trip to our specific desires. The menu of potential activities seemed limitless, but my wife and I agreed on three specific themes: food, wine, and nature. With the highest level of hospitality, Craig saw to it that we had a complete experience in all regards. We kicked off the day by visiting two outstanding wineries, each representing an extreme end of the commercial spectrum. One was small and rustic, while the other was large and polished, but both offered copious tastings of high quality wines. After warming our bellies and purchasing some bottles to send back Stateside, we ventured off into the wilderness in the maroon Pepper Bush SUV. Along the way, Craig interspersed recounts of his own adventures growing up and "going bush" with insightful educational lessons on the uniqueness of the local habitat. Occasionally we stopped the ride and stepped out to see, taste, and smell lush vegetation such as Pepper Bush, Tea Tree leaves, and Sassafras; some of which served as ingredients for the incredible meal Craig later prepared by the fireside. We capped off the outing with a round of night spotting during which we viewed an abundance of wombats, Spotted Quolls, Echidnas, and we were lucky enough to spot one Tasmanian Devil. Throughout the adventure, what shone through was the tremendous pride and passion Craig has for all the things Tassie has to offer. His enthusiasm and love for the island was infectious, and all but ensured our return visit. read more

Down Under Endeavours Inc. - Tasmania - Travel Services Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

My husband and I worked with Down Under Endeavors to plan our honeymoon for August 2018. Katie was absolutely wonderful to work with. From our initial phone call, I knew that it was a match. Katie listened to everything I said and used that information to create a personalized itinerary. She gave us time to think it over and made revisions where we had feedback. Fast forward to the actual honeymoon - everything was absolutely perfect. We enjoyed our excursions, appreciated the restaurant and bar recommendations and appreciated that everything was planned so precisely, down to having contacts on the ground in Australia and New Zealand for local concerns given the time difference. I would absolutely recommend working with the Down Under Endeavors team. read more

Down Under Endeavours is really the place to go for travel to the South Pacific! I have to admit, when Corinne suggested a trip to the Cook Islands I needed Google maps to figure out where in the world they were but, WOW, what an amazing place! We stayed on Rarotonga (or Raro as the locals call it), the largest of the islands in the Cooks at a beautiful 2 bedroom condo--Te Vaka Roa Villas--right on the lagoon with views from the balcony to die for. We had the best of all possible worlds, the Pacific for snorkeling and the rainforest for hiking. The people of Raro were absolutely lovely and the islands is still without any westernization--i.e. no US chains! It was so great to spend a week without fast food and coffee chains on every corner. I loved that the chickens, pigs, goats, dogs and cats roamed the island freely. While I have never been to Hawaii, I understand that Raro is like Hawaii used to be, before it was built up. If that is the case, I don't really need to see Hawaii! Must do: - Saturday market - Lunch at The Mooring Fish Café (at least once, we ate there 3x) - Hiking with Pa (ONLY if you are in shape, really, expect to climb) - Cultural show/dinner at Highland Paradise (dinner just OK, Show and history amazing) read more

My husband and I used Down Under Endeavours to book our 3 week long honeymoon to New Zealand (South Island) and Bora Bora! Candice Heckel was our trip planner and she was awesome. Our second meeting with her she even served us wine from New Zealand :) I have already recommended her to several of my friends. Candice listened to our vision and had great recommendations for places/activities that we didn't know existed. It was the perfect mix of relaxation, adventure, and wine! Our honeymoon was truly the trip of a lifetime and couldn't recommend their team more!! read more

I have booked multiple trips with Down Under Endeavors and in fact just got back from my latest one in New Zealand. They have always been wonderful to work with, very knowledgeable, and able to customize to exactly what you are looking for. My wife and I wanted a few days of adventure mixed with a few days of nothing but beach time. They put together a wonderful package with several options should we want to add, it was precisely what we were looking for. As for the pricing, it was exactly what I expected. We were given a range of options and activities and they worked with us until we found the right mix for us, it was perfect !!! PS. I'm already planning my next trip with them :) read more

