This will be a SUPER SUPER SUPER long entry.. pics with short descriptions + 3/4 of the post is about Complains!!!

Day 1 - Flight to LAX + LA city tour

SQ12 departs T3 at 0950 on 05Dec.. Landed LAX international airport at 1205 on 05Dec.. lolx! it's not 2+hrs flight journey.. in total the journey is 18hrs with transit at Narita airport.. because we're crossing the international dateline.. the date -1 (slower).. so the date over at LA side is still 05Dec.. I'm 16hrs younger when I'm at the States!

Due to the bad weather, the plane have been circling at the same spot for about 4 rounds? which makes 1hr delayed landing at Narita...



It's very rare for me to see this part of the world map onboard the flight..



City tour stop : Beverly Hills at LA.. where all richies and famous people stay..



City tour stop : Shopping mall nearby..



From the mall can see HOLLYWOOD from VERY VERY FAR.. -.-!!!



Dinner for tonight! Wendy's Burger




Day 2 - Disneyland



Argh! as expected a full day here isn't enough to complete all rides.. All thanks to that SUPER big idiot tour guide.. maybe if he brief us on how to get Fastpass at Disneyland, cfm can complete more rides than normal.. maybe finish all rides.. -.-"

Lunch for the day! Burgers again! Paisei ah.. the burger got 2 big bites.. =X



Everything seems to be gigantic in size over here.. Turkey drumstick..



A photo with minnie.. Photo with mickey not nice.. so not going to post.. =X



Shopping loots for the day!






Day 3 - Universal studio



I prefer this place than Disneyland.. although it's smaller here but the rides and shows seems better.. This place changed alot since i last came.. but this shark is still here!



Wooo~ I luv this ride.. nice water effect? Consequence = all wet!



Very fun to pool your own M&M's color mix.. but ur pocket will burn big hole if u happily pack till very big pack..




Day 4 - En-route to Las Vegas + Shopping at Tanger Outlet + Las Vegas night tour

Coach outlet..



Las Vegas old town..



Las Vegas new town..




Day 5 - Grand Canyon

Passby Hoover Dam on the way to Grand Canyon.. After crossing the dam.. we're at Arizona state.. the time is further slowed down by 1hr..



At the transfer terminal waiting to change to their "internal bus" to drive further into the desert.. This tree is definately more than 500yrs old.. maybe more than 1000yrs old oso got..



Taking the Helicopter to have a bird's eye view of the Grand Canyon west rim..



I'm the co-pilot!



Some pictures of Grand Canyon taken during the helicopter ride.. pictures doesn't seem impressing.. i confirm u will jaw drop when u see the real thing..







We flew from the top to the bottom of Grand Canyon..



Took a boat to cruise a short distance along the Colorado river before we return back to the top..



After the helicopter ride.. we went on to Eagle point to take on the Skywalk.. It's a very interesting and scary U-shaped glass bridge that extend out about 4000ft from the bottom of the cliff.. you can see thru the glass and look downwards.. my leg turn super jelly just by looking down.. i haven't step up the platform yet loh.. so throw face lah! the others just happily step up there walk around.. even my aunt oso got alittle fear of height oso move on without problem.. only mi grabbing the handle like dunoe what.. slowly sliding my way across the bridge.. fainted! making it worst.. there're families that try to capture the moment where they jumped up.. omg! the vibrations.. i very scary the glass shatter loh.. FYI.. u gotta go up there empty-handed.. and put on shoes wrap.. they scare u drop something onto the glass or scratch the glass.. the security is tight.. got set up scanning gantry.. so cannot take any picture.. gotta use their photographer and buy the picture from them.. 1 photo USD$30!!! so clever ah..



Nice view at Guana point.. But there's no security features fencing the edge.. so i dare not step near.. although i think i still quite a distance from the edge lah.. scary leh the height! if not i think can take the view from top down..




Day 6 - F&E at Las Vegas

Breakfast buffet at Circus circus! and did I mention that my hotel is Rivera!? What a weird arrangement.. gotta cross to the opposite side to have breakfast..



We took the DEUCE to St Louis stop and transfer to bus 108 to get to Las Vegas Premium outlet



After returning back to Riveria hotel to unload our shopping loots.. We head to Caesar Palace for dinner of the day at The Cheesecake Factory!! Yummy!! Their cheesecake (original) is fabulous! so light and fluffy!! win wat i've tried in aussie too! although aussie cheesecakes are already very good..



