Holiday Travel of America

Been waiting for our «free» trip to Catalina for almost 2 years now. We have submitted so many different dates it’s ridiculous. They got my $ 25 check and took the money and ran. What a rip off. Give me back my money and keep your crappy trip!

UPDATE***
I was furious yesterday after calling in to check up on our scheduled trip for ⁰²⁄₂₃ and hearing otherwise. FURIOUS. Not too long after though I received a call from Jennifer. Who is the only reason why I am updating my review to 3 stars, she is the only person from this company that I have spoken to who is understanding and so very polite. I really do hope things go as planned and Jennifer keeps her word that we are completely confirmed and set. After all the trouble and hopes being thrown up and down this last year, I’d be more than thankful to her. I’m suppose to receive a call this upcoming Monday from the manager so that we can work on possibly extending the trip, I’ll update as soon as I hear from her as promised. I really do appreciate a good business and was looking forward to uploading many photos. My trust is in you Jennifer!

If you want to be really really aggravated go ahead and try to get your free trip. We have been trying to get our hotel and 2 Disneyland tickets for four months. Lots of phone calls, paperwork sending in preferred dates, a $ 25 fee and nothing but aggravation. Now we were told we will get to Disneyland tickets since the hotel is never available and that was a month ago and we still don’t have them even after talking to several supervisors. Don’t do it. Chances are, you already got the lovely voucher from a timeshare presentation already in process. Cut your losses!
Received this wonderful gift after doing a long timeshare presentation at the Welk Resort.

I attended a time share presentation at Welk and received a travel voucher for a trip to Cabo. I didn’t experience any difficulties with Holiday Travel — they were courteous and returned by phone calls within a day or two. I followed the guidelines as outlined on the back of the voucher and gave them a few different date options. You need to be flexible — it’s a lot like traveling on stand-​by or using FF miles. Be patient because the outcome is worth it.

While I don’t think it is an outright scam, the process is so poor as to deliver terrible results nearly every time.
As a customer given the «free trip to Hawaii» voucher, you can legitimately think you are going to get a trip to Hawaii. Sure, terrible airline seat and third rate hotel are probably in the future, but an ACTUAL trip is expected.
You jump through several paperwork hoops and then, with a hope you’re not being scammed, write them a check for $ 100 for your «free» trip while supplying them with two dates (more restrictions).
They SAY they will contact you up to 45 days in advance (no fewer than 21 days). As the 21 day notice was fast approaching, I sent an email to their generic «customer service» address (the only you are given). No reply.
Having concerns and plans to make, I called. Long hold queue, person answering phone (Kathy) very pleasant, transfers call to what ends in voicemail. Given the poor reply to email (which the hold spiel indicated was ‘faster’) I called again asking to speak to a person.
Next representative says she cannot and won’t answer any questions because it’s not her case/​file. Ask, so the file is paper and you can’t see it? Yes, it’s paper (later find this to be an outright LIE.
Call in a third time, explaining to Kathy the inept and deceptive experience I just had. She seems dismayed and says she will find someone for me to talk to. I go into another hold queue (which seems like an endless loop where it rings and you expect a person, but you just go back into line). Finally a person answers
Says our dates in January have been declined and that Tim is on holiday. Sorry, the while process stops, and you are permitted to miss deadlines for one person’s vacation? Woman helping me, Tuuaga, says that shouldn’t have happened
I ask if second dates (March) are then guarantee. No, they are not.
The rules state the voucher must be used within one year (April for us) so if Holiday Travel rejects our next dates the 21 day requirement would be past the expiration date. So we will be out our $ 100 and have no travel???
Reply is that they CAN extend the voucher as long as we keep providing dates (sort of in an indefinite waiting period of uncertainty, difficult for people with jobs and children). Sounds like they don’t HAVE to extend the voucher either.
So I ask if the next dates don’t work, can we get out money back. Reply, we can REQUEST a refund, but that doesn’t sound like they WILL refund your money if you don’t travel.
I’d say the only way this might remotely work for anyone is if you are not working, have no children, no friends and no plans for an 18 month period. That way you can A) follow up frequently and manage them and B) drop everything at a moments notice to travel should they ever get a date for you (which, from the reviews, may happen on occasion). It seems a bit like and as likely as winning the lottery at the moment
I retrospect, I’d take the couple hours of my life I spent in the timeshare presentation, my $ 100 and the hassle of trying to wring «customer service» out of them back and just call it a day.
In the unlikely event this company cares about my existence, please contact me, I’d be happy to go over more details. But before you do, yes, I know how your business model works, but I also know pot follow up and poor follow through and not meeting deadlines or commitments.

