House of Travel - Albany

Looked around for a good travel agent to help with a 4 week Europe holiday. Albany HOT website said all the right things about “being there” helping” taking care of” you so went out of my way to go to the store. Approaching the door, there’s a confronting sign, basically advising that of you aren’t a previous client, they may not be able to help, as they are so busy. I went in anyway to perhaps make an appointment as suggested. The lady I spoke to asked, briefly, where I was going/doing. I said what we were thinking. About $12-$15k worth of hotels, flights, trains, trips, ferries. Then I said that we had already booked our return flights to the UK (thinking this would be a good thing as it meant we were serious about booking trips and I wasn’t just there to “dream”) Turned out - it wasn’t. I was firmly told that if they didn’t book the whole thing, then it was not “worth their while”. Totally appalled! So I left - called the Orewa HOT office (independent franchise) and asked if they could help. Spoke to a lovely lady, Bea, who said of course she could and would be more than happy to sort out bookings. Made an appointment for the following day. Chalk and cheese! So basically- if you are not an existing client at Albany - don’t bother to “waste their time”.

After winning the lottery by finally securing a room in MIQ, I had to figure out how to get to NZ from Canada in less than a week! Tim Malone came highly recommended from a dozen people in a Kiwi FB group, so in a panic stricken state, I contacted him by email. He got back to me within 5 minutes, and was very reassuring. Within the hour, he had two flight options for me…and 3 days later I was on a flight to Dubai! My seats on both flights had been booked, my e-tickets sent and I was checked in. I had a 2 day layover in Dubai and Tim had me booked in a fabulous hotel. My flight to Auckland via Kuala Lumpur went without a hitch. Tim told me what CoVid tests I needed and where to find them. He tended to every last detail and put up with my crazy questions along the way. He is so knowledgeable, skilled, and efficient, and he ALWAYS got back to me in short order. I felt so comfortable and secure with Tim at the helm… flying this route alone that I had never travelled before. He is not only amazing, but a joy to deal with. There’s no doubt my family and I will be working with Tim and his team again! Thanks so much, Tim… you’re the best!

House of Travel - Albany, and specifically Angela Nunn were fantastic in helping organise our trip home to New Zealand. Multiple flight options were provided and bookings completed very quickly. Instructions on steps to take prior to departing the UK were clear and meant we could travel with ease back to New Zealand. Safely made it to MIQ where we're isolating for two weeks.Would highly recommend!

Always professional and super helpful, Angela and Tim know the best places to stay and tips to make travel smooth and comfortable. Can’t recommend these guys more if you are looking for a seamless travel experience

Booking our trip was effortless with the lovely help from Angela & Tim. Had a great time. We had to call them during our holiday for a quick question and they were more than happy to answer the phone call. Highly recommend HoT Albany! Will definitely be using you lot again!

Wow, wow, and wow! I cannot speak highly enough of Tim and the H.O.T Albany team! After securing our NZ MIQ spot the race was on to find flights out of Fiji on that date. We quickly discovered there were no possible flights on our date much to our horror! Fiji was facing a lot of turmoil with many existing flights not going ahead due to their current outbreak, the stress levels and time pressures on us were sky high. Tim took control and decided the only way we could meet the deadline was to fly from Fiji to another country and come back into NZ from there. After a few disappointments with immigration NZ, Tim booked us through to Singapore/ London a couple of weeks before our MIQ spot, with a few weeks in London with return flights to NZ. Tim even had a friend in London who was available to assist us when we arrived, amazing! Fiji suddenly turned from amber to red alert which put paid to that plan, with Singapore no longer accepting Fiji travellers. However ,Tim was so onto it, he rebooked us on a flight from Fiji to Dubai (via Auckland transit) where we spent an amazing 2 weeks in a fabulous apartment in the glorious sun before flying us back into NZ right on the date. We witnessed other travellers being turned away at transit Auckland airport from the same flight ,as they hadn't had the correct documentation required. We were lucky that Tim ensured we had all our i's dotted and t's crossed, phew! Everything went perfectly smoothly, he kept us informed all the way right through to our arrival in NZ. Currently sitting in MIQ feeling very grateful for all their assistance. We have recommended Tim and House of Travel Albany to all our expat friends, he provides an invaluable service to expats and travellers, we highly recommend him to anyone out there needing expert assistance, you won't regret it, Thanks again Tim, Steve & Steph Dabrowski

Tim was such a help to us to arrange travel to NZ from Canada. Our travel day was so seamless due to his work. With COVID as well we had so many questions and concerns leading up to our departure. Tim was absolutely wonderful and took time to answer everything we needed. 100% recommend booking with Tim!

Very helpful and professional team, all were so lovely. Made my experience stress-free and was great to have a travel agent on hand to help when my plans changed. Highly recommend.

Tim Malone of House of Travel Albany assisted me with booking my travel back from the UK to New Zealand. The service provided was excellent and, given the extremely difficult circumstances for international travel, certainly went above and beyond what was expected. Could not recommend highly enough!

When I called and spoke to Tim he was too busy to talk to me about our family trip overseas and said he would ring back later that day. He didn't. I called back twice the following day and left messages both times but Tim failed to call me back. Disappointing. I have taken my business, and all future business, elsewhere.