Southeast Asia Travel Agents & Reviews

Overall, we had a great time. First, I want to thank our Zicasso travel consultant, who helped us plan an itinerary that met all of our needs. She was very prompt and incorporated our feedback.

From start to finish (and during our journey), the director of sales at Zicasso’s travel agency delivered superb service.

We are two married couples, best friends for over 40 years, with diverse interests, tastes, and requirements, who have done several journeys (at least four to give) together with Zicasso vendors. We have always felt our selected travel vendors performed at and beyond expectations, and this 15-day Southeast Asia adventure (Vietnam and Thailand) did not disappoint.

Nine months before our trip, our travel agent agreed to a phone video conference with all of us and invested at least an hour in attentively listening to our expectations while making insightful comments, including some about regions to avoid (weather-related), as well as hidden gems not to be missed. We advised him that four- to five-star accommodations were essential, as well as private drivers and guides who could be flexible in real time. It's always our experience that the time allotted at various sights can be inadequate or overkill, and improvisation, either staying longer or exiting sooner, with an alternate plan, would be essential. Our accommodations were always excellent, as were our guides and drivers.

The pacing of the trip was rigorous, but that was because we had such a long "bucket list." None of my degree of absolute satisfaction should surprise previous Zicasso clients. Their claim to carefully vet travel vendors is genuine and well-founded, and ours was such a worthy vendor.

Here are the points I want prospective clients to embrace:

You could plan your own trip (and probably save some money), but likely make a lot of missteps and suffer many inefficiencies in a region of the world where you do not speak the language. We chose not to risk that, and whatever premium we might have paid was well worth it.

Unbeknownst to us, torrential rains and flooding occurred just as we were about to visit a particular city (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Our agent tracked us down at lunch, gave us the bad news, and even brought a video on his iPad to show the destruction and chaos. He had already taken the liberty to cancel plane flights, drivers, and hotels, and had ready alternative plans. Chiang Mai is known for its elephant sanctuary, and without missing a beat, he reserved a tour in a different region of Thailand at an equally suitable elephant sanctuary, and backed it up with a visit to the town/railroad made famous by the classic 1950s film, Bridge Over the River Kwai. That was a great initiative on his part. When we pointed out to him that the rain and flood were not his fault and any financial loss he might suffer from the unexpected and sudden change in plans should go on our bill, he would have none of it, stating that was not his concern, but salvaging our trip was his only endeavor. There are lots of vendors who can accomplish a canned trip or, in our case, a highly customized one, but it's the rare travel vendor who personally steps up and exhibits great initiative when the wheels start to come off the cart. All credit to our agent and his company.

At our initial interview, we made it clear to him that one of us is severely allergic to shrimp and even a misplaced utensil in a buffet tray could be dangerous. Every guide we had, every restaurant we went to, had been put on advance notice by our agent and, without even asking, we were reassured that our request to avoid shrimp was being carefully honored.

Overall, Zicasso’s travel company did a pretty good job of planning the trip. The staff were very friendly and welcoming. The spacing of the events on the itinerary was well-balanced, with a good mix of activities and free time!

The South Korea portion of our trip was flawless, with excellent guides and events planned for each day. Our local tour guides knew to change the itinerary when they noticed there was a chance to optimize timing for certain events to avoid crowds or that we were doing too many activities that were similar, which was excellent!

One point of feedback: Key transfers were missed (eg, We were expected to find our own way out of Hakone to get to the train station to Tokyo, only to find out the night before that taxis were refusing to come out to our hotel for fares because it was too far, and the hotel didn’t offer any good solutions. We were very lucky that our wonderful tour guide for Hakone offered to drive us at the last minute, otherwise we would’ve missed the train and our subsequent booked teamLab Planets and food tour in Tokyo.)

Ours was an exceptional trip which exceeded our expectations. Working with our Zicasso travel agent on the itinerary was easy as he had great recommendations on locations and activities to meet our desired experiences. The hotels were all exceptional! Our travel team kept in touch with us throughout our trip and provided e-tickets for internal flights. Thailand is such a beautiful country, with amazing culture, and everyone we met was so kind and helpful. Honestly, we can't say enough about our experience.

