Amanda100

I have recently booked a cruise through Affordable Tours and am very concerned about their customer service.
Since making my booking and paying my deposit I have emailed them three times with the same query, and had absolutely no response. I copied the agent's line manager in the last email I sent, but have still not had a reply.
This raises grave concerns for me- if something serious goes wrong with my holiday booking, I now have no faith in them to either respond or to deal with it.
Before making my booking I did some research about the company and found it to have mixed reviews, with many people raising the issue of poor customer support. Unfortunately I went ahead and booked anyway, because they were offering a very good deal, but I now wish sincerely that I had gone with another company and paid a bit extra, as it is definitely worth it for peace of mind. I certainly would not use them again.
Has anyone else had a similar problem with this company, and if so how did they resolve it?

Aristotle

I can't understand the need to save a few dollars on a cruise and throw caution to the wind. A cruise is a big expense. It is something you have little control over once you've paid your money. Thge cruise lines will do absolutely nothing for you unless they are contractually obligated; they write the contracts. It makes sense to me to find a travel agent who will try to protect you and perhaps bail you out of a tight spot while you are away. This means asking some questions, getting some references, and paying the extra $100.

qwovadis

affordabletours.com is fine for me have used them for big

discounts on tours like globus BUT

they are a big clearinghouse

though might call contact your tour cruise operator directly

for best service that is their job.

insuremytrip.com independently always cheap wise

if you paid with CC you can dispute your charge

get your money back at anytime if things go bad.

So no worries...

Dayenu

I bought several land tours through Affordable Tours - never had a problem. Any time called with questions, or e-mailed, all was done on time.

As for a cruise, sent a quote request, and don't remember, either delayed reply or my specific question was not answered, left and never looked back for cruises.

Now I checked a possible land tour to get a discount with them, sent a request, got an answer right away. Maybe their bus tour department is better? Who knows!

travlrjan

Why not just cancel and rebook with someone else? I'm not sure what country you are posting from and what the terms are there, but here in the US if you are not within final payment you can cancel with no penalty.
If that is not possible, you should be able to have the booking transferred to another agent or the the cruisline itself.

momeck

I have booked two tours with Affordable Tours and was very pleased with the service. The agent assigned to me prompty responded to my requests for information.

jgreen1

I have had no problems using affordabletours I have used them on 3 tours to france, New Zealand and one North eastern tour. I have never ran into any issue reaching my travel agent. I call and I email any question or concern I have and I always receive a timely response. This is the only place I use for travel. I have tried the others orbiz and people like that and I found the service alot better with affordabletours. And the price is the same or less than the other guys. I hope you have a better experience because if it starts bad it will mess up the entire trip that is why I always use affordabletours because I know its done right.

bettyk

I suggest you try to phone Affordable Tours instead of emailing.

Marie_Donahue

I booked a cruise with Affordable Tours. As a travel agent myself, I can say that their agents like to cut corners. The whole booking process was a nightmare as well as trying to redeem the promotion they offered me. I was promised a free promotion of 3 days 2 night free hotel stay, which I never got.

I emailed and called the agent for 8 months before they sent it to me... when I filled out the paperwork for the certificate the thrid party charged my credit card and never sent me my booking confirmation. I tried working with both the third party and Affordable Tours to get this resolved, as I ended up missing my vacation to Vegas I had planned on those 2 free hotel night stays.

When I finally spoke with a manager at Affordable Tours (After calling for a week straight and leaving her voicemails with no calls back), she told me "it's not their fault, they only promised me the certificate not for the other company to redeem it" SHADY!

Then, she proceeded to tell me how it is my own fault for missing my vacation because there are plenty of hotels in Vegas I could have booked myself... Not taking into consideration that I may not be able to afford the hotels on my own dollar, since they had promised me 2 free nights She was out of line and basically scolded me for missing my own vacation. She somehow diverted blame for the failed promation from their poor business decisions back to ME!?! I felt offended and ripped off after getting off the phone with her.

Dayenu

The last poster registered just to reply to an old post? And she says, she's a travel agent, she bought something from a competitor?

