Yet another honeymoon in Tahiti
Feb 16th, 2004, 01:01 AM
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Yet another honeymoon in Tahiti
Talking to 3 travel agents (Costco, McCoy, and South Seas Adventures) re: a honeymoon in March to Tahiti (11 nights). We have miles on Air France from LAX and are wondering where can you find the best hotel-only rates for 3 nights Moorea, 4 nights Huahine or Taha'a, and 4 nights Bora Bora plus Airpass? Want upscale places but not ridiculous. Thanks!
Nov 30th, 2004, 10:22 AM
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Starwood has 3 properties out there and they are all beautiful. Usually they offer better internet rates then if you call www.spg.com
Nov 30th, 2004, 03:36 PM
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www.wavehunters.com
We handle Pearl Resorts and Te Tiare Beach Resort for surfers and non-surfers. We also have some great honeymoon prices.
We handle Pearl Resorts and Te Tiare Beach Resort for surfers and non-surfers. We also have some great honeymoon prices.
Nov 30th, 2004, 09:26 PM
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Hi Emummert,
I'm not familiar with the other two agencies you mentioned, but as a travel professional I have to say that Costco is NOT a travel agent -- that's where I go to buy giant bags of salad and toilet paper.
If you want someone who really knows what they're doing, consult a "Tiare" agent which is an agent who specializes in Tahiti -- someone who's gone through an extensive course of study and actually been to Tahiti and knows it well. I am not one myself, but I do know of another agent who is very good, and I'd be happy to give you her name (she's in Minnesota) or you could check online for an agent near you.
Hope this is helpful!
Regards,
Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist
I'm not familiar with the other two agencies you mentioned, but as a travel professional I have to say that Costco is NOT a travel agent -- that's where I go to buy giant bags of salad and toilet paper.
If you want someone who really knows what they're doing, consult a "Tiare" agent which is an agent who specializes in Tahiti -- someone who's gone through an extensive course of study and actually been to Tahiti and knows it well. I am not one myself, but I do know of another agent who is very good, and I'd be happy to give you her name (she's in Minnesota) or you could check online for an agent near you.
Hope this is helpful!
Regards,
Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist
Dec 1st, 2004, 05:06 AM
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I have used Costco Travel and things seemed to go just fine. There are 2 drawbacks with them however:
1) The choices they offer are very limited. Besides the fact that you cannot book just the airfare portion with them (and say, rent a house from a 3rd party), they also offer stays at only a very few places so you are very limited in that regard. As it turns out, I think their selected resorts in French Polynesia are fine, but I know that one of their limited choices in the Cooks (the Edgewater) would definitely NOT be my choice so you need to check out the reputations of the offered resorts carefully. This leads me directly to point #2.
2) You need to do your OWN research first. As the poster above has mentioned, they are not really a full-service travel agency and cannot really offer you advice but rather merely take your order - and if they did offer it, I'm not that sure I would put much faith in it. If you don't know anything about where you are going or where the best choices to stay are you are simply rolling the dice on their selection.
Having said all that, if you do the research I mentioned and are happy the limited choice of accomodations offered, then Costco can save you a lot of money. Just be aware that all the "footwork" is up to YOU.
That's my take anyway,
Ken
1) The choices they offer are very limited. Besides the fact that you cannot book just the airfare portion with them (and say, rent a house from a 3rd party), they also offer stays at only a very few places so you are very limited in that regard. As it turns out, I think their selected resorts in French Polynesia are fine, but I know that one of their limited choices in the Cooks (the Edgewater) would definitely NOT be my choice so you need to check out the reputations of the offered resorts carefully. This leads me directly to point #2.
2) You need to do your OWN research first. As the poster above has mentioned, they are not really a full-service travel agency and cannot really offer you advice but rather merely take your order - and if they did offer it, I'm not that sure I would put much faith in it. If you don't know anything about where you are going or where the best choices to stay are you are simply rolling the dice on their selection.
Having said all that, if you do the research I mentioned and are happy the limited choice of accomodations offered, then Costco can save you a lot of money. Just be aware that all the "footwork" is up to YOU.
That's my take anyway,
Ken
Jan 7th, 2005, 12:00 AM
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Folks,
This is a follow-up to my original post from Feb 2004...not a lot of info, as you can see, was immediately forthcoming, so I "winged it"...did a lot of research and ended up going for 11 days/10 nights to the Pearl Beach Moorea (Garden Bungalow w/ plunge pool, 3 nights) and Bora Bora (Premium Overwater, 3 nights), followed by the Te Tiare Huahine (Overwater, 3 nights) and one last night at the Intercontinental Tahiti (Panorama Room) for our last night before returning home (to San Francisco). Air France was our airline to/from LAX. My experience:
Unlike wlzmatilida's very derisive comment about Costco Travel, my wife and I ended up booking through them, as they beat the combined airfare/hotel rate prices versus the four other "Tahiti travel specialists" I spoke to by a MINIMUM of $2500. Melonie is obviously supporting a travel specialist who is trying to beat back the internet vacation planning tide that is washing over the industry. Nothing galvanizes hostility like a more efficient threat to an entrenched industry (see: toy retailing [Toys 'R' Us], discount retailing [Sears], or digital photography [Kodak]).
