Audley Travel Traveller Reviews

This was a bucket list trip for my family, we spent 3 weeks in Japan and Audley, through our incredible operator Adam Falk, gave us top-tier service from start to finish. From the planning stages where we had no idea what we even wanted other than 'Japan please' all the way to helping us with insurance forms post trip (I got sick, NOT Audley's fault, as I am immune compromised). They held our hands every moment, were available for everything we needed, made sure that we had absolute gems of guides in every place we went, and organized everything in such a way that I didn't have to stress about anything, all I had to do was look at the next page in the book and follow the directions. It made for a seamless and low stress trip which meant we could relax and have fun and make memories as a family, which with my health was what we wanted. Kudos to Audley, Adam, and all the guides (Special shout outs to Rory, Duncan and Dana who were above excellent!)

Again, all the tours were simply superb. We wandered all over the country and a range of experience types, from the snow festival in Sapporo to Edo period architecture to nightlife photography in Tokyo and none of it disappointed. We had such a great time that even with me being sick for part of it (ok, a lot of it), we have nothing but great things to say about the entire trip.

We travelled on a safari to Kenya and then were due to go on to Zanzibar. Audley arranged a superb trip for us, however it was disrupted by the civil disturbances in Tanzania and FCDO advice was not to enter the country. Audley promptly and smoothly arranged further travel arrangements and flights back home. When we had problems with All Clear Travel Insurance who refused our compensation claim for Tanzania expenses and flights, Audley assisted us all the way in helping us claim back any money we could and took a lot of time and trouble to do what they could for us as a company. We were incredibly fortunate to have booked our holiday through Audley. The company far exceeded our expectations during our holiday experiences and were brilliant in helping during unforeseen circumstances.

Audley arranged stay in Kenya at Elephant Pepper Camp (elewana collection). Excellent facilities, helpful staff and knowledgeable guides.

The booking of the holiday was pretty useless from start to finish. I didn’t feel like I was booking through a bespoke travel company offering taylor made travel. The trip suggested lots of things you do in the destination (Costa Rica), but after booking and paying it then transpired in small print that it was pretty much a copy and paste guide and most of it you had to organise yourself when there and pay even more for. With that being the case we couldn’t work out where our money was going. I also felt hounded into booking. I had made an enquiry and then went down with an illness, but even though I made this clear I was still put under a lot of pressure to book and pay immediately, without being in the frame of mind to properly study the trip, being barely able to get out of bed. We were travelling out of season and led to believe we’d be lucky to get into anywhere and flights. When we booked our seats on the flights they were barely quarter full. I understand prices can alter, but that should be made clear to the customer without putting them under pressure to book claiming if you don’t secure it now you won’t go or the price will have gone up dramatically. There should be a law against that as mis-selling. We had so many issues with the flights, that I repeatedly raised and it took some time for Audley to take it seriously. I was then told that Audley had contacted the airline, but the problem still persisted, so Audley contacted the airline again. Our seats disappeared on the airline too - American Airlines - just dreadful. We rebooked the seats, but then just before travelling realised the problem of information missing like passport numbers was still an issue that had been raised several times. Our transition documentation was also incorrect, but this was only sent through at the last minute. It didn’t recognise me only my teenage son, but there was no time to sort it. As we couldn’t check-in online we assumed that the issues which had been raised for months were not solved and how could we travel. What could a check-in desk do at Heathrow do that Audley speaking directly to American Airlines couldn’t do. So we felt we had to pull out, but as upsetting and stressful as that was felt it wasn’t our fault and we should be due a refund. Oh I was wrong. Apparently it is no matter what put down as voluntarily not travelling, even though we were unable to check-in due to issues which had been going on for months that I was repeatedly assured were sorted. Apparently the issues had been corrected on the Airlines internal system, but not their external system and had we gone to Heathrow the check-in desk would have been able to sort it along with transition documents that didn’t even recognise me! I have travelled a little bit, but am no season traveller. How would I know that these issues could have been sorted at Heathrow when Audley speaking directly to American Airlines couldn’t seem to sort them. How would I know it had been amended on an internal system, but not external. Surely that is American Airlines fault for not changing it on both systems, but they have completely wiped their hands. They are so awful I can’t put them into words of how dreadful they are, but Audley knowing how systems work could have re-assured that even if the problems keep occurring still go the airport and all will be sorted. We were just assured it is all now definitely sorted, but it wasn’t. We had four flights to take with no passport numbers as they just couldn’t seem to be added and no transition documents, but it’s still completely our fault for not travelling.

