The Last ETour and Travel Florida Trip Entry

We have returned from our 10 day Florida trip.  

This will be the last entry in this blog as my intention  was to give a play by play of the “great deal” of purchasing a trip for 6 nights in Orlando and  3 nights in Daytona Beach with a 7 day car rental.  This trip was booked with ETour and Travel as a result of a telephone call from them giving me all this for $398 US.  When all was said and done this 10 day trip cost about three times more than the original $398 US.

 I want to repeat to everyone is that you MUST travel with your spouse to be eligible for the “bonus” offers.  I had not been informed of this until the week before my girlfriend and I were to leave for Florida.  I was able to pay a penalty of $300 US to still be able to take the trip with out my spouse.  I had asked on 3 previous occasions when speaking to ETour and Travel agents if I had to travel with my spouse and all 3 times I was told no, I could travel with who ever I wanted to travel with.

However, I can tell you that as far as the travel and accomodation arrangements that everything went off without a hitch.  Our car was ready and waiting for us at Enterprise Car Rentals in Orlando and their service was excellent.  Our ecomony car was even upgraded to a mid size 2007 Buick Lecross.  I would definitely use Enterprise again!

When we arrived at the Reception Centre in Orlando, we were given our hotel vouchers again without any problems.  We checked into the Extended Stay Deluxe in Orlando without any trouble at all and had a most enjoyable stay there.

For our Daytona Beach package which was actually in New Smyrna Beach we were also given our accommodations without question, although not until 4:05 pm.  We had arrived at noon and yes check in  was guaranteed for 4pm (not sure what that actually meant) but I had never  experienced having to wait that long for my room anywhere else. Although it felt like it was done on purpose to us, I don’t really think there was any motive behind the late check in.  Although, on the day we were checking out, housekeeping was at our door at 10:15am ready to clean our unit. Hmmmm…..still want to believe the late check in was not on purpose!  I will tell you however, that we were not at all impressed with the Coconut Palms Resort, more the staff rather than the actual place.  This was where the timeshares were.  Our 1 bedroom condo was very lovely as was the facility itself, their staff, with the exception of a few (Tory at the front desk and the maintenance crew) were lacking in customer service throughout our entire stay. 

ETour and Travel telemarketers for the orignial packages are very deceiving and will say whatever it takes to sell you the package.  Most of these timeshare/vacation clubs are the same so they are not alone. 

I believe that if you are in the area and if you are okay with giving up 90 minutes to 180 minutes to listen to a sales presentation that the bonus offers may be worth it to you. (ie: the attraction tickets and  accomodations)   The initial accomodation package is only for standard accomodations.  Upgrades are reasonable but will be an additional cost.

Be careful of anyone or any company that is asking you for a big outlay of cash upfront.  Are you going to get your money’s worth?  There are plenty of ways to get condos on the internet without joining any timeshares or vacation clubs.  Remember too that the flights will not be included and they can be very costly!  Sure it is great to be able to get a 2 bedroom condo in Mexico, Dominican Republic or somewhere else exotic in the world but how much is your flight going to cost you and your family?

Be careful with what you fill out on the internet.

I will be giving a big “no thank you” to any more of these “wonderful vacation offers” from ETour and Travel or any other company in this business.  Although they are not upfront with their customers and definitely manipulate, they are not a scam.  You will get what you pay for.  You just might pay a whole lot more than you thought you would in the first place!

In conclusion, I personally will never do anything like this again.  I have learned my lesson.  If it is too good to be true, it probably is.  When are we ever going to realize that this statement is true? So next time I will be thinking first and not end of asking myself later the question:  What was I thinking?

A Couple of Twists!

Less than one week until we leave for our ETour and Travel wonderful Florida vacation! We will be leaving on Wednesday, May 2 for 6 nights in Orlando and 3 nights in Daytona Beach with our rental car for a total of 10, what we plan to be, fun filled sunshiny days!

 There have been a few twists I would like to report.  The first one is with our Aeroplan flights that I thought were only $63.60 Cdn.  This month’s Visa bill showed an additional $110.73 for each ticket, bringing the total for our return flights to $246.65 Cdn.  I was not too surprised about this as I thought I had heard the agent say there would be about $150 in extra charges.  I suppose this is not the end of the world.  Still affordable flights even with using my aeromiles.

