Costsaver Reviews

Booking through Global Journey is a nice and smooth experience. However, the Costsaver online customer service needs improvement. I contacted them many times in regards to the pick up location in London at the start of the tour and none of them could give me the answer! Some gave me the wrong location!
For the tour itself, it's a well designed itinerary. ...read more We were well looked after by our tour director John. Our driver (Steve) is THE BEST! The dinner at Torphichen Inn was very pleasant and fun. Dinner & Cabaret at Taylor's 3 Rock was excellent, strongly recommend (it's worth every cent !!!). However, there was too much free time at York and it was the Sunday so all the shops closed early, so we all wandered in the dark & cold waiting to go to the bus for the hotel. Also there should be less free time in Bath so we could have more time in Windsor Castle (it was too rushing). It would be good if we had two nights and free time in Glasgow, it was a vibrant city but there was no time to check it out. Thank you for a wonderful trip.

The trip did meet our expectations of seeing a glimpse of Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland and Paris. Some of the optional experiences are worth taking specially the Cabaret in Paris. All hotels were comfortable except the City Hotel Brunnen in Switzerland. Our room has a tiny bathroom with the wash basin in the bedroom. A hotel at Luzern would have ...read more been preferable. Special mention and thanks to the Restaurant staff at the Hotel NH Weinheim, Germany for preparing special gluten free meals for my coeliac condition.

Our Tour Director Steve is exceptional, sharing his knowledge of history of the countries and well-organised in making sure we make the most of our time in each city. The cold and wet weather in April did not dampen the mood of our small group and we still got to see the main attractions. We came home with happy memories. 😊

The title says it all!! The Best of the Balkans was thoroughly enjoyed! The coach and driver were professional and comfortable. The hotels were clean, comfortable and all staff welcoming and professional. The tour director, Jasmina, was the most amazing knowledgeable, helpful caring and genuine tour director I have ever met on all the tours that I have ...read more been on. She did have a few challenging moments that she handled professionally and with kindness. She is ! in a million!!!

I must add that some of the food that was served including breakfast and dinner, in the hotels were a little missing the target. There was a few gluten free passengers on my trip and there was little in the way of desserts, only fruit and more fruit and mostly only bread was offered at breakfast time. Maybe a small amount of cereal and pastry or sweet cake would of been a welcomed change .

The places we visited were amazing and if time had permitted, a longer stay would of been welcomed. Thank you to Tracey for all of your help booking this amazing trip for me!!

Tracey Standing was excellent and we would travel with Costsaver again. Hotels were very good, clean and decor was lovely.

We thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Tour guide was fantastic as was our driver. Very well paced tour, very scenic and good stops along the way. Were happy with all hotels. Extra tours were mostly very good, probably a bit expensive but I would still recommend.

What an amazing trip from start to finish. The Netherlands was fresh and with spectacular views where Rome was warmer in August but the history and places we visited were some of the greatest ancient ruins I have experienced. Tour guide was out standing with the greatest knowledge of the visited countries. The bus driver was a gem. Accommodations were ...read more of high standard and breakfasts plentiful. I recommend this trip to everyone and all ages. Would definitely travel with Costsavers again. Travelled with a mixture of people who were awesome.

Air Canada Airlines. The flights were good, going and coming. The person allocating the seating was very helpful. She recommended that if we'd like to sit down the back of the plane, there were 2 seats together, which would make it easier for us as we wouldn't have to climb over someone to get out. It was also convenient that we could check our luggage ...read more all the way through to Calgary, as we didn't have much time between flights going over.

Costsaver were very difficult to contact by email and phone. Consequently, we had to ask the hotel staff where we were to meet the trip director. The trip director was very good. However, it went a bit haywire when another had to replace to original one, due to family circumstances. The new one kept saying she hadn't done a trip on the west for a few years. She only did east Canada area. Therefore, her commentary was little and not often. In Vancouver, at the end of the trip we had a hotel situated quite a distance from the cruise terminal, There were nearly half the passengers going on the cruise the next day. It would have been convenient if a bus could have taken all of us to the terminal instead of independent transport.

