Inspiring Vacations

We recently went on a trip to Japan. It was a fast paced tour, however it delivered a great experience. Inspiring Vacations give you the flexibility to arrive earlier and leave later than the scheduled times and I found this option excellent, considering flights were included in the trip. I enjoyed the tour and saw many sights in such a short time. We stayed on and saw more sights recommended to us by our tour guide Makiko, who was so generous with her time. She really brought the group together and We thank her for this as well as our bus driver Mochi. Japan is a MUST. We want to go back. Finally the people we met on the tour are keeping in touch and hopefully, more Inspiring Vacations will follow with our new friends

13 day tour to Sri Lanka didn't disappoint. From the professional service of our tour guide Sunil and his assistant and driver, to the value for money and comprehensive itinerary, we had a wonderful time and arrived home tired but completely happy. Highly recommend.

Have just returned from an amazing tour of Sri Lanka. Inspiring Vacations and our tour guide named Selva did a brilliant job showing a broad section of the country.our guide was a fountain of knowledge and managed our group very professionly. The tour was run at quick pace which suited us but quite a few of the elderly struggled a bit and that something people should consider when choosing a tour. All in all a beautiful country and people would highly recommend this trip.

Our trip was to Greece and 6 Balkan countries, over 21 days. This was the second trip this year for my wife and me with Inspiring Vacations. Pre-departure planning, communication and documentation were again excellent, with a dedicated support person who kept in constant contact. We were met on arrival, surprised to find that we were apparently the only 2 participants. The first phase of the tour was to spend 3 days on the island of Santorini, which was well organised by an Athens based tour subcontractor, including transfers to and from the ferry port. Then things fell apart when, on return to our Athens hotel, at 11.30pm, we were told that they had no reservation for us, and no one had left any details about what was to happen next. The main tour subcontractor was based in Istanbul and had no local agent in Athens. After several anxious phone calls, and with help from Inspiring Vacations and hotel reception staff, our correct hotel was identified. Next morning we waited in the new hotel lobby for someone to turn up and tell us what exactly was happening with the next part of the tour. At 9.00 am, our new tour guide, Zoran, a freelancer hired by another subcontracting company based in Skopje, Macedonia, sought us out at the hotel and explained that he would be managing the remainder of the tour, driving us everywhere in his Mercedes E520. From that moment on, everything went perfectly. Zoran was by far the best tour guide we have ever known in many years of travelling. He became our friend and mentor, knowledgeable about the history, culture and day to day life of every place we visited.
The great flaw in the organization of this overall fantastic trip was the choice of the Turkish based company Fez Travel, who failed to keep us and even Zoran informed of changes in hotel bookings and ferry timings that they had made for us, leaving us stranded in Athens in the middle of the night. Otherwise, an amazing tour, and exceptionally good value for money.

I recently went on the 11 day Traditions of Japan tour and all i can say is WOW. This was my first guided tour and i had a blast. The trip was the perfect combination of traditional Japan meets modern Japan. Our guide Ria was fantastic and extremely knowledgable about the areas we visited and had tons of recommendations on where we should spend our free time everyday. My favourite part was probably Miyajimacho and wish we got to spend more time there or the drive through the mountains from Mount Fuji to Takayama. Takayama was also a highlight - the Wagyu sushi was to die for. My one wish was that we got to actually go to Mount Fuji and hike, instead of just going to the towns around it. I even ended up having one of the Inspiring staff Katie on my trip. She was amazing and really brought the laughs. She even held our very own (and my first) Melbourne Cup event in Kyoto. Over all i would definitely recommend this trip.

I came back from the 11 day Japan trip. It was well organized enjoyable trip. Our Japanese tour guide "KOI" was excellent. Hotel rooms were very clean eventhough they were small as expected for the price we pay. Only improvement I would suggest is to arrange the transport from Airport to hotel on arrival to Japan. I would have been happy to pay more for this transport if it was available.

Avoid at all cost!
To ask a simple question about a tour, booking is required. Then demands for full payment are relentless without answering the query.
After speaking to staff and emailing repeatedly to cancel the booking, they continue to email and call.

I didnt even want to give this company one star. I recently went on the Ghan using this company and what a waste of time. I should have just booked it myself. They wouldn't answer phone calls or emails. I only received notes on the trip two days before despite paying months in advance. My friends booked with Inspiring Vacations just before covid struck and even though the airline refunded the airfare this company kept the money saying it was part of the trip. Many people on the Ghan trip were complaining about them.

Very bad customer service. Please check the ticket they book on correct name. I have given my passport copy & fill-up their customer form correctly. Still they made mistake. It cost me a lot to purchase a new ticket, & spoil my holiday. Because of their mistake. I send a email no one bother to call yet. I am waiting for more information. Now trying to avoid me.

The. Answer you have mentioned on review is not true. No one still call me. The email I ask questions was not answered correctly.
I have asked for proof. How did my name change. The form provided from you was filled up correctly. Why did you’ll ask for passport copy. Very hard to contact the same person. Have to explain everything from start. Very frustrating. Saying you’re correct. Before you fix the problem please don’t answer for any reviews. I need a proof How did my name change. Your staff should check the passport copy when she book the ticket. Because of your staff mistake. It cost me a lot. & Put me so much stress. Holiday was not a very pleasant.
I was expecting a call. & need a Refund.