As explained above.

We planned to visit Japan for 2 weeks to reacquaint a 96 years young Aunty with family living in Japan. It was well planned and every detail was well thought out. She was able to get around with the aid of a walker which also doubled as a wheelchair. We loved our accommodations at the Hoshinoya Tokyo, Konansou Hotel with a Mt. Fuji view in Kawaquchiko, Nagoya Hilton Hotel, and ending at Dusit Thani Kyoto. The careful planning of each stop was truly appreciated with drivers and guides that made the trip very memorable. We both loved our visit and reconnecting with family that brought so much joy with shared memories from long ago.

Everything was well planned out and the information we were given was perfect.

Great

Great

Audley Travel and specifically Anthony Vaglica assisted in planning a wonderful several week itinerary based on our expressed interests. They obviously have good relationships with and vet the tour companies they use or recommend. Every single one was excellent as well as reliable. The pacing and attention to detail were top notch and while I usually plan and orchestrate our trip planning, this experience makes me rethink the efficacy of doing that when traveling in unfamiliar surroundings. I will always check with Audley now.

There were several and each one was excellent.

Once in a lifetime holiday to Canadian Rockies and Alaska. We have travelled extensively, often independently, but this time I was willing to pay market leader prices for hassle-free project management and flexible organisation. We had 17 days to travel the route and arranged it over 6 months in advance.

Audley travel assigned us to a senior country specialist who was disorganised, had no attention to detail and lacked knowledge, experience & background. I had to initiate and micromanage much of the organisation. We were given inaccurate information as well. After submitting this review I was contacted by a senior manager. She acknowledged that my experience had been poor, accepted my feedback and offered a good will gesture which I accepted.

The lodges I choose were all excellent. Apart from the international flights and the frequently wrong or missing information provided by Audley it was a good trip.

