lanechilde

My husband and I would like to go to Vietnam and Cambodia in December (3 weeks) for our honeymoon. The travel agent we reached out to said they only do high end travel. We would like to do this trip on a budget (not $200/night resorts every night). Are there travel agents who book those types of trips, or do you know of a good online site we could book it all through (would you even recommend that)?

Little_Miss_Flighty

Hi there,

Sounds like a wonderful trip. Personally I probably would never book a trip through a travel agent. We have travelled through Europe, Asia and USA and have always booked ourself and never had any drama at all.

For hotels we usually book through booking.com or email the hotel company directly as some times they can offer you good deals. On booking.com you can read reviews from people who have previously stayed in the hotels.

For tourist attractions we usually book through viator.com or just book when you arrive in the holiday destination because you then aren't locked down if your plans change which some times happen!

For booking airport transfers we usually use viator.com again and would highly recommend to anyone!

Best things to do is research, head onto Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor and this website and just look for hints and tips and start building your trip on paper.

Personally I love planning my holidays but I know not everyone loves it or doesn't have the time etc. Chose whats best for you and most of all, enjoy!

Kathie

Typically, in SE Asia DIY is least expensive. However, in VN, sometimes local agents can get you better prices on hotels.

For hotels, websites I use for booking include www.sawasdee.com (for Thailand), www.agoda.com or www.asiarooms.com there are many others as well. Note that tax and service charge add significantly to hotel costs in these countries, so when you compare prices note that some websites include those in the price and some do not. Also, having breakfasts included is a significant benefit as they usually cost US$15-20 pp at these kinds of hotels.

For $200 a night you will be living very well, indeed, in SE Asia.

If you want airport transfers, your hotel can arrange them. In many places pre-aramged airport transfers are not needed - like in Siem Reap.

Let us know where you need hotel recommendations, as we can certainly help with suggestions.

You'll be traveling at the busiest and most expensive time of the year, so book as soon as you can.

PS I assume you know you need a visa in advance or a pre-arranged visa for VN. You can get a Visa on arrival in Cambodia.

sf7307

The tourism infrastructure in Vietnam and Siem Reap, Cambodia is highly evolved. When we went last year, we made all of our own intra-Asia flight reservations (on line - Vietnam Air and Air Asia depending on where we were going) and most of our own hotel reservations -- three of our six hotels I reserved directly with the hotels after email correspondence; the other three I used an agent in Vietnam to make the reservations, because they had a slightly better rate than I could find on my own. We stayed in a variety of accommodations from the terrific but not expensive Hanoi Elegance Diamond in Hanoi (at $99 per night) to the very luxurious La Residence d'Angkor In Siem Reap (at $275 a night), and everything in between.

In addition to the visas, do know that there are also some health precautions you should take - typhoid, Hep A/B, anti-malarials depending on where you're going, and make sure your tetanus shots are up to date.

qwovadis

First Congrats!

www.smartours.com/vietnam.shtml

BBB.org A plus rated

be very careful on these boards you have many occult touts

lots of troll poo on your thread and TripAdvertizer

is the very worst... use reputable US agents only pay with

CC and always insuremytrip.com to be safe.

www.affordabletours.com many other options...

travel.state.gov crime safety reviews best to go with

a group if u are planning to tour there for many reasons.

rhkkmk

as pointed out it is easy to do the bulk of it yourself but having some help in vn from a local travel agent is worthwhile..

i used tonkin travel (hanoi) in vn for 3* hotels and for my internal flights and i was very pleased with their suggestions and with the flexibility they offered...

if you are only going to siem reap, no agent is necessary...

DonTopaz

I probably have a unique, though not unbiased, perspective. I have been traveling to Asia (and a few other places) as a tourist for years and years, and I have also recently opened my own travel agency.

A knowledgeable travel professional can be a benefit to some travelers, especially people looking to discuss their travel plans with someone who's got information and experience with their intended destination, and people who would prefer that someone else takes care of the details. A lot of Fodorites have the experience and skill to arrange their own travel, and most are perfectly fine doing so.

A good travel professional will reduce the chances of bad things happening: avoiding things like substandard accommodations, poor flight itineraries, etc. Finding a good travel pro for a particular trip, though, can be a challenge: experience in the specific area you're traveling to is essential.

Maybe a more significant problem for someone traveling on a budget and considering using a travel professional is the cost factor. A travel professional earns money for his or her time and knowledge, and that money comes either through a fee paid by the client or from commissions from hotels/tour packages/air/travel insurance. For the type of trip described by the OP, I'd be surprised to find a US- (or Western-) based travel pro who would take on the work on a commission basis. However, there are local (Vietnamese/Cambodian) agencies who put together budget tour packages -- Google "budget travel cambodia" and you'll find several.