Their robotic skill is much skilled than those seen in SG which is super suxky..



Spent the night hotel/casino hopping.. not to gamble.. but to catch the hotels' unique display.. I video-ed every shows.. so no picture! haha..

Bellagio Water Display Show 1

Bellagio Water Display Show 2

Their water display is way much better than Sentosa's musical fountain loh!!! I watched 3 shows in a row.. each show interval is 15mins.. so i stand there to brave the cold for 45mins.. lolx!

Mirage Volcano Display (Fire + Water)

Day 7 - En-route to San Francisco + Shopping at Primme Outlet + Stopover stay at Viselia

Had lunch at this place called Barstow Station.. the dining area is inside the train cabin..



Still having burgers! but Somehow their Mac just taste different from ours.. much nicer!!



To my horror! Look at my hands! The consequence for not applying enough moisturizer and oso not choosing a good moisturizer brand.. FYI the moisturizer i'm using is from TheFaceShop.. =X




Day 8 - En-route to San Francisco + Stopover stay at Newark

On the way towards San Francisco.. the journey includes a stopover at Casa De Fruta to buy nuts and fruits..



then a detour to 17-mile scenic drive.. it's also a place for the richies to stay.. houses here are at least 10mil.. The big rock behind me got lots of sea lion on it..



Cute little "friend" came to play with us..



Unwelcomed "friends".. I HATE BIRDS!



This stop along the way is just to look at this lonely Cypress tree standing alone there for ages..



then lastly arrive at Hilton Fremont/Newark Hotel.. I still nowhere near San Francisco!! Grrr!!


Day 9 - San Francisco city tour + 1/2 day F&E

Whole San Francisco view from the hill top..



They have alot of eye capturing "Van Ness" word here.. =X





Golden Gate Bridge with America flag..



Alcatraz - Jail on the rock in the middle of the sea.. Not in use liao..

'

Pier 39 a.k.a Fisherman's Wharf



Sealions lazing around..



King of the sealions.. Hogging one platform by itself.. *roarz* ahh.. seaLION.. =X



Thanks to the super duper lousy tour package.. I can't take picture of the Lombard St. a.k.a Crooked Street.. It's on a very steep hill.. and have very sharp turning angle..



This ice cream shop is still there! it has been more than 10years since I last visited this place.. never close down loh~! haha.. =X



Snacks.. Churros and Hot dog wrap.. OT : that's my aunt.. haha!



I had 3 cups of Clam Chowder in a day.. Pro? FATTENING!!!

Clam Chowder in Sourdough bowl - Lunch..



Side track a little.. Strawberres + Bananas + Nutella Crepe for lunch too.. See so thick! Generously filled with thick chunks of fruits and thick layer of nutella.. unlike here so pathetic..



Clam Chowder in cup - 1 hour after lunch..



Clam Chowder in cup - Dinner..



Their oysters are so super duper fresh and yummy!


Day 10 - 11 - En-route back SG

SQ1 departed SFO at 0005 on 14Dec Becoz we'll be crossing the international dateline.. the date will +1.. so Day 10 and 11 is actually the same day..


Done with the blogging.. Now here's the very super duper long complains..

Agency name : Super Travel (it's located at Cheenatown point)

Guided tour name : 11 Days West Coast USA Adventure

WARNING!!! : DO NOT BOOK ANY TOUR WITH SUPER TRAVELS.. THEY DO NOT GIVE WHAT THEY ARE SELLING ON THE PRINTED ITINERARIES!!!

Here are all the complain letters received from each family.

Family No. 1 :

11Days USA West Coast Adventure (ST AMA05B) 05-Dec-08 to 15-Dec-08

Dear Madam/ Sir,

We would like to express our dissatisfaction with the above mentioned guided tour, concerning in particular (a) the organization of the tour and information (or rather, lack thereof) provided before the tour and (b) the conduct of the tour guide. We believe that this constructive feedback is crucial in ensuring that the reputation of your agency is not damaged by a repeated incident.

Listed below are our dissatisfactions. These are by no means exhaustive, as other members of the group may have other complaints as well:

1. Lack of communication before tour/ information provided about the tour

(a) Several members requested for a list of hotels they would be staying in, but after numerous unanswered calls, did not receive it.
(b) No accurate briefing on the weather. We were specifically requested to bring a ‘light jacket’, which would not have been sufficient to withstand an American winter.

