At Highlights Travel (formerly Asia Highlights), we believe that the best journeys don't just take you to new places — they bring you closer to what truly matters: meaningful encounters, shared stories, and a deeper sense of place. Since 1998, we've been designing private, tailor-made trips across China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, with a focus on meaningful connection, cultural depth, and effortless travel. Our expert travel designers work one-on-one with each traveler, while our trusted local hosts open doors to authentic, personal experiences. With over 10,000 reviews and an outstanding 98.8% 5-star rating on platforms, our travelers consistently return with more than memories — they return with a deeper understanding. Our current journeys on Highlights Travel website focus on Southeast and South Asia, where vibrant cultures and meaningful moments await. Interested in China or Japan? Discover more curated journeys at China Highlights, Japan Highlights and Thailand Highlights — part of the Highlights Travel family.
Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Consumers frequently highlight the exceptional staff, describing team members as professional, exceptionally polite, and incredibly quick to respond to every single inquiry. Travelers truly appreciate the dedicated support in creating wonderful, tailored holiday itineraries that perfectly match their specific desires and requirements.
However, some customers also noted that while the planning phase was wonderful, they were still awaiting the actual execution of their upcoming trips. People often mention looking forward to seeing how all the organized activities, expert guides, and recommended accommodations will actually perform during their upcoming adventures.
Great trip to Tokyo, Kyoto and Seoul Korea! Thanks Kate from Asia Highlights who helped plan this trip, from all the transportations from the airport, cruise ports, making our hotel reservations, it was great not worrying about being picked up and touring around. We had Jennifer in Tokyo who took us around and she was very good, we had Slash in Kyoto and boy he was the best, he knew everything, we wished he was our tour guide for Seoul because we didn't have a great experience with the tour guide in Seoul, but we still had a great time on our trip. We would definitely use Asia Highlights again.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-10-30
Hi Julie,
Thank you for sharing your feedback about your experience with us in Japan and Korea. We’re glad to hear that you felt at ease and had a memorable time with Jennifer and Slash in Japan.
We sincerely apologize that the service in Korea did not meet the same standards. We have taken your comments seriously and have made adjustments to improve in this area with our guide.
Despite this, we’re pleased that you still enjoyed your time overall. We look forward to assisting you with future tours in Asia.
All the best, and please keep in touch!
Best regards,
Customer Care Team
Asia highlights has arranged our round trip in India. This was our third trip booked with them. The round trip was very good designed and executed. Enough interesting places but not too much so you still have some time to relaxe. Driving was very safe. No speeding all the time which give you the opportunity to relaxe and enjoy the surrounding. Our guides in Agra(Prashant Kuishreshth) and in Jaipur(Rajender Singh) were perfect. Both speeking very good English and with a great knowledge of history. In Jaipur the travel agent gave us a big suprise. The brought us to a family to join an evening of cooking and talking to the lokals. Very nice. All thanks for the great experience. Mark and Cora
Highlights Travel 回复2024-10-28
Hi Mark and Cora
Thanks for allowing us to help book another tour for you. We're encouraged to know that your visit to India went well, and that in Japipur you enjoyed the family visit.
Customer-care Team
I was very happy with the with the accommodation, guides and drivers. Most of the guides were very well informed and willing to go over and above to show us their country. The service at our hotels was exceptional. The hotels we stayed in were varied but did not disappoint.
The looming typhoon was calmly handled and care and communication was very good. I will definitely use Asian Highlights again
Highlights Travel 回复2024-10-07
Hi Vicotria
Thank you for your feedback and glad that you were happy with the accommodation, guides and driver. Hope to be able to assist you again.
