The best travel agents in Canberra

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Who doesn’t love jet setting across the globe or exploring this great, big country we call home? Heading off on holiday is always exciting. But all the planning beforehand – not so much.

Organising a trip is a huge undertaking, whether you’re travelling interstate or overseas. Flights, accommodation, airport transfers, tours, activities, travel insurance – the list goes on. It’s no wonder so many travellers decide to book their holidays through a professional travel agent.

If you’re looking to work with a travel agent to plan your next trip, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve asked Canberra’s locals to pick their favourite travel agent, and the results are in. Keep reading to discover the top three agents in the region.

Let’s get started right away.

What makes a great travel agent?

Not exactly sure what specific traits you are looking for when comparing travel agents? Not to worry. Start by keeping an eye out for these:

  • Experience. The best travel agents in the business have years of experience planning trips of all sorts. They are familiar with common pitfalls and can help ensure your travels run as smoothly as possible.
  • A huge range of products.Whether you just want to book flights or would like to purchase an all-inclusive overseas holiday, leading travel agents can connect you with a whole range of products from all around the world.
  • Access to competitive prices. Often, travellers choose to work with a travel agent to ensure they are paying the best possible prices for their holiday.
  • Friendly, prompt service. Customer service goes a long way. Enlist a travel agent that is not only a pleasure to deal with, but also works promptly.

Do you agree with our list? What else do you look for?

The top travel agents in Canberra according to you

RiotACT’s editorial team has combed through 19 years of on-site comments to compile a list of the most recommended businesses according to you.

To be listed in our Best of Canberra series, each business needs to have consistently received positive feedback on RiotACT and Facebook as well as maintaining a minimum average of 4/5 stars on Google.

Now, without further ado, let’s reveal the top travel agents serving the Canberra region according to you.

Goddard and Howe

If you are planning a trip to Southeast Asia or China, Goddard and Howe may be the travel agent for you. Their team are destination specialists and have developed eight distinct, enriching trips that deliver truly out-of-the-box experiences. Chat to their enthusiastic team today to learn more about getting the most out of your trip to Southeast Asia and China.

Ozcruising

Who knew booking a cruise was this easy – and this affordable? Ozcruising makes it easy to secure the best possible deals on cruises from a range of cruise lines setting off to a variety of destinations. In fact, Ozcruising delivers the largest range of cruises on the Australian market. Browse their extensive collection of incredible cruises online to find a departure date and itinerary that suits you and your family. And, if you need any help at all, the friendly, highly experienced team at Ozcruising are just a phone call away.

Civic Travel

For more than three decades, Civic Travel has worked closely with Canberra locals to plan tours, cruises, airfares, accommodation, and activities for individual travellers and speciality groups. As an independent agency, the team at Civic Travel is committed to good old-fashioned customer service. Their goal is to make your life easier – all the while saving you your hard-earned cash.

Who did you pick?

Thanks to our commenters who have provided insightful feedback, if you believe we have got it wrong, please let us know.

Have you booked a holiday through a travel agent in the Canberra region? We’d love to know how it went. Share your experience in the comments area below.

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MightyJoe said :

Would like to know how to do the freq flyer miles upgrade to first class as am travelling to Europe Aug/Sept…

Ask this question here -> http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au you’ll quickly find out a lot of the trick and traps for using frequent flyer points (eg depending on how you use them, the same flight in the same class could cost you 60,000 points or 700,000 points)

siesta224 said :

+1 Capital Travel in Manuka. They treat you like family and know what they are talking about.

Another +1 for Capital Travel in Manuka. Ask for Lisa C.

+1 Capital Travel in Manuka. They treat you like family and know what they are talking about.

wycx said :

daddy said :

hek62 said :

Jamison Travel. see Michelle

+ a lot.

+1 here too.

+ more. Went to her for one of my last overseas trips and was very happy about the service.

Would like to know how to do the freq flyer miles upgrade to first class as am travelling to Europe Aug/Sept…

LegalNut said :

Thea Robens at Flight Centre Belconnen is a gem amongst travel agents. She has a world of experience and is particularly good at finding unusual options to get you where you need to go at the best price or to simply value add to your trip (eg fares from Australia to Europe that allow you to stop in North America and/or Asia for a different stopover). She will also warn you about less that reputable airlines and hotels.

That said, no travel agent is going to replace your own research. The web is a wonderful repository of travel information and you should go into an agent fully armed with the information you need.

Another alternative is to look at “travel hacking”. There are some fantastic websites out there which will teach you how to get great travel experiences on the cheap using purchased frequent flyer miles (eg $2400 for First Class return to Europe). Sites like onemileatatime.net and viewfromthewing.com will point you in the right direction if you want to do the work here.

Capital Travel in Manuka. Been around for 20+ years.

SocialHandGrenade said :

http://my.travelmanager.com.au/pauliinakelly/

Pauliina is an independent travel agent who will come to see you or you can meet at her office. This lady literally sleeps with her mobile next her. If anything happens to you overseas (ie. ash cloud, accident or injury etc.) she is on call & at your service 24/7 because she genuinely cares that you have a wonderful trip. She even usually has an equal or better rate than your average generic agency. She knows her business & for that reason has now been recruited by embassies to take on all their travel needs. Sure you can book online & save a dollar but if something goes wrong who are you going to call? I know when I’m investing in an overseas holiday I want someone who knows what they are doing dealing with it all so I can relax. Sounds like a sales pitch I know but honestly JohnBoy, I would not use anyone else.