2. Special requirements not acceded to/ completely ignored

A Muslim couple requested to have their meal portions served on separate plates and be given non-pork substitutes in restaurants. This was not pre-arranged by our tour guide. We have to repeatedly tell the ‘disgruntled’ restaurant waitresses in almost all the restaurant meals provided in this tour package.

3. Lack of identification of the tour guide/miscommunication in Changi Airport

(a) The tour guide refused to (even after suggestions by group members to do so) wear any sticker/carry a flag that could help group members to identify him.
(b) No luggage tags were provided.
(c) Several members were given wrong information regarding where to meet in Changi Airport on departure day.

4. Tour guide’s surprising lack of basic knowledge regarding the places of interest visited.

(a) From our understanding of “guided tour” and previous experience with professional tour guides, we were expecting to receive basic facts and statistics about the cities/places of interest visited i.e. when it was completed, why it was built etc. To our dismay, the tour guide seemed as clueless to us about these locations, and had obviously not done sufficient research.
(b) This lack of knowledge was extended towards unfamiliarity with the location of toilets/ route directions in many of the places visited, where on many occasions he had to rely on the bus driver’s prompting for information.

5. Tip collection

(a) Many group members had made agreements with the agency before the tour that tips would be collected at the end of the tour. However, we were approached by the tour guide for tip collection on the second day of the tour, who lied to individual members that the rest of the group had already made the payment when in actual fact this was completely fabricated and false.
(b) The tips were meant to be divided three-way between the tour guide, the bus driver and the local guide as stated in the travel itinerary. However, no local guide was provided. When questioned, the tour guide responded that the agency did not arrange local tour guide and he has to double up as local tour guide too.

6. Mis-organization of the Grand Canyon tour

Group members that opted not to go for the Helicopter Ride and Skywalk were told to meet at a designated venue at 2.15 pm, where a bus would transport us back. However, the tour guide did not make any allowances for the timings of the helicopter rides and arrived at the meeting point an hour late, where he claimed that the bus was scheduled to arrive at that time. A check with the bus agency proved this to be untrue. The tour guide then proceeded to blame the helicopter ride members for the delay, when in fact he should be responsible for not coordinating the timings properly.

7. Changing of itinerary

The visit to San Francisco city was pushed back by the tour guide to the following day, a change of plans that was only made known on the day itself, upsetting many members who had initially wanted/had plans for a free day in San Francisco. The tour guide then stated that the itinerary given to us was different from the itinerary given to him by the agency.


Family No. 2 :

To : Manager
Super Travels Pte Ltd

From : (Undisclosed)

Date : 18 Dec 2008

FEEDBACK ON 11 DAYS USA WEST COAST ADVENTURE (5 DEC – 15 DEC 2008)

We wrote to feedback on the above guided tour, led by Mr Andrew Tan from 5 to 15 Dec 2008.
Overall, it was a very disappointed trip, with no competent tour guide, promised itinerary not delivered, unworthy optional tour, below average tour leadership etc. It was the worst guided tour we ever encountered (worse than Free & Easy). Below are some of the elaborations.

1. Missing Tour Guide. This trip was a GUIDED TOUR purchased during NATAS.
However, it turned out that there was NO Tour Guide provided for the entire trip. A tour guide is the essential element that defines a guided tour package. The competency of the tour guide is the key factor that makes or breaks a tour, and distinct one travel agency from the other. To have no tour guide provided for a supposedly guided tour for 37 pax over 11 days, is totally unacceptable, as it failed to deliver a guided tour that we signed for. Below facts further attest to
my claim :

a. The last two lines of your company’s briefing note – “THINGS TO TAKE NOTE FOR PASSENGERS OF 11D USA WEST” issued during the pre-trip briefing, clearly stated that the USD $80 tipping was for Tour Guide, Leader, Driver. Hence, it was clear that a Tour Guide is expected but was not provided.

