Hxxg Txxx Korea Package Su_cks! Be Warned!

[Relacker 1]

8D-6N, 1.5k/pax, advert as 5-6 star hotels, no hidden cost except for tips $40/pax.

Reach there only 1st and last nite 6 star, rest of the hotel 1-2 star.

the coach have to sit in long journey, so uncomfy, all kena neck pain, back pain, worse than go m'sia coach!

Dirty , run down hotels, then say what tatami very nice, bascially ask us sleep on floor, but later change to bed, bed so small i nearly fell off the bed when turning.

then go ginseng shop, we all dun buy into their nonsense, straight away show us face. the shop sales ppl say 'tot singaporean very rich, why not buying', the tour leader say,'tot u guys wanna try for baby, should take more ginseng', felt pissed by their sarcasm!

Meals ka_na_sai all just veggy, meat in hot pot! some more wan nice meals ask us pay $30/pax more! in the end we top up more than $50/pax for 'better' meals.

Then sit ski lift tell us very nice, neber tell us not in package but end of the trip ask ask us top up another $15/pax.

end of trip is worst moment, cos they collect tips time. this tour got 3 person leading, this tour only 31 ppl and they have one tour leader from singapore,(we suppose to give him $10/pax), a chinese speaking tour guide from korea(supose give $45/pax) and the last one is like korean guide side kick(suppose to buy photos from him)

They din tell us all these tips when we ask HT what hiden costs are there.

me and wife only bot 4 photos(each cost around $5 each), the whole photo package cost $75(and we are the cheapest liao, some cost $90), the younger ones all not buying into the photos. The side kick show face and throw the photos we dun wan into plastic bag in front of us.

We felt the side kick did indeed work hard during meal times and help a lot in lugggage, so we put in another envelope some $ around $10/couple for him.

It's not we do not like to spend or tight fisted, we felt the younger group is being neglected as the tour concentrate on the older group. And the system regarding the not so transparent costs feel like unethical and it feels like fleecing, rather they should just tell us the cost upfront. This really left a bad taste.

The photos package end of trip leave a bad taste as nowadays we all got digital cameras, why we need u to take our photos, maybe we need only group photos. yes, it was package nicely but why aren't we allowed to choose those photos we like? I seriously dun mind if u tell me upfront, we give the sidekick $10-20/pax for the hardwork done, it's unnecessary for the stupid photos.

We have loads of time in hotel, just ask us which photos we like and it take like 10 min for choosing and the side kick will not waste time and $ to print unwanted photos(some photos got 1 eye close or sleep look, who want them?)

i advise all to think twice against packages from them. pui pui pui!

but at least we made good frends with our tour members as we all share a 'common enemy' during the trip but then again that's not what we set out for.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Relacker

[zirhk3355 1]

Actually every tour agencies also have lousy guides. I was recently put through an agonising tour by Chan Brothers also.

There are alot of debates as to why the tour industry has degenerated to such an extent, eg too little salary, too competitive, too much emphasis on tips, etc. But the fact is, such nonsense is driving us away from tour packages; I see so many people going for free & easy nowadays, as the world becomes "smaller" with globalization, so many countries have english-speaking people and so much info can be found online. So the morale of the story is: Hit them where it hurts the most, stop booking tour packages! Do some research and work your own free & easy trips!

But sometimes also inevitable la, especially when the lazy side of us took over. My last tour was because wifey and I were 'in-charge' of organising this family trip with old folks, aunties and uncles. We didn't want to screw things up and also being lazy, we took the easy way out to book a tour package. It was expensive, and totally not enjoyable at all; regret so much!

Edited May 10, 2009 by zirhk3355

[DoubleJ 0]

Its like that now lo. out of the trips i took recently, none of the tour guides had impressed. except for the china ones,maybe it's becos their expectations is simpler? a simple $40/pax tip would mean a mth pay or more for them already per group? we were adviced by the more experienced ones to tip 70% before and 30% after. wow, they really took good care of us. never brought us to strange places selling funny things. pure sight-seeing except for a few shop they said is 'company owned' gotta show face there,the uncle and aunties all supported him there too since it's local speciality shop. gotta buy anyway..

but the one at hk did the "upgrade meals" stunt too. we were acrually 'premium' trip as my supplier paid premium price and package always but the tour auntie can say not her problem. wanna eat better pay first complain to agency after we get back. wahaha. just arrived,havent checked-in. kena crap liao.end up, we had our meals at a resturant out of our own pockets stating our agency will talk to their boss regarding the subtraction of the cost(but infact we smoked her) & ask the auntie to watch our baggage outside cos we asked the bus-driver to join us. the next day, she face black black bring us out, but we didnt care.cos we chatting happily again like she's transparent. till she kinda broke down and told us how their agency works and her pay is mostly from tips etc & is sorry for offending us with her ethics. so we told her our issues too & we reached an understanding. promised her a certain tip at the end of the trip. but the next day, she asked us to upgrade meals & pay for entrance fees to various place ourselves again.