 On Monday, April 23, 2007 I received an email from Amanda at ETour and Travel asking me to call and confirm my reservations with them before we travelled.  I called and spoke to Amanda.   She asked me at this time what my marital status was.  I did not hesitate to tell her I was married.  She then asked if I was travelling with my spouse and when I informed her I was not travelling with my spouse, I was told that I must travel with my spouse in order to use the package and receive the bonus’.

 My heart sank and my pulse started racing.  This was the first time that this had ever been brought to my attention.  It was not mentioned when the excited woman who sold me the package in the first place; it was not mentioned when I booked the actual reservations with Gui; it was not mentioned  It was not only not mentioned, I asked the woman who sold me the package if I had to travel with my spouse and she said, “no you don’t have to travel with your spouse” and went on to tell me how she had taken the trip with 3 girlfriends last November. When I booked the accommodations and car rental with Gui, he too knew that I was travelling with a girl friend and he did not once bring up the fact that I needed to travel with my spouse.

The sad part about all this, is that I would not have had a problem travelling with my spouse on the package if I had of known before.  However, with just one week to our departure with our time off work and flights booked, it was too late.  Many of the people we told about the trip asked if we were sure I didn’t have to travel with my spouse.  I confidently told them, no. 

You can only imagine my fury as I spoke with Amanda.  I tried very very hard to stay in control and not yell, but I did raise my voice.  Amanda told me that this requirement was listed not once but twice in the terms and conditions of the package.  I asked what this meant and was told it meant I could not come unless I was with my spouse.  It was not long before Amanda said she would have to get someone else to talk to me as she “could not change the companies policies”. 

Floyd, who is an Arrivals and Collections Manager was now speaking to me on the phone.  He began to go over the company policy and explain to me why it was so.  I explained to Floyd that I understood the policy but needed him to “fix” the current situation, that this was the first time that this policy had been presented to me, even if it was written down. I did see that requirement but thought that it meant “if” you travelled with your spouse. I had read and reread the fine print; I had asked many questions to clarify that it would be acceptable for me to travel with a friend.  I will admit that at one point I was talking and so was Floyd and I was getting very very upset.  He did ask if I would let him speak as he let me speak and so I did my best to calm down and listen to him.

I had asked him about being refunded for my money and was told I could be refunded for the upgrades but the original $398 US I had paid for the package was non-refundable, but that I still had a year to use it with my spouse.  In my mind I was thinking about the fact that my friend and I were very excited about this trip and that there would be cancellation fees for the flights to be cancelled and re-booked.

Okay so what happened?  How did Floyd fix it? And fix it he did.  He told me that all I had to do was pay $100 US per night for the Daytona Beach accommodations and that I would forfeit the attraction tickets in Orlando as I was not eligible to attend the presentations. Well then, I didn’t expect to get the attraction tickets anyway as I had been told by yet another agent that the attraction tickets had to be used on another trip to Florida; that they could not be used in conjunction with the accommodation package.

I decided it would still be more cost efficient to move forward and pay the $300 US than to start peddling backwards.  The Florida trip, although more than I expected to pay was still a good deal.  Approximately $1,225 Cdn and when I priced out retail of this same trip, it was $1,885 Cdn.  So we are still ahead about $660, but a far cry from the original $398 US ($482 Cdn).  

 Oh and I didn’t tell you the best part, that might actually make the $300 US, assuming there are no more hidden costs! We won’t be attending the two 90 minute presentations because we are not eligible.  I am not that upset about this.

Floyd has provided me with an email confirming everything we spoke about in our telephone conversation. All I can do at this point is trust that Floyd will be true to his word and that there are no more surprises waiting for us when we actually arrive.

I am disappointed as the cost of this Florida excursion is now reaching the cost of what an all inclusive vacation would have cost us in the Dominican Republic because don’t forget we will spend more money to eat when we are there!   However, being the ever optimist that I am, I am going to believe that when we get to Florida, it will all be perfect!