b. Mr Andrew Tan introduced himself as the Tour Leader and informed us only on the coach bus that there was no local tour guide provided for the trip, only a local driver was. As a result, he “would have to double-up as our tour guide”. Unfortunately, he was not reasonably competent to guide the tour. Frankly, his attempt seemed worst than not having one. Below are some of the disappointments and specific examples:

i. Failed to guide the tour properly with reasonable information. His inability to reasonably describe a tour spot showed that he was not well informed nor has done sufficient homework. Eg: In Disneyland, he failed to highlight the function of FastPass ticket that we are entitled, resulting in plenty of time wasted on long queue for the key rides. In Las Vegas, he failed to advise sufficiently on the attractions in Las Vegas1. He could not explain what were the available buses and bus routes (these were essential information for us to travel on our own during the free day in Las Vegas). During visit to the Golden Gate Bridge, he explained that Golden Gate Bridge got its name probably due to its colour!2 (By the way, the bridge was Red and never Gold). During visit to San Francisco City Hall, he failed to explain what were the big statues facing the San Francisco City Hall or their significance3. During the visit to San Francisco City Park, he explained the reason of us visiting San Francisco City Park was that it was along the way. When queried further, he compared the park to Singapore’s Botanic Garden, yet added that it was not their national park/garden (???).

1) The only recommendation I could recall was “those with kids can go indoor theme park in Circus Circus Hotel”.

2) The fact is, the Golden Gate Bridge got its name after the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean.

3) The statues of the great Kings of ASSYRIANS were presented to the City of San Francisco by the ASSYRIAN people.

ii. Failed to captivate the group by providing interesting facts to the tour spots. Eg: He did not describe the characteristics of houses in Beverly Hills during the LA City tour or name any popular figures that stayed there. He did not explain how the USA Disneyland and Universal Studios were different from other countries’. He did not explain which casino is the newest or most popular in Las Vegas. He did not sufficiently explain why Pebble Beach Club was famous, i.e. what tournament was conducted there or who played there. Basically, there was hardly anything interesting in his attempt to guide the tour. To make things worst, he repeated his limited descriptions over and over again, and repeatedly comparing the weather to that of 2 weeks ago (who cares about the weather 2 weeks ago?). Soon, the group lost motivation in listening to him.

iii. Failed to pre-empt us on tour spots during the bus ride. Most of the time, the bus rides was quiet and boring. He did not appear to be aware of the interest spots coming up next and failed to get our attention in advance to see the interesting spots along the way. Most of the time, he was prompted by the drive. When he got our attention, the bus has already passed the interesting spot and we were unable to catch the view that we should see. Such has happened too frequent to be frustrating. To make things worst, he talked over a barely audible mic volume, seated with back facing us. Yet still often mixed up Left and Right and misdirected us. Most of the time, he did not even bother to relay the highlights prompted by the driver to the rest of the group.

iv. Failed to describe his point effectively. Eg: His description to the casinos in Las Vegas was : “Each of the casinos has identical themes and attractions. They have their own identical shows and performance”. This totally confused us. Little did we figured out he meant ‘unique/special’ rather of ‘identical’. To conduct the tour with such English standard was rather disturbing.

2. Promised itinerary not delivered. We did not arrive in San Francisco on Day 8 as
stated in the itinerary. We did not have our San Francisco City Tour on day 8 as stated. Instead, we had it on Day 9 and we lost our free day in San Francisco on Day 9! While we can understand that itineraries were subjected to changes due to real-time constraints and unpredictable nature, such was clearly not the case. Mr Andrew Tan explained he has noticed the differences in itinerary (last 2 days) issued by the local land tour operator upon arrival on Day 1. However, not only did he not call Super Travels Pte Ltd to clarify the differences4, he did not even officially inform us about this matter (which he has plenty of time to do so during the long boring bus ride). We came to know about it from other tour members who queried from him on Day 8 itself. When I verify with Mr Andrew, he explained he did not deviate and that he was just following what was given to him. This showed that the difference in itinerary was not due to unpredictable nature or unforeseen uncontrolled circumstances. Instead, the said and stated itinerary sold to us in NATAS was planned and conducted differently by the local land tour operator. As a result, we lost our previous free day in San Francisco on Day 9.

