Thank you Krystian for taking care of our 2025 Japan Trip we had a blast! Thank you for the patience with me from the time I booked my trip until the last minutes changes. I am looking forward working with you on my next trip. read more

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Jacqueline from Going Places Travel is what I call a "travel magician"! She was able to solve the challenging mystery my travel buddy and I presented: find two business class seats to and from the Middle East from our selected departure city in the USA. She patiently, tirelessly persevered until she found a great solution. My friend and I are enormously grateful. read more

I cannot say enough about how wonderful Laura from Going Places Travel was with helping us plan our recent family getaway in Akumal Bay. It was already a very complicated endeavor as we were bringing in over a dozen adults and children from three different cities and two different countries. But when my dad got diagnosed with cancer, Laura went above and beyond to move mountains and reschedule the entire trip around his treatment plan. At the end of the day we ended up going on an amazing trip which all of us will cherish for a lifetime. Laura helped us find the perfect resort and great flights at very affordable prices. Her fee is extremely reasonable and more than worth the value she delivered and hard work she put in. A+ experience and the best possible choice for planning your trip. read more

I'm so glad and so relieved that I booked my travel to Europe with Going Places in North Berkeley. They have been incredibly supportive and helpful in the midst of the pandemic. They've spent the time to check in about our flights at various points since things started getting more serious and have now arranged to get us a refund--from a financially wobbly airline, one not volunteering to give any money back. This is almost a miracle as far as I'm concerned! It would have been such a hassle, and perhaps impossible, to get through on my own. I have used Going Places on and off for years, but in the last five years or so I have more often booked on my own to save money. It's clear to me now that this has been a false economy -- for the modest fees they collect, Going Places provides tremendous service. This is a really experienced, humane team that has their clients best interests at heart. Highest recommendation! read more

We had a critical failure of an itinerary through South Africa and Madagascar put together by Going Places Travel, with no restitution to date. Unbeknownst to us, the travel agent purchased a number of separately issued tickets for our four family members, rather than purchasing them as connected flights. This ultimately caused serious and costly problems. First, when we were forced to change the date of travel due to passport renewal being late for the children (State Dept extremely backed up spring 2023), the separately issued tickets cost us a huge change fee, over $1000, relative to what we would have paid had they been purchased together. Second, when traveling from Cape Town to Antananarivo (TNR), one must make a connection through Johannesburg. The string of tickets allotted only a 1.5 hour layover in Johannesburg, which seemed normal and okay to us since we thought they were purchased as a single ticket and therefore that we would check bags all the way through from Cape Town. However, because they were purchased as separate tickets, and Lift and SA Airlink are separate airlines, we were unable to check our bags through to TNR from Cape Town, and it was physically impossible to make the JNB-TNR flight: despite getting in on time, being among the first to get our bags, and literally running through the airport terminals, the SA Airlink flight was closed to accepting our bags when we arrived at check-in; we now know that 3 hours is the MINIMUM required to make the connection in JNB. Unfortunately, we were forced to stay overnight at the airport in JNB and missed a ONCE WEEKLY connecting domestic flight within Madagascar. A Going Places colleague within the same company who filled in for our travel agent on a separate day expressed disbelief that our agent had ticketed the flights in this way. We initially approved the itinerary, but had no idea that the tickets were strung together as separate tickets. After getting no traction or even empathy from manager Kevin, we filed a claim with the TCRC; unfortunately, the TCRC seems like it is basically there to support travel agencies except in the most egregious of situations, and ended up being a waste of time. Would definitely avoid for Africa, or anything complex. read more

If you think you don't need a travel agent these days, think again! I can't sing enough praise for Going Places and Laura. Whether large or small travel, these folks will make it so easy, find the best fares and itineraries and save you hours searching and refreshing your kayak screens. Worth their weight in gold! read more