Don

Kathie

I wouldn't call $200 a night in VN and Cambodia budget travel!

Tell us a bit about your plans - what do you want to do/see/experience on this trip? What particular places do you want to visit?

sf7307

lanechilde, when I started planning our trip, I was absolutely lost -- we'd never been to Asia before and didn't know where to start. We had in mind visiting Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia (we ended up in Vietnam, Cambodia and Hong Kong, but we'll be back ). The very first thing I did was buy an "all-Asia" guidebook and a full-size map. We perused the book with map in hand cover to cover. That helped me narrow down our choices (and gave me an understanding of distances between cities, countries, etc). Then I got on Fodor's and starting asking questions -- and got great answers, which helped me plan some of the logistics, such as how long to stay in each place; I also got hotel recommendations on here). (BTW, the only reason we didn't do Thailand on this trip was that we started planning just about the time Thailand was having political troubles. By the time those troubles ended, we'd already decided on Vietnam, Cambodia and Hong Kong).

As for $200 a night - that's very generous in SE Asia. It would be good to know your "style". For example, when we travel to foreign <u>cities</u>, we usually stay in small hotels. We like nice decor ("tired" doesn't do it for me) but don't care much about services like concierges and spas. Room service is nice but not essential, since we almost always eat out (the only exception was the night we got back from Halong Bay). On the other hand, if we're in a <u>resort</u> area, we like an upscale resort, with a fabulous pool, pool-side service, and the like. We did 20 nights for an average price of just under $165 a night, and that included 7 nights total at two very upscale resort hotels and 4 nights in Hong Kong (at a not-so-upscale hotel, but Hong Kong is much more expensive than VN and Cambodia)

DonTopaz

<i>I wouldn't call $200 a night in VN and Cambodia budget travel!</i>

Neither, apparently, would the OP, who indicated that she was <u>not</u> interested in "$200 every night" accommodations.

sf7307

Yeah, but it's a huge leap from $200 a night to "budget travel Cambodia" which will likely get you $20 a night accommodations

Kathie

Don, I apologize, I misread the OP.

JerryS

It appears to me that you will need a good agent/agency in Vietnam and perhaps one in Cambodia. Check this Board for recommendations.
My wife and i used and highly recommend Hung do (located in Hanoi), henritours.com. I believe you can reach him by E-Mail at [email protected].
I think you need more than just hotel recommendations.
E-Mail 2 or 3 of the agents, tell them what you want, and see what they recommend. You should be able to customize a wonderful and exciting trip.

WillJame

I'd recommend Tonkin Travel. We spent four weeks in Vietnam in March and used them for visas, city tours, airport transfers, four internal Vietnam Air flights and all hotels except four nights. The total was under $3000 for a couple.
Some of the hotels were fairly top drawer (e.g., the Novotel in Nha Trang); others were under $50 per night. I had countless email exchanges with our itinerary changes and hotel preferences. If I could do better on a hotel, I told Tonkin and they matched my price or in one case we went ahead with our own booking after the manager gave us a special rate. In a few cases Tonkin got us on flights that were supposedly sold out.
The guides for the city tours--Saigon, Meking Delta, Hanoi, Hue and Hoi An--were superb. In most cases the vehicle was a new Toyota SUV with a driver. I would say the best part was the airport transfers. Given that taxis scams are the number one traveller complaint in Vietnam, by a long shot, this is a good area to make worry-free.
In all other cases of travel in SE Asia--e.g., Thailand twice, Cambodia, Laos, Japan five times, Singapore, and Malaysia--we are definitely DIY types. But Vietnam is a special case.
You can develop a general itinerary and put it out to several companies for tenders and suggestions. Then take your pick.
There are a number of Fodors regulars who have used Tonkin to their satisfaction. (Just type in "Tonkin" in the search box at the top right of this page.) Or check the Vietnam board on Tripadvisor where you'll get lots of help and suggestions (more than here).
I'd put aside the advice of people who tell you that they never use a travel company. Miss Flighty doesn't seem to have been to Vietnam. But listen to those (like me!) who usually are DIY-ers but in the case of Vietnam have done used a travel service.

sf7307

WillJame, I know people have used and been pleased with Tonkin's services (as I was with Vietnamstay), I'm just curious why you feel "Vietnam is a special case". I found it extremely easy to make my own plans -- hotels, air, transfers, etc. The only reason I used an agent at all was that they got a very slightly better rate on three of the hotels we planned to stay at. If it hadn't been for that, I don't know that I would have "needed" an agent at all. (The only "tour" we took was Hue Riders in, obviously, Hue, and we arranged that ourselves too!)