3. Unworthy Optional Las Vegas Night Tour. We paid $60 USD for Mr Andrew to conduct the optional Las Vegas Night Tour, which promised to bring us to “see the right things at the right place at the right time”. Very disappointingly, we failed to see many promises such as the Mirage’s Volcano show and The Bellagio’s musical fountain show. Worst of all, Mr Andrew was not even competent to bring us around at some destinations. Eg: It was so embarrassing that our group travelled up and down and up on the same escalator in front of a crowded ballroom, till the driver came to guide us in the right direction. Overall, this optional tour was definitely not worth the money paid because:

a. All the shows were actually FREE presentation by the Hotels/Casinos.

b. There was no additional costly resources incurred (that deserve $30 USD per pax),
as the same bus driver and bus was used, without engaging any local tour guide.

c. We were made to walk quite a long distance (due to designated de-bus area) and yet did not to see some of the shows we were supposed to see.

d. Effectively, the same itinerary could be achieved with a $5 all day bus-pass. On top of these, we were not offered the optional Las Vegas Night Show (stated in briefing note).

4 He sited ‘overseas calls were expensive’ as reason of not ringing Super Travel Pte Ltd.

5. Below average tour leadership (Mr Andrew Tan). Some examples of his poor
leadership, organization and control ability are:

a. Not found at arranged meeting time and place. Mr Andrew was not readily available to meet us at the time and place of departure (7.30am at T3 Row 10). After waited for 5 minutes, I rang his hand phone and he explained that we have to check in individually as all flights to US do not allow group check-in. He instructed us to proceed to queue up for checking in and he would attend to us shortly. However, he did not. When our turn in the queue was almost up, I got no choice but to ring him again in need for e-tickets. Fortunately, I managed to locate him, walked up to him and collected our etickets in time. I then realised that he was queuing in front earlier! As a tour leader, he should receive, account for the group members and distribute the e-tickets as priority over checking his own luggage. Otherwise, he should at least organize such that he was ready to meet us. What the point of arranging for a meeting time and place and the organiser was not available? Perhaps Super Travels may want to consider issuing the e-tickets during the pre-trip brief since there was no value-added service provided by the Tour Leader at time of departure.

b. No luggage identification tags provided. When requested for the luggage identification tags, he replied “Aiya! I left them in my luggage and I have checked in my luggage already. You can go to the counter and request for SIA sticker tags.” – Another disappointing indication of his interest on us.

c. Poor time management. There were numerous occurrences on his unrealistic time management. Just to name one example :

i. Ending the day at Disneyland. He gave instructions for those who planned to watch the fireworks, to meet at the bus stop at 9.45pm for transport back to Hotel. Such timing was unrealistic as the fireworks ended around 9.40pm and there was no way we can make it to the bus stop by 9.45pm. With much effort, we made it to the bus stop 5 minutes to 10pm. Realising we were late (we were the 3rd pair to arrive), I apologised to Mr Andrew and explained that we have tried our best but the exit route was totally congested. Mr Andrew replied we should have adhered to the timing no matter what, and added “You can also see some of the fireworks here at the bus stop”. I was speechless as I never have guessed that the timing given was with the considerations that we should watch the fireworks outside the Disneyland, at the bus stop!

d. Poor organization and control at Grand Canyon. The saga at Grand Canyon was another classic example of his unrealistic time management, plus poor organization and control. Mr Andrew’s instruction was for all to be back at the ticketing area by
2.15pm for transportation out of Grand Canyon. However, our helicopter tour ended at 1.46pm. Mr Andrew then brought us to Eagle point at 2.09pm where he took some members to the Skywalk. As we did not participate in Skywalk, we managed to catch the next bus out at 2.25pm while Mr Andrew was still having lunch at Eagle Point, Skywalk Cafe, and some members were still in Skywalk. Knowing that we were already behind time, we skipped both lunch and Guana lookout Point and proceeded straight back to the ticketing area. Little did we discover that the bus departure timing has changed to 3.30pm but we were not informed. That resulted us having missed our precious lookout at Guana Point and our lunch, just to wait aimlessly for his return past 3pm. Clearly, the instructed timing for us to be back at 2.15pm was simply impossible, and the situation could have been better managed.

e. No group photo organized. There was no initiative from him to organize a group photo shoot despite several requests on Day 7 and 8. He explained that there was no plan to have one as there was no camera and camera-man provided by Super Travels. Finally, we had our group photo on the last day after much combined voices. The list of dissatisfactions could go on and on, but to cut the chase short, we were doubtful about his sincerity, responsiveness and competence to lead a big tour group and ensure our welfare and safety. This in turn reflects terribly on the image of Super Travels.