FANTASTIC Travel Agency in the Bay Area. This place is simply, well, fantastic. Honestly, I gotta say I was a little hesitant to use a travel agency to help me with my travel arrangements. I mean, there's the internet, right? I can do it myself and get it cheaper. Right? Wrong. You can do it yourself. Or you can work with these folks and get WAY better deals, insider info, and have concierge type service before you even take off. They can even handle your local car reservations, flights, and all other kinds of local travel, not just your trip to Mexico, Bali, Puerto Rico, or other exotic locales. Super helpful, resourceful, communicative, and very pleasant to work with. Definitely recommend using them for all your travel needs. My only regret? Not using them sooner. read more

We have the worst possible seats on a plane going out of Oakland to Kona this week. We were told by Liezel at Going Places that we could not book the seats when we booked the flight with them-- that we had to book the seats 24 hours before the flight. Unusual for Alaska Airlines, we thought. Well, two days before the flight we call and Steve gets us two seats together-- the last two together-- on this flight. We do not have reserved seats for the flight back-- we have to get to the Kona airport hours before the flight to have any chance of sitting together. I am NOT impressed. The whole idea of a travel agency is to take care of everything. read more

Tahiti was the destination, honeymoon the plan but how to find hotels and flights? Well, Steve was just the man. We met in person, told him just how much we planned to pay and two months later had a lovely Raiatea stay. My one regret, if anything, is that it cost so much -- not Going Places, but the cost of living became such a drain on funds, I wish they'd warned us of the exchange rate; we might have chosen somewhere else. Still, this trip was great. read more

STEVE IS AWESOME!!! Just got back from an amazing trip to Hawaii! Steve is awesome because: 1) Patient 2) Nice and Understanding 3) Finds you the best deals and gives you a lot of options to your liking. And did I say he's VERY patient with you?! For one month notice, he found us a deal that was $845/person for 3 night stay from SFO to Honolulu, Oahu with the Aqua Waikiki Wave and partial oceanfront view. This was done through Pleasant Holidays, including free breakfast orientation, airfaire, hotel, and transportation from airport to hotel, all for only $845 a person! I thought it'd be around a thousand to HI for airfare & hotel, but I told him our budget and he was able to find us a deal! He also gave us options if we wanted to save money and stay in San Diego instead. What an awesome travel agent. One thing that really stood out was because even though it was only a month's notice, something personal happened and we wanted to try and cancel the trip. Yes, I know, very dumb of us, but things happen. He said since it was booked last minute, didn't buy insurance, and it's during spring break season, we weren't able to cancel. It's either you use it or lose it, unfortunately. However, he still tried his best to see what he could do and spent a lot of time with Pleasant Holidays, and was able to give us $300 back if we were to cancel. I thought that was extremely nice of him to go through the trouble of helping us out and accommodating when plans changed, which is why I'm giving him 5 stars. Over the top and outstanding customer service. He told us we can have the weekend to think it through before finalizing the cancellation, and we fixed the personal problem and kept the trip booked. We felt extremely bad for all this trouble we've caused him, but he said he was just happy that we were able to solve the problem and continue with the trip, wishing us a great time. What a great guy. We did have an amazing time, all thanks to Steve. Thanks Steve!! For being SO understanding, patient, and finding us the best deals for our vacation. I'll be calling you again next time I plan another vacation and will plan it in advance from now on :) There needs to be more awesome people like Steve!! read more

Erika designed a great trip to Spain for my husband and me, with charming looking hotels, some day guides, well priced tickets from SFO to Madrid. Unfortunately, Covid19 interrupted the plans and the trip had to be cancelled. This is where Erika, and Going Places, really stepped up to the plate. All of the money I had paid out was returned to my credit card except for a $100 fee. Having always organized our own trips previously I didn't know how it would be to work with a travel agent. But after the experience with Going Places and Erika I will never return to doing all the work myself again. I would never be able to find the good rates and interesting details that these professionals have at their fingertips. Thank you, Erika. Thank you, Going Places. read more

If I could give 10 stars, I would. My friend and I planned a trip to Italy. We had started the planning process but got burned. We met with Steve Henriksen, at Going Places Travel, in Berkeley. He met us on a Saturday and worked through all of our travel issues (plane, hotels, train tickets). Over the course of a few weeks, we repeatedly asked for his help. Steve, was ever patient and helpful. If you are planning a trip, Steve is the go-to guy. read more

