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Insider Journeys

3.6 from 38 reviews · View Statistics

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MarsGeelong

Very disappointed. Did not deliver on advertised highlights.

published 3 years ago

Vietnam and Cambodia in April this year. Was looking forward to a lovely cruise along the Mekong in the boat advertised and I had paid for an upgrade to a delux suite. One week before departure (too late to change) was told that boat had been overbooked and we where on another. The boats rooms were tiny and extremely cramped, our meals where outdoors with all the subsequent insect life and it was definitely not the luxury cruise as advertised. Also advertised seeing Ankor Wat at sunrise. Instead of getting our tickets the day before, we had to ...

Read moreline up at 5am, then there was a problem getting the tickets and we arrived 30 mins after sunrise. Very poor organisation. Our hotels we below standard, I unfortunately had several lots of bedding with holes and stains on them. Not 4 or 5 star, more like 2.

georgecowra NSW

False Advertising

published 3 years ago

We saw advertisement in the Sunday Telegraph in November 2017 for a personal tour of Sri Lanka. Included were TWO safari trips in Yala National Park. We made a booking. Each time we received an email with the itinerary it showed TWO safari trips until the final one which showed only ONE in the itinerary but TWO in the inclusions. We did not pick up this change until we arrived in Sri Lanka. When we questioned it we were told " TWO was a printing error" . When questioning the matter back in Australia the answer was " a mistake of our product team" . Since the trip was well documented several times in a national newspaper, we feel it should be classified as FALSE ADVERTISING.

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PaulFlCanberra 2600, ACT

3 reviews
2 likes

What was promised was not delivered

published 8 years ago

Travel Indochina – Vietnam and Cambodia
We had a wonderful 14 day trip through Vietnam and Cambodia. They are wonderful countries to visit with wonderful people. Our guides were good. However, Travel Indochina’s performance disappointed us. Three examples.
First, we booked the Northern Landscapes tour which included Halong Bay (wonderful trip upon the excellent Jasmine boat) and two nights away, one in a resort in Ninh Binh and one on a homestay. This was a private tour for just my family. Unfortunately, the bus we were provided with ...

Read morehad a broken heater. Northern Vietnam was going through a cold snap, and although we were well prepared, we were not sufficiently prepared for such a cold bus. We sat with polar fleece jackets, raincoats, beanies and gloves in the bus, seeing our breath condense in the cold air. We dealt with this on the first four hour trip to Halong Bay, but we were tired of it after another nearly six hours the next day. This was especially the case as it was time actually driving, not stopping and doing things along the way (only one stop, but we were keen to get to the resort in the cold bus and just wanted to go somewhere warm). Indeed, the description provided of the second day by Indochina Travel indicated we’d be doing a boat trip in the inland waterways around Ninh Binh in the early afternoon, and then have a leisurely afternoon at the resort. As the trip progressed, this clearly proved to be entirely unrealistic (boat from Halong Bay returned just before 11am) and we got to the resort very late afternoon. Talking to the guide, he indicated that the trip to the homestay would involve another 6 hours travel in the cold bus. Not an attractive prospect as the cold was taking its toll on our health. I was not prepared to do this for the sake of the family given the cold bus. We paid additional money for a second night in what was a pleasant resort, bought additional blankets for the bus, and then headed back to Hanoi. This was very disappointing, and arguably could be categorised as misleading advertising (still considering about taking the examples to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission given our displeasure). Mentioned these problems to Travel Indochina. First response indicated that the brochure only indicated that there would be air-conditioned transport, not heated transport! Second response indicated that we were warned it could be cold! And then an offer of a 20 per cent refund which did not cover the extra accommodation costs. Mmmm. Not happy. Second example. We are a family that is happy to camp and not that glitzy and were happy to stay in 3 to 4 star accommodations for the trip (but the cost still totalled over $10,000 for the trip with my wife, daughter for the fourteen days and sister for the first three days – so we expected reasonable standards). We booked into the Church Boutique Hotel in a wonderful location in Hanoi. Unfortunately, we were booked into what was classified as a “Classic Room”. These did not meet Indochina Travel’s description of “each well appointed room has plenty of natural light”. My daughter was in Room 202 which had no windows or TV. When we left for the Northern Landscapes trip after the first three nights accommodation, I asked if the rooms could be upgraded when we returned a few nights later. When we returned, the staff indicated no upgrades were possible. Indeed, my wife and I were put into a twin room rather than the double room that had been confirmed. We mentioned this to Travel Indochina, and they got in contact with the hotel and offered an upgrade and meal. However, at that stage (4th night of 6), I wanted a room close to my daughter who was unwell after the Northern Landscapes trip so declined the kind offer, and our preference was to eat meals out (although the breakfasts at the hotel were very good). Third example, we had once again paid for a private day tour for Angkor Wat. A wonderful description: “Enter the great temple in darkness (please bring a torch) from the little-visited eastern side, and creep along hoary cloistered corridors past the longest stretch of bas-relief carvings in the world.” We were taken to the Western Gate, and had to insist we go to the Eastern Gate. The guide did not have a torch (used his phone torch!). He also had not been informed of what “hoary cloistered corridors” we were supposed to go along. The guide was fine – it just seemed that he had not been informed by Indochina Travel what he should be doing as part of their tour (we had a partial repeat of this two days later when the brochure talked about a swim and “lunch” – as picnic lunch was theoretically provided – under a wonderful waterfall. Waterfall was wonderful, but no one seemed to know about the picnic lunch.) Just seem to be major communication issues within the company, and a significant gap between the brochures and what the guides and hotels have been told. Enjoyed the flexibility of choosing different combinations to create a tour. But in practice, the gap between the brochures and reality was unacceptably great. And a failure to recognise the problems created by inadequate transport (no heaters in the bus in the cold with poor excuses afterwards) added to the unhappiness. Would not travel with them again. Flexibility in putting together a trip Communication problems and not delivering