In conclusion, the conduct of this supposedly guided tour was utterly disappointing. They key issues described with specific examples above, were our own encounters, and not exhaustive to represent the dismays of other tour group members. We believe there would be other feedbacks and we strongly urged that you look into our feedbacks, in order to prevent similar unhappiness from repeating.

We look forward to your sincere reply and compensation for

1. Failure to deliver a guided tour as presented and sold to us in NATAS.

2. The $160 USD fully paid tips for the service of Tour Guide, Leader and Driver; but there was no reasonable tour guide service rendered.

3. The $60 USD fully paid fees for the unworthy optional Las Vegas Night Tour.

4. Failure to comply with the itinerary stipulated for Day 8 and 9, resulting in the
loss of a free day (Day 9) in San Francisco City.

We hope to hear from you within 7 working days before considering sharing of our terrible experiences with larger audience.


Family No. 3 :

Dear Mr Aiden
Super Travels

We wish to lodge our complaint against your service staff as well as against the conduct of the above tour which was the worst one we had ever experienced.

First and foremost, about 2 weeks before the trip, we had requested your staff to check on:

1) the no. of pax in the trip. When we book the tour during NATAS, we were told that the group size will be no more that 28 persons. However, we were shocked to note that the group size has swelled to more than 35 people! This was unfair to us as we would have considered joining other tour agencies if we had known that your agency will take up more pax that the stated maximum number!

2) the cost for extending our stay in San Francisco during the briefing on 20 Nov 08 @ 1900hrs. Unable to give an answer to our queries, he told us that he will check it up and contact us back with the information

3) whether we could still be entitled to the free China trip as the trip was book during NATAS fair. He claimed that he had to consult his manager on this and revert to us on another day.

4) the hotel list. He claimed that it will be mailed to us a few days before our departure and proceeded to take our email address.

Although we did not get his name, all our requests were recorded by him on our invoice and I believed based on the date & time we went for the briefing, you would be able to know who was the staff who had briefed us. It it such a disappointment when NONE of the above information was given to us despite our numerous calls and repeated promises made by your service staff that the information will be emailed to us. As the trip got nearer, we were very upset as we had already applied for additional days leave to cover the extension stay which never materialized.

In addition, here is a list of our dissatisfaction pertaining to the conduct of the tour and the tour guide:

5) during the said briefing, we had again reminded that a no pork no lard meals be arranged for us. As muslims, it was precisely this agreement to make special meals arrangement for us that we proceeded to join your tour group. Sadly, this basic request was also not respected and arrange by the tour guide despite our specific reminders on the first day of the tour. We had requested for a separate servings of a no pork & lard meals but this request was totally ignored. Such a care-less attitude of the tour guide is an insult to us! On the first dinner that were served to us, we were seated at a table of 10 and 1 dish with pork was served. The tour guide simply told us not to take the dish containing pork. What kind of special arrangement was that??!!

On the second dinner, the same was not done, only this time 2 dishes of pork were served! When other pax who were more sensitive to our needs made special request to the waitresses for separate servings of a no pork/lard dishes for us, they were greeted with grouchy and unhappy faces. The tour guide had again conveniently ignore our request! Even on our last dinner, no separate servings was provided to us although the restaurant did not serve any pork/ lard. It makes us wonder whether the your agency/ tour guide had any prior experience in handling muslims pax because it would only be fair if you could state clearly that our request could not be met before we did our bookings.

6) the guide had lied to us when collecting tips on the second day by saying everyone had paid the tips. Apparently this was untrue. This has led us to believe that we were the only ones left and we agreed to give it to him although tips should only be given to deserving people who provided good service which was entirely not true in this case.

7) lack of basic knowledge of the tour guide on the areas visited. For instance, during our free day in Las Vegas, when we asked him how we could get to Hard Rock cafe to buy the memorabilia, he just simply told us that it was far from our hotel & that we will have to take a taxi there (claimed to be v expensive!). He failed to tell us other options such as hopping onto the deuce bus (a $5 pass entitles you to an unlimited ride for 24 hours) or the subway. He was also totally clueless of the asian restaurants we could try around the area. During the city tour in San Francisco, he was also unable to provide answers to our questions such as why the road names seems to appear familiar and their significance.

8) making us join the night tour at LasVegas claiming that we will be at certain places at the right time to watch the fantatic show This was untrue as the only show we watched was the light show at the old street. He claimed that the other shows in the new street ie fountain & volcano were cancelled due to bad weather (not true cos it was in the news that night that the shows were on!). We could have just hop on the public bus by only paying USD5 to get to these places & watch the show ourselves which we did since we did not get to watch any of these shows during the night tour. We felt duped!