Kathie

You really do have a choice as to whether to use an agent or not. My first visit to VN we did not use an agent and we did fine. Indeed, the only places we've used agents were in Burma in Sri Lanka. For about two dozen trips to SE Asia we did not use an agent at all.

The reason you might want to use an agent for VN is that an agent can often get you better hotel prices. I don't see any need for an agent for Cambodia. For any excursions you want, it is cheaper to arrange once you are in VN. The one exception is a Halong Bay junk cruise - you'll likely want to book that ahead.

WillJame

sf7307, perhaps I should have said that for me Vietnam was a special case, and perhaps mostly because it was a four-week trip. (Note that the OP is proposing a three-week trip.) We had a lot of stops on our trip, and four domestic flights. (That's 8 airport transfers.)
I found email correspondence quite difficult with the highly recommended Ruby Elegance in Hanoi. I tried to book for with them for a two days stay, then to go to Halong Bay for two nights (through them) and then return to their hotel for 3-4 more nights. They didn't get what I wanted, and repeatedly offered only one or two aspects of this threee-part request. Tonkin, when I put it in their hands, did get it, and made the arrangements.
The other DIY problem I encountered was the difficulty of making the requisite deposit to secure a hotel room. VN banks are apparently reluctant to process a credit card payment without a signature. Often there was no secure server for the CC info, or else the hotel wanted a bank transfer (which in the one case I looked into, added !5% to my cost for a room).
I found it much easier, instead of making reservations at six hotels, and for four trips by air, to get this done through an agency with a reasonable down payment and then the balance about midway through the trip.
As Kathie says, often the hotel prices are cheaper through a travel company. I was seeing hotels become fully booked six weeks before our trip, and Tonkin helped recommend alternatives (some of which I declined).
I am not normally a great fan of tours either. The tours, however, got us to a lot of places we just wouldn't have known about or bothered to arrange. As well, to have one's own car, guide and driver for a day-long trip to the Mekong Delta (Ben Tre), or to go outside of Hue to see the My Son ruins was real value-added to our trip. I agree that we could easily have seen Hoi An or the city of Hue on our own. And the guide we had in Hanoi, e.g., was extra-special. He took us to all of the usual sights (Museum of Literature, Water Puppet Show, temples, pagoda, mausoleum, etc), but the highlight of our day with him was the walking tour though the back streets and alleyways, in and out of restaurant kitchens, and stopping by family dwellings where his friends lived.
As I mentioned earlier, the vehicles used were mostly recent Toyota SUVs. I don't think any driver I might have happened or organized on my own upon could have matched the service we got going from Hue over the pass to Dalat and Hoi An.
With a lot of elements in the itinerary and if something goes awry, it's good to have a travel company to call. I notice other Fodors posters did this when flights were cancelled or delayed. For us, Tonkin was helpful when the Halong Bay trip was cancelled, and we needed a hotel room for two extra nights at a very busy time.
If it had been a ten-day trip with two destinations in VN, I'd probably have arranged it myself. Perhaps on the next trip to VN, I will. But I'd get a quote from a travel company too.

lanechilde

Thank you all for the helpful comments. I think we'll be going through Tonkin, as most suggested. We'll definitely be checking in on other Fodors forums as we continue to plan our trip. I'm so glad I stumbled upon this site!

Kathie

Will, I agree, with your complicated 4 week trip, it made sense to use an agent.

morewierd

We spent 28 days in VN in 2005. Planned and booked it all, except for the train to SAPA and the flite to Siem Reap, which we ultimately had to cancel. Tonkin Tours sounds GREAT! The hours spent planning these independent trips are mind-boggling. For VN: make sure you do an overnite on Halong Bay....go to the markets in Sapa and Baca and IF you happen to be in HCMC on a Sunday....the amusement park is a MUST.

I am presently finishing up a 9 week trip for hubby and myself,including Cambodia,Laos, Thailand and Guangxi province in China(we taught at the University in Guilin in 2006) and frankly, I'm bushed. I can't count the hours. I may never do this again.(until the next time).

So, yes......it's "easy" to do it on your own....but SO time-consuming. Yet.....to present a plan to a travel agent, you still have work to do.

Congrats on this being a honeymoon trip!