the japan one is another bugger too. he keeps complaining about sg when he himslef still has a pink IC, say we lazy ppl,stingy,ignorant,only know how to complain this and that la.etc etc. now we come japan should see how & why they are the best and we can never beat them no matter how we try as we as SGers are primitive and ignorant & why our govt copy japan to get where they are today,we are nothing if we didnt copy etc etc. haha. the whole bus wanted to smack him hard. he is like those 'han-jian' during the jap occupation. lol.

now if going on tour, usually i would extend my trip and go F&E myself for a few more days. it really works wonders.

Edited May 10, 2009 by DoubleJ

[rendell 0]

Its like that now lo. out of the trips i took recently, none of the tour guides had impressed. except for the china ones,maybe it's becos their expectations is simpler? a simple $40/pax tip would mean a mth pay or more for them already per group? we were adviced by the more experienced ones to tip 70% before and 30% after. wow, they really took good care of us. never brought us to strange places selling funny things. pure sight-seeing except for a few shop they said is 'company owned' gotta show face there,the uncle and aunties all supported him there too since it's local speciality shop. gotta buy anyway..

but the one at hk did the "upgrade meals" stunt too. we were acrually 'premium' trip as my supplier paid premium price and package always but the tour auntie can say not her problem. wanna eat better pay first complain to agency after we get back. wahaha. just arrived,havent checked-in. kena crap liao.end up, we had our meals at a resturant out of our own pockets stating our agency will talk to their boss regarding the subtraction of the cost(but infact we smoked her) & ask the auntie to watch our baggage outside cos we asked the bus-driver to join us. the next day, she face black black bring us out, but we didnt care.cos we chatting happily again like she's transparent. till she kinda broke down and told us how their agency works and her pay is mostly from tips etc & is sorry for offending us with her ethics. so we told her our issues too & we reached an understanding. promised her a certain tip at the end of the trip. but the next day, she asked us to upgrade meals & pay for entrance fees to various place ourselves again.

the japan one is another bugger too. he keeps complaining about sg when he himslef still has a pink IC, say we lazy ppl,stingy,ignorant,only know how to complain this and that la.etc etc. now we come japan should see how & why they are the best and we can never beat them no matter how we try as we as SGers are primitive and ignorant & why our govt copy japan to get where they are today,we are nothing if we didnt copy etc etc. haha. the whole bus wanted to smack him hard. he is like those 'han-jian' during the jap occupation. lol.

now if going on tour, usually i would extend my trip and go F&E myself for a few more days. it really works wonders.

The general trick about being a asia tour guide is to please the older aunties and uncles ... that is where the big tips come from.

Personally, I feel that planning our own free and easy trip is much more fulfilling and cost saving.

And from personal experience, if you really want a good tour guide and enjoyable trip, join a Ang Mo tour group instead of the asia one.... more fun.

[makemefly 0]

I agree going with tour agencies are not very enjoyable. Have to wait for everyone, when people are late, the schedule is screwed. My husband and I did a comparison after collecting itineraries from various tour agencies when we planned a trip to Melbourne. Although they say "7D/5N" etc kind of crap, in reality, if you look at the itinerary carefully, one or 2 days are F&E, then another day they term it as "OPTIONAL TOUR" which obviously means u need to top up. In the end we went free and easy, book air tickets and servicedapartment, when we landed in Melbourne then we booked day tours that appeal to us (can mix and match as u like). We really enjoyed ourselves.

When we went to bangkok, it was mostly F&E, with "half day free city tour". Like ****, after we went to visit one temple, ask us to see gems, When we refused, the local thai chinese tour guide gave us a threatening attitude that we just gave him like $20 to shut him up.

Never go for "free half day/one day city tour" if it comes with your F&E package. It is a lesson we learned.

On the other hand, the half day city tour we took in Melbourne was ok, at least didn't try to trick tourists. We got to understand a city a bit more and felt more confident to re-visit the places we passed by a bit rushedly during the half day tour.

Total spendings on F&E experience in Melbourne? Cheaper than if we went with tour agency... and we stayed longer too with that amount of money, plus we ate at restaurants more than half the time anyway, and you get to choose what you want to eat (I didn't visit a foreign land to go and eat chinese food, so thse tour agencies advertised chinese meals actually put me off)

[eurostar 0]

So far I have no issue with hong thai....And agency from HK service level should have some kind of standard

TS, 1-2 star hotel?

Can you name some of hotel u stay?

BTW I not working for HT