USIT vs Trailfinders

Absolut

Hi,

I'm about to book flights to Thailand and Australia and so far have gotten the best prices from Trailfinders and USIT.

Here's the itinerary (leaving May 25th, returning August 20th) :

Shannon - London - Bangkok

Bangkok - Syndey

Sydney - Singaport - London - Shannon

Both companies have quoted me €1152 (including taxes), so I'm guessing it's exactly the same fare (using British Airways and Qantas) - the only difference really is that one is sold through USIT, the other through Trailfinders. So, my question really is has anybody had any bad experiences with USIT or Trailfinders, can you recommend one over the other?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Guess_Who

I booked my year away with USIT because they were cheaper. Haven't really had to deal with them since so nothing particularly good or bad to report. Have never used Trailfinders.

Have you tried playing both off against each other to see if one will offer some sort of a discount to get you to book with them?

Alternatively, find out if one is cheaper than the other for changing dates on flights? USIT charge E75 for your first itinerary change, not sure how much it goes up to after that though.

johnfás

I flew to Kenya last summer. Booked through USIT as opposed to Trailfinders because the people in Trailfinders were rude and unhelpful! Same fare though and if you found them helpful I guess no issue. Had no problem with USIT, they sent me out REAL airline tickets too! Which makes a plane journey far more exciting than an A4 sheet of paper like you get most places these days

jackbhoy

If its exactly same price, personally i'd go usit as they are Irish, as far as I know.......

bleary

I had the same dilemma a few years ago I went with Trailfinders because I mistakenly thought they would be more professional
I had so many problems ,my travelling companions booked with USIT and had a great experience
When My flight to London got cancelled due to weather I called trailfinders 5 times
they couldnt do anything except keep transferring me through to the wrong section in the airline each time -they do not act in any way as travel agents ,when they book your flights thats it.

eventually my friends rang me to say that they had called usit and rescheduled their flights & told me when there were seats available and to ring their travel agent in usit if trailfinders still wouldnt do anything for me
I lost it on the phone with trailfinders and they eventually booked my new flight after about 6 hours of stress .

They also processed the flight payment twice maxing my credit card out for a week. Then my return flights they told me I had to leave 1 a week earlier from NZ due to visa restrictions in OZ but due to stopovers on the flights they booked I had to get a visa anyway and it would not have beeb a problem at all.
Also minor things like claiming 1st night charge in hotels when u changed the hotel dates even though the hotels themselves didnt have these requirements

Nightmare avoid like plague !

Absolut

Thanks for all the advice so far. It turns out that I can get an even better fare with Sayit - the same price, but better routing and stopovers.

gre_soul

bleary wrote:

I had the same dilemma a few years ago I went with Trailfinders because I mistakenly thought they would be more professional
I had so many problems ,my travelling companions booked with USIT and had a great experience
When My flight to London got cancelled due to weather I called trailfinders 5 times
they couldnt do anything except keep transferring me through to the wrong section in the airline each time -they do not act in any way as travel agents ,when they book your flights thats it.

eventually my friends rang me to say that they had called usit and rescheduled their flights & told me when there were seats available and to ring their travel agent in usit if trailfinders still wouldnt do anything for me
I lost it on the phone with trailfinders and they eventually booked my new flight after about 6 hours of stress .

They also processed the flight payment twice maxing my credit card out for a week. Then my return flights they told me I had to leave 1 a week earlier from NZ due to visa restrictions in OZ but due to stopovers on the flights they booked I had to get a visa anyway and it would not have beeb a problem at all.
Also minor things like claiming 1st night charge in hotels when u changed the hotel dates even though the hotels themselves didnt have these requirements

Nightmare avoid like plague !

USIT for me was and is useless, they did not respond to any of my emails when i needed help basically once they have your money they dont want to hear from you, at least that my experience at the Galway Branch where i got misinformed by the bimbo there who let me down on a few occasions.


Avoid USIT at least if you are thinking of using the Galway branch.

Absolut

gre_soul wrote:

USIT for me was and is useless, they did not respond to any of my emails when i needed help basically once they have your money they dont want to hear from you, at least that my experience at the Galway Branch where i got misinformed by the bimbo there who let me down on a few occasions.


Avoid USIT at least if you are thinking of using the Galway branch.

She wasn't by any chance a blonde, who always sits in the corner by the door, probably the most ignorant person I've ever dealt with. I wont be going with USIT (at least not using the Galway branch) now either, so it's down to Sayit, Trailfinders, or online.

gre_soul

Absolut wrote:

She wasn't by any chance a blonde, who always sits in the corner by the door, probably the most ignorant person I've ever dealt with. I wont be going with USIT (at least not using the Galway branch) now either, so it's down to Sayit, Trailfinders, or online.

yeah sounds about right, that one cost me €€€ because of her messing up...on more than one occasion. first she claimed that i called her about a matter when i did not and then claimed that "some other person with the same name and phone number had.." i don't think she was trying to be smart just plain dumb also she did not reply to any of my emails when i was really stuck and needed help. I know she has probably screwed up a few other peoples travels but what can be done?

Absolut

gre_soul wrote:

yeah sounds about right, that one cost me €€€ because of her messing up...on more than one occasion. first she claimed that i called her about a matter when i did not and then claimed that "some other person with the same name and phone number had.." i don't think she was trying to be smart just plain dumb also she did not reply to any of my emails when i was really stuck and needed help. I know she has probably screwed up a few other peoples travels but what can be done?

When I was booking my J1 in 2005 she was probably the most frustrating and rude person I'v ever dealt with. She acts as if she's doing you a massive favour by taking a few grand of your money and is so unhelpful it's unreal - and all the info she gave me was complete bull (caused lots of problems when trying to get my embassy interview). I was planning on writing a letter to USIT head office about her, but with exams and stuff at the time I didn't get around to it.

I was considering booking with them this year since I thought she was gone, but when I went back in last week she was still there, as ignorant as ever. Definetly not going to book with them now.

gre_soul

Absolut wrote:

When I was booking my J1 in 2005 she was probably the most frustrating and rude person I'v ever dealt with. She acts as if she's doing you a massive favour by taking a few grand of your money and is so unhelpful it's unreal - and all the info she gave me was complete bull (caused lots of problems when trying to get my embassy interview). I was planning on writing a letter to USIT head office about her, but with exams and stuff at the time I didn't get around to it.

I was considering booking with them this year since I thought she was gone, but when I went back in last week she was still there, as ignorant as ever. Definetly not going to book with them now.

Yeah well I made a complaint against el bimbo, not that its going to be of any use, She will still be messing up peoples plans now and for the foreseeable future! the only way is to write to them. sorry about the misinformation she gave you i get the feeling she talks bull to everyone who enters the shop.

STOP HER BULL campaign:

Complaints/Disputes

Customer Services at usit NOW,
19/21 Aston Quay,
O'Connell Bridge,
Dublin 2.

Absolut

I ended up booking with Sayit, not because they were any cheaper (they matched the price), but because they seemed to know what they were talking about and were generally pleasant and friendly to deal with, unlike USIT.

€1136 including tax, for:

Shannon - London - Bangkok

Singapore - Darwin - Cairns

Sydney - Tokyo

Tokyo - London - Shannon

Seems like a pretty decent deal to me.