Aspire Down Under

They helped me prepare my trip to Australia. However, there were a couple of things left out. They didn't advise me that you don't need to be licensed in scuba diving when on the Great Barrier Reef Tour. I did the snorkeling, but would to have loved to dive it. They also didn't advise some great tour options ie. you can climb the Harbour Bridge is a big one that I wish I had known about. They could have provided a map of the city and called out special points like Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. These are things the concierge pointed out to me when I asked.
The service was good, however I did have to follow up on a couple of things. Once they get their money they don't contact you until the week of. I had to contact them to find out about the paperwork and the visa. No biggie, overall the trip was amazing and I would use them again.

I would to Thank Aspire Down Under/Joanne for the amazing vacation/Holiday. They planned for us. Everything was great. Lori D.

When we decided we were ready to take the trip of a lifetime, we started looking for agents that could help. We were not having any luck... One unresponsive agent and one that didn't have a clue about Australia other than her travel book. Then, luckily we found Shelby. She was knowledgeable and very communicative. She listened to what we were looking for and at what price point. The result was a highly detailed itinerary that went flawlessly! Thanks Shelby and Aspire Down Under!!!

Very knowledgeable, competent and responsive staff. We provided Joanne with the places we wanted to visit, time frame and budget and she put together a customized itinerary that gave us the absolute best exposure possible.

I honestly can not say enough positive comments about my experience with Aspire and my personal travel agent "Megan". When I started my travel itinerary I had some VERY large requests and expectations. Megan was able to not only meet them but exceeded them all. She would let me know her opinions but would not expect me to follow the traditional line of travel and I appreciated that so much. She no only had the challenge of meeting my highly energetic, fast paced, "see the world at a glance" travel plans, but she also had to coordinate the same for a party of 4 all coming from different parts of the USA and then making each of us feel like we were her only client. The trip was truly beyond words and I attribute this to Megan's ability to listen to what we wanted to do and then not only make that happen but also suggest various excursions to do. Every piece of the trip was maliciously planned and nothing short of incredible. Thank you!

We found Aspire Down Under by [redacted]. We worked with Joanne M[redacted], and loved every part of our experience with her. She listened to the type of trip we wanted, and right from the start, was helpful in guiding us toward making our trip the very best it could be. She pulled out the map right away and started giving us a sense of the possibilities for places to visit. We only had a little over two weeks, and she helped us narrow down our list of places to visit. Then she emailed us a list of five possible places to stay in each place, based on the budget we gave her.
By the time we left for our trip, we had a detailed itinerary with photos included that will now be a treasured record of our experience. The B&Bs she recommended were hosted by some of the nicest people we've ever met, with wonderful views, delicious food, and incredibly comfortable bedrooms. She recommended some special things, like glowworm caves, geo-thermal parks, and hikes, and we enjoyed those things immensely too.
Also, when we had trouble with the airline rebooking our missed connection (Air New Zealand flight was delayed due to plane repair), we called Joanne, and she actually was willing to talk with the airline folks to help us understand why there was such a delay in the rebooking. (It was all sorted in the end.)
I HIGHLY recommend Aspire Down Under, especially Joanne M[redacted], if you want the trip of a lifetime to Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, etc.

Aspire Down Under arranged an amazing Australian experience for us. After a series of email discussions, we met with Joanne M[redacted], in person, so that she could get to know us better and get a better feel for our travel style. She captured it all. Our month-long trip included travel from the cosmopolitan cities to the Outback. Joanne found great lodging, wonderful guides and tours and got us there in style. 1300 pictures later, we still marvel about our trip.
If you are looking for a once in a lifetime Australian experience, this is the travel agency and Joanne is the travel agent you should work with.
Thank you so much for helping us realize a dream vacation.
Andra and David September 2015

Working with this travel agency and our agent Joanne was amazing! The agent really listened to what I wanted and gave lots of helpful advice.

Thank you Joanne M[redacted] and Aspire Down Under for your assistance in planning our Australia family trip. It was truly a pleasure to work with Joanne. Your knowledge and suggestions of all of the local attractions were unparalleled. Your professionalism, service and especially your patience regarding the numerous questions we had won us over your competitors. Our detailed and customized itinerary was executed without a hitch. Not one single thing went wrong. Thank you Joanne for making our Australia vacation a trip of a lifetime.

Great to do business with. Joanne spent the time to understand our requirements and booked excellent accommodation in Brisbane and Melbourne as well as organizing flights throughout Australia.

