A few years back we contacted Mondo to organise a family holiday to Fiji. Mondo was the agency…read morechosen by default due to it being close to home but we were pleasantly surprised with the service from agent Elise Timoti, and she got us a great deal and sorted everything out for us. Communication was excellent and we very happy. She is the A-Ok part and the reason for the stars. More recently however we have had dealings with Chris Hammond, the Managing Director, somewhat less successfully. We wanted a Thailand holiday based around accommodation we had already purchased via one of those online daily deals. We actually got in touch on two separate occasions as we decided to postpone it by a few months and both times he replied in a very disinterested tone then followed up with a very apathetic quote that he had clearly not spent more than a few minutes on. The options he provided were wildly expensive, despite my having made it clear budget was a big consideration. I ended up doing it myself for about half the price on Expedia. Bad form - I understand maybe most of their money is made on accommodation but if they weren't interested in our flights and transfers-only business they should have said so.

To go with their fun business personality, Air New Zealand has a selection of lime green travel…read morestores. Perhaps because of the high quality service you expect from a great airline like Air New Zealand, my expectations were too high going into the Mt Eden branch. The Holidays Store here was staffed by two elderly women who seemed uncomfortable to be disturbed. Until I was acknowledged it was slightly awkward and I was left standing while they searched for some brochure. Even after explaining what I was after, the information I was given wasn't correct and it is so much easier to use their online store. (Online forms about your holiday and This branch in Mt Eden is aesthetically pleasing but not a lot of help in planning a holiday- kind of like a pretty blonde girl.