I organise three International wildlife/safari trips for us most years. This trip should have been the easiest to organize as I knew exactly where we wanted to go. To revisit Pench to a then new camp, Jamtara Wilderness, that I had found on our 2019 trip and to Satpura to revisit Reni Pani and their new sister lodge, Bori, that was originally planned to open in 2021. We simply needed the international and domestic logistics organised. Unfortunately my preferred consultant, who I had worked with before, was on maternity leave and I was randomly assigned some guy. He was not interested in listening to my thoughts and preferences (Mumbai as a point of entry had served us well on previous trips, while Delhi was disliked from previous experience although I acknowledged that the ‘new’ airport may be a different experience: but Delhi was Delhi, we had vowed never to return to this filthy noisy city. For airlines eastern airlines were preferred – Emirates or Etihad had served us well in the past, we preferred to avoid BA while Virgin was an absolute no no. Back came the recommended itinerary, we were flying to Delhi on Virgin! No explanation, no positive arguments, our preference were ignored, we were going to Delhi on Virgin. Without reference to us and our thoughts our itinery at each destination was also settled; we would never consider using a bus or canter, private vehicles were a must, we wanted to spend as much time as possible in the Parks other diversions were not required. I cannot work with someone who cannot listen, I requested a replacement consultant. With a new consultant we removed most of the errors and omissions although it proved impossible to remove all the nonsenses: no option other than Virgin was offered, to quote Audley “we don’t use Air India”!, for some reason the option of canters could not be removed, nor could the driving conditions between Nagpur and Pench, and on to Satpura and Bhopal be updated from that pertaining in 2016 and 2019! Ultimately I was left in the nonsense position of being asked to enter into a binding contract featuring an itinerary reference number when I had four different versions of the itinerary all undated and all bearing the same itinerary reference number! A number of other issues arose. Audley didn’t bother to tell me that the Virgin flight timings had changed, I was left to find it out quite by accident myself. Nobody told me that to enter Indian airports you had to produce a boarding pass at the entry point. Not a problem initially as I was able to print the passes for the first Indigo flight before leaving home and the Audley/Travel In rep’ who turned up at the Leela provided boarding passes for the second Indigo flight. But when I checked-in online for the return Virgin flight there was no option to print (I did not have access to a printer in any event) the passes or e-mail them to my account. The only options were to download them to the Virgin app on my smart phone or pick them up at the check-in counter. As I have neither a smart phone nor the Virgin app I had to rely on picking them up at the check-in counter. But on arriving at the airport I had to produce the boarding passes at security before I could reach the check in counter! With much difficulty and rapid talking I manages to blag my way in. I found out later that a print of the e-ticket would have sufficed as an alternative to the boarding pass; but Audley don’t issue e-tickets (unlike all other travel agents). Incorrectly Audley advised that anti-malarial tablets were required. This is incorrect, if you refer to the ‘Fit to Travel’ web site (generally accepted as the bible on anti-malarial requirements) the majority of India is listed as ‘low to no risk’, only in very limited areas are prophylactics recommended. I could go on, but I’m bored and have better things to do.

We went to Chile. Audley's local connection was Trails of Chile, so this is a review of them as well. The price was not cheap, but there wasn't anything cheap about what they delivered. Excellent hotels, with great location, strong service, great facilities, great food (where included), superb guides, etc. We went to the Atacama Desert, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Patagonia (Torres de Paine) and the cities of Santiago and Valpareso). Everything promised was delivered exactly as promised. There was no effort to add anything on or push us to a store or in any way go cheap. We went in Chilean winter, the low season--all the better. No crowds, no waiting. Admittedly we were lucky in Patagonia where weather could have been an issue, but we knew the risk. The trip of necessity involved ten different air flights (six within Chile). Not fun but all on Latin American Air, which was better than most anywhere.

See above. Not cheap but delivered on everything.

We booked with Audley and they were fantastic until they had our money. However, one third of our trip was AWFUL and they literally had a tour guide for us for our four days in Hoi An who tried to (and succeeded) in ripping us off, upcharging us for services that he wasn't providing (merely translating), and essentially holding us captive and forcing us to go to a pottery village and wouldn't let us leave despite us saying we had no interest and didn't want to spend our money there. He forced us to go into at least six shops in that village alone telling us to buy something. Entirely unprofessional. We also almost missed our flight out of Hoi An because he insisted we didn't have to leave as early as everyone else said to leave (you could tell from his hungover face and Facebook pictures it was because he wanted to party the night before). Anyways, we didn't have our AIRLINE TICKETS until SIX minutes before boarding began and then he left us to fend for ourselves. We had to do our best to communicate with people in the security line to ask to go ahead of others so we wouldn't miss our flight. We raised these (among other) concerns with Audley Travel and were told that they would follow up and their local company would be reaching out. It's been three weeks, we have been back in the States for two weeks, and we have heard nothing. I suppose after getting $10k from you and us having no recourse they don't really care to follow-through or to ensure that we have a positive experience on our trip. I was in the early stages of planning a trip through Audley for my parents but notified them we will not be using them for that trip, and that we would be cautioning everyone else we know against using such an unprofessional company.

See the review above. With respect to Audley, I'm most disappointed in the lack of follow through in correcting or dealing with the unprofessional tour guide that we were stuck with for four days of our trip.