Good and particularly professional. Yet what makes them the go to travel agent is the excellent follow-through and customer service they follow-up with. read more

I'm not the sort of person to contact a travel agency - there's the internet, right? But Holiday Travel Panic sent me to yelp and Steven answered the phone. He said come on over. He tick-tacked on the computer for a while and quietly and diplomatically pointed out all the holes in my silly plans suggesting there may be a way around a 400 mile car trip ... we could ski AND see family. He said, "Sure I can get you a one-way car rental for $84"....and..."maybe your husband wouldn't enjoy an overnight flight so much... and the clincher... "I can save you some money." What people forget is that travel agents still have a lock on real time fares...not just the published ones on orbitz and are better at logistics than mere mortals. Going Places...is not just for the international travel.....it's for people like me. read more

I had a fantastic experience working with Carolyn at Going Places. I was planning a multi-destination trip to Europe and doing it myself online was resulting in super expensive options. Carolyn was patient and willing to try many many different options to find the best prices possible, including train options. It was so much easier than trying to figure it all out myself! I like supporting a local business, too! read more

We wanted to take a last minute trip in a sunny destination. After a bit of time on the net looking for deals, we finally called Going places. I thank Tulle for the job she did. She had been really dedicated to us. At the end, we left the day after our phone call to Mexico. The hotel she recommended was great (large and clean room, view on the Pacific Ocean and its whales, massive swimming pools and really close to the city center but still quiet :) ). We had a free transportation to the hotel and the price she gave us included everything. Briefly, the REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CONTACT GOING PLACES INSTEAD OF BOOKING YOUR HOLIDAYS ON EXPEDIA/ORBITZ/... : - You won't have the hassle of spending 12 hours on the net to book your next trip, Going places will do it for you faster than you can and if they know your destination they will get you the best deal you can have (in terms of price, hotel and location). - The price they give you is the price you pay. No additional fees at additional steps. As a funny fact, more it takes time to book holidays on a travel website more it costs ...and still if you use their sites, you do their job! - They will not force you to take a fake travel insurance like they use to do on some travel websites (Orbitz is an excellent example if you need proof) - They have good advices, are helpful and basically know their job. You can trust them. - If you are shy, you can book your holidays by phone. - Over all, the time you don't look on the net can be used for something else, you keep a small business running and you don't work for hours to pay a big business on internet. I could almost say that by choosing Going places you make a better world but that will be a wee bit too much. ;) read more

I don't know how a business like this can stay in business, given all the internet options we have, but I'm glad they've figured it out!! It was a profound relief, after spending hours looking at travel options online, to find a long term competent travel agent to easily take care of my travel needs in such an easy and very affordable way. I pay other professionals for services and don't try to learn their trade. I'm glad to use the services here and look forward to having them help me book future trips. It's great to support a small business like this -- they provided me with valuable service, and I'm truly grateful. Now I can relax and look forward to my travel! read more

I've used theses guys and gals a number of times and I am always amazed at how much money I save. Seriously. They just saved me $1,300. on an out of country round trip ticket !!!! All the stuff on the internet is B.S.- go through this travel agency and they will knock it out of the park for you. read more

Tula is an amazing agent, and always sorts out the best flight, with the shortest layover for the best price. I use her often for travel, and am always happy and relieved that she can get me what I want for a great price. Highly recommended. read more

Hmm. That about sums up my experience with this agency. After calling in with a couple questions, my boyfriend and I stopped into their office to try to book some flights within Argentina. The woman who helped us told us right off the bat she did not have experience with that but that she would go get us some brochures to look at, which was...I think more for her learning benefit than ours. After 20 minutes of discussing what we wanted, she told us she would need to do research and get back to us. She then proceeded to tell us how behind she was on her work and that she had 150 emails in her box she had not yet even read. Hmm. We left feeling less than confident in her ability and professionalism and that was the last we heard from her. She never even followed up with me. I have since booked my flights with a different agency. read more

