USA local tours
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hsm:
For SA tour, we had 37 people. It was a tour conducted by SA guide. There was no local tour guide except in Montreal.Thanks for sharing.. we were looked at the local travel agents like SA tour & ChanBro, CTC etc.. but the prices were very ex for 4 of us.. so exploring these local tours which are $4-5k difference.. as we prefer to spend more time in shopping..
hmm.. still deciding.. hearing feedback from friends also, some said it was ok as they took the ChanBro F&E tour which is also joining the local tours when reach US.. ya, the group size will be huge like 50+ people.
having a good tour guide really depends on luck in this case...
You did not say which part of US you are going. I recall doing west coast of US with insight tour during our honeymoon. The outlet was only an hour :yikes:
FYI, from NYC (not sure if you are aiming that), you can take a day tour to woodbury. It's around US$45 per pax and it's a full day tour. Besides outlet, we also like Macy's, Marshalls and TJ Maxx.
This time round, we had 6 hours or so at Woodbury, a couple of hours at tanger outlet at atlantic city. One can choose to go to casino or shop. DD and I went shopping while dh tried his luck at the casino. There was another outlet where we had 1 hour plus. That was the impromptu stop. They also brought us to duty free at canada side to get cosmetics such as estee lauder, clinique, lancome, etc... we stopped at hersheys and grab good chocolate deals. It was really cheap. So there was lots of shopping + sightseeing (covered niagara falls, washington, philadelphia, boston, montreal, ontario, atlantic, NYC, ben & jerry, Hersheys). I was keen on shopping but dh was like... we are already there, let's cover all sights in the east coast of US.
Yes, I agree alot depends on luck. Our guide was not perfect but she was flexible and hope to let us cover as much and a good experience, we found her coverage on the state history, etc... so so. But yes, we were lucky as we had beautiful weather when we were there in June. It was cool and nice. On the last day of the tour, there was the next group from SA. Their flight was delayed due to SQ plane problem. They were supposed to arrive at 11am in JFK but only did so in the late afternoon so they couldn't do statue of liberty on the 1st day and sort of upset the tight schedule. Also the weather was starting to turn hot, etc...
Have you considered self-driving or taking internal flights? We paid around S$2.1k per person for the local tour only. We got our own tickets through redemption. But it's actually cheap to get the entire package from agent provided the flight arrangement is flexible. Eg. you can consider extending in NYC to catch broadway shows, more shopping, etc.... Yes the 2.1K is more expensive than tours4 fun but I think you need to compare the itinerary coverage, hotels, food coverage, etc.... -
hi MMM
We are planning West Coast
which includes LA, LV & SFO..
Have checked SA, ChanBros, CTC, for 3A1C, the total cost is almost $16k.
Per person is almost $4k including taxes.
Yeah, did explore on self drive.. but the planning for 3 families will be tough.. so we thought joining tours will save the trouble
tho we also thought tour package will be cheaper.
hmm.. still sourcing to check for any good deals... -
I joined the tour in March this year.
http://www.taketours.com/new-york-ny/2-day-hersheys-chocolate-world-and-cherry-blossoms-tour-955-1059.html
Generally the tour was ok. The hotel was good.
The tour guides can't speak English that well. The tour operator is a chinese company.
The major complain is that the bus that we used was hot like a oven, the weather outside the bus was cooler that inside. There was no air con, only heater. Imagine sunny day with heater on in the bus.
The guides do really know how to take care of us. We have a hard time following them around.
If given a choice again, we would still join the tour. -
bijin:
wow, great to hear from someone who has taken tours4fun tour! We are going end Nov so will be cold, perhaps heater is required so not a problemI joined the tour in March this year.
http://www.taketours.com/new-york-ny/2-day-hersheys-chocolate-world-and-cherry-blossoms-tour-955-1059.html
Generally the tour was ok. The hotel was good.
The tour guides can't speak English that well. The tour operator is a chinese company.
