Grus Travel

[Superfrac]

Hi

We are thinking about going on an escourted tour to Australia and have come across a company called Grus Travel on the internet. Has anyone dealt with this company or have any information?

Many thanks.

Sue

[joanrurer]

Sue, you need to look on their website and look under testimonials. They are real, in fact we wrote one of them. We have never written a testimonial before and we wern't asked to do so but we felt everyone should know that there are real companies out there who really do want to give you a genuine experience of the country or countries they visit. Perhaps you should also go to reviewcentre.com as they seem to have the same comments there.

We have been so impressed we are going to New Zealand with them and then America, these trips are normally by invitation only but we just could not wait. We are going to NZ next January with them.

By the way they really are a small company and the chances are you will get Stephen or Jayne as your guide, if you do you will be pleased as they are truly enthusiastic and passionate about what they do.

We have recently had friends book and then cancel with Saga Holidays and Journeys of Distinction because they keep altering their prices with all sorts of excuses, this despite their promises but these guys just give you what you pay for, everyone on our trip paid the same price..it seems with them there are no gimmicks, they expect a certain type of client!

Hope this helps

Joan Rurer

[Superfrac]

Many thanks for your reply Joan.

We was interested in the 21 day trip, so I rang them yesterday asking a few question.

I was surprised to learn that they have cancelled all 21 days trips to Australia and just run the 36 (i think) 'Once in a Lifetime' trip. I asked why this was and the lady was not sure, she said maybe due to lack of interest. I asked her whether the other trip would be cancelled and she said she did not think so.

I was a bit off putting really, I know they are part of ABTA so our money would be safe, but I did not want to book with a company I did not know anything about and then have my trip cancelled.

I presume you went on the longer trip?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Sue

[joanrurer]

Hi Sue,

I think you would have to ask them about the 21 day trip. We found them to be very honest and up front.

We have travelled alot over the years and we have had our trips cancelled or altered up to 14 days prior to departure...yes 14 days.

I know with Grus travel they guarantee their trip under 120 days which I think is the best on the market. They are a different company all together, they due have a minimum number of 16 and a mximum of 24 which is really excellent.

As far as not booking with someone because you think they might cancel, then my advise would be to not book with any group operator as they have to have people on the trip to make it work. If you want individual trip where you get a guarantee of departure then you need to travel on your own and look for companies that can do that for you, we have done that in the past and sometimes it works but it is nice to have a small group with an expert guide. I know by experience that doing it yourself can be very expensive and time consuming and these companies no where they are going.

We chose Grus Travel also because they were a Australian company and it shoed the minute we started the trip, they just knew where they were going...off the tourist rail and into flora and fauna and local culture.

I must admit that the cancelaltion part did not come into our equasion as companies have to make money and if no body wants there trip then they have to cancel, you get your deposit back and in most cases they re-locate you to a different date, I know with Grus Travel they do allways ask you for an alternative date.

I also allways remeber our guie telling us as well as others on the trip that the trip would cost £9,000 to do yourself and that would be without a guide and transport locally.

I hope this helps

Sue

[Superfrac]

Thank you for your reply.

Its funny you should mention about organising the trip ourselves, my husband said about that today.

He thought we could organise a similar itinery, e.g. flights, hotels, organise trips while we was in australia. but I am not keen on that idea, i like the thought that everything is arranged for you. I like the Grus Travel trip, for one thing it include Raffles in Singapore, which must have been amazing.

Anyway we will have to think about it.

One other question please, how long beforehand did you book your holiday?

Do you think its wise to booked far in advance, or do you think you can booked a few months before you go?

Many thanks.

Sue

[joanrurer]

Hi Sue,

I think your'e right, my partner wanted to organise it himself. I think by the time he visited all the travel agents and researched it on the internet he realised it was an impossible task and the cost was way aboe what we could really afford. I think that is the big bennefit of going with a company like Grus Travel, they just organise evrything from breakfast to dinner to your excursions, where to go and what do and it saves you so much time when you are away on holiday as well.

We booked 13mths in advance, I thinkyou need to book early because they only take small groups and they are very popular. We have a friend who wanted to book for Xmas this year, they phoned to book in January and it had all sold out..that's nearly ayear in advance! She re-arranged to go Xmas 2009 and were told the trip already was two thirds sold.

Hope this helps.

Joan

[SARAHQ]

Hi Sue

This is another little bit of food for thought but if you are at all concerned about guaranteed departures there are escorted operators that offer guaranteed departures. For instance Scenic Tours are a fantastic company, they are Australian owned and an award winning company.

I must admit that their groups are slightly larger than Grus Travel however the way that their tours are managed means that you are not travelling in each others pockets the whole time.

The thing that I loved about Scenic Tours was the professionalism of the Tour Director and Coach driver but more importantly they have Scenic Freechoice activity days and dining which means that you can tailor-make your holiday as you travel. They give you a choice of at least 4 activities and you decide what you want to do. Therefore getting the best of both worlds. And more importantly its all included in the cost of the holiday. And you dont decide until you get there.

Well, maybe this will give you more food for thought Joan. Give them a call and get a brochure. They really are the experts.