8) getting us to travel from one hotel to another for breakfast which was ridiculous!. We had to walked for more than 15 mins (& even cross the road) in the cold weather to get to the breakfast area. We should have just stayed at the hotel where the breakfast was served! As a giude I believed it was his duty to recci the area if it was suitable before agreeing to put us in a particular hotel. This is specifically the reason why we had requested for the hotel list so that we could check on how good (or in this case, BAD) the hotels are!

9) Getting all of the pax to carry our own luggage up the hotel rooms & back to the coach by claiming that additional tips need to be paid. Imagine the 2 of us having to carry 6 luggage bags! Based on our previous experience with other tour groups, this would be arrange by the tour guide!

10) the time arrangement was especially bad! For instance, during the visit to Disneyland, a few of us had specifically told him that we would like to catch the fireworks. The guide had then make arrangement to pick us up at 2145hrs when the fireworks only started at 2135 hrs!. How in the world could we make it back to the transport at 2145 hrs. He should have make arrangement at a later time instead of ranting that we were late! Another instance was the 1 hr unnecessary wait at the Grand Canyon when we could have used the time to stay at the viewing point longer. The guide failed to make time allowance for those on helicopter ride!

11) the coach driver seems to dictate the movement of the group and the guide just seems to agree with this arrangement. We thought it should be the other way round!

12) With such a big group, the guide had difficulty in passing down information. He would only talked to a few pax while the others were unable to hear him clearly and the info did not flow. This is the reason why the group should not be this big in the first place. At least with such a big group, your agency should have made arrangement for 2 tour leaders instead of one!


All the above points would not have fit into the feedback form which were given to us by the guide at the end of the trip. The way the entire trip was conducted, we might be better off going free n easy as we did not get any much info or service in this supposedly guided tour as most of the time, we just felt 'lost'. It it sad that a holiday that we both had been looking forward to ended up this way.

We appreciate your speedy response and as to how your agency will make up against these shortfall (i.e. recovery of the tips, the night show fee etc). Thank you

Yours sincerely,
(Undisclosed)


Family No. 4 :

RE: Feedback to 11 Days USA West Coast Adventure (Depart Dec 05, 2008)

Dear Aiden,

By now you should have already received a number of emails from members who went on the above-mentioned tour package. We would like to also voice our dissatifaction and disapointment we had encountered.

Before the departure, we had called Super Travels three times to request for the hotel list. The staff who took our calls promised to return our call due to the person-in-charge was not present at that time and not reachable (maybe he works from home?)

The tour guide (Andrew) did not have any form of identification on him and we have to call him via our handphone to check his whereabout. He was much disorganised when performing the briefing for transit in Narita airport and arrival at LA.

To our dismay, there were no local tour guide in LA and SF. When questioned where are the local tour guides he told us that Super Travels did not engage any at all. We also asked why the itinerary stated tipping was divided between tour guide, leader and driver he said "Is it?". When we showed him the briefing notes provided by Super Travels, he could not provide a reply.

During the briefing at Super Travels, we had voiced our concern that if we pay the tippings on the second day, we may not be guaranteed good services from the Tour leader, guide and driver. We infomed Super Travels that we will pay the tippings on the last day but apparently this message was not conveyed to Andrew by Super Travels. On the second day, Andrew went round to individuals to collect the full tippings, informing us that the rest have already paid him. We later found out that he was not telling the truth and just used the excuse to want us pay the tipping.

When we asked Andrew how is today's weather (to ensure we wear the appropriate clothing), he question us "don't you know that there is a TV Channel called The Weather Channel?". He could have put it in a nicer way or do his homework and provide us the right information.

In addition to the interesting facts provided by the other group members for the Grand Canyon trip, we would like to highlight that Andrew specifically informed that the Lunch Voucher to be redeemed at the Guona Point only but in actual fact we can redeem our lunch at the Eagle Point Skywalk Cafe. Some of us were unable to resist the temptation of the food at the Eagle Point and paid for a meal there (when we can have it free!)