Customer-care Team
If you are looking for a well planned worry free experience in Cambodia. I would highly recommend this company from our pick up to our drop off at the airport. I was sceptical at first being from North America and using a company from a foreign land, but definitely glad I took the chance. Everything was first class. Our driver Samnang was a very courteous driver who always opened the doors for us, had cold water and cold towels waiting for us every time. The van was very comfortable clean and new. Our guide Som Spoke perfect English and had amazing knowledge of every single location we went to. He was very passionate about his work, honest and trustworthy. He even told us what to look out for when it came to less than honest merchants which you could tell he was genuine. He was very flexible with our schedule and we learned so much about Cambodia as a country and culture. The Temple tours were a once in a lifetime experience. The Kulen Elephant sanctuary was such a unique experience. You were up close and personal with these gentle giants. We were very humbled by The landline Museum. The founder Aki Ra who personally disarmed thousands of mines by hand IN the jungle what is the most humble man I have ever met. A true hero. The hotel that was chosen for us could not have been better. The staff at Khmer Mansion were practically tripping over each other to serve us and the food was delicious. The rooms were very spacious, clean and you were far enough away from pub street that it was quiet at night time. all in all a wonderful experience for our family, thanks to Som, Samnang, and Jimmy our Travel agent whom I would use again. Disappointed in Saigon however as the hotel chosen as replacement had construction going on till 8:00pm. Will update on the next experience.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-09-24
Hi Douglas
Thank you for sharing your experience with us on how your travels went. We were pleased that we were able to help you ease any concerns about booking with an agency, that is not in the US. We were very sorry to learn that the hotel arranged for you in Saigon was doing some renovations until 8 pm. We will follow-up on this and the disturbance caused to you during your stay.
Customer-care Team
We just finished a 10 day tour of Japan and Asia Highlights created a dynamite itinerary for us. By far the highlight was our tour guide in Tokyo and Hakone / Mt Fuji, Tan. Tan was so full of energy and a wealth of knowledge. Spoke English (as well as many other languages) perfectly. He made the trip extra special and I highly recommend requesting him. Unfortunately we weren’t as successful in Kyoto as our guide, although a lovely young woman, barely spoke English and lacked knowledge and history of Kyoto. She was also incredibly soft spoken making it difficult to hear her in crowded tourist locations. Nevertheless, Kyoto is an amazing city and we managed to have a great time. It was a once in a lifetime trip that offered incredible memories.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-07-02
Hi Peri
Thank you for sharing how your visit went in Japan. We're very sorry that your time in Kyoto did not go well with our tour guide. We have followed up with our agency there and will look at ways to improve our services. We're pleased though that you did enjoy the city and had a great time.
Customer-care Team
Overall, it was a wonderful trip. Unfortunately, it did start on our sour note after we found out we needed visas to travel to Vietnam while trying to check in at the airport. Leon had been very communicative prior to our trip. He sent us several documents to review to make sure we were prepared for our trip; however visas were not mentioned. This error cost us to lose two days in Vietnam, which was disappointing as we only had a week there to begin with and with a 20 hr flight, it was the last thing we wanted. They helped us obtain emergency visas and we arrived 48hrs after our original arrival date. Once there, everything went smoothly. We visited several cities in Vietnam and Thailand. Every tour guide we had was amazing! The first few days were a little rushed because of the visa issue. Despite this, Dieu Thi in Da Nang made sure we got to see the highlights of her city! She was very knowledgeable about the history of Da Nang and Hoi An and kind to share that knowledge with us. Tan in Ho Chi Minh City was also amazing! He took us to Cu Chi Tunnels and various historical places around the city. In Bangkok, we were so lucky to have Ying as our tour guide. She turned into a personal photographer without prompt and sent us all the pictures at the end of the day! She gave us great suggestions for things to do in our free time and helped us navigate the train system. We ended our trip in Phucket, where we had the most free time and spent it exploring beaches in Phi Phi Islands! I would definitely recommend this company and would book with them again. My only suggestion would be to do your own research about the countries you're traveling to to make sure you have everything you need. We were busy with our jobs and wedding planning so we relied heavily on them to plan our trip, but this could have been prevented if we had done our own research as well.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-06-10
Hi Grecia
Firstly, our sincere apologies regarding the visa situation. Usually, all our information with practical guidelines is sent out at least 2-3 weeks before departure. We will review this and ensure that visa requirements are highlighted in all our documentation.
