[WONDERBUS]

Conciege's, tour booking agent's and hostel tour booker's have always and will always push the tour company that pays them the highest amount of commission. The result? You have a crappy tour pushed onto, you're non-the-wiser that you could have done a tour 100 times better, the group dynamics sucked. The burnt out, rude, over it Tour Guide sucked, the tour was rushed, the tour was nothing like what you had in mind....You wished you were never recommended the tour.

It goes like this:

You go to the brochure rack at your place of accommodation, or you find an ad in a travel magazine, you head to the desk, place the brochure/magazine on the desk and ask them what the tour is like and you'd like to book it. Here are their answers:

1. Oh you don't want to go on that tour, they're hopeless.
2. No you don't want to do that tour, it's boring.
3. You can't do that one, it's fully booked out.
4.Have a look at this tour, this tour is much better.

Some booking agents ring up the tour company and ask: 'Do you have available seats for your tour tomorrow?" And before the person on the other end can even answer the question, the booker say: " Oh, you don't? You're fully booked out? Ok, thank you". Then they hang up and the tour company might've had 10 seats available. You are again non-the-wiser.


IT IS LIKE A MAFIA, THESE BOOKER'S ONLY HAVE A SELECT FEW TOUR COMPANIES THEY WILL BOOK. THE ONES WHO PAY THEM THE HIGHEST COMMISSION......PLAIN & SIMPLE.

If you're going to book a tour, speak directly with the actual tour company or email them to have all your questions properly answered. There are brilliant tour operators out there and there are boring, unlicensed, and crappy tours which rate 1/10 out there. If a brochure looks like it has what your're looking for,chances are it has. Ring up the company. Most tour companies have a free call phone number. You can usually get a good discount on the tour ticket price because you're buying your ticket direct. You've effectively cut out the middle man/woman. The tour company can discount the amount they would usually have to pay in commission. This amount can be up to 50% of your ticket price payed in commission just because some one picked up the phone and made a phone call on your behalf).Why throw you're money away, it's best left in your pocket.

If we were all booking agents and one tour company was paying $20.00 in commission per booking and the other was paying $50.00. Which tour would you book your customer on? $50.00 can be a lot of money when you're on a tight budget. We can't blame the booking agents for pushing the tours that pay the more cash, ofcourse they would go for the company that pays them more. But YOU have a choice. You've worked hard and saved hard for this trip to Oz, don't squander it paying high commission fees and getting a boring 1/10 tour for your efforts. A lot of booking agent's have the mindset that tourists come and go, there will always be more and they don't care if they promote a crap tour. They have no sincerity, they simply do not care, you'll be gone the next day anyway. This happens all day and every day. There are companies out there who have a sincere passion for what they do and where they take people. Search these guys out. Go with the companies that have been backpackers themselves and can relate to the people they have on their tour....YOU! A tour company should always ask themselves: ' If I was going on the tour my company offered, what would I expect, what would I like/dislike about it, how could I make it better and continually improve it, how could I make it as good as possible and give people the time of their lives? And if I advertise I will give them an ADVENTURE, then I will bloody well give them one, not some third rate boring show with burn out tour guides'.

Have a great trip, ask heaps of questions DIRECT when deciding on choosing a tour company, ask about the Driver/Guides they use, insurance, appropriate licenses etc. Will you be insured? We all just assume that we will be. Is the bus registered, does the company have permission to go where they go? Does the Driver/Guide drive 5 days straight and is falling asleep at the wheel? Did he sleep at all the night before? Does the Driver/Guide have a first aid certificate? Expect the unexpected. Great tour companies minimise risk. Crappy tour companies put you at risk.Once again, always ask questions direct with the tour company.

If a tour company is recommended in a reputable guide book,or loads or people say they're good. Chances are they are reputable.

Book direct, save your money, be more content and most of all....... Have more fun!!!!

Happy trails to you.

WONDERBUS