Laura Tober at DUE provided superior customer service and recommendations for our honeymoon in Australia. I had my initial concerns as I have never booked through a travel agent before. Nevertheless, Laura's professionalism and consultative approach left us with one of a kind, hand-selected experience we will remember for years to come. Each of their travel consultants have first hand knowledge of the cities they book, which allows you to ask them for recommendations that only a local would provide. They do a great job fitting any budget--I never felt pressured to purchase a more premium experience but was given full transparency when a more/less premium package was available. I will definitely be using their travel agency for future travel plans to Fiji and New Zealand. read more

have been working with Laura at Down Under Endeavours over the last few months to plan my trip to Africa later this year. There is no way I would have been able to plan this trip on my own. They walked us through every step of the process and what we need to prepare for our trip. While I have not taken my trip yet, the experience so far has been very positive. Thanks so much! read more

Best travel prep and organization ever. Vanessa planned my whole honeymoon down to the last detail and it went off smoothly and with no hiccups! I hope to travel soon so she can book my adventure again! read more

After deciding on a last minute trip to Australia, my family and I opted to use DUE as the agency after reading all the good reviews on the web. On the negative side, there were some issues with the tours - not all of them their fault (horrible service on certain tours), cockroaches in some of the hotel rooms. The budget was over what we had set out. I understand that they are a "luxury" travel group but when you specifically tell them certain things aren't needed, I feel that it should be honored. Our hotel on Kangaroo Island was booked for one of the penthouse suite. Again, I understand it's a luxury tour, but I specifically had told them that none of us need or want that sort of accommodation and would have rather saved the money to spend elsewhere. Probably the largest error was the last part of the trip out to Fiji. These are supposed to be customized tours to Australia and the surrounding areas. The trip was myself and my parents. So, the fact that we were booked on an island that seemingly catered to couples and honeymoons does not make any sense when there were other islands that seemed to cater to families. On the plus side, they were quick to respond to emails. Also, when the tour we booked at the Sydney Opera House was full because the Opera House decided to oversell their tours and refused to let us on the tour (despite that we had tickets for that day), they did refund us themselves for this tour when the Opera House refused to refund us. read more

Let Down / by Down Under Tavel December 1st 2015 thru January 5th 2016 Let me begin by saying we would never use or recommend Down Under Endeavors again. It's our daughters last year of school before she graduates and begins her career in Education. We wanted to let her choose the destination. If you are like us we had no clue of the culture or have attempted traveling abroad, experiencing multiple destinations. Traveler Beware! In order to get real help you really need to do your homework. After completely confiding in and trusting Down Under with our Itinerary, we received a quote. WOW, was my first thought. $$$$$$ Along with the estimate, comes relentless pressure to "lock" things up because everything is booking up fast and you may lose your opportunity. Nonsense! Hotels are abundant and you will find better more accommodating arrangements by reading and reviewing other's posts. It is in their monetary interest to choose from Down Under's limited options. Don't do it. There are endless opportunities for activities and excursions that you don't "have to prepay for", "you won't lose the opportunity" and you won't overpay for! Spending a month abroad and booking daily activities and prepaying for them requires you to commit and tie up your money regardless of the weather....most go rain or shine. By waiting until you arrive at your destination you will, get feel for the excursion itself, go on a nice day so you could enjoy it, and not overpay for it. After going way over budget, we requested "costs" for excursions and Hotel rooms so we could adjust and make decisions on what we could possibly change or skip. They won't share what YOU'RE costs are by room or excursion. They lump it into one estimate to protect their "markups". Wait until you get there or find someone that has already traveled to your destination. Simply, Taken advantage of read more

