Connoisseur Travel

I have used Connoisseur for both personal and business travel and they are amazing! I took a personal trip on the west coast of the US from Seattle to Palm Springs (by car) and Connoisseur was able to provide me with an amazing itinerary, stops in all the major cities, even camping information for our days at the Redwood forest! They are very accommodating with and will provide you the best options for your trip! I will always use them when traveling on vacation where I just want it all taken care of so I can relax and enjoy the trip!

I am so glad that I reached out to Connoisseur Travel (for my first time) to get their expertise in booking our recent vacation to Thailand! Sue Michailidis was an absolute pleasure to work with, both leading up to as well as reminiscing of the experience once we got home.
I generally do my own research and book on my own, but after this experience there will be much less of that in the future! We had zero issues with the arrangements: two-​weeks full of tours, transfers, accommodations, etc. Not only did I benefit from the amount of time she saved me from trying to do all the research, but she set us up with outstanding tour operators for top-​notch experiences, like the «right» elephant farm to visit to see them treated properly. Sue also worked in other nice perks that we wouldn’t have gotten without her.
The accommodations (one hotel in each location: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Krabi) were outstanding, even more so than we had hoped for. (I’ll be leaving reviews for those hotels eventually, too.) The balance of scheduling busy days mixed with low key days was perfect. We simply let her know which country we wanted to visit, the amount of time we had, total price we were planning on, and that we hoped for a mix of culture, adventure, and relaxation — and she took it from there, giving us the best trip of our lives so far!
Thanks again for everything, Sue!
I look forward to calling on you for help again when we have time to go see more of the world :)

The Connoisseur Travel team keeps our firm on the road and in business! Our company entrusts all of its corporate travel bookings to Tammy Araneda and her VIP corporate agent team. Connoisseur has awesome contracts with all the major airline and hotel brands all over the globe taking you and your management team to the far stretches of the world. Connoisseur operates 24÷7÷365, so you are never left hanging when you miss your flight in Mumbai or a hotel in Shenzhen China misplaces your reservation. After a long journey abroad or a short trip to a city close by, it’s nice to know Tammy and her teams are personally seeing to your travel plans! Thanks Tammy!!!

Ariel Giraldi at Connoisseur Travel did an amazing job arranging a fantastic and flawless vacation in a short amount of time for my wife and I to Machu Picchu and Easter Island! This was my first time using a travel agent, and I would highly recommend Connoisseur Travel to anyone. I had a great experience with them, and plan to use them again for future trips.
I basically just told Ariel where I wanted to go and the dates I wanted, and she took care of the rest. I travel internationally for work all the time and usually have to figure out my own logistics, but that was never a concern on this trip. From the time we left home to the time we returned, I never even had to think about tickets, tour guides, where to eat, how to get from point A to point B, or what hotel we were staying at. At every step of the way, there was always someone there with a sign with my name waiting to take care of my wife and I.
We started in Peru — going to Lima, Cusco, Aguas Calientes, and Machu Picchu. Ariel always had private drivers and tour guides ready to go for us that were on time, extremely knowledgable, and very accommodating. The hotels were very nice, the restaurants were local and authentic (no tourist traps), and the sights were amazing. We loved the people and are pretty sure we’ll be retiring in rural Peru now.
Next we went on to Easter Island and had basically the same great experience. Our private tour guide took care of us for 3 days straight, knew everything about the island, and was able to set us up with tickets to a traditional native dinner and show.
On our way back from Easter Island, we had a long layover in Chile and the tour guide service set us up with a winery tour just outside of Santiago. The wine was amazing and we bought a few bottles to take home with us back to the States.
Again, this was my first time using a travel agency. It was an excellent decision, and I’ll definitely be reaching out to Ariel again for future travel needs.

The Jan 2016 storm left me stranded in a foreign country with little options. thanks to the superb professionalism, kindness and indefatigable assistance of Mr Scott Masciarelli of Connoisseur Travel I was able to make it to the States and ultimately to NYC. Mr Masciarelli exceeded in his duties. Not only did he secure me a flight to NYC he maintained contact with me throughout advising me accordingly. He searched and booked a hotel for me for an overnight stay near the airport all the while reassuring me. I thank you profusely for being the” string” that guided me out of the airline” maze «. Bravo! I applaud you.