We were pleased though that you had a memorable time on your honeymoon. We do appreciate that you will entrust us again to help arrange future trips.
Thanks for sharing and we wish you all the best.
Customer-care Team
Bert was very responsive and helpful. We are still considering the itinerary he prepared for us although we find it rather expensive given our expectations.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-06-03
Hi Jose
Thanks for your feedback on Bert and that you have found him to be helpful with your itinerary. Customer-care Team
Tammy’s guiding was quite informative and attentive in Bangkok. At the end of excursion we lost valuable time due to micalculations.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-05-06
Dear Gosia
Thank you for your post. We're very sorry to learn that at the end of your excursion, you lost valuable time due to miscalculations.
Customer-care Team
We really enjoyed our visit to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka Japan. Asia Highlights was the main reason it was so enjoyable. We contacted Asia Highlights with our personal requests. All our requests were well met. There were also events that Asian Highlights scheduled for us.
They provided an English speaking tour guide and a dedicated driver each day in a very comfortable 7 passenger van. Asia Highlights also provided our groups with personal pick-up and transport at Haneda Airport to our Tokyo hotel. This was provided without our request. Nice touch!
The hotels that were reserved for us were great. The night at a Japanese Ryokan was not what was expected - not disappointed, just not what we expected.
The cherry blossoms weren't quite in bloom, but no fault of Asian Highlights. A visit to Mt. Fuji was outstanding; as it was one of the few days of our trip that it was clear in that region. The tour guide that day, "Johnny" was very knowledgeable and personable. We visited many Japanese shrines and castles. We were presented with a lot of Japanese history. Perhaps, one or two shrines and a castle or two would have been plenty for our group.
The visit to the highly touted Fish Market was a bit disappointing, as there were lot of fish kiosks but not what we were expecting...lots of people trying to eat. The sushi lesson that Asia Highlights arranged was outstanding. The entire group really enjoyed that. Also, the green tea party with the Maiko was enlightening. Great tasting green tea we were able to make ourselves.
Most of the group felt the visit to Kyoto was the best. It was probably because of our tour guide Gao-Lin ("William"). Not only was he knowledgable about the area and Japanese history, he was a pleasure as our tour guide. He was also our tour guide in Osaka and really made our stay there enjoyable. "William" helped adjust our sight seeing schedule due to a member of our group having to return to California on short notice. Quite helpful.
We spent a day in Osaka, mostly shopping. Great place to do that.
Asia Highlights was very attentive to our transportation needs. That being said, we had to ask each afternoon at the end of the day of who to expect the next day, including how to contact our driver for the next day. We were able to connect successfully each day, but it took extra effort on our part. The ride on the "bullet" train was uneventful...just a very fast train ride.
Asia Highlights also provided transport from our Osaka hotel to Itami airport for a part of our group and transport for a part of the travel group from Osaka hotel Kansai airport.
Overall, we were pleased with our trip to Japan. We started the planning process about one year prior. There were a few issues with communication about the actual dates, guest reservation. There were many scheduled events in three different cities. At times we were slow to get a response about our queries and clarification of the itinerary and transportation details.
FYI: The WhatsApp was extremely helpful...almost a necessity.
Thanks Asia Highlights. We would definitely contact Asia Highlights for any future travels to the Far East.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-04-28
Hi Perry
We appreciate your feedback on how your visit went with us to Japan, and that you enjoyed your stay overall, especially the visit to Mt Fuji with a clear day and the time in Kyoto. We are always encouraged to know how our guides performed - especially the special mention of William (Gao Lin) who made your stay enjoyable. We are sorry that at times communication was slow to give you clarification - we will work on the issues you raised to improve in the area. Thank you that you are willing to contact us again to help arrange future trips to Asia. We look forward to hearing from you then.
