allen2

Interested in their South American Oddyssey tour starting 19 November 07. Any experience with this company and tour? Is this a good time to go> SmarTours not listed in the USTOA Directory.
Anyone have recent experience travelling with them. (Reliability, responsiveness, quality of accommodations, flights, buses, etc.)Agent offered no information above simple responses to my inquiries. Not interested in booking air from LA to Miami--is this normal for them.

jame

I took this trip in March 2006 and it was wonderful. Good hotels and itinerary, and excellent tour director. I also went with Smartours to Scandinavia in 2005 and that trip was fabulous.

I've heard that October and November are some of the bests months to travel in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil.

It is typical for Smartours to fly everyone out of one place (often NY). It is one of the ways they save money and part of why their trips are such a bargain.

pat

went with them to Croatia. A great trip. Nice hotels and good food. Now I`m going with them to China. There are a lot of repeat customers on those trips.

allen2

Thanks for your comments. Haven't heard anything negative about them. I was a little concerned because they are not a member of the Travel Angency Professional Org (USTOA)and may not have the bonded protection required. Also, they were not very informative or accommodating when I called them.

jame

It's true that customer service is probably not Smartours' greatest strength. I have talked to some great people there (including the owner of the company), but I have also had the experience of talking to someone not very helpful or friendly.

All I can say is that I have been on two great trips with them (and have another one booked), and so have my parents. Also, on both trips, it seemed that the majority of people had been on multiple trips with them and planned more. I actually found out about them from friends of my parents who had been on six trips with them and are booked on another for May.