Creating our Florida Adventure

I decided I needed to bite the bullet and create this trip of ours.  So first a little more fretting.  What should I do first?  Should I book the flight or book the accommodations?  If I booked the flight and then could not secure accommodations for those dates I would have to pay money to change the flight.  I was going to book on line with ETourandTravel but what if I booked the accommodations and couldn’t get a flight?  What then?

 With great trepedation and fear of the monster that  was going to be on the other end of the phone when I called this company that had hundreds of complaints against them, I dialed their number.  Remember I had only read one good thing about them from a guy in London, Ontario.  I don’t do well with mean people who are trying to scam me.

Gui (pronounced Gee) answered the phone with  a pleasant greeting and asked how he could help me.  I began by asking if I could book my wonderful Orlando vacation tentatively because I would have to see if I could then book flights.  Gui assured me that yes I could do that.  So we started the booking process.  I did sense in the beginning of our conversation a certain “caution” in Gui’s voice, but as we talked further he lighted up and so did I.  He was wonderful and polite and accommodating and a delight to deal with!  I thought about it later and remembered thinking he probably spoke to some very hostile people in the course of a day, thus his defensive tone.

He worked with me and we began planning our trip.  We started first with the six nights in Orlando.  He informed me of updates available from the standard room and the cost of these upgrades.  Upgrades were available to an extended stay hotel for $13 US per night that would have an efficiency kitchen or to a 1 bedroom condo for $39US per night at the actual “vacation property” Fantasy World, that the imfamous presentation would be held. I was thrilled to have this option and chose the efficiency kitchen. 

Then onto the three nights in Daytona Beach.   It seems that there were no standard rooms available for the dates I wanted but he said I could upgrade to a 1 bedroom condo at the Coconut Palms resort.  Yes the one the presentation would be at! It was $29 per night but he would pay for one night so it would be an extra $58 US to upgrade to the one bedroom condo on the beach.  I was also told that I did not have to do that and I could “take my chances”.  A standard room may become available on that date by that time or I would by default be put up at the resort.  However, he also explained to me that if only one or two nights were available in the standard room, we would have to move during the 3 days.  So the $58 was a guarantee that we would be on the resort in our condo.  I went with that.

The next dilemma was the 7 day car rental, as we would actually be there for 10 days.  We could pick the car up at the Orlando airport and drop it off in Daytona but how would we get back to the airport in Orlando.  Gui suggested that we would only need to rent the car for 2 more days at $34 US per day still unlimited mileage and then we could just drop it off at the Orlando airport again when we leave. Why didn’t I think of that? The total of all the upgrades was $204 US which worked out to $246.65 Cdn.  All in all I still think this is a good deal.

I told Gui that I now needed to see if I could get flights arranged.  He suggested that he call me back in an hour and a half to see how things were going and then we could confirm the arrangements.  Sounded good to me.  Before he hung up he gave me his extension so that if I needed to reach him I would be able to.

My plan was to book our flights using Aeromiles as for the dates we chose it would only be 25,000 Aeromiles each for our return flights!  I was able to arrange the flights for the days we needed them!  All I had to pay was $31.80 Cdn each for the flights! Gotta like that, 2 return flights from Toronto to Orlando and back for $63.60!

True to his word Gui called me back exactly when he said he would and we sealed the deal!  He reminded me that I would be responsible for paying $7-10 US per night hotel tax and $5 US per day car rental tax.  I already knew this, so it was not a surprise.  He sent me an email confirmation and I received an official reservation confirmation in the mail that I must bring with me when I go.

So Cindy and I will leave Toronto on May 2 for Orlando.  Pick up our car at the airport and drive to the Lake Buena Vista ESD where we will stay in our efficiency unit for 6 nights.  We will then drive to Daytona Beach (New Smyrna Beach) and stay at the Coconut Palms Resort for 3 nights.  We will drive our car back to Orlando and fly back to Toronto on May 11, 2007.  We are planning to have a blast!

The total cost of this trip, flight, accommodations and our car rental will total $944.90 (that includes all the hotel & car taxes).  I priced out this trip to see what we would have to pay without ETourandTravel and Aeromiles and it would be $2, 484.24.  The difference being $1, 539.34.  The accommodations and car rental are a savings of approximately $1,000.00. I have no qualms about sitting through the two 90 minute presentations.  I know what I am getting into.  As a sales person myself and also the fact that I have experience with these type of sales presentation I will gladly listen and see what they have to say.  I mentioned before that even if the 90 minute presentations turn into 180 minutes it is still only 6 hours out of 10 days in sunny Florida!