Customer-care Team
I just returns from an amazing trip to Japan with my dad and brother, and its success was in many ways thanks to Asia Highlights. Our travel agent Claire took care of so much of the basic work of researching and booking things for us, and she was extremely communicative in the months leading up to the trip. It made everything feel very smooth.
There are many places where I think there is room for improvement, however. If I did a Japan trip again I don’t know if I’d go with Asia Highlights simply because our agent Claire is not Japanese, and as far as I can tell has never been there, so she has no personal insight into the country.
We had 4 guides throughout the trip, two of whom were not very engaging or informed (one was a student in her first year of school). We were lucky to have one incredible guide, Ho, for the majority of the trip who went above and beyond. One of the ways he did that was by altering our itinerary on his own from what our agent had scheduled to better match his more extensive, personal knowledge of Japan, as well as what he’d come to learn were our interests.
Additionally, some parts of the booking process were a bit frustrating. We had told our agent at the start that we are very subway-savvy, and were excited to learn Japan’s renowned transit system. She insisted that the subway system is too complicated, and most Americans prefer having a private car most days. While I’ll admit it is a fairly complicated system, and she did allot us some days to get experience taking it, there were definitely days where we paid for a private car for a full day, but the car would only drive us 2-5 minute distances (easily walkable or transitable for a fraction of the price.) Meanwhile, other days we ended up taking hour long bus rides in the city when no car was booked for us. I think this stems from a lack of personal experience in/understanding of the city layouts.
Also, we were very excited to go to the Studio Ghibli Museum as we are huge fans of those movies. And despite booking our trip months in advance, we were a told a month before that they were not able to get tickets to the museum because apparently the ticketing site had blocked Asia Highlights account and kept them from purchasing tickets for customers. If we had known that would be an issue we would have booked the tickets ourselves.
In summary, the trip was incredible, and it was nice to not have to have put in hours of work researching and booking experiences. For that I am very grateful for the service Asia Highlights provided. But, if I did this again I would definitely book with a more local agent or guide who would have a better personal understanding of the country.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-04-16
Hi Jonathan
Thank you for taking the time to write and share your thoughts on how your travel went with us. We value your feedback and the insight you have provided for us, as we recognize there is always room for us to improve to make each person's trip worth their while.
We were sorry to learn that some aspects of the trip left you frustrated and some of your advice concerning the subway transportation was not adhered to.
Though our office is based in China, we partner with local agencies, and regularly send our colleagues to investigate and inspect the locations, as well as meet with our partners. However, Claire has indeed not visited Japan, but we strongly rely on our colleagues who have visited, and local agencies to update and provide us with the information and insight of the tours. Claire is planning to visit Japan next month to learn and understand more.
We appreciate that you still felt grateful for our service, though we left you disappointed - for which we are truly sorry.
Thank you again for sharing and we will learn from what you have written. We wish you all the best for your next adventures.
Customer-care Team
First of all, if you do not want a standard trip in China, you are better off by planning the trip by yourself.
(And if you want a standard trip, there are probably cheaper agencies available.)
At the beginning everything looked fine. My travel agent Roger was a great help and changed the schedule according to my wishes.
But after starting the trip I had to realize that about 50 % of the plan were wrong and had to be changed.
Only four weeks before, I had received the confirmation and it was outdated back then already.
China Highlights offered me hotels and activities that were closed years before. The offer and final confirmation contained flight numbers and departure times, that never existed.
The communication during the trip was mostly via messaging service and only one or two days ahead. In the best case. Sometimes also an hour after I would have needed the info. (For example: I received the information about a guide that was supposed to pick me up, half an hour after I was at the station. Because I did not even know, that I would have a guide in this city, we missed each other.)
To make it brief:
Plan your trip by yourself. Maybe it needs more work in the first place, but you will exactly know what is going on during your trip.
(I planned two weeks myself and China Highlights planned ten days. My plan did not need to be changed in. one day. The schedule of China Highlights contained of only two days, that went by like stated in the offer / confirmation.)
