i'm looking for reviews of anyone who has used academic tours. we're going to malta next march for our honeymoon and we would like to use them because they seem convenient and well-priced but i've had a difficult time finding *anyone* who has used them. just want to make sure they are legit and a professional company. please post any and all experiences! thanks!
anyone use Academic Tours? please read!!
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I used Academic in October to go to Malta; I was perfectly happy with their service, and the price is right, for sure! Raj was extremely helpful.
You can click here for a longer account of my trip: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34454157 and go to http//www.community.webshots/user/missalg for a few pictures of Malta.
Have a great trip!
Sorry (I really need to write that website down; I always miss something) This is the correct address for the pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/missalg
ameliainternational.com offers Malta tours with very good prices.
First, congrats on your upcoming wedding-and Malta will prove to be a wonderful honeymoon destination!
We're used AT for our trip to Malta in May and would recommend without hesitation. We booked their air/hotel package rather than an escorted trip simply for the fact that we're independent travelers who like to come and go as we please once we've arrived at our destination. We stayed at the Kennedy Nova hotel, which is on the fringes of Sliema, a short distance from Valletta. The hotel, IMHO, is in the quieter section of Sliema as compared to Preluna Towers. The hotel offered a nice, hot breakfast and was very impressed by the friendly staff that greeted you each day ! It's definitely a package tour crowd place, but was adequate for our needs. The bus stop and the ferry to Valletta were only minutes away in either direction. (we opted not to rent a car but relied on public transportation-buses are very inexpensive and can get you anywhere on the island). We flew United from Dulles to London Heathrow, then LHR to Malta, which is about a 2-1/2 hr flight.
We were met at the airport by someone from Sullivan travel (who AT uses as their local travel agency), driven to the hotel, and met up again with the Sullivan rep, Angela. She explained the various 1/2 day and/or day tours offered, but it wasn't a high pressure sale to purchase - you were or were not interested. She left her card, offered her services during your stay, then confirmed both our pick up and flight times the night before departing.
We were cautious about using AT as they're not a member of USTA and don't readily accept credit cards (which they will for a small percentage fee), however, we were quite pleased with their services and professionalism, and would definitely use them again without hesitation for our next destination, which more than likely will be Tunisia.
Malta is truly amazing and offers so much to do and explore for such a small island. It's definitely worth the time and effort it takes to get there from the US!
thanks for all the suggestions so far!
wish me luck!
i feel better now about going through academic tours. next on the agenda i getting fi to agree to do a sicily and malta tour
Hi mtseng,
Congrats on your wedding! You have indeed picked an excellent location for your honeymoon, and the weather should be nice in March. We recently(as recently as last week!) returned from a trip to Malta and Sicily(Siracusa and Taormina), and both were fantastic! We used Academic Tours for the airfare only - from NY to Malta(via London), and between Sicily and Malta - and everything went smoothly. We also stayed at the Kennedy Nova, which was, as Debs described, in a convenient location for both the buses to Valletta(and for several of the buses that go directly to other areas of Malta)and the ferries to Valletta. A swim in their rooftop pool was a very enjoyable way to end a day of sightseeing - especially given the extremely hot weather in July! We spent about 5 full days in Malta, and 2 days each in Siracusa and Taormina(where we saw Alanis Morisette in concert, in the ruins of a Greek Theater from the 3rd century B.C.). Feel free to ask me any questions about either destination, and I also recommend viewing other posts here - as this was an excellent resource for planning our trip.