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is latinamerica4less. com a legit site/travel agent?

is latinamerica4less. com a legit site/travel agent?

Old Apr 22nd, 2010, 05:58 AM
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is latinamerica4less. com a legit site/travel agent?

Hi!

Hoping some people out there have had experience or heard of latinamerica4less.com! I was wondering what your experiences were (negative or positive) and whether you get what you paid for. i found a great land + air package i want to go on but wanted to make sure its not a scam. i heard you have to fax your CC info and your passport info so please help!

Any insight would be great! Thanks!
lserpil is offline  
Old Apr 22nd, 2010, 09:28 AM
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I would be VERY careful.

They say their Florida Headquarters are located in 318 Indian Trace #440, Weston, FL 33326
Phone: 1.954.880.9229 - Fax: 1.954.919.9043

Why don't you try calling them?

It seems weird that I couldn't find anything about TopDestinations, Inc., which they say they are "a division of".

Have great time in South America.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2010, 11:28 AM
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I would also avoid them. They are very friendly and all when they first answer the phone but don't let that, or fancy websites, sway you.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2010, 01:09 PM
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www.latinamericaforless.com is the legit company

www.gotmyfare.com LA based good for cheap budget

seen mixed/negative reviews

ALWAYS pay with credit card NEVER wire money to anyone

one poor guy lost $10k not long ago...

Happy Hunting,
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Old Apr 23rd, 2010, 10:38 AM
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this website had a package featured on www.travelzoo.com, so does that make a change in its legitimacy do you think?
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Old Apr 23rd, 2010, 11:35 AM
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Its just advertising. That's how I ran across them also.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2010, 05:54 PM
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My husband and I took a tour last year to Peru with LatinAmerica4Less. The transportation was provided by Grayline. We arrived at 4 am in the morning and we were met at the airport and transported to our hotel. The rest of the trip continued to be flawless. They did exactly what they said they would do. It's a no frills tour, but still great for the price. We are now going to The Galapagos and have booked the trip with them.
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Old May 11th, 2010, 12:28 PM
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I just came back from Peru and Ecuador with them. The rep did not meet us in Quito and we had to take our own taxi to the hotel. I don't think anyone else in the group even knew the name of the Hotel. Fortunately I did. I would not use them again. They use Gray Line Tours in Peru and RTA in Ecuador. RTA was excellent in Guayaquil but poor in the Galapagos and no show in Quito.
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Old May 17th, 2010, 06:29 PM
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We just got back from Machu Picchu and used LatinAmerica4less. I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH.......DO NOT TRUST THIS TRAVEL AGENCY. THEY ARE VERY DISHONEST, FRAUDULENT AND WILL SAY ANYTHING TO GET YOUR MONEY. We arrived in Peru and nothing was as stated in our itinerary. We called LatinAmerica4less numerous times with no response. We were stranded in Peru and no where to turn. BEWARE, BE VERY AWARE OF THIS TRAVEL AGENCY!!!!!
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Old May 17th, 2010, 08:18 PM
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In Argentina all travel agency should be registered and they should have a registration number to prove it. Anyone can go into the GOV official site and fill in the number and check if they are for real.
Of course the internet is an easy forum to post not legally registered agencies. If everything goes well no problem but if something goes out of track...prepare for the worst.
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Old May 18th, 2010, 03:35 AM
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This is frankt's first post, so I am slightly skeptical. Frank can you give us a few details of exactly what was not "as stated in our itinerary".
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Old May 28th, 2010, 03:37 PM
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I have a trip to Machu Pichu on June 11. They promised a final itinerary 30 days in advance and vouchers 2 weeks in advance. Neither has come, but I hope they do in time for the trip.

I also found the trip on travelzoo. I just discovered that the BBB rates this company F. Maybe one should not necessarily trust the travelzoo top 20 without further investigation.
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Old May 29th, 2010, 04:45 PM
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We have booked through LatinAmerica4less for our trip in November. We have had wonderful communication from them by phone & email. Our Itinerary is very comprehensive including the baggage weight allowances for all our flights. They were very flexible with the Itinerary we added extra days in various stopovers & they allowed us to book some of our Hotels ourselves as we were using Starwood points at some places. We have been provided with phone numbers of contacts incase of any problems.I must admit I am a little nervous after some of the comments here. I checked the BBB ratings before I booked and again since reading this & the rating is an A not F which is of some comfort.
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Old May 30th, 2010, 03:45 AM
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Didn't realise there was LatinAmerica4less & latinamericaforless we have booked with www.latinamericaforless.com & it has the A rating.
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Old Jul 16th, 2010, 06:25 PM
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rehaber and dinoted, can you please specify if you are refering to "latinamericaforless" or latinamerica4less". they are two different companies and I was thinking of using "latinamericaforless". thanks
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Old Jul 17th, 2010, 07:08 PM
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I have not used this company but I did make some enquires (not for South America, this company has packages in different regions) , after a few emails, I called to continue to work on my itinerary, that's when I got a red flag and choose not to use them. The person, forgot his name, said he'd be in at such and such a time in the email. I called the FL office (where the sales rep was supposed to be according to his email) , and I was told this person does not work from the FL office, but was in another country. I think it was Costa Rica. Next, I got my inbox full of emails from the person I had been in touch with requesting my telephone number. Needless to say, I didn't use the company or give them my #.
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Old Jul 23rd, 2010, 06:12 PM
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Based on the reviews that I found online I can said that they don't provide very good customer service before departure, but there are not complains for the service that they have provided during the tours, some of them said that the itineraries have too many activities, another ones complain about wake-up times, etc, just one looks very furious with them.

I have made several research and find out that they are a California corporation, IATAN approved and they are registered on the California Seller of Travel with a CST#2060302.

I have called them several times and more than 15 agents have answered the phone, they probably are located on different cities and countries between US and Latin America and I'm pretty sure that some of them are home based agents.

Having said that, I was looking for deals and that's why I booked with Latinamerica4less.com, if you are looking for 5* service, you better go to Abercrombie & Kent, Travcoa, American Express, etc. but I have booked the Four Countries in South America with them, called a couple of times and finally got my vouchers for August 20th. I'll keep you posted.
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Old Jul 24th, 2010, 03:41 AM
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Thank you, Mauri73, for that comprehensive, summary information. I look forward to your future posts. Have a fine trip.

~MarnieWDC
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Old Jul 28th, 2010, 12:27 PM
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We went to Machu Picchu this past May using LatinAmerica4less as our travel agent. WHAT A TERRIBLE MISTAKE THAT WAS ! ! ! ! ! ! This travel agency is VERY DISHONEST & FRAUDULENT. After we arrived in Peru, all of our hotels were changes (downgraded), arrived by an old bus vs the backpacker train that was on our itinerary. We were to stay an extra half day to explore Machu Picchu further and were told we had to leave very early while dark. No extra half day as promised. Numerous telephone calls and e-mails to LatinAmerica4less while in Peru. NOT ONE TELEPHONE CALL OR E-MAIL RETURNED ! ! ! ! ! ! ! RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM LATIN AMERICA 4 LESS.
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Old Aug 10th, 2010, 10:37 PM
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Hope to see posts from dinoted on their experience from the June trip and Mauri73 after their August trip for an update!
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