I used Tonkin for some of my arraignments in Vietnam and found they saved me money and gave excellent service.

I like to use a specialty travel agent to find discount airfare for long-haul international flights, but prefer to find and negotiate my own accommodations. I usually can save enough on airfare to allow me to spend more on a hotel or shopping.

We are heading to Vietnam next month and I have to second (or third) the recommendation for Tonkin. I found them through this board and so far, both their airfare and hotel prices are lower than what I've been able to find on my own - I don't know why, but I am not asking any questions! I am a fiercely independent traveler and prefer to make all my own arrangements, but for Vietnam it seems like going through an agency might save you money. However, that said, this may only hold true for a certain class of travel - we're looking for 3 star hotels; if you're looking for more budget accommodations, you might be better off on your own.

A 4th for Tonkin -- we used them for many aspects of our upcoming trip to VN. VN is part of a longer 10 week trip. As Moreweird said, it was incredibly time consuming to plan this long of a trip on your own and having a responsive TA saved me lots of time. I checked a few of the hotel prices and Tonkin got the hotels for a bit less than I could booking them on my own. They regularly responded to me the day after I emailed them and the few times it was an extra day, they wrote to apologize and explained there was a power loss or some such computer issue.
Can't speak to any of their services if we have any problems when traveling but from what I read about them, I expect to be very happy with their services.
Have a great honeymoon!

By recommending Tonkin, I didn't want to suggest that it was the only or even the best travel company out there, at least not for everyone in all cases. It's prudent to get quotations and itineraries from a few and to pick, compare and choose. I began with v'Explore Travel (www.vexploretravel.com) and switched to Tonkin when I felt some of their arrangements suited me better. For one thing, as I recall, v'Explore wanted payment for all air tickets at the outset whereas Tonkin only asked for a small deposit that was less than half the air fares.
But others have chosen v-Explore over Tonkin, especially for HCMC and environs. Whoever you end up going with, be very sure (as Dogster advised me), that you go over the contract line-by-line so that you know exactly what you are getting--and what you're not.

Absolutely -- we made so many changes that each time she emailed us a new itn we had to review it very carefully and send back any corrections. The final contract we reviewed very carefully and there were a couple minor errors which they corrected right away.. Deposit at the outset is very small. I believe it was $125 per person with no credit card fee added. We need to pay them the remainder at out arrival in VN. I think there is a about 3% charge if we use a credit card.

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone know if what the policy is for travel agencies like Tonkin if you have to change your itinerary while in Vietnam? We're traveling in October and plan to go to Hoi An, but I've read that the Central area of the country can get hit by heavy rains this time of year, which could prevent us from getting there. Would they charge us extra if we have to stay in Hanoi for those nights? I sent them an e-mail to ask, but haven't heard back yet. Perhaps this is a situation that calls for travel insurance? Interested to know if anyone has experienced this. Thanks!

Sam-iam, Tonkin will help you deal with an itinerary change, at least to some extent, due to weather and cancelled flights. Some posters on this board refer to exactly this situation and how it was managed by Tonkin.
Our own experience was a bit mixed when our 2-night trip to Halong Bay was cancelled due to fog. Tonkin did not inform us that Halong Bay was off (Ms. Nhung was on holiday) and we waited for the nonexistent shuttle in the hotel lobby. It was the hotel that at last told us that Halong Bay was cancelled. But by this time other cancellees had scooped up all the remaining hotel rooms for that night. Ms Nhung then came to the rescue after we reached her and found us another room elsewhere for one night. So, we had to move to another hotel for just one night. A bit of a nuisance, but OK.
We wanted, however, to return to the Ruby Elegance on the next night where we were to be for our remaining stay in Hanoi. The hotel wanted to deal directly with us at this point rather than with Tonkin (maybe because of their commission?) and provided us with a room that Tonkin had said wasn't available. To get that room we had to pay for an upgrade to a suite, where we ended up remaining for the rest of our stay. Again, OK. (Still following this?)
Tonkin rescheduled the Halong Bay trip, but then on the advice of our local guide who told us that it would not be worthwhile considering weather conditions, we cancelled it altogether at no cost. We hadn't yet paid Tonkin for the balance of our trip at this point--which might be a good reason for delaying final payment as long as you can--and an adjustment was made in the final billing.
The lesson is this: I do feel Tonkin was remiss in not providing some backup to take care of us when Halong Bay was cancelled. We were pretty much left on our own. All of the attention and courtesy that we experienced in our email correspondence disappeared somewhat. However, when we were insistent about what we wanted, and by taking matters a bit in hand ourselves, things worked out.
Finally, Sam_iam, the "policy" you ask about is likely not spelled out (here's where you have to read the fine print). I think Tonkin will do what they can on a case-by-case basis, but search this board for similar experiences and you'll see mixed results in client care by Tonkin. A lot seems to be depend on how adaptable you are, and how much you can advocate for yourselves. And, yes, travel insurance with trip cancellation provisions is a good idea.

WillJame -- how did u work out paying Tonkin? We owe them a significant amount of $ and the contract says "due upon arrival." My preference would be the pay half or 2/3 or so and then the rest later in the trip. Is this what u you did? thanks!

My experience of paying Tonkin was a bit unusual. At first I told them I would pay in cash (to save the credit card fee they charge). Then, I decided it would be better to use CC for the sake of protection and not having to carry large amounts of money into VN. When we arrived in HCMC, a Tonkin person came to meet us--and expectied payment--but since Tonkin had no credit card machine in HCMC, we ended up paying in Hanoi, about 12 days later.
I also had USD travellers cheques, which Vietcombank is supposed to cash with no fees charged, but I never did use them. BTW, we found out our credit card (a "chip card) only worked about half the time in Vietnam.
I'd try to defer full payment, along the lines you suggest, until mid-trip if they will let you.

WillJame - thanks for the info. I'm beginning to think that your astute observation (service = advocacy) probably holds true for most of Vietnam's travel industry. And with regard to Tonkin, I did ask specifically what would happen in the case that we couldn't make it to Hoi An. This question, as well as a number of others were ignored so far; I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth asking again. We are also working with Binh tours and so far they are very receptive, thorough and quick to answer questions. However, caveat emptor - from this forum it seems par for the course to receive attentive service while at home, only to fight for attention should you need it in Vietnam...we will see!

WillJame- thanks for the info. guess we'll c what happens.