Despite the negative reviews below, my husband and I recently hired Down Under Endeavors to plan a trip to New Zealand from which my husband and I just returned. Admittedly, I was pretty weary about the negative reviews posted to this vendor, mostly because we knew we'd have about 3 weeks to travel and we didn't want to waste any time with negative experiences. We also wanted to get the best and fairest price. As a result, I actually reached out to Down Under, the negative reviewers and also to the travel agent recommended in place of Down Under. After speaking with all parties, it became apparent that 1) for the level of accommodations we wanted and the activities we had planned, the price would be almost identical if we booked with one company versus the other; 2) both companies' owners know each other and operate almost identically to each other. Because of this, we decided to go with Down Under, since they were the first company we contacted. Our travel agent, Ellen, at Down Under Endeavors nailed it right on the head. For our first time in NZ, I feel like we got to see all the "key" scenic spots while we were in the country. Everything was pre-booked for us and easy; we followed our itinerary and encountered no problems. Drivers were waiting for us when the company promised them and hotels knew our travel plans and let us check in early on days we were flying in before check-in time. I know that if we hadn't hired this company, we would've had a much more stressful time planning this trip, and we wouldn't have been able to see or do as many things as we did by operation of the simple fact that we would've had absolutely no idea about them. Would I hire them again on a return trip to NZ? Probably not. Now that we've seen some highlights and are familiar with the country, we'll probably stick around in one or two spots for a shorter trip. However, would I hire them for a trip to Australia or Fiji or Bora Bora? Absolutely. For stress-free bookings, incredible attention to detail, really prompt replies, extremely customized itineraries, and the best vacation of your life, it was totally the right decision to go with Down Under Endeavors. I'm glad we got over our initial misgivings and put our trip in their capable hands. read more

We worked with Laura at Down Under Endeavors to plan a trip to New Zealand and Australia. We were not going as part of a group or tour and wanted to make certain that we had plenty of activities lined up before we went. Laura was very easy to work with. She asked about our interests and what type of things we wanted to see and do while "down under". Everything was prearranged and paid for prior to the vacation. About three weeks before we left we got a packet with all our travel documents, vouchers for tours and hotels and a complete daily listing of instructions for what we were going to do each day and where to meet our tour or where to go. It was fantastic. When we arrived in New Zealand and throughout our trip everything worked perfectly. There was not a single glitch at any of the hotels or activities. In addition, we were scheduled for activities we might not have otherwise done and which we greatly enjoyed. We had reviewed what these day tours and activities would be but until you actually do them, you don't really know what they will be like. We highly recommend Down Under Endeavors to anyone planning a vacation to New Zealand or Australia. read more

Ellen Hoffman planned my honeymoon in Kenya and Tanzania and she was AMAZING to work with! While I usually plan my own travel, I wanted help for my honeymoon since I had plenty to plan leading up to my wedding! You can imagine how nitpicky someone who plans their own travel can be, but Ellen handled all of my thorough questions like a champ! It's awesome to know that she had actually been to a lot of the places she was recommending to us so she truly knew what we would like. When I explained that the total package was a bit pricier than I was hoping for, she gave me alternate options and explained why the cost was higher (park fees, all food included etc). On the actual trip, she was very responsive and answered any additional questions that I had while I was there. Everything was seamless and easy on the trip. It was great not to have to think about any logistics at all since everything was already set up! I highly recommend Downunder Endeavours, specifically Ellen. Thanks again Ellen! :) read more

My husband and I used Down Under Endeavors for our honeymoon and could not be happier with the end result. We were fortunate to work with Candice who was beyond helpful throughout the entire process. She was responsive, patient and very knowledgeable on all aspects of our trip. We did New Zealand (South Island only) coupled with Fiji and every single hotel, activity, dining recommendation was amazing thanks to Candice! Using them took the stress of out planning a big vacation and it really was the trip of a lifetime.... not one single complaint and I would definitely recommend DUE! read more

My husband and I used Down Under Endeavours to plan our trip to New Zealand because we knew nothing about the country (other than that it was beautiful) and did not really have time to research everything. This was the best money we ever spent. For a flat planning fee of $200.00 we received a custom itinerary that met our needs perfectly. We worked with Laura and she spent some time getting to know us and the kind of travelers we were and what we liked to do. She put together a wonderful vacation within our budget. What I really liked is that she posted the website links to all of the activities and accommodations so that we could pick and choose where we wanted to stay and what we wanted to do. She also had no problem booking us into an accommodation that I had found myself when doing some research on the Arthur's Pass area. There were a lot of moving pieces to our trip (in-country flights and car rental drop-offs and pick-ups) and everything went smoothly and seamlessly. It was also a comfort to have someone meet us at the airport when we landed in Auckland to get us started and to have a local travel contact in case there were any problems. DUE also took care of rebooking a flight that United had cancelled. We booked seven months ahead of time and Laura provided lots of follow-up during that time and was always available for questions. In a nutshell, DUE provided us with excellent service, peace of mind and an amazing vacation! I would highly recommend them, particularly if you plan on travelling during the busy summer months. I noticed that a lot of the activities/hotels in which we participated were fully booked and we would not have been able to do them had we not booked in advance. Phil and Michelle Apple January, 2017 read more