We had an amazing trip which was pretty much faultless. Everything was easy and very well organized, and any small thing that we wanted addressing throughout the holiday was actioned immediately. Our travel specialist was great and frequently checked in throughout the holiday.

Before the holiday, our travel specialist offered many ideas of what to do but worked really closely with me on preparation as I liked many ideas but there were particular things and hotels we wanted to go to, and these were all incorporated. Our travel specialist also helped with Visa preparation, etc.

On our last day before we left for the airport, our travel specialist called the hotel for a final check-in, which was lovely. Both my husband and I have high standards, and we came away from this trip thinking it was one of our favorites, and we travel a fair bit. Thanks to the travel company and, in particular, our travel specialist.

We had a great trip to Japan with this Zicasso travel company. We booked pretty late, so there wasn’t great flexibility in creating the itinerary, but the locations and activities chosen were excellent. The guides were professional and organized, and the transfers and other arrangements were pretty flawless.

We could have used more downtime/fewer guided hours on a long, two-week trip. Despite the internet hype, Japan is not hard to navigate, especially once you’re in country and can ask for help from your hotels. We didn’t need as much handholding (a person at the airport, a person to take us to the train station, etc). The experiences were excellent, though perhaps pricier than necessary.

All in all, it was a great trip that required little thinking on our part.

After returning home from a month-long trip to Asia, I am still wowed by the service provided by the travel agency and our guides in Vietnam. Since this was our first visit to the country, I reached out to the agency for itinerary recommendations, and thankfully, I was connected with Albee. She was incredibly responsive before and during our trip, and she paired us with such knowledgeable and hospitable guides.

Our first guide during the trip hosted us in Hanoi and SaPa. We opted to stay a bit more off the beaten path at an ecolodge which we can highly recommend, which is about 30 minutes away from the SaPa village center. We let our guide know we were interested in learning more about the local culture and exploring the countryside, and wow, he delivered! 

We went on the most memorable hike through the rice terraces and stopped to chat with several villagers along the way. He knew everyone. On top of that, he taught us about local flora and customs while on the hike and then the bike ride. We are already looking forward to returning to the North and further exploring the Vietnam/China border, but only if we can do it with him! The mountains were truly the highlight of our trip, and it wouldn't have been possible without him as our guide. If you are lucky enough to add SaPa to your itinerary, do yourself a favor and request him.

Our guide in Saigon, which was the last leg of our Vietnam trip, was so accommodating to our changing needs. After a couple of weeks of travel, we arrived in Saigon wanting a more relaxing pace. She seamlessly made alternate arrangements for us that were a perfect end to the trip. The most hospitable moment from our entire trip to Asia came when we expressed an interest in visiting a local family. She immediately suggested that she and her family host us for lunch at their home in the Mekong Delta the next afternoon. This was such an unexpected yet memorable end to our time in Vietnam. Our guide’s and her family's hospitality were unmatched, and we were so fortunate to have her as our guide.

Working with our Zicasso travel agent to plan our amazing trip to Thailand was a delight. We told him what our general ideas were (natural world and historic sites), and he proposed three appropriate itineraries. We picked the one that most interested us, then he modified it to meet our specific desires. He was readily available and very responsive to my communication, in spite of the time difference between the US and England.

For each component of our trip, our agent found absolutely amazing guides, including guides for birding, touring an elephant sanctuary, kayaking, and a cooking school. One of our last-minute requests was to have a bilingual guide with us for the entire trip. Our agent hired an amazing young man who was very knowledgeable about Thailand and educated us while helping us navigate a country with a language and alphabet that was baffling. He guided us through temples, shopping districts, menus, and transportation. He became one of the family by the end of our week together.

The trip was amazing, the accommodations were luxurious and unique, and the activities our agent planned were just what we wanted. We would not have changed a thing.

We need to thank Zicasso, because without them, we never would have discovered such a wonderful trip planner out of England. They were fantastic.