I hesitate to call HTOA a scam because they technically did deliver on their promise of a free flight and accommodations in Hawaii. My wife and I purchased a timeshare in 2011 and it came with a «free trip to Hawaii». On our way out of the office, we were given our voucher and we skeptically mailed in the paperwork with a check for the «taxes and fees». A few weeks later, we received a call from HTOA regarding the trip. We picked our dates, faxed paperwork within 36 hours when we hadn’t been contacted for months, were denied the dates we picked, and rescheduled dates for 5 YEARS until finally we got to go to Hawaii. The agent I was assigned to was actually helpful at the end in helping us get as much time as possible in Maui (got an extra day for agreeing to attend another timeshare presentation, which wasn’t too bad AND moved the flights to a city I could drive to at my request, thus giving us an extra 16 hours.) So here’s the trick: be diligent, check your email, make sure you answer your phone, always get a fax confirmation (I sent digital images of the paperwork I was filling out to my agent in addition just as insurance), and be diligent and they’ll follow through on their end… Eventually… Either that or you can get frustrated and get your money back before they start trying to bribe you not to go with up to $ 350 extra over and above taxes like they did to us… With all that said, I still feel the whole company is shady and the people who devised how they operate should probably be prosecuted for something and sent to prison for a time. The whole thing is really dishonest to me. Enjoy the game, everyone! Remember: If I can beat them at their own game, so can you!!!
Did I mention that the resort we ended up at was right on the beach and I could see sea turtles swimming in the water from my balcony? Try to think about that when they’re being frustrating…

Received a call from Brittany in customer service. She gets 5 stars for resolving my issue with the company and turning my negative experience into a more positive one. I now have a Napa trip booked for June! Maybe patience pays off. Thank you Brittany for listening and satisfying. Again this review is on Brittany. I will update this review once the trip is complete.

Fast and friendly! I’m only in the first phase of recieving a Catalina getaway… We’ll see how it goes. I plan to write a review of the entire experience… Stay tuned :) Jazmin Guevara your awesome customer service gets 5 out of 5 stars!

I wasn’t expecting too much so I was extremely pleased with all the help and Customer Service Laura J. gave me. She was always so professional and patient. She called several times when I had to change my dates. Her follow-​up was consistent, and if she said she’d call she did.
The hotel I received was amazing, I expected something less, since it was free. Laura said I would like it and sure enough I did. Thanks Holiday Travel and especially a big thank you to Laura.

This company is a freakin joke! We signed up for a timeshare tour and were offered 2
Round trip airline tickets. You are constantly mailing in paperwork and having to wait a certain period of time to just receive another form to fill out. Your options are so narrow! I’m so pissed at how complicated this system is. I am trying to take my family to Orlando and I was NEVER informed I would have to pay $ 60 TO $ 120 PER COUPLE for taxes PLUS… Did I say PLUS!!! $ 198 PROCESSING FEE!!! WTF! I may as well pay full price for my ticket!!! Never again will I ever take a timeshare tour nor will I EVER use this company! Spread the word and don’t use this company! A freakin joke and nightmare!!!

Jennifer helped me get the dates I needed on something and her customer service skills were great!

I have not gone on my trip yet, but I have to say that so far I haven’t had any issues with their customer service. In fact, I just spoke with a representative named Jennifer and she was very helpful and the wait was not long at all. She even gave me a number to call in case I have any trouble with my travel voucher in the future. Just be flexible with your departure dates. Vegas here I come!

I received a travel voucher for a trip to Hawaii as an incentive award. Be sure to read the directions on the voucher and don’t miss the redemption deadline or it becomes void. Their agents were prompt in returning my calls and emails, and were patient in helping me understand the booking process — which is not like using a travel agency. I had a great time in Hawaii and everything went smoothly. I stayed at the Maile Sky Court Hotel which was near Waikiki Beach. It was an affordable and memorable vacation.

Thanks to attending a time share presentation I received a travel voucher. It was the best choice I ever made! Now only were the staff at Holiday Travel super friendly and helpful, they were also really prompt at getting us everything! Oh, and I ask a tun of questions, but they were helpful until the end! I decided to go to Nappy Valley, and it was the trip of a lifetime! So glad I decided to work with Holiday Travel of America for this once of a lifetime vacation!