I just returned from my incredible vacation in Sydney and Hamilton Island. I cannot thank Aspire Down Under (and specifically Shelby A[redacted]) enough for their expertise and guidance in preparation for my trip. They listened to my budget requirements, shared personal experience and recommendations on excursions and provided A+ customer service. I would HIGHLY recommend this company to anyone traveling to Australia or nearby countries.
If you want an incredible vacation, with must-see experiences, use Aspire Down Under!

This travel agency is professional in each and every stage of the process: planning, execution and problem resolution.
Ms. T[redacted] took the time to listen to our thoughts and objectives, asked the right questions and recommended important attractions we didn't know about.
The flight and ground arrangements were planned to perfection, and supported professionally by local representatives when needed.
When some activities were cancelled due to weather conditions, a prompt refund was given.
All in all - great experience, highly recommended.

My wife and I, along with another couple, recently returned from a 21 day trip to Australia and New Zealand. Everything was perfect. I want to personally acknowledge Joanne M[redacted]'s assistance in developing our itinerary and doing all the leg work of transportation, hotels, and excursions, etc. She was very patient with me as I continued to tweak our plan over the course of a month of two, yet I always knew she was doing it all with our best interest in mind.

Aspire Down Under did a terrific job in planning our recent trip to New Zealand, Australia and Fiji. They planned the trip according to what we wanted. Every aspect of the trip went according to plan - all the local guides, airport transit, etc.met us as scheduled.

I highly recommend Aspire Down Under as a travel agency. First, our trip (to Australia and New Zealand) was wonderful. I worked closely with our agent and the accomodations and excursions that we chose with her help were great and more than fulfilled my expectations. Second, they came through for us when we needed to make changes on the ground in Sydney due to cancelled and late flights. Working with their Sydney affiliate, they quickly changed our itinerary and made alternative arrangements, which were also first rate. Third, they took the lead in helping us file our travel insurance claim for the losses we suffered due to the cancelled and late flights. I believe that they were instrumental in achieving a good result with our claim as well. (The insurance company paid 100% of our claim, less policy limits.)

This was a first trip to the land down under and I was extremely pleased with Aspire Down Under specifically Joanne Morgan.

She did a phenomenal job planning a group trip for 14 people traveling to Australia, New Zealand and Figi with folks flying in and out from different places at different times. Joanne, patiently and graciously answered all of our questions and gave quick turnaround on our questions before, during and after the trip. The tours were excellent she captured the essence of our desires to do interesting but not too touristy as well as learn about indigenous cultures in each place. Joanne provided us with a detailed itinerary making it easy for me as the trip leader to keep the group on track. Aspire Down under gets a strong recommendation and I would recommend without hesitation.

We were fortunate to find Shelby and Aspire Down Under to help plan our honeymoon. It was absolutely the trip of a lifetime! Started in Cairns diving and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef and ended in Sydney celebrating New Year's Eve, relaxing on the beaches and taking a trip to the Blue Mountains. Shelby was hands-on and helpful every step of the way and the entire trip was perfect. Cannot say enough good things and would definitely use her again in the future!

We had a wonderful trip planned by Aspire Down Under....all the transportation, tours, and hotels were arranged and were of very high quality. I felt supported by the company, and although we had no problems, was made to feel that Aspire would help us solve any problems that might have occurred.

My husband and I used Aspire Down Under to plan a 2 1/2-week trip to New Zealand. We had 6 cities, about a dozen activities, and multiple airline reservations to manage, and every single piece fell into place perfectly. The New York office was responsive, super helpful, and incredibly informative as we planned our trip, and the New Zealand office was equally great the one time we needed to call for local assistance with an activity registration. I'd recommend this company to anyone planning a trip to NZ or Australia.

My wife and I recently visited New Zealand with an itinerary catered to our interests by Shelby. We no doubt had an amazing time, but the overall seamless experience that Shelby and Aspire provided was highly impressive, and it was quite amazing that every detail was planned out considering the logistical intricacies of our 11-day, 6 city tour of both north and South Island.
Our overall interaction with Aspire from first contact to the week after we returned from our trip was around 6 months and Shelby patiently remained in contact throughout the planning and always responded to our numerous questions/requests promptly, typically no later than within the same business day. My only regret with Aspire is that I can't use them for all my travel planning since they specialize in the Australia/pacific island region. I'm sure many travel agencies are good at what they do, but Shelby and Aspire are likely hard to top.