Not very helpful at all. When I told her my middle eastern destination I sort of felt a racist reaction from sue. I was told she doesn’t book tickets for travel just vacations. Not sure what that even means. You are a travel agent or not? Would not recommend and she surely cost the company business.

This travel agency is horrible… you are better off doing everything yourself online. Nancy did little to no legwork setting up flights and hotels… she basically found the absolutely most expensive package possible and said «this is all that’s available». A 5 minute Google search came up with a better, cheaper hotel and the flights were no different than what’s on Travelocity… however Nancy charged $ 20 per person to book the flight. My group trip to Iceland worked out only after I decided to ignore everything Nancy was telling me and do everything on my own. If you need help with travel plans, call American Express… not this company

I have used Connoisseur Travel twice for vacation travel and each time the service was exceptional. I worked with Scott Masciarelli and he is excellent! When I returned from my vacation in the Caribbean my flight was cancelled in Miami and Scott was able to rebook my flight before I even knew what was happening. He goes above and beyond the call of duty and it was very much appreciated. I will continue to use Connoisseur Travel and have referred them to friends of mine.

Sue Michailidis did an amazing job planning our honeymoon to Mykonos and Santorini and creating our itinerary! All the excursions and hotels exceeded our expectations! We also love how she was available during our honeymoon to handle any of our questions and concerns. For instance, we had a planned driver to pick us up at a designated stop. However, the day of, we found out that we would be delayed arriving at our destination. We notified Sue, and she was able to handle and reschedule pick up time with our driver. We honestly believe that our honeymoon experience was memorable due to Sue’s planning and recommendations! We will definitely be using her for future vacations!

I have worked with Connoisseur Travel on many trips including Austria, Germany, Argentina, France and now Italy. I’ve had the pleasure of both Beryl and Lynne as my travel agents. What’s most impressive is the communication (I always hear back within an hour or less) and meeting all of our needs. We have had several memorable trips and are looking forward to our next! I have recommended this travel agency to several of my friends who have also worked with Connoisseur Travel and they are highly recommended!

Sue is the absolute best! She was very flexible with meeting with my husband and I to plan our trip. She helped us plan a very fun honeymoon! When something came up with the hotel we were going to stay in, she was very very helpful in getting us transferred to a (better!) hotel for free. Just the best :)

I came across Connoisseur Travel on an internet search looking for someone to help plan my honeymoon in Greece and boy am I glad I did!
I emailed at night and Sue Michailidis responded right away the next day. After a quick phone call with my now-​wife and I to get an idea of what we were looking for and Sue went to work and planned a vacation we will never forget.
Everything she booked and suggested for us was perfect — right down to the restaurant reservations she made for us. We were stressed with wedding planning so it was a great feeling to know that Sue had taken care of everything with the honeymoon.
I cannot recommend Sue enough (and have already put a friend in touch with her to help book her trip). If you’re planning a trip and need some help, definitely reach out to her.

Worked with Scott Masciarelli to plan our 3 week honeymoon trip to Europe (Spain, france, italy, and Switzerland) — Oh the trip was amazing!!! it was more than we ever even thought it would be. The experiences, the scenic views, the cultures, food, the people, etc was just all outstanding and mind opening for sure.
Wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for everything. We would not have had such a wonderful 3 week Europe honeymoon trip without your services. Scott, was very very responsive and helped with absolutely everything i could have wanted assistance with. We will for sure refer you to any friend of ours that is looking for any sort of trip. SO WELL WORTH IT! :)
Thanks again for everything!

I have never worked with a travel agency before, but Nancy has exceeded all of my expectations. She is extremely helpful, kind, and knowledgeable, and I have sincerely enjoyed working with her throughout my trip planning process. I would highly recommend!

In Dec 2014 I made plans to travel to India. It was a last minute planning and after some research I called this office for my travel needs. I happened to get to talk to the most sweetest person in business Nancy. Besides being very professional she is a great human being too. Even tho mine was a last minute plan, Nancy arranged everything very well. Got me the best possible deal and made sure everything worked out well for me. During my travel it so happened that there was a carrier change by the airlines and they moved my seat, in fact put it from confirmed status to on hold. I was in Dubai, called Nancy at an odd hour and she instantly responded. Fixed the situation for me and made my travel comfortable again. This all gave me a feeling that I was an important person even tho it was my first business interaction with the company.
All through out the travel I was Constantly updated with the flight status. So much that on my return I got an email and a personal call to see if everything went well.
Actually speaking they have my business forever, credit goes to Nancy.

