Best Booking Services

⭐ 1 STAR I am extremely disappointed with Luxury Escapes. I am a paying Luxury Escapes member, and one of the main reasons I use a service like… Read more

this is because I believe I should be able to trust their recommendations. You use Luxury Escapes because you expect them to take the time, research and stress out of planning your holiday.

Unfortunately, my experience has completely changed my view of the company.

After returning from our holiday, I contacted Luxury Escapes about our experience. I also decided to independently look up the resort and read through the Google reviews and honestly, I wish I had done that before booking.

Many of the issues we experienced during our stay were already being mentioned by other guests in the Google reviews. Had I seen those reviews beforehand, I would have seriously reconsidered booking the resort.

That is what makes this so frustrating. I trusted Luxury Escapes to do the research for me. Instead, I feel like I should have done my own research rather than relying on a company whose entire appeal is that they make choosing and booking a holiday easier.

What has made the situation even worse is the response afterwards. Despite contacting Luxury Escapes and explaining what happened, I have received no meaningful compensation and no real sense of accountability or responsibility.

As a paying member, I expected much more.

If customers have to independently investigate resorts and read hundreds of reviews themselves to discover issues that other guests have already reported, then what exactly are we paying Luxury Escapes for?

I trusted Luxury Escapes to take the work out of booking our holiday. Unfortunately, this experience has taught me that I cannot simply rely on that trust.

I genuinely wish I had researched the resort myself before booking.

I booked ticket with Manjari today for my mum , I had excelkwnt experience with her . She was very helpful.

I found ticket merchant easy to deal with. Grateful for the simplified process

We just finished a week long tour in Thailand with Odynovo and it exceeded our every expectation. From the planning stages (shout out to Dave!! So… Read more

responsive and helpful. So easy to change your mind and get best advice) to the final goodbye Odynovo handled every detail seamlessly.

All of our guides were excellent but Amy was a rock star! (Sugar in Koh Samui and Mr M in Krabi, both great!!). The knowledge of local history and culture was phenomenal. Amy’s attention to detail was unsurpassed!!! Such a sweetheart.

The logistics were flawless- our transport (limo with leather and massage recliners) and accommodations were amazing. We skipped all the crowds and experienced everything in the best circumstances. They took tons of pictures of us and shared them.

If you are considering whether to book with Odynovo, DO IT! You won’t regret it. We will definitely love to use them again and have already recommended them to all our friends and family. Thanks ODYNOVO!!

Chanel Woodall was absolutely brilliant from start to finish. She really listened to what I was looking for and went above and beyond to find me a… Read more

great deal that included everything I wanted. What stood out most, was how professional she was while still being so warm, personable and easy to deal with. Nothing ever felt like too much trouble, and she genuinely seemed invested in making sure I was happy with the holiday booked. The whole experience was seamless and I couldn't have asked for better service. I would absolutely recommend Chanel and will definitely be booking through her again. Thank you, Chanel

If I could do zero I would. I found the agent pushy ringing multiple times a day. I ended up having to block the number. It has turned me off using flybuys travel

Suzanne has been incredibly helpful …. I tussle a bit with some technology and I have appreciated guidance on the load of paperwork received for this holiday!

I was very dissatisfied with the picnic experience - I upgraded to the wine and gin tasting paid a total of $220 for a dismal amount of food, the… Read more

main food in the picnic was 1 cheese and tomato sandwich each very poor - spend your money at a nice restaurant instead - see photo we had eaten the sandwich

THIS WAS A MISTAKE don't book through them. Dodgy charges of "club cruising" not seen anywhere on the booking page, you'd have to navigate to their… Read more

"club" page to see the information which - why would you who would be interested in that crap "chance to win a cruise every month" lies. Was tricked into joining this club and paying even more and an extortionate quote provided for travel insurance found far cheaper elsewhere. Not impressed. Honest company would put in the cost at the check out page rather than bill you for it after you've paid for the cruise and too late to cancel.

"Under the Australian Consumer Law a business must state a single total price including any component a customer cannot avoid paying to obtain the advertised offer. A fare that is unobtainable at the price displayed, because it requires a separate purchase disclosed only afterwards, does not meet that standard."

Pretty disgusting behaviour.