1 comment

Insider JourneysInsider Journeys8 years ago

Dear Paul,

Thank you for the feedback. It is gratifying to hear that you enjoyed Vietnam and Cambodia as destinations; they are indeed breathtaking countries with much to offer. We were also pleased ...

Read moreto hear that you appreciated the flexibility of building your own itinerary with us, this is something we are very proud to offer and our teams in Vietnam are always working to perfect.

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yvonne39newcastle

Very disappointing

published 9 years ago

my sister and i travelled in april on the 19 day cambodia/vietnam tour including the jahan cruise.the boat was going into dry dock food and drink supplies gradually dimished from the second day.the tour manager cynthia did not speak to us once the rest of the crew were excellent.the meals included in the land content were terrible until our group of ten rebelled then improved marginally.the halong bay trip did not resemble the itinerary at all very disappoinying.i could not recommend this company to anyone.

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Questions & Answers

Carolynasked 2 years ago

Hi Off to china for 3 weeks with you guys. in your paperwork you have not given any information on accessing the internet while there. What would you recommend for accessing emails and social media while there?

No answers

Tereasked 5 years ago

Hello I am planning on using Insider Journeys for China 14 days. Are they a good company??
Thanks

2 answers

Lucky Lyn5 years ago

John and I found them excellent! They look after everything - 15 days through Vietnam and Cambodia and they have been wonderful . We have learnt so much about these beautiful places - with personal drivers and personal tour guides. We will use them again

F1Hertz5 years ago

I've done ten tours with Insider Journeys (nee Travel Indochina) and all were first class. All transfers to and from the airport went to plan, the guides were reliable, and all the destinations were visited as per the itinerary; I have every intention of travelling with them again. The Chinese trip I did was fantastic - I'm sure you will enjoy going there too!!!

Kimasked 5 years ago

Hi, we are traveling to Japan and using insider journeys when we arrive as our travel company. Does anyone have any feedback on this experiences with this company in Japan?

3 answers

Mythili5 years ago

Don't use Insider Journey. You will have too much free time. I just did 16 days of Vietnam with Insider Journey. For the amount I paid $3220, I did not get my money's worth. You will be better of organizing a trip to Japan on your own. Don't waste your money or time with Insider Journey. Hotels are sub-standard, guides barely speak any English and most of your time will be free time with barely 2 hours of guided sight seeing per day. Rest of the time are free time.

Mythili

Bigcuddlybear5 years ago

I wouldn't recommend them either. We did a trip through Vietnam and got taken from one commission stop to another by guides who could barely speak English.

Kim5 years ago

We are currently in Japan and have used insider Journeys for 3 of our day tours. We have had great guides and no issue with them. We have arranged a 10 day trip and self touring ourselves so only using them for certain tours. We have arrange personal guides for other tours by doing this we have been able to do our own thing at our own pace. You will love Japan, the people are so helpful.

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Insider Journeys

Reviews

3.6

MarsGeelong

Very disappointed. Did not deliver on advertised highlights.

georgecowra NSW

False Advertising

PaulFlCanberra 2600, ACT

What was promised was not delivered

1 comment

Insider JourneysInsider Journeys8 years ago

Find out how Insider Journeys compares to other Booking Services

yvonne39newcastle

Very disappointing

Questions & Answers

Carolynasked 2 years ago

No answers

Tereasked 5 years ago

2 answers

Lucky Lyn5 years ago

F1Hertz5 years ago

Kimasked 5 years ago

3 answers

Mythili5 years ago

Bigcuddlybear5 years ago

Kim5 years ago

Get an answer from our members and Insider Journeys representatives

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