When it comes to travel, I do TONS of research. I always plan my own trips, create my own itineraries, and even do research so I know what kind of plane I’m flying on and can choose the best seat. I am detail oriented to the point of nearly obsessive. However, for my upcoming honeymoon to Hawaii next March I required a bit more help because we wanted to visit multiple islands– I had almost done too much research and overwhelmed myself with information! Earlier this year I contacted Sue Michailidis after coming across Connoisseur on Unilocal and seeing that she was one of the Hawaii «experts.»
Sue promptly answered my email and we scheduled a phone consultation. She was really knowledgeable about Hawaii because she lived there for a few years and gave her honest opinions about the hotels I was interested in. She also created two sample itineraries for me that were within the budget I initially sent her, which was great so I could see how my own research stacked up. During the call she didn’t pressure me to book anything right away, which I appreciated. She gave good advice on where to get the most value for our dollar and happily answered all of my questions.
When my fiancé and I finally decided on Maui and Kauai, I had created my own spreadsheet of costs for a variety of hotel options and flights. I sent this to Sue to see if she could come in any lower and she came pretty close! I decided to book through her instead of going directly through the hotels/​airlines because it allowed us to spread the cost over many months (airfare upfront, hotel payment 60 days before we travel). Otherwise, I would have had to pay the hotels in full to get the lowest rate. Additionally, I feel better knowing there is someone I can contact in case something goes wrong with the flight/​hotel. It’s peace of mind for a once in a lifetime trip.
Anyway, when it came time to book it was super easy– just some info over the phone and we had a honeymoon plan! Sue also included a (free) lei greeting at the airport for us when we land which is really thoughtful! She also sent a list of her favorites restaurants and things to do on the islands. I can’t wait until March!

My wife did some research when we were planning for our honeymoon. She works at a large law firm in town, and Connoisseur came up again and again as the best in the business.
I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical about using a travel agency. Why not just grab a guidebook and spend some time on the internet? Buuuuut then one of my buddies was scammed by booking a house in another country for a bachelor party. The amount of money he lost, the logistical hurdles that created, and the stress it hat ensued made me consider it. I am so so glad that we decided on Connoisseur and avoided the hassle.
We were so lucky to work with Brenda! She is so tremendously helpful, patient, and thoughtful. We set a budget, described our travel style, and vaguely told her what we how we envisioned our honeymoon. Then she was off! And in no time flat we had an incredible honeymoon planned in a neat itinerary. It felt like we had won the showcase showdown Ion the «price is right»!
When we arrived in Spain — we found out to our great surprise that my wife’s sister had called Brenda and upgraded some of our plans as a wedding present. We were so touched that Brenda would take the time to do that — she felt like one of the family.
I’m not sure we’ll ever leave the country for a vacation again without giving Brenda a call!

For the past five years, we’ve used Connoisseur Travel to meet our business needs. From student trips to my travel, usually last minute with many changes, to locations ranging from NYC to the Middle East and Europe, Richard and Brenda have gone above and beyond for us. Along with Cathy, the owner, they’re like family. When I’ve missed an international flight, they’ve quickly assisted — even at 10 pm! Not an 800 number — Brenda or Richard pick up and run with whatever problem with encounter. They’re so good, so thorough, I use them for my family’s travel too. Travel is about more than getting from Point A to B. When I have flight delays, I don’t count on the aiirline to rebook/​reroute me. I know Richard is already on it. I just walk past the long queue at customer service and head to my hotel!

I’ve had several very good travel agents in the past, but I think Angela has been the best agent. She has her connections in the travel industry. She and her team do wonders with all their expertise and connections definitely when my boss flies and makes changes. They are kind, courteous and accommodating and will find the best fare possible for the type of business travel one has to do and the best suggestions of how best to use a credit (and keeps track of credits because I know I don’t have time for that). «No» is not in Angela’s vocabulary unless someone stops her in her tracks and tell her it cannot be done, otherwise, Angela will find a way. Angela and her team are really wonderful. Give them a try if you haven’t already.

Tammy is amazing! Quick to respond, helpful with all requests including last minute, and international. They have great service via email or phone, with on-​line login options, travel profiles. I have had to request for them to pull monthly and yearly reports, they are always happy to help. I find them to be highly organized and on top of the clients needs.