UTOvacation | A Touch of the Exotic - Richmond Hill, Ontario

Rafaelle S.

Moi et une amie avons utilisés les services d'UTO Vacation dans le cadre d'un voyage de 10 jours en Chine avec une extension de 3 jours à Shanghai en mars 2019. Nous avons apprécié notre expérience pour le prix payé. Nous avions prit le deal lors d'une promotion qui était vraiment abordable. Nous partions avec l'idée de n'avoir pas trop d'attente vu le prix payé.

Plusieurs points sont à considérer si vous désirez prendre un China Tours avec cette compagnie.

Premièrement, le service à la clientèle avant le voyage est difficile à obtenir et parfois manque de courtoisie. L'anglais est correcte au sein des agents au service à la clientèle. Une fois une agent m'a presque crié dessus par impatience face à nos divergences de language.

Deuxièmement, lors des tours organisés, beaucoup de lieu mythique sont visités ce qui est bien. Par contre, le temps alloué à ces derniers n'est pas équitable face au temps pour s'y rendre. Par exemple, l'ensemble de notre groupe est ressorti amer d'avoir passé seulement 2 heures à la Grande Muraille de Chine ce qui en soit aurait pu être une journée. Lors de la visite du Jardin de Nets, nous avions seulement une heure et quinze minutes environ.

Les guides sont très même trop organisés pas trop de place au laisser aller et à la spontanéité. Par contre ils sont polis et courtois si vous restez dans le cadre.

N'oubliez que la Chine est un pays très commercial. De ce fait, dans la planification des visites lorsqu'il est écrit: les perles, le thé, le jade, la soie qui sont en soi des matières premières de très grandes qualités, vous passerez plus de temps dans ces magasins que dans les lieux mythiques.

De notre côté l'ensemble du groupe trouvait l'exercice lourd et répétitif malgré le changement de matière. Le pitch de vente reste pratiquement toujours le même d'une matière à l'autre. Très peu de moment sont accordés à visiter la façon dont le produit est fabriqué versus l'explicatif de vente.

Sachez aussi que vous passerez un bon temps en autobus pour vous rendre à chaque endroit. Entre Shanghai et Suzhou compter 3 heures. Entre Suzhou et Wuxi 1h 30 si tout va bien idem pour Wuxi et Hangzhou; Hangzhou et Shanghai 3 heures. De plus, vous prendrez un vol de Beijing à Shanghai ce qui vous prendra environ une demi journée avec l'attente à l'aéroport (même si c'est un vol interne vous arriverez trois heures à l'avance).

Malgré tout ça ce premier voyage en Chine nous a permis de voir plusieurs lieux intéressants et de façon très rapide.

Nous avons dormis dans des hôtel très respectables mais éloigné / en banlieue des villes visités. Attendez-vous à des lits très dur c'est comme ça en Asie.

Nous sommes heureuses d'avoir prit l'extension à Shanghai (vol uniquement) ce qui en soit à terminer notre voyage en beauté. Nous avions loué notre Hostel qui était bien correcte pour nous. Le métro de Shanghai est merveilleux et le peuple chinois est tout aussi merveilleux.

Si nous avions pas prit cette extension nous serions parti amer de notre voyage. Grâce à ce petit plus, nous avons vraiment eu le temps de voir le style de vie chinois de cette région de plus près.

Dave B.

It was a nice tour. Very easy. The tour guide Ahmed was very knowledgeable about the history of the areas we visited. He had the tickets ahead of time for the busiest places to save time and not stand in line.
The sites were very interesting and I was better informed with Amed explaining the rich history of the different sites. The cars and vans were pretty new and comfortable.
The only thing I would change would be the hotel used prior and after the tour. The Tolip Olympic International Hotel is a very nice hotel, but it is about an hour (or more) away from everything in old Cairo and Giza. It is where the new capital will be when it is built out in a decade.
Over all a very nice tour and I would recommend it.

Matthew G.

UPDATED REVIEW: We just got back from our 9-day trip to Japan, and in the end UTOvacation did come through and provide a great trip that actually exceeded our expectations. Our guide, Mr. Kiyoshi, was personable and professional and did a great job. The hotels selected were also decent -- nothing fancy, nor were they located "in the heart of things", but they were safe, clean, comfortable, and well-located for accessing necessities like shops, groceries, or transportation.

I have to dock two stars, one because the trip ended up costing us much more (about twice as much) than the price when we booked it (affected by covid), and another because we had several hassles and communication problems with setting up the trip again, and we were nervous the trip might not even happen.

But the experience itself, in the end, was good... if we had gotten this sort of vacation without the hassles and steep price increases, this would be a 5-star review, for sure.

Would I consider using UTOvacation again? I don't know... the process and uncertainty along the way were pretty nerve-wracking, but since the trip itself was good, I would possibly consider traveling with them again, only if there was a good deal on the price.

Don N.

We took the 18 day tour of Japan and loved just about everything about it. We signed up for the optional tours at every stop and saw so much more than if we were on our own. This being my first tour, I can’t compare to others, but given the number of days, stops, tours and people (15,) it has been a smooth and very fun experience. Our tour guide, Gary, was organized and diligent in getting us the where we were going, telling us what we were going to see, all with a smile on his face.

anna M.

I booked your 'Picturesque Thailand, Cambodia, and China 13 Days' trip on November 11, 2022. I paid two initial deposits to secure my trip scheduled for October 31, 2023. The first email I received stated that I needed to pay the final payment and submit passport information 150 days before the trip, which would be the beginning of April in my case.
On February 16, 2023, I received an email requiring me to confirm participation in the tour within 10 days. I didn't see this email. When I tried to get details about the trip later this year, I was informed that my trip was canceled due to not responding to the February email. UTO gave me a $1,994 credit towards another trip, despite my dissatisfaction and request for a refund due to changes in the company's booking policies.
Since your company now charges ten times more for any trip, I am unable to use this credit. Based on online reviews, I am not the only victim of your scam policies. I am willing to take further action and report them to the Better Business Bureau along with my friend who booked the same trip.

Liz

I booked a trip with them to China and Covid hit. They gave me a partial credit of $1200 (should have been $1600 - they penalized me for cancelling due to Covid) and allowed me to extend the expiration date of that credit once. It is due to expire now in May, 2025 and I called them and they no longer give extensions. I now have to let this expire and lose this $1200 to them because their trips are now unbelievably expensive....$12,000 and up!!! No way will I ever use this company and do not recommend them at all.

Michelle C.

The places we visited were so wonderful but seriously could have an should have done it on our own. UTO communications are virtually non existent. We could not check in for any of our flights as the confirmation numbers were incorrect. If u try to get ahold of them forget it. Even our guides were frustrated. Failure to let us know our luggage was not paid for and all we had was carry on for the smaller planes. The side trips were fun but again the companies we went with who uto had paid for had the reservation times and amounts all wrong. 11 of us from all over the USA and Canada and none will use uto ever again. Highly suggest putting together the trip on your own or using another agency. We have loved gate 1 and will go back to them.

David Y.

More of the same. My trip to China was cancelled twice due to Covid. I was given a credit of $1194 in May 2023 at the time of the second cancellation. That credit expires in May 2025. They no longer seem to offer the 'cost effective trips' so the only ones that are available are many thousands of dollars. My credit is just going to expire, as they don't offer refunds. Read the many pages of fine print in the contract!