The two stars rating is based on:
+ Good communication before the trip
+ Great guides
- Offering of non existing activities
- Bad planning and no details before the trip
- Bad communication during the trip
- Many changes during the trip
- Missing information (e. g.: where and when to meet a guide)
- Instransparent costs
Highlights Travel 回复2024-04-08
Dear Ch Fischer
Firstly, we are sincerely sorry for the arrangements on how your tour was conducted. What you experienced should not have happened as this does not reflect the way how we operate our tours.
For any tours, your final itinerary and confirmation letter should have been provided to you outlining the details of accommodation, tour plans, and tour guide for each day before your arrival.
We recognize that clearer communication should have been highlighted to you and reconfirmed with any major changes.
Also in your itinerary, it should have stated a tour guide is provided and arrangements for meeting places and times are arranged by them for each day of your tour.
We are indeed very sorry for any misunderstanding or miscommunication.
Our Team will follow up on the issues you have raised and we will address these matters urgently and get back to you personally.
Please accept our apologies.
Customer-care Team
My family chose the 10-day best tour of Tokyo, Kyoto & Osaka. We really enjoyed our trip, these are our comments and suggestions:
Tokyo:
Transport from the airport was on time and efficient. Note that getting a pocket wi-fi to allow you to use google maps, etc is important once you land at the airport.
Hotel: Hotel Metropolitan Ikebukuro. This hotel was excellent, very conveniently located near the Ikebukuro train stop. Breakfast buffet was fantastic, the staff were excellent
Tour guide: our guide was very young and inexperienced, it would have been better for him to have given more than just a superficial description of what we were seeing, he spent a lot of the tour speaking Chinese to the driver rather than explaining what neighborhoods we were in, the significance of the shrines that we were going to see, etc. Took us to a Museum that was closed, did not really know the itinerary very well. We realize that weather may effect the itinerary, but knowing what museums are open on what days would have been helpful.
Itinerary: Meiji shrine, Asakusa, Sensoji temple , Hamarikyu Garden, Ometasando, Ginza were all excellent choices as sites to see. Unfortunately the weather did not permit good views from the Tokyo sky tree but this was interesting to see nevertheless. Although Ryogoku and the Hokusai museum were on the itinerary, we did not get to go as we were taken to the Hokusai museum on a day the museum was closed and the Sky Tree tickets were scheduled for 12N so we didn't have time to see the Sumo Museum. Shibuya scramble was fun to see, we were overall given enough time to be independent and find places to eat lunch, we were not taken to Genki sushi as promised, unfortunately. Mt Fuji museum, Kawaguchiko lake, and Lake Saiko were excellent sites to visit, we were not taken to the Itchiku Kubota Museum despite this being on the itinerary. (it was closed) Again, there were discrepancies made on the itinerary and what we actually saw, the guide seemed a little confused about where to take us. A good suggestion that he made however was going to the Sengen shrine prior to Mt Fuji based on location. He did take lovely family photos.
Kyoto:
The trip to Kyoto on the Shinkansen was fast and excellent, if you sit on the right side of the train you will see Mt Fuji 45 minutes into the trip!
Hotel: Kyoto Ryokan the Kinoe, this was outstanding, the staff were incredible, the rooms were traditional with tatami floors, breakfast was amazing and traditional, and dinner in your room at the hotel was fantastic. This hotel was one of the best experiences of the trip.
Tour Guide: Rel was incredible. She contacted us the day prior to the trip and on each day to review our itinerary, knew our itinerary in detail, changed it based on geography and convenience, was always available by text, she knew specific details about what we were going to see and gave us a preview of each site as we were driving to it, as well as provided insight about specific attributes of the sites.
Transportation from the train station and from the hotel to all of the sites we saw was excellent, on time, and always well orchestrated by Rel.