I have used DUE for two major trips overseas one to Australia and another to New Zealand/Fiji. It had always been a dream to go to these countries and DUE made it possible. Corinne and the gang are fun, friendly and yet professional. They add personal recommendations such as a helicopter ride to a glacier in the middle of a rainforest in New Zealand or a scuba cruise on the Great Barrier Reef. They are willing to create events for a traveling group (how about a bike tour through Sydney's best bars?). They have great ideas for those who love adventure! I traveled to many locations through Australia and New Zealand and enjoyed all of my accommodations. Clean, comfortable and spacious accommodations make traveling fun and I know they personally check out each location and do not sell you on something that they have not approved. The best part of using DUE is that they become family. I have called them to help set up other smaller traveling adventures and their knowledge is immense. Overall, I would suggest using them for any trips in the South Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Asia. They have a lot of experience in those little gems. DUE squashed any of my traveling fears and helped open my eyes to travel outside of Europe or Mexico. I am looking forward to booking a trip with them to South Africa! read more

Katie from Down Under Endeavors was absolutely spectacular at planning our 5 year wedding anniversary trip to New Zealand. She sought our input and incorporated everything we wanted to accomplish. Helicopter rides, glacier hikes, ocean kayaking, ziplining, cruise on Doubtful Sound: you name it, we did it. Thank you Katie and DUE for the most amazing trip of our lives! read more

I agree with Dan M above. I am planning a trip to Australia and was getting some quotes. I contacted Down Under Endeavours and spoke with Ellen. She was very nice over the phone and said that she would put together something. I already had a itinerary draft which I e-mailed her. She came back with a quote that was $5,000 to $10,000 higher than anything I've gotten. What she gave me was not even a quote, what she gave me was a ballpark estimate. I never received a detailed quote about all the different things she was including in the package so I really could not compare. However, when I told her about the quote she responded with this e-mail: "Hi ___, I totally understand! We specialize more on luxury travel so it may be best to go with quote you've been given for that budget as they may be a bit of a better fit for you. Best of luck and happy travels! Ellen" Thank you Ellen, I will take my business (and $$$) to someone else. read more

My friend and I were looking to plan a trip to Australia and this was the first travel agent that we came across. They were quick to put together an itinerary for us and get us a package price, then things sort of fell apart. To make sure we were getting a good deal we looked at the hotel, flight, and tours and then priced it all out as if we were doing it ourselves. Our price was several thousand less than what Down Under Endeavors quoted is. When we tried to dig into the pricing with them and maybe change a tour or hotel stay, they were able to get us a package deal price, but never able to really explain what part of it kept the prices so hi. In the end we went with another travel agent that cost us significantly less and got us into better hotels. read more

I connected with Ellen from Down Under Endeavours to plan a 3 week holiday to New Zealand and the Cook Islands as a graduation gift to my fiance. Everything about our trip and our experience with DUE exceeded our expectations! It was very clear from the beginning that Ellen was very thoughtful in all the details such as room selection, travel route, pace, schedule, excursion selection and the list goes on and on. Where it mattered, we always had the best views in the hotel. It was very evident that she listened to the things I told her about our travel styles and interests. I typically plan all of my trips but it was so nice to have someone do all the work for me and I was never disappointed. She walked us through step by step, there wasn't a moment when I felt I was unsure of where to go or what I needed to do. Their insight to the country and best ways to explore/see all the things it has to offer is also really where the value lies. I don't think we would have booked some of the tours on our own based on the cost of some of the excursions but they were ALL well worth it! There isn't a single excursion I regretted doing! All of them exceeded my expectations. Most of the most expensive excursions were the ones that just blew us away. We both felt so grateful that Ellen placed them on the itinerary and we feel lucky to have been able to experience them. Of the many highlights, I would say at the top are: Waitomo glow worm caves Milford Sound nature cruise and scenic flight The vaka cruise - Aitutaki The only thing I will say is this is also the most expensive trip I have ever taken but the idea was that it is the trip of a lifetime and one we will not be able to replicate again. I am thankful we found DUE's services and we are more than thrilled with the results. We were able to see so much in the time we were there. We know of many other couples who have visited NZ for more time than us and played and explored much less than us. I really feel we maximized our time in NZ and the Cook Islands and we will definitely return. read more