+ 1 for Pauliina. We wouldn’t use anyone else.

Thea Robens at Flight Centre Belconnen is a gem amongst travel agents. She has a world of experience and is particularly good at finding unusual options to get you where you need to go at the best price or to simply value add to your trip (eg fares from Australia to Europe that allow you to stop in North America and/or Asia for a different stopover). She will also warn you about less that reputable airlines and hotels.

That said, no travel agent is going to replace your own research. The web is a wonderful repository of travel information and you should go into an agent fully armed with the information you need.

Another alternative is to look at “travel hacking”. There are some fantastic websites out there which will teach you how to get great travel experiences on the cheap using purchased frequent flyer miles (eg $2400 for First Class return to Europe). Sites like onemileatatime.net and viewfromthewing.com will point you in the right direction if you want to do the work here.

stonedwookie10:06 am 07 Jan 12

3 of them in belconnen mall

+2 for Maria Slater

Shinigami_Josh10:11 pm 06 Jan 12

Flight centre in woden is pretty good.

Otherwise travel insurance; especially if you are going to the states, our family knows someone who had it and then had a heart attack in the US. If he did have it he would have been liable for something like $500K in medical bills.

I_P said :

Cathy and her staff at Jetset at Mawson shops…Really knows her stuff, experienced and organised.

Carolyn from Southlands Jetset was fantastic for us as well. We booked a wonderful family holiday through her, and she covered all the little extras necessary when travelling with a 1.5 year old. I would definitely use them again to book anything more complicated than flights.

Cathy and her staff at Jetset at Mawson shops. I had a terrible accident whilst on holidays overseas and she went above and beyond making sure I had everything ready to file my travel insurance claim and checked up with me even after I got back.

Really knows her stuff, experienced and organised.

daddy said :

hek62 said :

Jamison Travel. see Michelle

+ a lot.

+1 here too.

+1 for Maria Slater Travel at Mawson

Travelmakers in Civic are absolutely excellent. Ask for Phil.

SocialHandGrenade4:41 pm 06 Jan 12

http://my.travelmanager.com.au/pauliinakelly/

Pauliina is an independent travel agent who will come to see you or you can meet at her office. This lady literally sleeps with her mobile next her. If anything happens to you overseas (ie. ash cloud, accident or injury etc.) she is on call & at your service 24/7 because she genuinely cares that you have a wonderful trip. She even usually has an equal or better rate than your average generic agency. She knows her business & for that reason has now been recruited by embassies to take on all their travel needs. Sure you can book online & save a dollar but if something goes wrong who are you going to call? I know when I’m investing in an overseas holiday I want someone who knows what they are doing dealing with it all so I can relax. Sounds like a sales pitch I know but honestly JohnBoy, I would not use anyone else.

BenMac said :

The girls (and guy) at Flight Centre Belconnen know what they’re doing.
.

See Todd. One of the most helpful and proficient service providors I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with. Met him by chance booking a flight and haven’t gone to anyone else since. Is now about to do two of my friends OS weddings after recommendations and their own good judgement!!
Can’t heap enough praise!!

I can recommend Maria Slater Travel at Mawson (I think they have an office at Kingston too). Have used them a few times and they are great. I agree that Trip Advisor is a great help for hotel bookings and they can be better done yourself but in terms of airfares, I found the travel agents really had the best deals and when things went wrong and we needed to change flights or days, doing it through a travel agent made everything so much simpler. With hotels, often travel agents can get cheaper rates for you because they get bulk deals so it all depends what you want and in which area you want to stay. As with all things, do your research.

There certainly are a few, but it depends on what you are after. I’ve generally got travel agents to match prices for me as well. I’m currently booking a trip through the intrepid store in civic, but i did decide on doing one of the trips they specialise in. If you are going to europe or the USA, most travel agents have been there. Other places, ring and see if they have an agent that has travelled to the area you want to visit.

hek62 said :

Jamison Travel. see Michelle

+ a lot.

Really depends on what you are looking for. My advice is to find someone who has actually been to the destination(s) and then make an appointment with them so they can clear their schedule and take the time to tailor a trip to your needs. There are plenty of hardworking, dedicated agents out there who will take the time to sit and talk with you (I used to be one). Also make sure you do your research on prices as well, as there are plenty of people who will take advantage of you if you haven’t shopped around.

Book it all yourself online. We recently went to a few different travel agents, getting quotes for a month long trip to the USA. We were disgusted with the price, so we decided just to book it all online. We saved over $1000 on our return flight (on the same flight the cheapest travel agent has looked at) and around $1000 on 4 US domestic flights. We looked at hotels that the travel agents recommended, and we could book them ourselves for far less per night.
Although, from the time we booked our flight over, we had 10 months to book everything else, so this was heaps of time to do lots of research. You might not have so much time.

Expedia, Trip Advisor and Yelp are your friends.

I found Cathe at Harvey World in the Canberra Centre excellent. No just a website surfer.

The girls (and guy) at Flight Centre Belconnen know what they’re doing.

My only advice, get travel insurance. The amount of people who don’t get it to save less than $100 is amazing.

Jamison Travel. see Michelle

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