Reviews of Burkhalter Travel and Cruise Shoppe (Travel Agency)

Chris Hartmann

TLDR: Honestly not worth the trouble. you are better off planning it yourself. You'll learn more about the area you are going to see and have more information on hand when you get there. You also won't pay for something but not get it because your travel agent messed up or have something booked under a different name. I wold describe the travel agents that we worked with as condescending and incompetent. They are only there to try and get the most money out of you and your trip instead of planning the best trip for you in your budget. Everything they do and offer you can find better and cheaper yourself with some research on the internet. - Full review - The only reason I went through Burkhalter is because I got a GC from my work. After dealing with your travel agent my wife and I were excited because she told us she knew the area very well. It turns out that your travel agent doesn't actually do anything but relay info to another TA who plans your trip. It took us a very long and stressful period to actually get the trip we wanted. The first itinerary was nothing like what we asked, and each one that followed always missed things we were asking for. It finally took us spelling out exactly what we wanted and making them remove almost everything from the trip so we could just do it ourselves. They also didn't respect our budget. Sometimes planning a trip that was 1.5x what we said our budget was for. Our travel agent was condescending to us when we pointed out that this was 1.5x the budget we listed. We were supposed to have a driver from the airport to the hotel. We looked around where it said they would be for an hour but didn't see anyone. Even after asking drivers if they were for us but with a wrong name. We had trip insurance though so I figured we wouldn't have to pay for that because we were told by our agent. This was literally an example she gave to convince us to pay for it. Turns out that isn't true. We still had to pay for it. The next day we had a tour planned to show us the city. The name for the tour was wrong. I had to run back to our hotel to get the voucher to show we already paid for it. It was booked under someone else's name. Dealing with them after our trip was nothing but frustrating and annoying. Everything the said the would help with or cover with trip insurance turned out to be a lie. Your trip will be less stressful and more worry-free if you plan it yourself, trust me. If I knew what we would have gone through I wouldn't have used the gift card and just did it myself.

Dave Alcorn

They were helpful in planning my trip, but when I asked for an estimate they estimated for the wrong number of people. I put a down payment on the trip only to find out it was going to cost $2000 more than what they initially said. I had to argue with 3 people before they agreed to refund me my money for their screw up.

Robert Ruble

Excellent travel agents,also very friendly

Suze Pope

Burkhalter Travel agent Gail Hummel made my tulip time tour of the Netherlands an unbelievable 1st trip into Europe. She arranged a cute historic hotel room in Amsterdam that was centrally located to allow for a lot of touring. Gail is a stellar travel agent.

Andrew Budzinski

The service was great in helping us set up the amazing cruise we went on

Michael Buchanan

Quickly answered my questions and put me on the path to Asia.

Deanna Thein

Ceera is wonderful. Highly recommended!

Tina Hunter

I rely on my Burkhalter Agent for EVERYTHING!! My agent provides excellent customer service in every aspect of the travel industry, and her knowledge of the destination as well as every step of the travel process is unparalleled. I took a river cruise in the summer, and there is no way it would have been so perfect without her! I am traveling this weekend, and she helped me with the arrangements, resulting in smooth, seamless trip plans so that I can focus on what really matters: fun, friends, and family!! I would give them 10 stars if I could! GRATEFUL for Burkhalter!

Brian McGee

Clean office friendly people.

Amit Israeli

Here is an email form this company: I don’t work with people who shop me against online travel agencies. I’m not going to duplicate their efforts or fight to compete for your business. Our agency is very busy and I simply don’t have time nor do we as an agency need clients that aren’t willing to put their travel in our hands...... One star? Not sure....maybe less

Kafi Cook

I tried to get help with vacation ideas. I had a budget but wasnt sure where to go with my kids. I was looking for help. She made it seem as if it was totally undoable. I know it is doable because I do it every couple years. She wasnt too anxious to help, because i didn't know exactly where I wanted to go and have a $15000.00 budget. Her lack of resourcefullness was surprising. I thought that's what travel agents helped with. I ended up planning it on my own - within my budget. Very disappointing interaction.

Vickie Smith

Excellent experience!

Jenna Richardson

This agency did not work out for me. I spoke with two separate agents to help me secure flights, and both were totally rude. One told me directly that helping me get a flight wasn't worth her time because she only made $42 from it. The flight schedule they picked for me did not fit well and I asked for an alternative, but was ignored or handed off to someone else. I travel extensively and was hoping to find a good agent that can help me every time, but it won't be Burkhalter. There are other travel agencies in the area that were much happier to help me get traveling.

Alex Fisher

Found a cheaper price online, but they were able to get price match, plus no extra charge for agent as their cut comes out of standard price. Great service too.