tara0312

hi!

has anyone used affordable tours for an escorted trip to italy? i'm looking for 8 of us to go for the first time as a small church group.
any information you can provide is appreciated or if you have other tour recommendations for feb/march of 09...i would greatly appreciate it!

thanks!

letsgo39

I used www.affordabletours.com to book a tour with Globus last summer and I was very satisfied.I have traveled with Globus tours 5 times and always been very satisfied.I now enjoy traveling on my own but for a first time to Italy with a group I think you would be very happy with Globus.

P_M

Affordable tours is not a tour company itself, they simply book tours for you with various tour companies such as Globus. They are a legit organization and they can book tours for your group with a discount. For example, let's say you want to book a Globus tour. You can book directly thru Globus. Or if you call Affordable Tours they will take a slight cut in their commission and pass that along to you. That's how they can offer you a discount, usually 5-10%.

nytraveler

If you want a tour of Italy you will have to compare all the offerings basd onyour needs/desires:

timing
budget
hotel class/location
meals included
sights included (versus charged for as "options&quot

You also need to understand the language of tour brochures:

Visit mean you actually enter the sight mentioned

Stop means you get out of the bus in front of it for a 5-minute photo op

View meansyou see it from the bus window as you drive by

P_M

nytraveler brings up some good points. Beware of tours that seem to cram in too much. Tours are often rushed so do pay attention to the details outlined by nytraveler.

xyz123

Affordable Tours is a duly certified travel agency specializing in selling group tours of various tour groups. I use them for all of my tours. Personally I prefer Trafalgar to Globus as I find Globus too Americanized, the vast majority of Globus clients are Americans (it's just the way they market the tours) whereas Trafalgar tends to be somewhat more varied (Aussies, Kiwis, Canadians, Yankees, South Africans). The tours are very similar and you'll have to check the prices.

Because of volume, Affordable Tours passes along a 10% discount on Trafalgar and Globus tours as well as several other companies. The only difference between booking with them and the corner travel agency is you do everything over the phone or via e mail and they are most efficient. So no worries there.

This past summer, I did a great Trafalgar tour with them called Italy Belissimo. We went Rome-Pompeii ( a visit to the ruins with a local guide)-Capri-Assissi-Venice area (stayed in Lido) - Tuscany (near but not in Florence but we spent a full day in Florence)-Rome. Two night stands in Capri, Venica area (Lido), Tuscany (Florence area), Rome (at the end). Got all the site seeing in (all the touristy places), avoids queues, included a visit to Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel and there was plenty of time for shopping. Saw the Commonwealth cemetery south of Rome and the American cemetery north of Rome..very touching both places.

Tour was fantastic. We had a great guide and I know many here swear at instead of swear by coach tours but for the prices we saw just about everything and free time and shopping time was absolutely available.

Do be aware there are some things that the tour considers optionals such as some dinners and they cost a bit extra.

But don't worry about booking with affordable tours...they don't rip you off and give you a nice discount.

iris1745

Hi tara; If you are considering 'affordable tours', you should also look at cheapertravel.com They sell more of the Globus, Trafalgar tours {plus many others}than any other company. With a group of eight, you could probably get more than 10% off. Check prices on both web sites, as they each sell many of the same 'tours'. Then call them direct and see what they both offer. ENJOY Iris

Amanda100

I have recently booked a cruise through Affordable Tours and am currently very concerned about their lack of customer support. They were very keen to get my business, but now that I have booked things are not going so well. I have emailed them three times with a query and have had no response whatsoever - when I sent the last email two days ago I copied in the agent's line manager but have still not had a reply. Before making my booking I did a bit of research about the company, and found it to have mixed reviews, one of the concerns being poor communication with clients. I went ahead and used them anyway, because they were offering such a good deal, but in retrospect I wish I had gone with another company and paid a bit more - it's definitely worth it for peace of mind.
Now I cabn only hope that nothing goes seriously wrong with my arrangements because the chance of getting in touch with them is clearly nil. Has anyone else had this problem?

TNFlea

I've used Affordable Tours twice and have been very happy with their service. I recently booked a tour to Italy on Globus with them. I emailed the agent and talked with her by phone her name is Abi Reico and you can reach her at [email protected].
I hope this helps.

tuscanlifeedit

I used Affordable Tours to book my aunt and her friend on a tour to Branson. AT was great; I was in fairly constant communication with agent, by phone and email, because I wanted to be absolutely sure that everything went well for these two elderly women. My agent was Paul, and I'm sorry I can't remember his last name.

He even called me when the tour company made a change in the plan. I was totally satisfied.

This is only individual anecdotal evidence, but I hadn't heard anything negative otherwise.

bettyk

Haven't used Affordable Tours yet, but they are located close to where I live outside Houston, Tx. When we were looking at visiting Poland, I contacted them for a price.

Amanda100, have you actually tried to phone them instead of just emailing? Here are there phone numbers: 1 (800) 935 2620 or 1 (281) 269 2600.

travellingforever

We did not use "Affordable Tour company" but
we want to share with people who are going to travel to Italy, the fantastic experience we had with a Tour Company we used last summer in Rome on our way to Northern Italy. We made our reservation through www.shoreexcursionsandtours.tk (This was a very affordable tour company) for the 8 of us to go from Rome to Tuscany and from Tuscany to Lake Como.
Our driver-guide drove us to Montepulciano first...what a nice medieval town full of deli stores (olive oil and wine testings, sausages and local salame). We walked a little bit up on the main street going to the top of the town. Half way we met our driver, Massimo who kept driving us to the main Church up at the top. From Montepulciano we drove to Pienza were we had "Pecorino" cheese testings and from here to Montalcino for our lunch (fantastic little "Tratoria" in the city centre) and we visited some wineries outside the town ("Banfi" Winery and "Biondi-Santi") were we had fantastic wine testings and could buy some bottles to bring them home.
We slept in Florence. The day after we visited Florence and thanks to Massimo we discovered the city like we were local Florentine people...he was amazing knowing every little alley! Overnight in Florence and then the next day he drove us to Lake Como (Bellagio) with stops on the way up at Ferrara (delicious city of the "Estensi" Family and Maranello (Ferrari's town) where we could try to drive in the city one of them!!! Uahoo what a fantastic experience!!
Finally we arrived at Bellagio and that was the gem and the last stop of our fantastic trip.
That's the way to go. We will remember forever our trip thanks to shoreexcursionsandtours.tk Company!!

MarthaT

I have used Affordable Tours many times and I have just booked another trip with them. I make sure and get the same agent every time and she is wonderful. Her name is Carolyn. Between the discount from the tour company for being a repeat customer and the discounts from AT (they also give discount for repeat customer) I manage to save 300-400 dollars each trip.
No problems with communication, I email with questions and they are answered in a timely manner.