TravelStore

Katie Cadar is awesome. We just got back from a trip she planned for us in Patagonia. Everything was perfect! This is the 4^th trip Travel Store planned for us and every one has been excellent.

Between Susanne Hamer and Susan Janneck and The Travel Store a perfectly orchestrated vacation to The St Regis in Bora Bora was a complete success. I can not thank them enough for all the hard work that it took to make this a perfect getaway vacation.

Linda Lewis was exceptional in helping me discover different options for a last minute getaway. Although I didn’t end up booking through here, Ljnda was wonderful at providing an awesome suggestion in a very timely manner. I will definitely be keeping her number for my future adventures.

My wife and I recently returned from our trip to Costa Rica. Rewind 3 months ago we walked into meet with Linda Lewis having no idea where we wanted to vacation. My wife and I are two very busy individuals with very stressful jobs with no time to research destinations and deals and dig through Lonely Planet and Fodor guides. We simply told Linda our top priorities for vacations and what we hoped to experience. We listed the typical popular destinations without a thought to Costa Rica, which Linda suggested was perfect for us. Fast forward 3 months later and we are back from Zip Lining in the jungle, learning how to surf, living with monkeys, iguanas and other animals right outside our hotel room, eating the sweetest and most delicious fruits and other local cuisines and much, much more. Costa Rica was truly a perfect match for us thanks, in no small part, to Linda. She is extremely good at her job and is a Destination Matchmaker.

We wanted to do something amazing for our honeymoon. A once-​in-​a-​lifetime vacation before the obligations of building a family make foreign travel a rare dream. We researched several locations, eventually focusing on Fiji and Tahiti. After using many of the travel sites to get prices and reading a lot of blogs and forums with tips from previous and seasoned travelers, we became very overwhelmed with all the possibilities and options. As this was also while we were planning our wedding, I knew we didn’t have the time to put much focus into planning our honeymoon. And what’s the point of committing that much money if you aren’t confident it will go smoothly?
After a lot of thought and deliberation, we decided to look into bringing on a travel agent to help us out, something neither of us had ever done. We met Susanne at a Bridal Expo and she seemed to have a lot of expertise on the Pacific Islands. After a brief email exchange, I went in to meet her at her office and was incredibly impressed with her. I told her what we were looking for and with her help we narrowed our location to French Polynesia, staying a few nights in Moorea and a few in Bora Bora. Since it was our first meeting, I wasn’t ready to make a commitment but she warned me that the flight out of LAX the day after our wedding had only a few seats left. Of course I thought to myself «yeah, sure», but sure enough, when I got home I checked the flight myself and there were three seats left! After a discussion with my soon-​to-​be husband, we decided why not? and we committed to the flight.
Next was determining length of stay and where to stay. Susanne found us some awesome deals. She booked us in a garden pool bungalow at the Intercontinental in Moorea, where we got two nights for free, free daily breakfast, bar and spa credit and other great perks. Then we were to fly to Bora Bora and stay at the Sofitel private island (no kids allowed!) in an overwater bungalow. There we got a discount per night, and had included daily breakfast and dinner, a daily free refill of our mini bar, as well as other fun things. When I was initially looking at packages on my own, I never found these kind of deals.
The trip was amazing. Everything went smoothly. Susanne checked in with us partway through to make sure things were going well. It was great to know if anything was to happen, Susanne and her team was just a quick email away.
When we got home, she contacted us again to make sure we got home alright (and for details on the vacation!). There was also a cute welcome home gift waiting for us as well! We were so happy with Susanne and TravelStore and look forward to using them again for our next big vacation!

Loretta Lasseigne at the Travel Store planned my honeymoon for me and I could not be happier with the outcome! My wife and I just got back from Cabo, where Loretta got us upgraded to an incredible suite at a 5-​star resort. We were treated like royalty from the moment we arrived. Also, Loretta arranged ground transportation to/​from the airport. This really enhanced our experience as we were able to relax and not worry about finding a cab or shuttle. I can’t wait to contact Loretta for our next trip!

I have worked with the TravelStore professionally for over 10 years. Cara Kobzeff has been my «go to» the entire duration, and I am so thankful. Cara is very easy to talk to, she always has her clients best interest in mind and you feel secure with every booking. And I mean secure from one person to huge groups with multi city and out of country itineraries.
I have also used Cara for personal travel and again, it makes your travel and planning seamless and stress free. You will feel like a VIP. You don’t need a big trip like you think in order to work with them. If you are going anywhere, I would call and talk it over with her first.

