Destinations Downunder

While working at United Airlines, I was interested in a trip to Australia. Because of UAL, I had free flights and discount hotels but I went to Carol for day trips. The day trips and the personal guides that Carol arranged were perfect and exactly what I was looking for. Obviously, Carol did not make a lot of money from this but she was a professional and went out of her way to make sure that everything went smoothly for us. I would go back to her in a heartbeat.

Carol Hitchie is the woman to talk to if you want to go to Australia and/​or New Zealand. This is her area of expertise and she only focused on these areas (maybe a little Fiji if you needed her).
I have used DD twice: gone to 5 different areas in Australia and all through the South Island of New Zealand and also recommended their services to a few friends who have all enjoyed their experiences.
I wouldn’t hesitate to call Carol if I was arranging another trip that way. Because DD is so specialized, when I was planning a trip to Italy, even called and asked for a travel agent recommendation because I wanted someone with the same attention to detail.
Don’t delay!

AVOID THIS TRAVEL AGENT!
Before you book your trip to NZ or Australia, read and consider this experience to save yourself problems with this business.
My wife and I wanted to go on our honeymoon to NZ, and like most people have never travelled there so were looking for outside perspective (i.e. travel agents) on where to go, what to do, bargains, things to avoid, etc. Carol at destinations downunder was one of a few travel agents we talked to.
Right of the bat, we were unimpressed with the work Carol at Destinations Downunder demonstrated towards us. We were leaving to visit NZ for over 2 weeks, and the itineraries Carol put together, from the first draft she sent us to the last draft she sent us were not meeting our reasonable expectations. These expectations she missed were simple as listening to us when we say where we want to go, what we want to do, recommendations for café’s/restaurants/shops at locations where we’ll be at– because honestly once an activity is done after a half day– what are we suppose to do? Other travel agents we were talking to understood our needs, not so much with Carol… and there became our piece of mind because if we needed a change or someone to contact on our vacation– could we really trust Destination Downunder?- The answer was no.
After over two weeks of emails back and forth, and phone conversations that became what my wife described as increasingly harassing, my wife and myself collectively decided to utilize another travel agent who was more attentive and thorough. We politely declined Destination Downunder’s services.
Following that, Carol sent myself increasingly harassing emails which I have included exerts below.
Carol: «I was most definitely unaware of another agent in the picture, or I would have not put the hours into the design and pricing, air options and conversations.»
My response to future people is would you really want to use a business with someone who was not working their hardest to get your business over someone else? Also, picking travel agents to do business with is just like any other business transaction, you choose the best business for your needs. She certainly didn’t meet our needs.
Carol: «I am extremely angry at this. I cannot believe that you would do this to me.»
What business talks like this? Totally inappropriate language.
Overall, because of destination downunder’s decreasing mannerism & professionalism, lack of attention to detail, and overall presentation — we decided not to use their services, we suggest no one else does either.