Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

Original post by DavaDay

Jan 29, 2008 07:26 PM

We're going to Hawaii!! For 13 nights!!!

5 nights in Kauai
4 nights in Maui
4 nights on the Big Island

I don't usually use travel agents because with Expedia and Travelocity you can usually get very good prices yourself. But it takes a lot of time and research. I'm so busy lately, I just wanted to sit back and let someone else do the work for me. I've read so many good things about Tom Varghese here on the boards, I figured I'd see what he could do for me, and if it was within my budget I'd take it, and if not, I wouldn't lose anything (his service is free).

I left it wide open for time - I wanted those 3 islands, but in any order, and for any number of days each. It took Tom 2 days to come up with an entire itinerary for us at hotels that have great reviews on Tripadvisor (and 2 that friends of mine stayed at and loved). He respected our budget (which was on the low side, actually) and never even hinted to us that 'for just a few hundred dollars more...' like other TAs do. He talked to us at crazy hours - usually 10 and 11 PM because that's when FH and I are both free! - and was always pleasant to talk to and offered good advice.

So, long story short (too late!) we're all set to go to Hawaii for 2 full weeks!!

Mrs. V 2008 Posted: Jan 29, 2008 10:44 PM

Re: Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

sounds awesome! congrats!!

gfield101 Posted: Jan 29, 2008 10:45 PM

Re: Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

Same HM as us...except 10 nights.... same islands though..

WE HEART TOM!!!! RA RA Ra

bigrd37 Posted: Jan 29, 2008 10:47 PM

Re: Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

Posted by DavaDay

It's possible that you found a web rate cheaper than the Travel Agent rate he could have gotten you. Although, he told me that American Express has a price guarantee, so he would have matched that price and booked the place for you at the same price. I wonder if your email just got lost in the shuffle while he was away? He got back on Friday night and had our whole package ready for us by Monday afternoon.

But hey, if you found a better price and don't want to deal with him anymore, just go for it and book it on your own! That's what I was prepared to do: after I got the package from Tom I went online and got prices myself for the same rooms / cars on the same dates. Tom ended up being about $300 cheaper, so I chose to book with him.

You could be right about my email getting lost in the shuffle. I haven't done anything yet, but was thinking about booking. He did find the hotel I wanted to stay out though. So I do have to give him that!!

cherish83 Posted: Jan 29, 2008 10:58 PM

Re: Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

Posted by bigrd37

Posted by DavaDay

It's possible that you found a web rate cheaper than the Travel Agent rate he could have gotten you. Although, he told me that American Express has a price guarantee, so he would have matched that price and booked the place for you at the same price. I wonder if your email just got lost in the shuffle while he was away? He got back on Friday night and had our whole package ready for us by Monday afternoon.

But hey, if you found a better price and don't want to deal with him anymore, just go for it and book it on your own! That's what I was prepared to do: after I got the package from Tom I went online and got prices myself for the same rooms / cars on the same dates. Tom ended up being about $300 cheaper, so I chose to book with him.

You could be right about my email getting lost in the shuffle. I haven't done anything yet, but was thinking about booking. He did find the hotel I wanted to stay out though. So I do have to give him that!!

I used him to book the cruise portion of our HM. He booked it right before he went away and I never received the booking info. So i emailed him when I thought he was coming back and emailed him again today. I just got an email from him. I'd be patient because he probably has A LOT of catching up to do. But i would definitely let him know that you found it cheaper and see if he could match it.

bigrd37 Posted: Jan 29, 2008 10:59 PM

Re: Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

Posted by cherish83

Posted by bigrd37

Posted by DavaDay

It's possible that you found a web rate cheaper than the Travel Agent rate he could have gotten you. Although, he told me that American Express has a price guarantee, so he would have matched that price and booked the place for you at the same price. I wonder if your email just got lost in the shuffle while he was away? He got back on Friday night and had our whole package ready for us by Monday afternoon.

But hey, if you found a better price and don't want to deal with him anymore, just go for it and book it on your own! That's what I was prepared to do: after I got the package from Tom I went online and got prices myself for the same rooms / cars on the same dates. Tom ended up being about $300 cheaper, so I chose to book with him.

You could be right about my email getting lost in the shuffle. I haven't done anything yet, but was thinking about booking. He did find the hotel I wanted to stay out though. So I do have to give him that!!

I used him to book the cruise portion of our HM. He booked it right before he went away and I never received the booking info. So i emailed him when I thought he was coming back and emailed him again today. I just got an email from him. I'd be patient because he probably has A LOT of catching up to do. But i would definitely let him know that you found it cheaper and see if he could match it.

Thanks for advice

cherish83 Posted: Jan 29, 2008 11:12 PM

Re: Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

Posted by bigrd37

Posted by cherish83

Posted by bigrd37

Posted by DavaDay

It's possible that you found a web rate cheaper than the Travel Agent rate he could have gotten you. Although, he told me that American Express has a price guarantee, so he would have matched that price and booked the place for you at the same price. I wonder if your email just got lost in the shuffle while he was away? He got back on Friday night and had our whole package ready for us by Monday afternoon.

But hey, if you found a better price and don't want to deal with him anymore, just go for it and book it on your own! That's what I was prepared to do: after I got the package from Tom I went online and got prices myself for the same rooms / cars on the same dates. Tom ended up being about $300 cheaper, so I chose to book with him.

You could be right about my email getting lost in the shuffle. I haven't done anything yet, but was thinking about booking. He did find the hotel I wanted to stay out though. So I do have to give him that!!

I used him to book the cruise portion of our HM. He booked it right before he went away and I never received the booking info. So i emailed him when I thought he was coming back and emailed him again today. I just got an email from him. I'd be patient because he probably has A LOT of catching up to do. But i would definitely let him know that you found it cheaper and see if he could match it.

Thanks for advice

No problem

Kimbalina Posted: Jan 30, 2008 07:42 AM

Re: Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

That sounds great!

joshisgirl Posted: Jan 30, 2008 08:51 AM

Re: Just booked my HM with Travel Tom!

Posted by bigrd37

did anyone have a problem with him?

i called him, thought he was great b/c he was easy to talk to and got back to me right away. he found some nice hotels for FH and I in Bermuda and told us to check them out and choose which one we liked. When I checked out the hotels, I decided to check the room rates myself, through their website, and got the same package for less money then Tom told us. I wrote back to him asking if there were fees I didnt' know about and he never got back to me. I thought it was b/c he was at a conference last weekend, but I still haven't heard from him and now i've seen a few girls on here that have booked with him since I last spoke with him. I'm not trying to bad mouth him, b/c he obviously helped a lot of girls get great vacations, but i just wanted to put it out there that I just thought it was unprofessional of him not to at least respond back telling me what i was missing or if there were fees i didn't know about and that I should book it on my own.

You HM sounds wonderful. Enjoy it!!

yeah, i kind of had a little problem with him also, definitely a nice guy but then didn't get back to me after i asked him about switching destinations. (this was a few months ago, so he wasn't at a conference then)