My husband and I (along with another couple) just returned from a three week adventure in Australia. We worked with Ellen Hoffman at Down Under Endeavors for a year planning and fine tuning our vacation. She did an amazing job for us! She worked within our budget and found some amazing tours and experiences for us. She was very responsive to all of our emails, questions and adjustments of our trip through the months before we left. Her attention to detail paid off because we had the trip of a lifetime! She had a contact name and number for us once we landed in Australia that we could call 24/7. The documents she prepared and send us before departure were meticulous. Everything from airport pick ups, hotel tour pick-ups and all those little details were taken care of. We did not have one single issues with the tours, hotel pick-ups, etc. She gave us many wonderful suggestions for things to do and see that were not on our itinerary for any downtime we had on our own. Ellen suggested we see Tasmania and tour there for a week and it was very beautiful and the tours were better than expected! We had one evening dinner out in the bush and and were fed like kings/queens while watching the evening nocturnal animals come to life! We were lucky enough to be able to even feed one little curious kangaroo that crept in slowly while we sipped on wine! In Queensland, we went snorkeling and diving in the great barrier reef, took a fabulous aboriginal tour in the Daintree River Forest and even got to feed a hotel friendly Wallaby by hand! We also toured Sydney and enjoyed every second. The accommodations were better than expected with full ocean views and beautiful hotels. We stayed in a lovely B&B in Tasmania for a couple of nights as well and met some very friendly local folks. I will definitely be using Ellen and this company again as I cannot rate it high enough! Thank you guys so much for all that you did for us! It is not everyday that we can plan a vacation like this and Wow....loved it! Laurel and Jim read more

We chose Down Under Endeavours to help us plan our 2 week honeymoon to Australia in October. We were lucky enough to have Laura help us plan. She was wonderful! We started planning our trip in March and she took the time to get to know the kind of people we were to plan a trip of a life time that was custom to our wants and needs. We aren't interested much in sitting relaxing and spa days. We like to explore and do as much as possible to see what we can. Laura made it so easy and took care of all of our transportation while in Australia. We had a timeline and schedule for each day and literally didn't have to do or worry about anything, but just show up and enjoy what was planned. There is no way I could have ever planned such a thought out trip myself. We were also greeted at each hotel with a welcome letter and sparkling wine! It just added a special touch to our trip! Well worth every penny and would LOVE to use Down Under Endeavours again and work with Laura! Thank you for a trip of a life time! read more

Down Under has planned four trips for me to Australia, New Zealand (twice) and the Cook Islands. Their careful planning and packaging of what I wanted my trip to be was invaluable. I couldn't have know the the right options of the myriad of choices in those countries, so I went with the team that has personal, on-the-ground experience. Worth every penny -- yes it was more pennies than if I had cobbled together my own trip blindly. But also so much a better trip. That's why I keep going back to Down Under when I'm headed to the south pacific and recommend them to everyone who asks (and some who don't!) read more

Where do I start... 7 months before our wedding when I found Down Under Endeavors to book our honeymoon I thought we were in wonderful, friendly, capable, experienced hands. We took out all the stops so we could have a once in a life time trip to celebrate the next chapter of our lives. We spent time selecting the perfect honeymoon with our agent and thought everything was booked and ready. One month before our wedding I emailed our agent to add a honeymoon package to a portion of our trip and received a voice mail within the hour that I must be confused as the dates were not matching the dates she had. I immediately checked our contract and everything looked fine to me, that's when the nightmare began. One month before our trip in the middle of a very chaotic time our honeymoon that was the price of a car turned out to be not only on the wrong dates but the completely opposite honeymoon we had so carefully chosen and agreed upon in our contract. The trip was great but getting there was a nightmare and we ran into further hiccups on the trip. Would I recommend a travel agent, ABSOLUTELY but NOT DOWN UNDER ENDEAVORS. Find someone else. There were way too many tears shed over this honeymoon that should have been stress free. read more

