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Anyone recomend a company similar to Explore?

5 replies

Knottingley · 17/01/2014 18:04

We were so excited to have identified a "Family Adventure" trip that sounded fantastic. More than we usually spend on a family holiday but DC (10 & 12) have never been abroad and we think it's time their horizons were widened. For this reason we don't want an AI/beach holiday but are also not confident travellers. That's why the explore trip seemed ideal - get to see the "real" country (Spain & Portugal) but have the legwork done for us.

Anyway, the website crashed twice when I was trying to book meaning I didn't really know if we were booked or not, several hours later I got 2 confirmation emails but when I called the company to make sure I'd only made one booking, they had no record of either of them.

I made the booking by phone and they were going to get back to me to confirm flights. Didn't hear anything for 3 days so I chased only to be told they'd booked the return flight from the wrong airport! (They argued with me when I explained they were wrong but eventually conceded that the tour ends at a different airport) They were going to call me back when they'd found the flights from the correct Airport. That was on Tuesday.....

If it's this hard to book, I have no confidence in it actually being a stress free trip so am going to look elsewhere. Any recommendations?

OP posts:
exexpat · 17/01/2014 18:07

We went to Cuba with Exodus last year, and they were very good - efficient, lots of experience, well-planned itineraries etc. By the end of the holiday the DCs were asking when we could do another Exodus one.

Knottingley · 17/01/2014 19:40

Thank you, will have a look at Exodus

OP posts:
breward · 17/01/2014 21:35

We have travelled with explore and exodus. Both companies were fab and we had no problems with booking. We always booked over the phone, so I could talk to a real human!

Good luck and enjoy. Both companies make every holiday seem like a holiday of a lifetime. We book a family adventure every other year. Looking at Zambia next year.

nickymanchester · 18/01/2014 17:54

A couple of other alternatives are Wild Frontiers:-

www.wildfrontierstravel.com/gb/wild-world/wild-child

and Audley Travel:-

www.audleytravel.com/holiday-types/family-holidays.aspx

infin · 19/01/2014 13:21

Intrepid travel runs a huge amount of tours. They are slightly cheaper than explore and exodus but in my experience, just as good.

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