Do you remember «Old Vegas»? I do. Your casino host actually hosted you. They knew what kind of scotch you liked and how you liked it and you didn’t have to ask twice for another one. You were the star and they made you feel special. Man, I miss Old Vegas.
If you are looking for Old Vegas style VIP treatment for your personal or business travel, I couldn’t recommend The Travel Store more enthusiastically. If you book your travel online — you are a chump who doesn’t like an upgrade. I have been a Travel Store client for well more than a decade and the perks that I have received have been nothing short of EPIC. How about an example: my Travel Store rep taught me «The Four Seasons Trick» which is to NEVER book the «Garden View room» at any Four Seasons property — book the next one or two up. And then let The Travel Store do their magic. While its no guarantee, three category upgrades, daily amenities and more fall from the sky. Its beautiful.
Travel Store covers my business travel as well as my personal. I book travel with a simple email to Cara Kobesef saying «X date to Y date departing then and returning then, Four Seasons, Mercedes from Hertz etc…» She knows what cars I want. She knows what seat in first class I like. She knows it all. She doesn’t waste my time with BS. She tells me when prices are stupid and offers solutions. Everything goes smoothly and when it doesn’t she has power to go back to the travel providers and make things right. Try that, booking online.
The cost of booking via an A-​list agent like Cara is a joke its so low. If you are going to Maui for example, is not having to deal with
(don’t get me started) and huge room upgrades worth $ 35 per itinerary? Of course it is. Who else is looking out for you like this? Who else has EVERY frequent flier number, EVERY credit card you use and so on so you ALWAYS get the key perks. Need to use award miles, Cara does it for you. Need a tour of Coco Chanel’s apartment in Paris for your wife who collects vintage Chanel? Cara can do that too. No challenge is too much — they are that good.
The value I get from The Travel Store so exceeds what I spend with them, its nearly unfair but they seem to still love me and I love them back. I could not be a more loyal client to Cara and The Travel Store.

Not a very good experience.
The company is huge and a fragmented group of un-​related travel agents.
It’s much cheaper to buy direct from the airlines.
I’m from Ontario.
They charged $ 375.00 booking fee for a ticket from Toronto to Los Angeles.
Thats on top of the ticket price.
David Detloeff

I recently went on a trip to Peru and our trip was planned by Katie Cadar and everything was fantastic! Katie asked us our interests and what we wanted to be sure to do and organized everything to meet and exceed our needs. There were a couple of hiccups in our travel due to weather, but we were so well taken care of and didn’t miss out anything that was planned. Our accommodations were wonderful and the way the trip flowed especially with the different elevations in Peru was perfect! I will definitely be using Katie’s help in the future and can’t wait to go back to Peru!

My friends and I recently had a fantastic experience on a trip to Peru that was planned by Katie at the Travel Store. We received white glove service and didn’t have to do any work at all aside from throwing out a few dates that worked for us. Katie and her team planned every detail, from transportation to sightseeing (Machu Picchu!) to choosing a guide to accompany us. We couldn’t have been happier with our experience and I highly recommend Travel Store for your adventuring needs!

Great experience — have used Karen Good Satzman for many trips for many years. Anytime I want to travel, I pick up the phone & call Karen @ Travel Store & I know we will be taken care of from the time we are considering a trip until we return home. Her experience, dedication & enthusiasm takes the stressful part of travel out of our hands & is handled by her. Thanks Karen for our recent trip to Italy & all in the past.
Kathy & Dick

My wife and I are moving to Panama. We wanted to know if a cruise would be a possible option so we called the experts. Unfortunately, for our situation it’s not feasible. The agent I talked to was very helpful and friendly! I will be going back to them for my travel arrangements!

Katie Cadar of The Travel Store in Los Angeles is the most professional travel
agent I have ever worked with. She executed a trip to Italy which was perfect
in every way based on my suggestions and her suggestions as well.
I can’t wait to organize another trip with Katie soon!
Connie L.
I

Dear Loretta,
My husband, myself, and our four year old daughter just got back from the wonderful Thailand trip you had arranged for us. It was a trip of a lifetime!
The hotels in Bangkok (The Peninsula, right on the river), Chang Mai (The Four Seasons, sprawled on 4o gorgeous acres), and Phuket (Banyan Tree), were all absolutely beautiful and provided first rate accommodation, service and amenities.
At The Four Seasons and Banyan Tree the hotel managers themselves came out to greet us at check in and were helpful in arranging for upgrades and anything to make our stay as pleasant as possible. And so it was. To the max!
Our local Thai guides and drivers were the greatest!!! Fluent in English, extremely knowledgeable, pleasant, punctual, willing to make suggestions, add stops and activities… anything and everything to make our trip memorable.
We loved every moment. We will cherish the memories forever. We’d repeat this trip in a heartbeat. And, we have you to thank for it all.
Thank you for your extreme attention to all the details, such as providing a carefully planned itinerary, booking the best seats on the flights, contacting the hotels’ managers prior to our arrival, selecting the most reputable tour operators, and being always available, just to name a few. You go out of your way like no one else!!!
Thank you! You certainly did it again! Can’t wait for our next trip.
Dr. & Mrs. Firouz

