KDR Travel & Tours.

 

 

Why book with KDR Travel

We have been in the travel and tourism business since 2001. We have grown from very small beginnings into a multi-city company organising leisure, corporate and group travel experiences for thousands of clients and guests of our clients.

We have been members of SATSA since 2001 and have done tours and made travel arrangements for many thousands of clients over the years. We have been featured in Newspapers and magazines and can quote many a happy client. While we do have a bricks and mortar travel shop our main business comes primarily from the internet. We realise being based on the other side of South Africa,a or indeed the world, from where we are can make people hesitant about about transferring money across to us or giving us their credit card details. That is understandable. We have tried to allay those fears below by answering some of the questions that have come up over the years.

Uppermost in a prospective clients thoughts when booking a holiday seem to be

Can we trust the people we are booking with?

We have been in business since 2001. While this doesn't necessarily mean anything it does show we are not a fly by night operation. We have also been members of SATSA since we started. SATSA rules mean we need to show them our financial records every year to prove that we are in a financially stable position. We also need to show them our liability insurance documents and keep by a strict code of conduct. You are welcome to contact SATSA ( all their contact details are ion their website ) to verify KDR Travels credentials.

Will you give us what we are paying for?

When you pay for a package everything you have paid for is laid out first of all in the quote you get, then in the invoice and finally in the voucher. We recommend certain properties to our clients because we trust the properties. Should the properties not live up to what they have promised we will do everything we can to make sure the client is recompensed for any inconvenience. In a business our size it does happen that periodically a client is not happy with the property he or she has stayed at. We will on the clients behalf make sure the property knows about the problem and does something about it. Obviously if the client can contact us while they are there, it makes recompense, in whatever manner, a little easier.

Will we be left high and dry should something happen to your company?

We can understand that in the last few years 2008 - 2011 that every time you switch on CNN or Sky news another company seems to have gone bust and left their clients stranded somewhere overseas with hotel bills unpaid and airlines unpaid. THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN WITH KDR. All our suppliers are prepaid. Every single one. As soon as the client has paid us ( or if it is not showing in banking immediately and we have reasonable proof that their funds will clear), we pay the supplier. We have Public Liability insurance should there be an issue with something we have booked incorrectly and we are bonded with SATSA should there be a problem with a supplier but we do not hold onto any clients money for longer than a few days. The supplier is always paid as soon as we have received money from the client and you are always welcome to check with the suppliers of your products to make sure this is true.

Is your service prompt and efficient?

Most of our enquiries come off the internet and are sent from a central point to the consultants who specialise in that area. Phone in requests are also e-mailed to central reservations and distributed from there. Enquiries are dealt with on a first come first served basis and we always try get back to enquiries the same day or latest within 24 hours. Obviously some days are busier than others, Mondays are known in the offices as Quote days, Tuesdays Query days, Wednesdays Booking days and Thursday and Friday as Voucher days. Obviously this generalises the sequence of events but this is how most bookings seem to go and our stats bear this trend out.

However, if your quote is urgent and you need to be leaving in the next few days we will prioritise your booking. When the enquiries are distributed, if the dates of departure are imminent,t the consultant will be made aware that it is an urgent quote.
Our consultants will get back to you with your required quote and will usually, if it is possible, let you know about availability of the product and if there is limited rooms/ seats available. Clients should always be aware that some lodges have as little as 6 rooms and that while it may be available one minute most lodges work on confirmed bookings so a lodge can quickly fill up. Lodges/ hotels usually require a commitment in the form of a deposit. Different hotels and lodges have different requirements.

Are your prices comparable with other operators or going directly?

It's been the argument ever since there were "middle men". Is it not cheaper going directly?
KDR Travel has contractual agreements with the hotels and lodges that we deal with that guarantee rates. We work on a commission basis which means that if we charged whatever the hotel was going to charge we get a commission on that paid to us by the hotel. Now what often happens is that we agree to support certain lodges and hotels and at the end of a period of time we say we have given "x" amount of business this year and they say great - you can have the rooms at a better rate. That rate is passed onto the client we get more clients, hopefully get a better rate etc etc.
We also know that while the guy offering a transfer from the hotel to the airport or the guy doing a Hluhluwe game drive is a lot cheaper than other people he may not necessarily be offering the best service. our supplier are all checked to make sure they have the correct certification, that they say who they say they are and they have the right certification. So best prices with may not always mean cheapest. In this day of the internet there is nowhere to hide and if a client says we seen this "tour advertised cheaper by these people" we will look into why we are not using them and if there is a valid reason we will let you know.

As for other tour brokers' rates. We feel that on most of our products we are at least as good and mostly a lot better than other agents. There are people bigger than us that probably can command lower rates at some lodges. We always try to beat them on service. if you like our service and see a lower rate somewhere else, let us know. If we feel can do better, we will

What is your credit card procedure?

Credit card fraud is a very real problem we have to deal with constantly. We very rarely meet our clients face to face and we have on quite a few occasions had "clients" attempting to use cards fraudulently. While lodges and hotels are usually quite sympathetic when we have to cancel a booking when fraud gets picked up in the later stages of a booking, airlines and credit card companies are merciless. If you are paying by credit card WE WILL ask you to send a copy of the front and back of the card along with a copy of your passport.
We have lost what on the face of it seemed genuine bookings before because of this policy but it is something we cannot change.

Credit card companies put the onus is on the Merchant ( KDR Travel ) to prove that the use of the credit card was not fraud. A client was once caught reversing the charges on his card because they said they had actually not stayed there. No card imprints or details were signed and they paid their extra's cash. Fortunately while the husband was settling the bill the wife had signed the guest book to say what a wonderful time they had. This was sent to the bank and the couple were charged with fraud. While we know this is the exception rather than the rule it does happen.

We will keep the copies of the card for 6 months after which they are destroyed by paper shredder. Credit card holders are always at liberty to question their Credit card company about any charges on their cards and if the merchant cannot prove the transaction is legal, the card holder will be refunded.

Do you have recommendations from suppliers?

We deal with all major airlines in South Africa, SAA, BA, Kulula, Lam, One Time, Federal Air and Mango. We deal with hotel groups like Fairmont, Sun International, Pestana, African Sun, Three cities and many more on a daily basis. Should you wish to get a recommendation on our company from a lodge or hotel you want to book through, please let us know and we send it to you.

Do you have recommendations from clients?

Please see here for client reviews for Soweto Tours.

We have also appeared in Lonely Planet and Frommers.

Click here to see reviews about tour and travel packages we have put together

Has anyone ever said anything nasty about them?

If we said no, we'd be lying obviously but whatever the issue a client has had with us, we have always tried to address the problem head on and get it sorted out. We have many good mentions on Trip Advisor. Our one dark cloud remains a mention on the "hello peter" website. We feel it was through no fault of ours that the client was upset with us but rather than reach a compromise the client threatened that iether we cover the costs of her mistake or she would report us to someone.

The hello peter website charges company's to respond on their website even if what the client says was completely untrue. This to us amounts to extortion so we didn't respond on his website. The whole story appears here.

Booking flights for holiday packages

On some of our packages on our websites we offer clients the choice of whether they want to book flights themselves or if they would like us to book them for them. With the amount of low cost airlines in South Africa at the moment

 

 

KDR Travel and Tours
www.kdrtravel.co.za | 031 765 6313