Highly recommend the services of Tulle Watson here, she is consistently able to help sort out complicated flight plans to Asia for myself and family, have been using her help for a few years now, and everything always works out with her assistance. read more

I went in on an extrmemely busy day, and you could tell that all the agents were extremely stressful at the moment. I also thought to leave because they all seemed far too busy, but I'm glad that I decided to stay and wait. Steve was extremely helpful and professional with all the travel related things, and he really did try to find the best value and lowest price for me. I would recommend this place to anyone who is welling to wait for a great service. read more

Terrible & outdated would simplify my description. I don't normally write negative reviews but this place deserves one. They didn't have the proper amenities to call themselves a travel agency. They didn't even have brochures or anything to show us! The lady that helped us had to call someone else and I could've done that myself! The service was slow and not detailed. BORING. Save yourself the trouble and head somewhere else or maybe just look on the Internet? read more

After many unsuccessful attempts to find direct flights to France and a reasonable vacation package I wandered into this travel agency boy was I lucky they knew all about giving you the best deals the best hotels and the best prices and above that they are so friendly and so hospitable and so knowledgeable but I will never use Internet online again this is the place to use if you want to have a wonderful vacation read more

I booked the cruises few weeks ago from AAA travel agent. When I wanted to confirm the booking & pay rest of the payment I found out my agent was already retired ! Another lady in the same office was not helpful at all. She never returns my phone calls. I was so worried didn't know what to do since I can't pay direct to the cruises line. I sent a message to going places travel from Yelp asked for help. The owner told me I can call anyone in her office and anybody is willing to take care of this matter to me. I talked a wonderful & super helpful lady Sylvia Jacuinde. All I needed to do was changing the new agent from AAA to going places. It only took 48 hours to get done. I was so happy she even got me a special deal & better view room with a less price ! I was so pleased with her good as gold customer service !!! We have been traveling very often last few years. I really can use their services in the future again soon ! Thank you Sylvia ! read more

Steve pushed repeatedly to sell me an airline ticket to London with United Airlines that was $200 more than multiple other airlines. At that point I lost trust and dropped out. read more

Thank you, fellow Yelpers! You were right about this place. We tried to find a way to upgrade our way to Europe, but we'd just about given up on the whole trip when we paid a visit to Stephen Hendriksen. He's very smart and very fast, and he found a way to get us there that met our complicated needs. He stayed past closing at one point, just to make sure that our reservation was secured. Without his help, we would not be going to Europe at all. read more

I had a great experience with Stephen at Going Places. I was going just one way to a relatively unknown place in France and then flying on from there. He found me very reasonably priced tickets and also a hotel in a major airport for a good price. I highly recommend him. read more

Since this agency had given me good service a couple of times in the last 8 years or so, I turned to them in February 2017 to book me a Christmas cruise (2017-2018) to Mexico for 11 people, which involved booking 5 cabins. But after I heard nothing from them for over a week and only got assurances that "they were working on it" when I called them three times the week following, I finally went down to the agency in person--only to find that they had not even STARTED to work on the bookings after all that time. They claimed some sort of "mix up" and "staff shortage", and did apologize. But an "apology" was not enough in this case: not only did I then have to book this cruise and figure out which cabins I should get where myself, but by the time I was able to do so (I started the next day) I was told by Royal Caribbean that the $200 per cabin "special " that they had been running had "just" expired, and that I would now have to book at their current "regular" rates. This meant I lost $200 PER CABIN, and also around $100 "cruise credit" per cabin (depending on the cabin level) --i.e.altogether $1000 for all the cabins, and also a cruise "credit" for around $300-500. When I called and told them this, all they offered was a "sincere apology." Did they offer to make good any part of my around $1500 loss? Of course not! Do not count on this agency to do anything for you promptly, however good they may have been in the past. They certainly do NOT have their act together! read more

