You won’t save money.
A travel agent does not cost you anything. Our income comes from commissions paid directly by the travel provider (hotel or airline). We can meet or beat the lowest prices online because we use wholesalers who usually earn a discount from their volume of bookings. Our preferred wholesalers only deal with travel agents. Except in rare situations that we would explain up front, using us costs you nothing.

Fees will cost you extra.
If you book it yourself, you will pay extra fees. Many foreign travel providers (hotels or airlines) add a fee when you pay by credit card. Almost all North American credit cards add another fee for converting foreign currencies into US dollars. So you will pay double to self-book overseas travel. We and the wholesalers we use do not charge any of these or any other fees.

Changes in your trip.
If you book the trip yourself, and it is interrupted or changed for any reason, you will need to contact each hotel, airline, tour operator, and so forth to notify them and request a change. If you book through us, our wholesaler will do all of this for you.

Our in-country representatives.
During your travel, you will have access to our local companies who can answer questions and or make any changes for you.

Expertise.
You may have heard of the British couple who planned their honeymoon for Sydney, Australia, but ended up in Sydney, Nova Scotia – in winter -- because they booked it themselves. We wish you better luck, but are you sure that your online research can match our expertise?

How much is your time worth?
We are Australian and make frequent trips back to check current conditions in the areas that we book. We know these places. Maybe you enjoy online research, but how long will it take you to know them as well?

Questions we will ask

When you contact us we will ask you a number of questions, including:
- when, where, and how long do you want to go?
- what are your interests?
- do you prefer to fly first class, business, premium economy, or economy. We can advise you on each.
- if you want to self-drive, how are you about driving on the left side of the road (everywhere except American Samoa and French Pacific islands)?
- whether you are adults, seniors, children?
- names, as shown on passports
- diet restrictions?
- Internet access needs while traveling?
- at some point, early in the process, we will also ask you about travel insurance

Non-Refundable Deposit

When do we request a deposit?
Typically we start by discussing with you where and when you want to go and what you want to do. Often we will offer advice. After we have drafted a suggested travel plan and discussed it with you, we will normally ask for a non-refundable deposit. Upon its receipt, we will prepare the itinerary.

How does the deposit work?
If you decide not to make the trip, except for extraordinary circumstances, your deposit is non-refundable. If you book the trip, all of your deposit is applied to your final payment.

How is the deposit paid?
By check to Travel Downunder or credit card charge to the wholesaler that we work with to book your trip.