Candice from Down Under Adventures created the perfect custom trip to New Zealand. We were very demanding and picky on what we wanted, but she was able to make the itinerary perfect. Down Under Adventures even threw in a trip to the Cook Islands on the way back for free! An excerpt from the thank you letter we sent Candice right after we returned home: We just got back from our amazing vacation and I just wanted to give you, your company, and the local travel companies you work with a big thank you! Everything was perfect and there was not a single hiccup. We have traveled with a few other travel companies with much less complicated itineraries and they always seem to screw something up. The absolute only thing we had to schedule on our own (which was clearly documented so we were prepared) was a ride to the airport from the Hilton Auckland. We were surprised to find that even for Milford Sound there was a taxi waiting for us in the morning. I'll definitely recommend you to all of our friends and family! A few suggestions to help future travelers: 1) Get the skycouch for the flight over and do it online. it was only $300 total for both of us to have the skycouch on the way there. If you try to do it at the airport however it costs $600. 2) Hilton Queenstown is a great choice for those who want to relax. It has a more relaxing atmosphere than the ones in town. Also, it always faces the sun so its nice and warm. If you are in town you get sun from maybe 10am to 2pm. Whereas we saw the sun at 7am until around 4pm. It was not a problem whatsoever being far from town. The shuttle and water taxi make it easy. 3) Novatel Rotorua was a very standard (though nice) business hotel. Much like the ones I stay at in major cities when on travel for business. Would recommend finding a nice boutique hotel or even B&B in the area. 4) Hilton Auckland is a great choice for anyone. The only hotel actually on the water and located where all the best restaurants are, not to mention next to the fairy and maritime museum. read more

After 2 big overseas trips crafted by Down Under Endeavours, I am really looking forward to my 3rd with them in 2015! Your trip is especially 'yours' - they are creating your trip by matching your vacation interests with the right locations, services and experiences...and they can do this because of their own extensive experiences visiting and/or living Down Under. Truly a blessing to have such knowledgeable, caring staff to handcraft every little detail of your dream vacation! read more

Corinne and Douglas did an absolutely amazing job organizing my latest trip. This one was to Tasmania for 8 days, 4 in Sunshine Coast, and 1 in Brisbane. Everything was very well organized and all accommodations were perfect. I've used them in the past for travel to Sydney, Great Barrier Reef/Cairns, Gold Coast, all over New Zealand (twice), and even Thailand and Hong Kong. Oh, and Fiji and the Cook Islands!! They're the nicest people you'll ever hope to meet, they're available any time day or night, and they busted their humps to make sure my mates and I had fabulous holidays! I've already booked my next trip.....South Africa, Mozambique, Dubai.....I cant wait!!!! Thanks Down Under! read more

I recently planned a trip of a lifetime to Australia. I ran across Down Under Endeavours because they were located in the same building I worked in. Not knowing how to begin planning for such a large trip, I met with Rachel Haile. She was wonderful in asking me very detailed questions about how much I wanted to spend, what was the main focus of my trip (i.e. wildlife, culture, etc.) and timing. There was so much I wanted to do and Rachel worked personally with me to plan the perfect trip. She was able to balance out the appropriate times that should be spent in each location in order to optimize my visit. I was able to touch on a variety of different experiences during my vacation. The hotels chosen were perfect within my budget. Nothing elaborate, but certainly clean and sufficient for my needs. Because Down Under is a highly recognized travel company in Australia, we even received some unexpected upgrades we didn't expect. The best part about Down Under is their attention to your specific needs and their customer service. I never felt my questions were not being answered or addressed in a timely manner and they were very flexible with adjusting my itinerary as necessary. Anyone planning a trip to Australia or other areas they service should seriously consider Down Under Endeavours. They were wonderful. read more