The Holand America Line "Volendam" cruise was very good. Some people were very helpful. The person booking the shore excursions, at times gave us incorrect information, If we hadn't asked another, we would have arrived late for our excursion. The service desk people were helpful at times. Some came across as not being very knowledgeable. e.g when I asked for stamps, I was told I'd have to come back later, as he couldn't give them to me as they were locked away and the person who had the key was on a break. We had difficulty getting WiFi and were told we had to pay for it. This was not mentioned to us prior to the trip.
There was plenty to do during the day while at sea, and it catered for all age groups. The ship arrived in port early which enabled us to do shopping and site seeing. The food was plentiful and there was a variety to choose from. We went to the Pinnacle Restaurant, the service was very good and the food cooked to our wishes. I would consider going on another Holland America Line cruise. The size of ship was just right. I didn't feel I was on top of people.

We had an amazing guide who really tried her best to offer as much opportunity as possible for us to view and experience more. The optional and included experiences were great, the only negative was that we could not visit Mijas, because this optional included a dinner and our family has a few dietary needs, which makes the dinners extremely difficult ...read more and expensive. Highlights were Monserrat (Barcelona), Gibraltar and the Golden Triangle in Lisbon with a low in Valencia with the walking tour - no free time given because the guide used up all the time. Being a CostSaver tour, we knew not to expect much from the hotels, but majority were actually pretty good with the only issue being the very hard beds and small bathrooms.

Accommodation with CostSaver tour was good. The transport to and from airport in Milan was unnecessarily expensive. I booked flights myself because it was a follow on trip from a Trafalgar in Germany. Couldn't see why I should pay $197 for a private transfer when I had organised and provided flight details to arrive in Milan so I could travel on coach ...read more pick-up for group. Apparently a private driver arrived to pick me up which I wasn't aware was happening. Likewise if some of the group wanted to go to Como but not take the optional extra of dinner why could they not travel on the coach and meet at the pickup point for those taking optional dinner. Makes no sense. I would certainly be asking more questions before committing to another Trafalgar or CostSaver tour - looking at the fine print.

Our tour was very smooth and predictable. The tour director and driver were both very professional, easy to get along with, patient, and organized. The tour director was very knowledgeable of history and culture and her comments added a lot to the tour. I loved that the group of 44 people was very diverse with many various ages, ethnicities, and ...read more nationalities represented. The coach was a very comfortable brand new Mercedes coach that made travel great.

Booking process was smooth and efficient and documentation informative. Registering process was also ok. Trip with Costsaver was generally very good with an experience guide and driver. Accommodation was generally very good. Some optional excursions were grossly overpriced. Some good advice was offered by the guide. Overall trip was enhanced by unbelievably ...read more good weather and participants who were universally friendly and punctual. Two days in the trip were generally wasted and revolved around ceramics and tweed factories - could have been used better in so many ways. Many participants expressed disappointment at not seeing anything in Northern Ireland other than the ceramics factory a couple of hundred metres over the border. A poor claim to be visiting a fifth country.

So a combination of a fabulous itinerary, excellent tour director, great driver, reasonable accommodation, a good mix of people, & great weather all made for a near perfect tour. I was surprised that the tour commenced in Las Vegas with the most spectacular attraction (The Grand Canyon) a very high bar for the other stops to match but each of the parks ...read more had something different to offer and I was disappointed in none (although the last couple of days we were in the coach for very long periods). One of the "optional" tours to Badlands NP should be part of the standard itinerary as it's not to be missed (and there's no alternate - except to do nothing). So all in all a great tour.

Also pleased to say all of the pre-tour work from the initial enquiry, quote, bookings, pre-tour information provide by Rachael (Global Journeys) and by Costsaver (Tour operator) were also seamless with timely and full responses leaving little to worry about except what the weather will be or what to pack.

This was our first Costsaver tour after having travelled with Trafalgar before. This tour is amazing! We saw so much in a short period of time. The value for money is really good and everything is organised for you. The hotels were warm and comfy and mostly centrally located. Highlights for us were: Irish dinner and entertainment, ferry crossings, Edinburgh, ...read more York and Waterford. The local guides were so knowledgeable and entertaining.