Itinerary. Afternoon tea with a Geisha (maiko) was fun, but this was not a one-on-one experience. Kinkakugi temple, Nijo castle, Nishiki markets, Kiyomizu temple were excellent choices as sites to see. We did not get to see Sanjusangendo temple due to time constraints. The street food at Nishiki market was incredible. Rel appropriately changed the itinerary the next day to put the Okochi Mountain Villa as the last site to see, however, the trip to Arashiyama (and Nara, see below) was for us the highlight of the trip including the bamboo groves, monkey park, Tenryugi temple, Nonomiya shrine and the vegetarian lunch. Please note that for older visitors, the walk up to Arashiyama Monkey Park was quite arduous and several older travelers (not in our group) could not make it. We asked to not go on the Sagano Scenic railway due to time constraints. The trip to Nara deer park was incredible, I suggest that travelers to Japan not miss this as the experience was unique and wonderful. Rel again changed the itinerary that day to start at Fushimi Inari shrine first to take advantage of the morning light through the gates, then Nara to see the deer park, Todaji Temple, Kasuga Taisha and then travel to Osaka.
Osaka:
Hotel Vischio Osaka was excellent, in a great location to allow our daughter to visit all of the shops, Uniqlo, Gu, Book off, etc.
Tours: Rel was excellent, really gave a lot of insight into what we were seeing. We enjoyed the Umeda Sky building and Dotonbori, Rel made a lunch reservation at the best Wagyu and Kobe beef restaurant that we have ever been to! Kamigata Uklyoe Museum was beautiful, and we finished our day at Osaka castle.
Overall, our trip was excellent.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-04-08
Dear cseg
Thank you for taking the time to write and share about your Japan experience with us.
Firstly, we are very sorry that one of our guides failed to deliver to you the services that should have been required. We will follow up on this and to ensure that guides receive further training to meet the expectations that we require of them.
We are however very pleased to know that you enjoyed your visit and appreciate the insight that you have provided to us and our readers of your Japan trip.
We value your feedback and we will continue to do our best to improve in all our services.
Customer-care Team
The accommodations were super! The days were jam packed. The tour guides were all smart and kind Masters students. Our coordinator was quick to respond and accommodating. We missed a few tours it seemed due to needing an earlier start and we came close to missing the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto when extra transportation was required to accommodate our whole group. It would have been nice if our guides could join us for the tours and for lunch.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-04-08
Hi there Jodi G
Thanks for your feedback and great to know you found the accommodations to be super!
We were sorry to learn that you missed a few tours and nearly missing the bullet train.
Usually, the guides accompany you on the tour sites to provide an explanation on the history, culture, and background of the areas. They are welcome to you for lunch if an invitation is extended to them.
Customer-care Team
Trip well planned for max time in Japan. Hotels were great. Our personal trip advisor, Albee Ning, was quick to respond and helpful. Unfortunately our guides were mostly students from other countries, which was fine with me , but they were inadequate trained. More than once we could not reach our plan for the day due to no pre booking with sold out venues or late starts. I made my choice due to Tripadvisor rewards and a small group. For the amount paid, I was disappointed and would not use this company again
Highlights Travel 回复2024-04-04
Dear Elizabeth
Thank you for your feedback concerning your recent tour with us. We appreciate the positive review for Albee who helped plan your tour and the arrangements for the hotels.
We are very sorry that we failed you and left you disappointed with the way your services were handled by the guides. We assure you that we will look into this and take appropriate methods to ensure that more training is provided to improve in their area of services.
Customer-care Team
Overall, I'm not sure it was worth the money. The only reason it would be is the small group size and driver.
Pros:
-- It was great to have a small tour group.
-- It was great to have a driver--including to/from the airport and train station.
-- The tour guides were flexible to our needs/wants. For example, we don't like high fashion so we changed one of our stops to do something we'd like better and when one location was overcrowded the tour guide accepted our request to do something different.
--The Kyoto/Osaka tour guide was very enthusiastic and tried really hard to make our trip great.
-- The Kyoto hotel was great and had a very helpful concierge.