I have read all the fine print I know what I am getting into and I am prepared.  Cindy and I, I am positive will thoroughly enjoy our 10 days in Florida at a very affordable price.  We will make the best of the situation.  I read many complaints about the accommodations but hey, the price is sure right!  This is what I was thinking!

I will post how the trip actually is when it happens!

My Fretting Stage

I must confess that I did spend a fair amount of time fretting over my EtourandTravel Florida vacation purchase.  It really did sound like a good idea at the time.  The lovely lady on the phone really did convince me that it would be an amazing trip and oh such a fabulous deal.

Another thing I fretted about was who I was atually going to take this trip with.  Truth be known I had planned to “win” a trip for my friend and I from my local radio station.  Go ahead and laugh but I had convinced myself it was going to happen.  I had watched “The Secret” and I had set everything up for us to win.  Everything was in alignment, so therefore no reason for me not to win this trip.  I am sure it will come as no surprise to you that I did not win the all inclusive trip to Samana in the Dominican Republic.  I however was surprised.

If I had of won the DR trip, I would be taking the Florida trip with my husband.  This caused me a lot of fretting too as we have no desire to go to Florida or at least Orlando Florida.  Since I did not with the DR trip, I now had the choice of who I would go with.  Remember our funds for the Best Friend’s trip were limited, and no matter what this Florida vacation was most likely still going to be less expensive than an all inclusive trip anywhere!

 My friend and I spent an entire evening chatting over a bottle of wine as to how we could make this work.  I spent the first hour beating myself up for being so stupid as to get drawn into this in the first place.  I am usually smarter than this.  We decided that I should not beat myself up any more as it was already done. 

More fretting about how we could make it work.  Aeromiles for the flights would work.  If we flew round trip to Orlando and we only had the car for 7 days, how were we going to get to the airport from Daytona Beach.  Fret, fret, fret and more fretting.   

 I took a deep breath, I had to let this go! I had two choices: 1) to forget the whole thing and count my losses ($482 Cdn) or 2) we could plan our fiftieth birthday trip around this package.  Make the best of it and see how it turns out.

 We decided that we would go for the building our birthday trip around this package.  We would be like Thelma and Louise, except we would not drive off the cliff at the end! We decided we would have a blast and we decided I would write a blog.

I want to write the blog because I think it will be a good resource for anyone else who is thinking (or gets sucked into it like me) about doing a travel deal like this and how it works (IF it works).  This is not  the first phone call I had received like this.  I have received ones offering cruises too, but this time I handed over my credit card number. What was I thinking?

When my friend told her husband, he said it sounded like a lot of “trouble”.  He said that the presentations would be very high pressured and we would end up owning half of Florida.  I did a little more fretting but then I decided that it wasn’t the presentations I was concerned about at all, it was more the planning and coordinating of the flights and everything else that went along with this trip. 

I read more of the testimonials mostly from a Complaints Board web site and oh boy EtourandTravel does not sound good.  However, I found one positive review on the Trip Advisor web site that was positive from a Canadian.  More fretting but I am still going to move forward and see what happens. 

My Package Arrives

I decided to wait until my package arrived before making any decisions about what I had gotten myself into this time. I was told I would receive a package and a dvd under separate cover telling me all about my wonderful vacation.  I was emailed my Universal Studios Florida Ticket Voucher for 2 adults.  I did however check out their web site etourandtravel.com.  Everything appeared to be in order and looked very legite.

In less than a week I received my package and my dvd.  It included a Purchase Confirmation stating everything I had been told on the telephone.  It included a discount coupon for air fare.  Did I mention air fare was not included.  I knew this. So no surprises here. There was a sheet explaining “ePerks” For each referral (not sure I would do this to anyone) I would receive 50 points to redeem for a whole load of other wonderful experiences in Florida. I also received the “TERMS AND CONDITIONS” of my vacation package.  All the things that I was not told on the phone. 

