The Travel Connection RI

I met Sue the owner of Travel Connection at a bridal show in the early stages of planning my wedding. We had discussed that I would be booking an Italian wedding with 7 destinations, 6 flights and about 30 guests. Our conversation was reassuring that this was something they had experience and confidence in. This however did not turn out to be the case. The lack of attention to detail, timely responses, customer service and personal respect are only the beginning of my concerns. This review is out of personal judgment and experience I hope no one else ever has to go through. I met Sue and Deb in person a few weeks later to discuss our plans for an international wedding and was ensured they could take on this task for a onetime fee of $75 since there was going to be more than normal amounts of work, a fee in which was not later refunded. This was graciously accepted and understood as I had previously done my research with other agents as well. Once decisions were made my guests were informed to begin reaching out directly to Travel Connection. Upon my guests reaching out they began to inform me that Deb had suggested she couldn’t book them for anything at the time because she was waiting on decisions still from “the bride” which was not the case. It had been clearly translated to Deb and Sue which hotels to be booking the guests at, and that we would be providing all transportation in addition to a daylong excursion. We did not want our guests knowing where we were staying, and we would be flying out a week earlier and later than anyone else so it’s still unclear what information they were waiting on. A few examples of the lack of attention to detail that they showed was booking my cousins trip and spelling their names wrong on all of their flight reservations, constantly speaking to me about my parents trip though we were completely different clients and they were booking on their own. Timely responses were not a thing. There would be times where both Deb and Sue would go over a week without answering emails and then used the excuse that they were having issues with their email and servers. This happened on multiple occasions and became a game of “boy who cried wolf”. When pandemic first started we immediately reached out in March to express our concerns and was told to wait until May as she has other clients who were more important with sooner departure dates. I’m sorry but I do not care about other clients, I am worried about my trip, my guests and a $30,000 wedding I have planned in another country. Once our trip was officially canceled and we were trying to get our flights canceled and refunded Deb repeatedly told me she was not going to talk about the matter anymore and then hung up on me due to inconsistencies with airline policies and their company policies. Deb refused to issue a credit for a flight that was refundable based on information located on the airline’s website, but since they technically purchased tickets as agents we were not eligible for refund, only credit which is useless. This information again turned out to be false and I had to call/submit to airlines for refund on our own as we were not getting help/answers from them. In addition to the lack of detail, response and respect Deb and Sue were very unorganized, not professional, and provide meetings in a dirty/cluttered workspace. I highly urge you to consider another agency for any future travel needs.

Debbie handles my Solo Cruise like a pro. While on the ship I texted her to see if I could have my flight changed to an earlier one and in an hour it was done. The reservations and opinions worked great.nnExclellent Company

I was a guest to a destination wedding to the Hard Rock Resort in Punta Cana. The bride and groom used this company (Sue in specific) to try to lessen the stress of wedding planning and getting everyone accommodated at the location. However, it was the COMPLETE opposite for everyone involved. Speaking on my experience, Sue was not very responsive until it came down to collecting the money. Didn't really have or give any other information in regards to the hotel.nnFast forward to the travel day & the experience of the stay. We arrived and was not aware that there was a requirement of a major credit card or a debit amount in a checking account for a $400 hold. Some did not travel we credit cards or did not have it. When we finally got our room, we had two separate beds. We tried to get the hotel to get us a room with a single king bed but they told us that our travel agent was supposed to specify.nnThe hotel notified us that Sue has used this hotel several times and should have notified us about all these inconveniences we experienced at check in. None of this was asked to us and was automatically assumed by Sue that we were okay with.nnI emailed Sue about the bed situation and she basically put the blame on me when she was the one who knew how the hotel operates. Every hotel/resort I've been to (and I travel A LOT for work & pleasure) are able to accommodate you at check in. If you can imagine 2 people sleeping in 1 double bed for 5 days, it was extremely uncomfortable and frustrating.nnIf you are looking to book anywhere, do not use this agency. This was my first time using an agency & I've done a lot better booking directly with the resort or on my own. If you are looking to use this agency for a wedding or any other large group event ... LOOK ELSEWHERE !!!

I love the two women here they always help me find the best vacation for my price. Thank you Deb

Outstanding agency