I smell a troll

john_s_ober_9

Don't Go Near affordabletours.com
On January 29, 2013, After entering my credit card info to book the tour, I got this message.
"“Your booking details have been forwarded to our staff for review to ensure the highest levels of quality control. Shortly you will receive a complete recap of your booking details and any necessary follow-up.”
Never heard from them. After 16 days I sent off a heated letter. They responded that I do not have a booking along with some other proof of their ignorance. BBBHouston was put on the case by my complaint, and was closed without a resolution on April 23, 2013. They have 18 complaints vs 3 for Pavlus Travel. Wish I had know this in January. affordabletours.com has screwed me greatly. So Sad.

3Doxens

I'm sorry to hear that. I booked a river cruise with them last year and have another booked for next year. No problems at all. Received the discount and both times the river cruise companies had my booking confirmation within hours.

Mitsakis

I have used Affordable Tours.com everytime I book! They offer 10% off the top of escorted trips and my river cruises I took. My consultant Trena is very knowledgeable and has been in the business for over 25 years. The agents there are well educated and have traveled to many of the destinations. I think it would be a shame to book directly with tour companies and loose money when I have the same agent to speak to. My airlines did change a couple of times, but they cant control airline changes, the airline does that. So Yes Affordable tours is a great company and has not let me down.
A

Dayenu

If I'd get a message like S-ober a couple of posts above, I'd 2 things immediately:

1) call aff. tours to ask what happened, and if needed would follow up with my cr. card company

2) make sure my computer does not have a virus embedded somewhere

Eschew

Dayenu, Mitsakis is a new poster and only commented on one post, sining the praise of the comapny. I wonder if Mitsakis is Trena ...

jennygoodman

Don't use affordable tours! I booked a cruise to Key West and Bahamas. Wanted to take my daughters to meet family in the keys and do it in a special way. We were on the ship and found out that we would NOT go to the keys, but rather, Carnival just purchased an island and we were the first cruise ship to stop there. What? I went to the desk on ship and said that I wanted only the Key West part of the trip, and was never notified of a change. I was told "well, we couldn't possibly call every passenger on the ship....we are sold out on this cruise and the decision was only made in the past week". I was told that travel agents were all notified. I felt hijacked, violated, lied to, and robbed. Bahamas only trips are much cheaper than the trips all the way to the keys from Port Canaveral. I wasn't reimbursed a penny. The itinerary I printed out again the day I got home from the cruise still said Key West. I called the agent and they claimed they didn't know. They offered no restitution. They screwed up big time and took no responsibility.

JaneB

And you are blaming Affordable Tours for this? Why?

TabathaT

Good Afternoon JennyGoodman,

I am a representative for AffordableTours.com and have been reviewing your post. First let me state I am extremely sorry your vacation did not turn out as planned. It is our desire, to the best of our ability, to ensure each and every one of our clients are completely satisfied with their vacation. There are certain circumstances, beyond our control, that occur which may interrupt your vacation or alter your vacation plans. Unfortunately, although it is rare, cruise lines do reserve the right to alter an itinerary/port at anytime with or without notice; these terms are listed in the ticket contract. Again please accept my deepest apologies for this inconvenience.

southeastern

Tabatha,

What about the rude telephone folks at Affordable Tours? Are you planning to address that issue. That is in your control.

suebm282

I know this is an old post but for other people considering using this company, I needed to say that I have used affordable tours twice, in 2012 for a Bucharest to Budapest River Cruise and again in 2013 for a Vietnam/Cambodia Mekong River cruise. I received excellent service, fast response to emails, all details regarding payments, cabin number, and other information on my booking was kept up to date in the sign-in section on "my booking". I dealt with the same travel agent(Karen)each time. I received an extra discount as a repeat customer on top of a good price for my trip. I dealt with them from Melbourne, Australia and all necessary paperwork was emailed in plenty of time before our departure. Dealing with Karen was a pleasure and I don`t hesitate to recommend her to my friends. I don`t usually post, but I use these sites for research. However, after reading some of the comments above, I felt the need to put forward some of our positive experience. Also use common sense. You will soon know if you have a good, responsive, efficient consultant once you start making enquiries. Just don`t continue with the booking process if you are not getting quick, clear responses to your queries. No matter what company you are dealing with, if it is not right at the start, it will only go downhill.