Khia helped me and I can’t be more grateful for her… I’m planning on taking my gf for a special weekend… And have been planning this special time for a while… If it wasn’t for her help I wouldn’t have been able to start the rest of my life with the love of my life… She was very professional and pleasant to talk to… Thank you so much for your help… I’m sure that with this weekend you helped me plan, she’ll say yes… I’ll be inviting Khia to the wedding… =)

So after my last attempt to book a simple weekend road trip with accommodations with Holiday Travel of America, and the company completely ignoring me, I was given assurances that my alternate travel date would be booked.
Here we go again, same old song again.
I am hitting the road on Monday and I have yet to hear from these guys. Once again they are proving that they have no interest in living up to their business obligations. No letter in the mail, no phone call, no email, no text message, no smoke signals… nothing. So to make up for the gross incompetence of this company I have booked my self for the Super 8 in LA… Thanks for nothing HTOA. At least the Super 8 will have my room ready for me and will live up to what they say they will do.
By far and away signing up for the Holiday Passports has been the worst business decision of my life. I should have known, the deal sounded to good to be true. I’m a big fan of weekend road trip vacations and I was sold on it when they said they could book weekend vacations for $ 12 a night… I should have known that it was too good to be true.

Worst company ever! They are only out to get your money and give you nothing in return!
We paid $ 100 two years ago to get our Hawaii trip. We’ve been flexible about when we can leave, but somehow they have a hard time finding dates that works!
When they finally gave us some dates almost two years later, we were optimistic that this was going to work.
We were told that we would leave Tue, Sept. 15 and receive a mail with the tickets. A week before our travel dates we called to tell them we hadn’t received any email or tickets yet. They told us they will send us a mail with the information right away.
We got a mail from them, and on the mail they said that we would receive the information at least two weeks before our trip. WHAT? Well, that was their mail, and our trip was suppose to be in a week.
Tried calling them numerous of times, but no answers. We finally got a hold of them yesterday (Friday, four days before our trip), but they were STILL asking about the right way to spell our names for the booking. They told us they would send us the ticket information right away. We trusted them and hung up (BIG MISTAKE). NO email showed up! It was friday, their last working day before the weekend. Tried calling them again, but no answers.
Today its Saturday, three days before our travel. We don’t have any tickets. Have NO idea what time the flight is or even if there is a flight booked for us!
We would have to arrange our travels to LA where we are suppose to leave from, but how can we do that without knowing if there even is a flight booked for us or what time it leaves!
This is just very disrespectful!

I’m sure like most started off extremely hesitant when I got the «FREE trip» from this company. I went to a presentation with a separate company and they offered me a «free» flight with hotel. I figured it would be pretty hard but, what the heck! So I sent in my info with my deposit as the voucher says and was able to call and ask questions before I sent anything in and able to call throughout the process.
I was still a little upset the way the process only let me select two dates at a time providing an advanced notice. I followed their directions and once they got my request about a month and a half before travel the emailed me flight and hotel information and once it was all explained it turned out to all be well worth the hoops.
I ended up saving almost $ 1000 on the flights alone. The hotel was awesome too. The agent I was working with had no problem extending my trip for me. With the savings I got to take my son to Disney to meet Goofy. (his favorite) All in all when I look back I would definitely recommend following the steps on your voucher.

I’ve had a voucher for a very long time now, and am extremely disappointed with my experience! I’ve been very patient, waited numerous times, and have proposed new dates — however, the last time I called to check in, the agent mentioned that I am basically waiting for a stay in the old Vegas downtown area and had the opportunity to pick any date at a better hotel on the strip if we agreed to attend an additional timeshare presentation — BAIT & SWITCH! It is crazy that you are made to wait over one year, spent time over numerous phone calls, and now are asking to attend another presentation in order to get any date you want and a better hotel!
I am EXTREMELY disappointed. I am unsure how HTOA is planning to sell more timeshare product when this clearly leaves a bad impression of the company itself !

Has anyone ever gone to Hawaii with the voucher from Welk Resort Holiday Travel of America? I have a voucher, I sent in my $ 100, chose my dates and Im waiting to see what happens. I have read all these negative reviews. Now I’m scared.
I take full responsibility for not doing my homework first but I’m trying to stay optimistic. I will keep everyone posted.
To comment on the service thus far, this is what I have experienced:
1. I gave 1 star because customer service sucks. Our presenter/​rep/​tour guide at the presentation was rude to me and my life partner (I hope it wasn’t because of our sexual orientation, although the reps statements made us feel that our relationship to eachother was an issue). We complained to the manager after the presentation and the manager, Adam did a great job of lying to my face. *I appreciate the young lady who was kind enough to bust him out and let us know he was lying to us (she gets 5 stars)*
2. I also gave them a 1 because I did everything requested for the tablet that was promised to me and they waited til after the voucher expired to right me a letter stating that because I didn’t send my check certified mail my voucher was voided.
As I mentioned, I will keep everyone updated as time goes on and change my rating accordingly.
Shaune