Travelonline was great to deal with, they were prompt with their emails and given all the information we needed. We delt with Nicole C. she was great.

Disastrous Experience – Broken Luggage, Extortionate Guides, and Zero Support I am incredibly disappointed with the lack of quality control,… Read more

non-existent customer care, and subpar arrangements on my recent booking with TripADeal. What should have been a seamless holiday turned into a series of stressful and costly failures. Major issues included: • Transit & Logistics Failures: My suitcase was severely damaged and broken during the trip. Furthermore, we faced a brutal 7-hour stopover without the promised lounge passes, followed by a grueling 5-hour delay on our return journey with zero communication or assistance. • Extortion by Local Representatives: The local tour operator engaged by TripADeal, Egypt Promotion Tours, was deeply unprofessional. Their representative aggressively charged extortionate, unauthorized amounts, completely ruining the experience. • Subpar Accommodations: The Fern Hotel Jaipur in India was plagued with structural, service, and hygiene issues, falling drastically short of what was advertised. TripADeal essentially took my money and outsourced the itinerary to unreliable third-party entities, leaving me stranded when things went wrong. I highly recommend avoiding this company if you value your peace of mind and hard-earned money.

Beautiful properties. I stayed in The Postcard, McMahon’s Point, Sydney for a month - stunning view. James has been a prompt communicator and… Read more

pleasant to deal with. The property was really clean and well equipped. I look forward to choosing another property to stay in from their selection.

Experience oz is so simple to use to secure discounted priced tickets! I have used it to book ALL of my activities for my upcoming trip and will definitely be using it in future again Show details

Great support and help from the consultant Kee. Looking forward to our first family cruise!

Global Work & Travel has been nothing other than inept from the moment I needed them to actually do something. They make promises, fail to follow… Read more

through, and then leave you trying to get answers from an email-only “support team”. I couldn’t get through to anyone with the authority or apparent ability to fix the problem I had, which was very minor. What kind of company takes your business and then makes it this hard to get basic help? A scamming one.

Their customer service has been a complete shambles: poor communication, worthless assurances, no accountability, and no clear path to a resolution. After six weeks of just blatant lies so you will leave them alone, I’ve had to do all the chasing while they’ve failed to achieve even the most modest of tasks such as returning a single phone calls or email. It’s an embarrassing way to treat anybody, let alone a customer you’ve rorted.

Based on my experience, once Global Work & Travel has your money, you’re on your own. Dealing with them has been like dealing with scammers. I wouldn’t trust them to organise a piss-up in a brewery, let alone something as important as travel. Do yourself a favour and avoid them. I reported them to the necessary agencies who will follow this up for me from now on.

Positives: OK value but this is negated by having to pay in full over a year before. Enjoyed learning about the Vietnamese and Cambodian culture.… Read more

(My review is NO reflection on this great cultural experience or the beautiful locals we met. It is purely about Holiday Max as a company). Food plentiful. Most guides (but not all) great and all staff on cruise lovely.

Negatives:

Safety of passengers an issue. Berthing at times in very unsafe slippery muddy hilly areas with no boardwalk where we witnessed elderly and unstable mobility compromised people struggling to get down steep slippery rocky hills to board our boat on the Mekong river. I struggled myself and I am a fit 60-odd yr old. Staff tried to help as best they could but still lots of slipping and sliding. I have video footage to prove it. Many of these people refrained from other excursions due to this and one lady sustained an injury. Our guide at site said we "missed out" on the good berthing spot and "this is what happens in Cambodia". First come, first served and later boats run the gauntlet of safety v's danger. I tried to raise this with Holiday Max both on the tour and on phone when I returned home. On the boat, no help whatsoever from our guide who made a speech to us all about where we were, and how we should "Rememember that we are in Cambodia and things are different to Australia...." Head Office Holiday Max customer service response when I rang was that no-one was available to talk to me or call me back unless I was making a booking but I could email??? I sent an email and got no reply!

We requested a double bed throughout our trip. The confirmation paperwork had single beds. We contacted head office and were advised this was rectified. Didn't happen. Slept in single beds the entire trip...It was all just too hard.