First off, I did have 15 days to cancel my agreement with them but it was from the date I first signed up on the telephone so I only had 8 days left to figure this out. I thought about the fact that this would most likely not be an easy thing to do. 

The second thing I uncovered was that I had to attend two 90 minute presentations; one in Orlando and one in Daytona Beach. I was still okay with this, after all it is over 10 days. I learned that it was a standard hotel room with two double beds.  I didn’t really have a problem with that other than it made me realize we would have to have money for eating out for 10 days. 

 The third thing I have just discovered from reading the fine print is that the tickets for Universal Studios can not be used in conjunction with the accomodations package.  It is right there in the Terms and Conditions and it is right there on the voucher that was emailed to me.  This was not at all how it was presented on the telephone. It sounded as if all of this was being given to me without any type of restrictions.

The Live Support Online at etourandtravel.com confirmed for me that you can not use the ticket voucher in conjunction with the package. The ticket voucher can be used within a year. But between the presentation in Orlando and the ticket voucher you need at least 8 months in between.   Not really a problem for me as Cindy and I are not into the theme parks anyway we will spend our time shopping and sitting in the sun! I think this is a little sneaky on their behalf!

 Oh and not that they were ever sneaky about this but it is a 7 day car rental and we will be there for 10 days.  How is that going to work?

So after it was all weeded out, we have a 6 night stay in a Best Western type standard hotel room in Orlando and a 3 night stay in the same type of hotel in Daytona Beach and a 7 day car rental, unlimited mileage.  The $398 US worked out to $482 Cdn. 

After all this I still did not try to cancel my agreement because I really thought that it might be harder to move back and get a refund then to move forward and create a trip for Cindy and I around this wonderful vacation package which I owned!

Then I decided I would look for other’s who had experience with ETourandTravel. Oh boy….What was I thinking?

How it all started

This year I will celebrate my fiftieth birthday in June.  I want to embrace turning fifty and have year long celebrations! My best friend also turns fifty this year.  One of our plans was to take a trip together.  The only problem with this is that funds are limited and travel can be costly!

So one evening I answered the phone and heard  a friendly woman’s voice on the other end tell me I had won a 6 night stay in Orlando, with a 7 day car rental with unlimited mileage, two passes for Universal Studios and a BONUS of 3 days in Daytona Beach. Wasn’t that exciting?

 Why yes it was exciting since I had been trying to figure out how I could make a trip for my friend and myself.  All I had to do was attend a 90 minute presentation about their resorts and give her $398 US.  Yes I was told I would not be asked to purhase anything just let others know how wonderful my trip had been and I could take this trip anytime within the next one and a half years. 

I have had experience with this type of offer before. My husband and I had attended two such “deals” in Collingwood, Ontario.  Our first trip was a two night stay in Collingwood; a $30 dinner voucher and a $10 breakfast voucher.  All this was free if we listened to their 90 minute presentation about the Georgian Manor Resort and no one was going to try and sell us anything.  Well that was not the case but because we were already involved in a vacation club that we had only recently joined.  (And they only gave us wine and cheese!) It only took 90 minutes and it was over and we had our free weekend!

The second time, 2 years later, again Georgian Manor Resort, my hubby agreed to  this one, we were not so fortunate.  We only received one night but did receive the meal vouchers as well.  However, this time we were not so lucky and we must have looked too interested because we were there for over 3 hours!  I swore up and down that we would never do anything like this again! EVER.

 Imagine my surprise when I heard myself agreeing to this package.  What was I thinking? I was thinking that this could be a reasonably priced trip for my friend and me. I was thinking that I could use aeromiles to book a flight. I was thinking this could work. I was thinking that it would be worth sitting through a 90 minute presentation, where I knew exactly what was going to happen for a 9 night vacation in Florida.

I wasn’t thinking that there would be some hidden costs. I wasn’t thinking that I really had no desire to go to Florida in the first place. I gave the nice lady my credit card number and I was now the proud owner of this wonderful vacation package at an unbeatable price!  I remember being told that I would be responsible for the taxes on the hotel rooms of $7 to $10 US per day and that I would pay $5 US a day for the car rental. I was told I had 15 days to review and cancel if I wanted to. 

I hung up the phone and immediately thought, what have I done? What was I thinking?