I have worked with Raina Ring for a great many years on domestic and international travel. Her enthusiasm for travel is contagious! She shares a multitude of resources with her clients. With Raina the journey begins with the planning process. She is a very good listener to her clients’ interests, their needs, and their budget. She makes thoughtful recommendations tailored to those conversations. She works to create a plan that is individualized, realistic, and attainable.
While planning a trip to Eastern Europe her suggestion of adding Berlin to the itinerary made our journey ever so memorable and was a highlight of the experience. Her knowledge of how much time to spend in each city or location based on our interests was invaluable.
Recently we traveled to Southern Africa. Her suggestions on how to combine cultural opportunities with more than one safari experience contributed to our phenomenal experience. She worked closely with Robbie Hanna to insure we were comfortable with all the details of the trip. Our animal encounters were amazing, our accommodations were outstanding, and our experience with the people was captivating.
Raina’s interest in her client’s travel continues even when they return. She loves to hear about the experience and makes notes to help with future planning. Raina’s wealth of ideas and her ability to meet our needs makes us a return client many times over.

Review for travel expert Raina R.
Raina planned our recent trip to Bali. My husband and I are extremely well traveled. However, the professionalism knowledge and expertise Raina demonstrated through out the planning and actual trip itself were beyond compare. Not only did she strive to find and plan the perfect destination vacation, but she went out of her way to make sure we got the best possible rates. We got upgraded at each hotel to the nicest suits available. She planned amazing excursions and suggested wonderful restaurants. We will have Raina plan all our trips in the future.

I’m planning a trip to England in a couple of months. Hilton Smith, The agent that was assigned to me came off as someone who knew what I wanted better than I did because his expertise in world travel was so much more extensive. He was an overbearing asshole who made it «his way or the highway». I took the highway and decided to contact a different travel agency to handle my travels.

This Review is for Travel Expert: Nada V.
Nada is a professional of the highest caliber. From the first moment we spoke to Nada, her gentle soul treated us like family and she wanted nothing more than to plan something out of this world for us. It was easy to tell right away, that she has been in the travel game for a long time and knows exactly what she is doing. The moment you tell her what countries you are interested in, she starts naming off wonderful hotels and day trips and cafes and whatever your heart desires. You want shopping in the Grand Bazaars of Turkey? She’s got you covered. You want a breathtaking drive along the Amalfi Coast? No problem.
My family recently used Nada’s travel expertise to book an elaborate trip of a lifetime for about 50 people. The hub for most of the passengers was San Diego, CA; but we also had passengers joining the group from Michigan. She coordinated everything for the entire group.
Nada went above and beyond in the trip-​planning process. She manned a pre-​trip meeting to go over the itinerary with most of the passengers at our home. Over 30 people came over and Nada had folders for each couple, gave a detailed overview of the excursions, gave people different option of things to do in each city, and answered questions. She also appointed some leaders to help keep things running smoothly on the trip.
Nada was very knowledgable about the different locations my family was off too. There was some political unrest in Egypt at the time, and Nada was able to change things up last minute to keep everyone safe. (I’m not certain if things were already booked for that specific country at the time, or if it was booked last minute, based on the political climate at the time) Regardless, we didn’t have to worry about that because Nada had already taken care of it for everyone.
The all-​inclusive Royal Caribbean Mediterranean cruise with small day trips to different cities was enjoyed by all. Some of the stops included: Rome, Sicily, & Naples Italy… Istanbul & Cassaday Turkey… Athens, Greece… and The Holy Land of Jerusalem. Everyone kept on gushing over Nada saying it was the best trip of their lives, and they couldn’t wait to plan the next one.
My sister and her fiancé are getting ready to set their Honeymoon up with Nada. I highly recommend using Nada V. for your next getaway. Her kindness, attention to detail, and professionalism is unparalleled.
BON VOYAGE!

Why does Lilian M. have a job here, is there an arbitrary shortage on travel agents in the world? I have no experience working with other agents at the TravelStore, Lilian alone brings down the entire agency to 1 star. This lazy disorganized «agent» was not responsive to questions or the least bit attentive before my trip which gave me and everyone else travel anxiety which is not something you want during a vacation in a foreign country!
I attended a wedding in Cancun and Lilian spearheaded each and every single one of the attendees into haphazardous turmoil. Many of the attendees were missing returning flights, some were booked flights on the wrong date. Lilian booked my returning flight on the WRONG night, then proceeded to use my credit card without my permission to «rectify» her mistake. Can we say CREDIT CARD FRAUD!!!
I have a lot of experience booking my own travel and had never come across so many problems as I had with Lilian. I was lucky to get a response from every other message that I had sent. She lied through her teeth when it came to results and she also acted in a way that seemed as if she was oblivious to her incompetence. I really hope she gets her license removed, poor souls be those who end up working with her in the future.