smarTours

We booked a trip to China with smarTours, and I am very happy to write a review about them because we could not have been happier with the service we received and the trip itself.

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Everything from start to finish with this trip was wonderful. The booking process was quick and easy, every detail of the trip was smooth and seemless, and we were amazed by the low price. 

Our trip was 10 days in Beijing and Shanghai. We flew from San Francisco to Beijing and were met at the airport by representatives from smarTours who took us to our hotel. Our guide in Beijing was Michael and he was wonderful. He was so much fun, and we loved hearing stories about his life. One of the things I love most about traveling is seeing how other people live, so it was fun to have a local guide telling us about life in Beijing. 

The first night we were there we had the opportunity to book some optional activities with Michael, and we took advantage of everything that was offered. We thought the prices were reasonable, and we loved every tour and every activity.

Our guide in Shanghai was Lily, and even though she wasn't quite as fun or funny as Michael, she was knowledgable and interesting. We took advantage of every tour we could with her too.

smarTours specializes in tours of Africa, Asia, Australia & New Zealand, Europe, India & Nepal, the Mediterranean, and Latin America. They are great to work with, their tours are wonderfully fun and informative, their guides are fun and knowledgeable, and their prices are surprisingly low considering the quality and all that's included. I would definitely use them again and recommend them to anyone!

#smarTours #China

Spirit Airlines

I flew from Denver to Ft Lauderdale, and then on to San Jose, Costa Rica on Spirit Airlines.

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Unfortunately, I don't have much to say about Spirit that's positive. They advertise low prices, but once you add in all of the extra charges, they aren't any cheaper than other airlines. You have to pay to reserve a seat, baggage fees (especially on international flights) are high and they charge for checked bags AND carry-ons (?), and there is nothing free on the flight. You even have to pay for water. To me, that is not cost effective. It's just plain annoying. 

Another downside to Spirit is the limited number of cities they fly through. I fly out of Salt Lake City, and since they don't come here, I had to fly to Denver on another airline and then take Spirit from there. On my way home I had two stops before Denver, and it made for a very long day. Definitely not worth the so-called reduced airfare.

I do have one positive thing to say. Spirit would rather delay a flight if they know a connecting flight is late than pay for someone to stay in a hotel, and because of that I made a connection that I otherwise would have missed. Still, not worth it. 

In the future, I choose to fly on an airline that doesn't charge for every little thing - even water - and doesn't expect me to clean the plane as I'm getting off or bother me throughout the flight about paying for their membership program.

#SpiritAirlines