-- Alisa was great helping us set up the tour and being available when we had questions or concerns.
Cons:
-- Communication was not good. 3 of the 4 drivers could not contact me. I had to get their numbers from the company and reach out to them to confirm pick up times, etc. The number I was given for the second tour guide was wrong. The tour guides did not reach out until late the night before the tour started.
--When we booked the tour we were told we had to get info to them quickly so tickets could be bought. When we got there no tickets had been purchased. This caused us to not get the train time we wanted and meant we missed 1/2 a day in Kyoto. It also meant we had to wait around 30 minutes at different attractions while the guide went to get the tickets.
-- The Tokyo tour guide, wasn't really a tour guide. She did not give us any history, etc. When asked a question, she googled it. She was more of an interpreter than tour guide. Most of the time we didn't even know where we were. She also didn't have any sense of time management.
-- When we noticed that we had missed stops onthe tour, the Tokyo tour guide told us it was not possible to do all of the items in our confirmation or they'd have to pay overtime. In my eyes, this is wrong. I paid for a tour and should be able to go to all the places the tour included.
--When the weather was bad and items on our agenda were closed, no replacement options were given to us. It would have been nice to have been told this before we left and given an option of whether we wanted to spend 4 hours in a car and hours and hours in the rain to not be able to see or experiene any but one attraction. We were told the weather this time of year is often like this. It would be great if the company had a backup agenda for the day so you could choose whether you wanted to risk the weather or not.
-- Neither of the tour guides were very knowledgable.
-- The Tokyo and Osaka hotels were not great.
--- The last day of our tour was supposed to include a food tour. The guide didn't have any idea that this was supposed to happen. When I mentioned it, the company just told him to do the tour and it ended up just walking around a market not getting any information and the tour guide asking us what we wanted to eat. Full disclosure, the company reimbursed us because of this. (I hope the guide didn't get in trouble. They really put him in a bad position)
Highlights Travel 回复2024-04-03
Dear Donna
Thank you for taking the time to write and share your concerns regarding your trip with us.
Firstly, we sincerely apologize for the arrangements of your tour, and better communication should have been made between our guides and yourselves. It is also our responsibility to follow-up that correct information is provided for you. It was never our intention to cause you unnecessary stress for your trip especially regarding the train ticket bookings.
We will do everything we can to ensure that what you experienced does not happen again and that more training shall be provided for our guides.
Once again, we apologize for our failure to serve you and appreciate you addressing your concerns. Your feedback is important to us and we will strive to work better with our partners in Japan.
Yours sincerely
Customer-care Team
Good intuitive understanding of families and needs
Our guide made everything smooth on a personal basis including dealing with our one special kiddo, and did a great job of understanding family psychology. The trip itself was very well designed. We would have loved a bit more technical or history detail for the adults at the site, but the right places and more were there.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-03-16
Hi Ted K
Thanks for letting us know that your trip went smoothly for your family. We're sorry that in-depth information was not provided for you and will follow up with our guide to ensure that the next tours, more attention should also be provided for adults. We appreciate your feedback and will do our best to provide training for your guides.
Customer-care Team
Customer-care Team
Discrepancies in service quality and over-charging
If I could give this company 0 stars, I would. This company treated us poorly, the guides were not paid fairly and the hotels picked were below standards for the price we paid. The company was unprofessional and unreliable. I do not recommend them.
Upon reviewing the details and costs associated with the experience, it has come to my attention that there was a substantial markup, potentially exceeding $3000 in profit for this company. While I understand and respect that profitability is essential for any business, the pricing for the services provided seems disproportionately high.
Moreover, the quality of the tour experience did not meet our expectations. Although the tour guides were personable and pleasant, their overall performance was lacking. They often hurried us through the tour, seemed to have a limited understanding of the sites, and frequently walked ahead, leaving us behind. Most concerning was the revelation that these guides are not licensed professionals, which raises questions about the value and authenticity of the information shared during the tour.