Lord Balfor was partially right, in that researching other specialists for the right vacation/accomodations and then booking through Costco is wise: they were lower than EVERY quote we got. What I found, however, is there was not a "limited selection." I gave Costco 8 different possible scenarios encompassing Le Meridien, Sheraton, Pearl Beach, yada yada yada, on up to 5 islands. ALL of the accomodations were available through them, and ALL were lower priced. Though the rep I dealt with had not personally been to Tahiti, he bounced all of our scenarios off of an agent who HAD expertise on Tahiti, and steered us to the package we chose.
One example of why we did the right thing: when we inquired of Costco about going to Taha'a versus Huahine, we were informed there had been a recent management change at the PB Taha'a and that is was probably, at the time, better to go with Te Tiare on Huahine. On the flight from Huahine to Tahiti for our last day, we saw some cool people we had met on Bora Bora who had subsequently gone to Taha'a (our flight made a stop in Raiatea en route to Tahiti, where they boarded). They did nothing but complain about the horrible service at the PB Taha'a. And these were NOT high-maintenance people. Costco had steered us away, and I am hugely grateful for that.
The vacation was as perfect as could be...snorkeling, sun, all the flights/transfers right on time (except the Southwest flight from LAX to SFO upon our return, which was 1 1/2 hours late).
In short: DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!!! Do not rely purely on agents who are paid a commission to put you at certain resorts, etc. There is such a vast array of resources online, if you spend 5-10 hours over a couple of weeks diggind, you will be rewarded.....then, go to a large travel agent (in our case, Costco), armed with your 2 or 3 preferred iterneraries. They have the volume/clout to get you better prices than a mom and pop shop. Caveat emptor!
This is a follow-up to my original post from Feb 2004...not a lot of info, as you can see, was immediately forthcoming, so I "winged it"...did a lot of research and ended up going for 11 days/10 nights to the Pearl Beach Moorea (Garden Bungalow w/ plunge pool, 3 nights) and Bora Bora (Premium Overwater, 3 nights), followed by the Te Tiare Huahine (Overwater, 3 nights) and one last night at the Intercontinental Tahiti (Panorama Room) for our last night before returning home (to San Francisco). Air France was our airline to/from LAX. My experience:
Unlike wlzmatilida's very derisive comment about Costco Travel, my wife and I ended up booking through them, as they beat the combined airfare/hotel rate prices versus the four other "Tahiti travel specialists" I spoke to by a MINIMUM of $2500. Melonie is obviously supporting a travel specialist who is trying to beat back the internet vacation planning tide that is washing over the industry. Nothing galvanizes hostility like a more efficient threat to an entrenched industry (see: toy retailing [Toys 'R' Us], discount retailing [Sears], or digital photography [Kodak]).
Lord Balfor was partially right, in that researching other specialists for the right vacation/accomodations and then booking through Costco is wise: they were lower than EVERY quote we got. What I found, however, is there was not a "limited selection." I gave Costco 8 different possible scenarios encompassing Le Meridien, Sheraton, Pearl Beach, yada yada yada, on up to 5 islands. ALL of the accomodations were available through them, and ALL were lower priced. Though the rep I dealt with had not personally been to Tahiti, he bounced all of our scenarios off of an agent who HAD expertise on Tahiti, and steered us to the package we chose.
One example of why we did the right thing: when we inquired of Costco about going to Taha'a versus Huahine, we were informed there had been a recent management change at the PB Taha'a and that is was probably, at the time, better to go with Te Tiare on Huahine. On the flight from Huahine to Tahiti for our last day, we saw some cool people we had met on Bora Bora who had subsequently gone to Taha'a (our flight made a stop in Raiatea en route to Tahiti, where they boarded). They did nothing but complain about the horrible service at the PB Taha'a. And these were NOT high-maintenance people. Costco had steered us away, and I am hugely grateful for that.
The vacation was as perfect as could be...snorkeling, sun, all the flights/transfers right on time (except the Southwest flight from LAX to SFO upon our return, which was 1 1/2 hours late).
In short: DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!!! Do not rely purely on agents who are paid a commission to put you at certain resorts, etc. There is such a vast array of resources online, if you spend 5-10 hours over a couple of weeks diggind, you will be rewarded.....then, go to a large travel agent (in our case, Costco), armed with your 2 or 3 preferred iterneraries. They have the volume/clout to get you better prices than a mom and pop shop. Caveat emptor!
Jan 7th, 2005, 05:27 AM
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Very good advice emummert. Sounds like Costco has become a bit more "full service" than they've been in the past. Thanks for posting with the results of all your work. I'm sure others are happy to learn from your experience. I know I am.
So, how did you like FP?
Ken
So, how did you like FP?
Ken
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