Don't expect to do itinerary tours as advertised. If others on the tour don't want to do it you may not visit the site. It was a show of hands situation on the bus. I have never experienced this before...it was confronting and scary to be honest. I was bullied because my husband and I wanted to do the scheduled Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum itinerary item visit as a few others on the bus/tour had done it before (they disclosed this days later to us) and didn't want to do again and didn't want to wait in a queue. We had travelled to the site and were right outside! Not good enough HM!

Ha Long Bay was filthy and overowded with tourist boats. Our lovely guide said he was embarrassed. Again I have many photos. Also, not at all like ads on tv. Dull, dirty and bleak. The ads are very misleading which is simply false advertising. Not just Ha Long Bay but other places too, including visiting the floating markets. Nothing like the ad. The elephant tour/walk in the forest as advertised was never even mentioned!

Be prepared to tip generously...and often. We are generous tippers at the best of times but the pressure was definitely on from all guides and was very awkward at times.

I would NOT recommend Holiday Max, mainly due to a lack of duty of care to keep passengers safe and lack of communication and undersranding when I tried to talk to them re issues. Lowerish price trip definitely equals below average customer service and can result in a below average holiday experience overall. Do yourself a favour and read the 1 and 2 star reviews on all review sites for a clearer understanding of the company's performance overall. It's not good. Note: As per Product Review protocol we delayed posting this review for a 14 days to give HM another opportunity to contact us which they chose not to do and review got published automatically

This was our 5th year staying here and we will be back again next year. The staff are fantastic! Tim especially who has helped us and been there… Read more

every year. The rooms are great and the view is fantastic. The Hotel went out of its way to help with anything we needed. Thank you Classic once again for another fantastic holiday.

I’ve had such a great experience dealing with Emily Lewis. She was so lovely, helpful and prompt with putting together my quote and answering any… Read more

questions. After dealing with a few other places, the difference in service was huge. Emily made the whole process so easy and stress-free. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Alvin for his support and advice, follow-up and confirmations for our recent Far North Queensland holiday. A true bucket list adventure has been achieved. We enjoyed every minute and had a wonderful time.

I booked an expensive tour but realised it was for the wrong date and had to cancel. I emailed straight away but their terms and conditions state… Read more

there is a 10% cancellation fee. Greg in the customer support team helped me with this promptly so I have gone from a disgruntled customer to a returning customer.

The staff were able to assist with my query promptly and efficiently.

Please don't fall into the same trap as us. Our July 2025 booking and deposit (cruise, flights, accommodation for an October 2026 trip) led to an… Read more

invoice that clearly, boldly stated that payment of balance not required until June 2026. In January, the story changed. We were now required to pay a further deposit of $12000 immediately to secure our trip and, by the way, our flight costs had increased by a total of $4800 despite initial assurances that the quote definitely covered our requested flights. We cancelled in January (9 months ahead of planned trip) and were informed that a $1000 penalty would apply, and that the balance of our deposit would take up to 12 weeks to refund. This despite assurances from the actual cruise line, the airlines and the accommodation venue that any cancellation that far ahead would not, from them at least, require a penalty. We regard ecruising's approach to be classic bait-and-switch misleading advertising and have lodged a submission with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accordingly.

​Overall Impression The route and itinerary itself were wonderful. The scenery and destinations visited were truly fantastic. However, the overall… Read more

experience was significantly degraded by poor leadership, restrictive scheduling, and sub-par catering arrangements.

​1. Tour Leadership & Group Management ​Unprofessional Conduct: Our main tour leader, Alison, was regularly condescending and rude, treating the adult group like children (including making unnecessary remarks about us eating ice blocks because "Chinese people don't do that"). Despite claiming over 10 years of experience, her management style fell far short of professional standards. ​Perceived Favoritism: Clear preferential treatment was shown toward specific members of the group (two Chinese women and their English husbands). ​Comparison with Other Groups: A second group running concurrently under a tour leader named Eddie had an exceptional experience. Hearing their feedback made it clear that our negative experience was specific to our tour leader.

​2. Local Guides & Hotel Accommodation ​Local Guides: The local guides assigned to each stage of the trip were fantastic—exceptionally knowledgeable, with stronger English language skills than the main tour leader. ​Hotels & Locations: While the quality of the accommodation (such as the Mercure hotels) was generally very good, the locations were often isolated. With nothing to do near the hotels during early afternoon drop-offs, guests were left sitting around waiting for dinner.