Given these circumstances, I am left feeling significantly overcharged for the level of service and expertise received. I requested a detailed breakdown of the costs associated with my trip to understand how my payment was allocated and to discuss a possible adjustment or compensation for the discrepancies in service quality and the apparent excessive profit margin.
Still awaiting a response
Highlights Travel 回复2024-02-29
Dear Diana
We were disappointed to have learned that the arrangements for the tour did not meet your expectations.
During the process of handling your initial inquiry, you were given an itinerary that catered to your interest.
From the very beginning and throughout your correspondence with our travel advisor, constant changes were made to help meet a cost that was suitable for you. Therefore changes were made to hotels and transportation.
Therefore, to help and meet your requirements changes were made to reduce costs by using public transportation and 3* hotels to which you had agreed. When the final itinerary was made according to the changes you accepted our terms and conditions and made payment.
Since your tour had commenced, you continued to be dissatisfied with the costs and arrangements and sent messages of threats to our staff if we did not meet your new demands and conditions.
We did our best to make some adjustments to help you with the tour to which you agreed. We understand and are very sorry that you were not happy with the hotel changes, and every effort was made to try and resolve this.
As you had made your arrangements to find a more suitable hotel, we refunded you the costs of the initial hotel.
Concerning your comment regarding the tour guides - they must pass a national examination administered by the JNTO and be registered with a prefectural government, especially when conducting foreign language tours in Japan.
Once again, we are sorry for the hotel arrangements and any confusion during your last few days. However, every effort was made to try and get this rectified so you could enjoy the tour.
Customer-care Team
Dear Asia Highlights:
I hope this message finds you well.
I wanted to bring to your attention some concerns regarding the recent arrangements made through Claire for our trip to Japan. As we had discussed previously, this trip was intended to celebrate my father's 70th birthday, and our expectations were unfortunately not met.
Firstly, I must express my disappointment with the proposed 6 day itinerary, which appears to come with a hefty price tag solely for tour guides. This pricing seems disproportionate and does not align with the value we anticipated receiving.
Moreover, the accommodation provided at the initial hotel fell far below our expectations. The room we were allocated was incredibly cramped, making it difficult to maneuver with our luggage. Additionally, the cleanliness of the room left much to be desired, and we encountered issues with both the air conditioning and the room overall.
Today, we found ourselves walking from 10 am to 5 pm without a built-in break for lunch. Having to navigate from place to place using the subway and walking left my father extremely tired. Furthermore, after a difficult night where my phone was stolen at the 7-Eleven by the cashier register, the lack of a nice and comfortable hotel is very disappointing.
Adding to our concerns, we received a text from the guide stating that the tour might be canceled with no official alternative plans provided. The lack of confirmation regarding the morning activities on the day of didn’t give us time to plan and the absence of an official plan in place make us feel very distrustful.
We also had only breakfast included and the quality of breakfast was awful. Not only that, our $7000 tour included no other meals.
On our way to Kyoto, we were placed on the standard class ticket. We found out the cost for first class was only $33 extra and disappointed that they couldn’t get a spot there with such minimal charge.
It is disheartening to note that Asia Highlights was unable to facilitate such a simple upgrade for us.
Not only that, but paying almost $1000/day for the tour guide just does not make sense. Regardless of labor laws, the tour guide alone would make approx $5000 for a 6 day tour
and $1000/day given that we are taking mostly public transportation.
Given the significance of this trip and our desire for a memorable experience, I kindly request your urgent assistance in addressing these matters. Your attention to these concerns would be greatly appreciated.
Highlights Travel 回复2024-02-29
Dear Diana
We are sorry that you were disappointed with the tour, however, we have made every effort to try and rectify the matter, despite your messages of threats to us.
Please see our feedback on your latest review.
Customer-care Team
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Highlights Travel 回复2024-02-28
Hi Joey
Thank you for contacting us and allowing us to help customize an itinerary suitable to you.
Customer-care Team
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