The major complain is that the bus that we used was hot like a oven, the weather outside the bus was cooler that inside. There was no air con, only heater. Imagine sunny day with heater on in the bus.
The guides do really know how to take care of us. We have a hard time following them around.
If given a choice again, we would still join the tour.
Can i ask how was the condition of the bus? are the seats comfy? spacious? How big was your group? is their standard hotels ok? as i'm thinking whether to upgrade the hotel..
btw, what do you mean by you have a hard time following them around?
Thanks so much for sharing
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The bus is those big coach bus. Quite comfort.
For my tour, they actually combine our group with another group going to the Niagara Fall. That’s why the bus is almost full.
The hotel is clean, big and comfort with bath tub.
Whenever we reached a destination, the guides don’t wait for all of us to get of the bus, and they started to walk in front, and half way, couldn’t find where they are. -
If we achieved a new vacation spot, the instructions do not hold out for all of us for getting with the coach, and in addition they began to walk in-front, and 50 percent way, wouldn’t discover where these are.
The way it was a new Spore tour collection, the tour guideline catered to the neighborhood style such as. many wall plug shopping. I was actually pleased with all the guideline. -
Hi Greenbelt
Have you booked your tour to USA West Coast already? I have booked my tour on 21 November 2012 with M'asia Travel (it's still not a confirmed tour, but already got 10 pax + 2 pax needing to apply visa to confirm their tour, but all of us already paid deposit).
I booked at S$1,888 + S$550 tax per person (but I do not know if they are still giving offer price) for 12 Days USA West Coast (including Disneyland, Universal Studio, 3 days in Las Vegas, Grand Canyon West Rim, Yosemite or 17 miles coastal, San Francisco tour) flying by CHINA EASTERN Airline (transit at Shanghai).
Hope my information help and if you are interested can contact me. -
hsm:
hi MMM
We are planning West Coast which includes LA, LV & SFO..
Have checked SA, ChanBros, CTC, for 3A1C, the total cost is almost $16k.
Per person is almost $4k including taxes.
Yeah, did explore on self drive.. but the planning for 3 families will be tough.. so we thought joining tours will save the trouble tho we also thought tour package will be cheaper.
hmm.. still sourcing to check for any good deals...
Hi Greenbelt
Have you booked your tour to USA West Coast already? I have booked my tour on 21 November 2012 with M'asia Travel (it's still not a confirmed tour, but already got 10 pax + 2 pax needing to apply visa to confirm their tour, but all of us already paid deposit).
I booked at S$1,888 + S$550 tax per person (but I do not know if they are still giving offer price) for 12 Days USA West Coast (including Disneyland, Universal Studio, 3 days in Las Vegas, Grand Canyon West Rim, Yosemite or 17 miles coastal, San Francisco tour) flying by CHINA EASTERN Airline (transit at Shanghai).
Hope my information help and if you are interested can contact me. -
Dear fellow KSPs,
Pls beware of the M Asia Travel mentioned in the previous post. I was really intrigued by the low price mentioned in the previous post and googled this travel agent which I have never heard before. :rotflmao: kaypoh la!
Found this discussion about this travel agent on tripadvisor. Pls see link below. Looks like it's a nightmare travel agent! :siam:
http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/ShowTopic-g294262-i1747-k4582308-M_Asia_Travel_big_liar-Singapore.htm -
Just booked our 3 airline tickets flying to West Coast on 5th Oct (after our DD finishes her PSLE ).
The last we went, on package deal with Dynasty Travel (pretty comprehensive tour) but this time round, we wanted to go free & easy.
Planning to travel from LA to LV, followed by SF and last stop back to LA.
Contemplating either on car rental ( Thrifty seems to offer the best price and pick up at LAX ) or local tour. GPS is pretty costly which is US$12/day and works out $144 per 12 days. For local tour, pls advise any good ones to recommend. Thanks.
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