​3. Itinerary, Meal Timings & Reduced Free Time ​Inflexible & Erratic Scheduling: Meal times dominated the daily routine. Strange timing—such as having a late 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM departure after breakfast, followed by lunch at 11:30 AM and dinner delayed until 8:00 PM—made no practical sense. ​Loss of Free Time at Major Sites: Travel times to designated restaurants were often unnecessarily long. Between long transit to meals and an over-emphasis on dining schedules, our free time at world-famous sights was severely cut short.

​4. Catering & Dietary Options ​Repetitive Meals: The food supplied throughout the trip lacked variety and became very repetitive. ​Unsuitable for Vegetarians: Dietary requirements were poorly catered to. I would strongly advise against vegetarians taking this tour in its current format. ​ ... ​While the core itinerary and local guides were highlights, the overall value of the trip was undermined by tour leader management and poor logistics around meals and locations. I request that this feedback be reviewed by management and addressed with the tour leader involved to prevent future travelers from having a similar experience.

Pani was very friendly , professional and helpful. We are happy with the outcome of our call. Thank you.

Booked Rainbow Beach and Kgari through Peterpans, epic trip highly recommend Show details

Amy was very excellent guide. Very knowledgeable and professional. Very well spoken in English. Local knowledge and pride in the city. Overall excellent experience! Show details

We travelled with the company for Indian pacific train and a week in Perth. Some parts great but overshadowed drastically by the faults. First issue… Read more

no one meets you in Sydney at baggage as advertised, you have to decipher a video to find your transport… good luck!! Next on arrival to Perth accommodation x6 people at our “confirmed” booking, there was no booking for us? Email sent to discover Australia (as you can’t call there is no out of hours number), it bounced as undeliverable! Did end up getting a phone call and after multiple calls, with rude staff member, and lots of anxiety and waiting we finally got three rooms. Meant to be 2 twin and one king. Got 3 kings with offer of trundle beds for 78 year olds! Told to be “happy” we didn’t have to pay for trundle bed! Communication since has been beyond poor and very slow, request for some compensation denied. As they think what happened is ok! Also did upgrade for accommodation, supposed to be 5 star, I’d call it 4 star. If you have a disability, make sure you’re staying near your pickup point, as our group had issues with walking the distance and near impossible to get taxi for short trip. My advise, book elsewhere, with a company who cares about its clients and is open to feedback to improve the client experience! Discover Australia are only about the money in our opinion!

I had a Canada tour, rocky mountaineer train journey from Banff to Vancouver for 2 days. An alaskan cruise with holland america. Doing independent… Read more

travel in Arizona & Texas. The details were planned well by PHT consultant Mark. Needed that security as I am travelling solo. Everything has gone off very well & I am having the time of my life. The weather has been amazing every day. Did the alaskan cruise with no rain at all. Holland america cruise director said that never happens. Very blessed to have a well planned trip and could just relax & enjoy it all. Thanks PHT. I couldn’t have done it without Mark’s encouragement & enthusiasm.

This is a review of the property management agency from the traveller perspective not the owner's. I have stayed at three different fairly high end… Read more

places rented through this service over the last year. Whilst the places are all good, I have some suggestions for the service. 1. The towels are highly bleached - so much that using them leaves a breached smell on my skin. Talk to your laundry about improving this and consider moving away from white towels over time. 2. The information provided for each house is generic and lacks correct detail about what will or wont be available. Information like: what kind of cooktop (gas, induction, electric), what kind of coffee making options (pod, coffee machine, moka pots) and if coffee/pods are provided or not would be helpful. 3. More info / photos on the nature of the dog proof garden areas would be good so people can assess the fit for their dog. 4. More info or a few photographs showing what is provided or not in the kitchen for cooking and baking would be good so people bring the right things. There have been things missing that were stated as provided in some places (e.g. dog bowls). As you have the monopoly on holiday rentals in the area it would be great if you could step up the practical info not just focus on the advertising side.

Eva Green from TravelManagers Australia organised a 16 day tour for 21 people from a car club, to Japan. I have no idea how she did it but everything went off without a hitch. You won't go wrong with Eva looking after your holiday. Show details