On a few occasions Andrew did not follow the itinerary provided by Super Travels. Example Day 7 we were supposed to check in a hotel in Fresno but we were bought to somewhere else. Day 8 we should have the SF city tour but was rescheduled to Day 9 departure day. We questioned Andrew why he did not follow the itinerary and he told us Super Travels is providing a back dated itinerary and the itinerary we got is a "summer itinerary". We insisted to see his copy of itinerary but Andrew told us his copy contains some information which cannot be disclosed to us. Andrew wants us to make a complaint to Super Travels upon our return to Singapore.

On many occasions we noticed that the Driver dictates on the timings for each of the places of interest, Andrew followed as instructed. We had been very disappointed with the arrangement partically the second factory outlet when we left Las Vegas. We were given only an hour to shop. When called Super Travels, we were told minimum 1.5 hours should be allocated to each factory outlet.

Another point to highlight is that Andrew has lacked knowledge on the places of interest for this trip. He gave us an impression that he was on vacation like us. He rely on the Driver for information at each location and then passed on these information to us in summary (though the microphone). Obviously Andrew lack the experience to lead this US trip.

At Las Vegas night tour, we spent US$30 just to be brought to some hotel lobbies to watch the free shows when we can actually pay US$5 for a 24 hour all access bus pass to reach these hotels. FYI we did not get to watch the spectacular Volcano show as we were told was cancelled due to the strong wind. We later realised it was broadcast on the TV that night.

Lastly, we feel that we were not provided good services throughout the whole trip and want Super Travels to refund our tippings and night tour in FULL. We expect to hear from Super Travels very soon.

Regards,
(Undisclosed)


Family No.5 :

To : Mr Aiden
Super Travels Pte Ltd


Dear Aiden

You would have heard from some of the friends that I have made during the tour to USA regarding how dismay we were at the way things turned out to be. I fully understand that there would be some hiccups or unforeseen circumstances during the trip. However, events and incidents that happened during this trip could have been better organised and co-ordinated.

Pre-trip briefing
I was not present at the pre-trip briefing as I was inadvertently (I guess) left out of the list. I received a call from the agency asking if I was attending the pre-trip briefing. Of course I was surprised to be asked such a question as I was never informed when this briefing was going to be held. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me as I had a one-to-one session with Marcus who told me how cold it would be in the US. It is definitely not so for my friends who attended the pre-trip briefing where they were told to bring only light jackets. The facilitator at such crucial briefing should be well-informed so that accurate information could be disseminated to all present.

During the trip
I was really appalled at the way my Muslim friends were treated at meal times. As Singaporeans, we need to be more sensitive and empathetic towards our Muslim friends especially so when it comes to food. They did not insist on having halal food served, instead asked for no pork or no lard meals. This was not arranged at all the restaurants which we had our meals in. Even my 13-year old daughter is concerned.

The Grand Canyon tour really showed how disorganised our tour guide was and that his integrity is also an issue. Those who opted out of the helicopter ride and skywalk, including my family, were frustrated because the tour guide had informed us to report back an hour earlier. It was arranged for us to be picked up at 3.30pm instead of 2.30pm ( we had to be back at the pick up point by 2.15pm). A check with Oriental Tours, the local agency for Grand Canyon tour, confirmed the pick up time to be at 3.30pm. To my disappointment, the tour guide did not apologise but put the blame on those who went on the helicopter ride for the delay. I would be more forgiving if he had honest to say that he had miscalculated the time for the helicopter rides and hence, we had to wait.
(FYI - some of those who went for the helicopter ride did not even have lunch because there was no time for lunch for them).

I was one of those who were told at breakfast during the 2nd day that I was 'one of the last few' who have yet to pay the tips to be shared between the tour leader, tour guide (???) and bus driver. Later, I found out that there were many others who were told they were 'one of the few' as well. Since tipping is common in the US, he should have been more direct in asking for the tips to be paid to him instead of making us feel as if we were unwilling to tip.

Lastly, why was there no local guide provided? Instead, the tour leader had to double up as the local guide. Things might have turned out to be better with a local guide who may be better informed and knowledgeable about the places of interests which we had visited, events might have been better co-ordinated, etc.

These are the salient points which I would like to bring to your kind attention. I guess it all boils down to whether there is good service provided and value for money for those on this trip.

Warmest Regards
(Undisclosed)

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Muahahaha!!! I took almost a month to finish this entry!!! =X Date published the post is 17JAN2009 =X Entry created on 19DEC2008.. haha!