Our travel buddies were such a fantastic group and we all got along super well. The tour was only half full, so we had loads of space to spread out. Our tour director went above and beyond and the driver got us all around safely and quickly. Visiting in winter is great because it’s heaps quieter, but some things are closed. We can’t wait to travel with Costsaver again! Massive thanks to Georgie for her amazing organisation and making booking this trip easy.

Very good tour with Costsaver. Five countries in 2 weeks with two nights spent in each city wasn't nearly enough, but gave a good insight into each place. The pace was good with not too many 'travelling' days to get from one place to the next. Our tour director Mike was excellent, providing detailed commentary and guidance with lashings of English-Czech ...read more humour and a dose of commendable Photoshopping skills to boot!

Hotels were good to very good (with the best being in Warsaw of all places), and as expected for Costsaver, most were a bit far from the centre of the city (about half an hour away) but easily serviceable by public transport in all the cities. Provided dinners were so-so, with most hotels serving a perfunctory chicken and rice/potato dish, but Hotel International in Prague were surprisingly great with a well-prepared buffet selection instead of the aforementioned chicken and rice/potato.

The only thing we found excessive were the number of optional tours offered; we didn't do any because we did our own thing, but for those who did all or most of the optionals, that left very little time to self-explore (and in fact, there were times when an hour here or there was all those people got to explore on their own). Otherwise it was a highly recommended tour if you want to see some of Europe's most understated and underrated cities.

What a fun and exciting getaway to some fabulous cities in a short amount of time. If you want to see a lot in a limited timeframe, this trip is for you! The guide was extremely knowledgeable and there was just the right amount of interaction with travellers. I enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. The accommodation was much better than expected ...read more and the breakfasts were super. I would recommend travelling at this time of year (mid October) as the weather was still fantastic and you didn't see the crazy crowds of summer and holidays.

During this trip I visited too many National Parks : Grand Canyon, Zion, Bruce, Teton, Yellow Stone and Badland National Parks & more. All were very beautiful. The scenery along this trip was awesome in Autumn. It was more spectacular than I expected. Most of hotels were excellent. No any complaint for this budget tour. The tour Director Stephen and ...read more the driver Ariane were fantastic. I really enjoyed 2 weeks time with them and other guests in this trip. I also would like to thank Global Journeys and especially Jemma who organised my wonderful trip.

The trip of the imperial highlights tour was truly amazing - Munich, Regensburg, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna and Salzburg - all different cities with long histories, beautiful landmarks and sights to see. CostSaver organised a really great itinerary to ensure each location was truly captured with local guides organised to take us through each ...read more location and all were extremely knowledgeable. The extra optional tours were all great as well and highly recommended. CostSaver placed all the tourists safety and welfare at the forefront at all times and the communication for all requirements - start times, finishing times, and knowledge of locations was of the highest order. Well done CostSaver for a most memorable time in Europe.

We were disappointed on the tour as a whole . It was very unusual not to include breakfast & even the farewell dinner which should have been included in the price. Unfortunately the cruise meals were repetitive.

The tour leader Steen Harris was very organised and extremely knowledgeable on the history of all the places we visited. My only complaint was he didn't provide us with a phone number and although I sent him 4 emails during the duration of the tour he didn't reply to any. I missed a tour because I got the meeting place wrong and couldn't get hold of ...read more him to obtain the correct information. We covered a lot of ground in the eight days visiting many interesting places. However you have to be prepared for long days! The hotels ranged from fairly sub standard - Jury's inn Bradford to 5 star luxury - Johnston Spa resort in Enfield.

This was indeed a spectacular trip, which definitely exceeded my expectations. Had initially thought that it was a pity we were doing the Grand Canyon first as I had thought that would be the highlight, but every day had astonishing places that we visited. The tour director was fabulous, very well informed, accomodating and very organised. The driver ...read more was great as well. I would thoroughly recommend this trip to anyone who wants some breathtaking insight into the landscapes of southwestern USA.