It has been years since I've used the services of a travel agent to plan a trip. Expedia somehow turned into my first and usually last website I'd visit to book my trips. But Steve & I have been planning to visit Barcelona & Berlin for months and we seemed to keep running into road blocks that were stopping this dream from becoming a reality. When our online searches didn't work out we even reached out to a travel agent in Fairfield recently who ended up accomplishing nothing to help us move this journey forward. So when Steve mentioned that he wanted to stop into Going Places today, I wasn't convinced that it would do any good. I'm so glad I was wrong! We called first and were told to just stop in. We walked the few blocks from our hotel & were greeted by Steve H. He was pretty aloof but once we began discussing what we wanted his skills really began to shine. He asked good questions, took notes and made some great suggestions! As the flights were coming together even he was getting excited! He found us 2 business class round trip tickets to Barcelona for the same discounted price we originally found on Expedia! Hurray! And by next week he will work his magic & find us an apartment in downtown Barcelona & a boutique hotel in the east side of Berlin! We left in shock & joy by how easy he made this experience! Going Places is now my go-to agency whenever I plan to book a trip! read more

A few years ago, I was having trouble putting a reasonable vacation trip together. I couldn't get reasonable flights and the hotel and car rental rates were outrageous. What made this unusual was that I spent years as a road warrior and I'm reasonably proficient when it comes to finding bargain prices on good hotels and rental cars as well as convenient flights- I hate stops and changing planes. I didn't have a lot of time to devote to getting the trip planned and complained to friend who suggested I call Carolyn at Going Places Travel in Berkeley. Carolyn is awesome. She got me better deals than I could find at any of the so called bargain sites or by dealing directly with the vendors. At the end of the day she saved me a lot of money and I had a better hotel and rental than I could have gotten on my own for the same money. Ever since then, when I am traveling, I call her and she handles it all. Last week, I decided I wanted to take a long train trip. She handled Amtrak, saved me money on the rent a car and got me 4 and 5 star hotels at 2 to 3 star prices. Next year, I want to take my first cruise and she is working with me to find me a good price on a great cruise. Carolyn is nice, honest and she will work hard to get your needs met. read more

I was getting really frustrated trying to find flights for 3 different countries in Europe using Google flights. I sent Carolyn an email, asking for help. In the end, her itinerary cost me half of what I could piece together myself, the woman is connected! And knows where to look. Another travel agent that I consulted found tickets for four times the price, totally crazy. They don't charge a fee, unlike this other agent. Win-win! read more

I stopped by Going Places the other day to get flights to Madrid for me and my family, and it was an excellent experience. The reason I didn't buy online is because I was going to be returning before the rest of my family, and I wanted to make sure I'd be sitting next to them on the way there. This is not something I'd feel comfortable doing by myself online, given all the variables - different return flights, making sure everyone sat together there and back, grownups with baggage, kids without, etc. Tulle went above and beyond the call of duty and found us a great deal on a direct flight, and was extremely patient as I consulted with my wife (by phone) about departure/arrival times. The deal they found me was several hundred dollars less than what I'd encountered online. This is the second time I've used Going Places, and I highly recommend it. They know their stuff, will work with you to find exactly what you need - and they're lovely people as well. Go there and check it out. read more

Carolyn was super helpful with planning our big trip. We had so much going on that we needed help with all the details of our honeymoon. Carolyn asked questions and provided options to create the perfect introduction to Costa Rica. All of our vouchers were accurate and in place for us; we had no problems with any accommodations. I'm very happy that we trusted one of the few travel agencies available and they came through big time. Thanks Going Places!!! read more

I've used Going Places for over 10 years, through my marriage and birth of child. Tulla is wonderful. She's helped me save tons of money going to Hawaii (multiple islands), Mexico, China, Barbados, within US. When she wasn't available her colleagues Steve & Lizelle were also top notch. Now my mom, her boyfriend and all their friends use them. Go old school, use them and save $. read more

Steve was extremely helpful with international plane tickets, making it clear he wanted me to get the best deal I could get, and being very patient and flexible with the variables I was trying to sort out. I can't recommend him highly enough! read more

I have to go to France, An emergency trip. I could not believe how rude the person was over the phone. This is my worst experience. She simply did not take the time to talk to me. I just told her the destination and she hung up on me. I have been their client for 7 years... I am trying Expedia after that experience. read more