Was ripped off to the tune of $3000 because we only wanted land content not airfares, was told at time of booking it would be deducted at final invoice. Only received $500pp of price for International flights to Finland (What a joke). Our tour was good but won't book with them again as it left a bitter taste in our mouths. Thanks Lola (guide) for your informative insight. Thanks also to Vitalli (our bus driver) who kept us safe on the icy roads

Booking process was easy but I was a little confused as the Tour I booked changed from 15 days to 14 days after I booked and the price reduced even though it was the exact same tour. I spoke to Inspiring Vacations and they kindly let me re-book at the revised price. Only issue I had was having to pay the full amount upfront and not accepting Amex.

My trip to north and south India booked through Inspiring Vacations was very good value for money. The guide in northern India, Inder Singh Chauhan, was extremely good. Some of the hotels were a little tired however the beds were comfortable and the rooms were clean. The history and monuments in norther India were fantastic. Southern India was enjoyable but from a history point of view, not quite as interesting.

Most efficient, friendly, travel company I have ever dealt with. Cant wait to book another trip with the.

We are on a Korea, Japan n Taiwan tour.
Mainly tour consisted of 5 to 6 hours travelling by coach, visiting temples and a guide who hardly spent time with us.
Food, very average. VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED.
Yesterday we went to see the STATUE OF LIBERTY, THE RAINBOW BRIDGE (USLESS DURING THE DAY) LIGHTS UP AT NIGHT (we were taken during the day, OBSERVERTORY AND AGAIN A DAMN TEMPLE.

SO FAR VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED.

HV NO PLANS TO TRAVEL WITH THIS MOB AGAIN

Booked an Africa Tour with a friend 6 Months in advance, was emailed and then told we would have details confirmed in 30 days so it sat in “On Request” status. Required $1000 deposit and after 12 different follow up emails with the offshore team in Phillipines got the same scripted responses with no help or support and no managers calling back.

At day 60, called the Sales line and got Australian team who were rude, abrupt and said their offshore team are the only ones who could help - explained the situation and was then bounced around by 3 different on shore team members, one who wanted to simply offer a discount and get us to stay booked. Finally lost patience with team, and provided follow up email who then confirmed it was taking so long as they use multiple tour providers for the one tour - this is not explained or advertised on booking and was never confirmed by team as they referenced a single supplier.

Was also lectured by Australian team member around pandemic, use of offshore teams to keep things cheaper. I had no issues with offshore teams if they stopped acting like robots reading scripts and understood the customer needs. After looking at alternate teams, we found other tours of the same duration and destinations are priced the same with fully onshore teams who listen and help and offer support.

Your customer service is shocking, your staff onshore are just looking to meet sales KPI’s and your management for not responding to customers requests are unprofessional or hiding away in your St Kilda Road office in Melbourne.

Didn’t receive any phone calls from supervisors or managers when asked, escalated down to another sales associate and flight costs were increasing day by day being now only 4 months out. Finally got confirmation of a refund of deposit within 3-5 business days and it’s day 9 and we are still waiting…. So now I’m posting to all review channels and social media so others don’t get caught

Don’t book with this company

Inspiration Travel utilise cheap flights and remote airports. Instead of an 8-10 hour direct flight to Tokyo, we went via Kuala Lumpur taking 18.25 hours. Narita Airport necessitated an hour's journey by train into Tokyo, where we spent another hour trying to find our hotel. The return flight from Kansai Airport, Osaka, to Melbourne took us 22 hours as there was a further delay at Kuala Lumpur. Our hotel was almost 50km from the airport, which would have required multiple train journeys. Unfortunately trains did not run until 6 am and we needed to depart well beforehand. Nearly all original accommodation was altered to areas which were not centrally located apart from Tokyo. Our group numbered 40, which also made hearing the guide difficult. Prior to departure, documentation needed to be downloaded, was late in being provided and was incorrect, causing stress and worry when we arrived in Tokyo and found we were not booked into the hotel on the itinerary. An identical email was forwarded by the company a few hours after the first with no mention of alterations. This was also incorrect as to directions but did have the altered hotels. Fellow travellers were calling Inspiring Vacations "Uninspirational Travel", which is a fair assessment. Before writing this review I wrote to Inspiration Travel and, true to form, they have not had the courtesy to respond.

So disappointed. We were sent an email to confirm optional tours for our trip commencing end of March last week and we had 72 hours to do it. Being on summer holidays and enjoying the weather like most Australian, we did not see the email and now 3 business days later we are not able to book and no guarantee prices will not be increased if we try and book when we get there. So poor when we are not travelling for 10 weeks! I could understand if we were 4 weeks or even 6 weeks out from travel but 10 weeks - ridiculous. Hope the actual tour is better than the customer service so far!

Website well set out followed by excellent personal contact which allowed us to to fully understand the options so we could make an informed initial choice. We were then able to go back after a few days with our final choices. Minor issues were ironed out with a minimum of fuss.

Only giving 80% monies back off a covid cancelled holiday and very delayed payout too! Admin costs? Please!

Not happy with no refund available to customers who booked through a travel agent, who is useless at corresponding & getting us refunds!