anyone used save-money-diving.com?

[Ringo]

Actually I do know of 1 boat owner (not sure about the others) who has insisted that the selling price be corrected to the same as advertised by the owner and all of his agents and has also asked for proof of Tourist Authority of Thailand registration (for customer insurance) and Vat registration. Until this be done he will not take any bookings.

 

[save-money-diving]

Has anyone ever used http://www.save-money-diving.com?
I just stumbled on it and they have some great packages.
Any feedback?

John

Dear John,
If you are interested in our package just drop me a line or send us enquiry,
we also have a special price for a group. Recently i just organised live-aboard cod-hole and ribbons for one of our customers. Not only he had a good diving trip in queensland but also had a nice new year overthere. So I'm look forward to being of service to you. All the best Ben
welcome all feedback.

 

[Lailis]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum but I have carefully read all of the opinions expressed by its members.
I would like to give mine.

I think that companies like Dive the World and Save-Money-Diving are good for us divers because the more choice we have , the better, specially if we can get better deals.
Diveborg says: Often, getting a cheap price isn't necessarily the best value.

I have looked at the dive destinations that save money diving is offering and it seems to me that they work with well-known operators.

erica says: they aren't subject to US laws that protect consumers

It's true, but how many people buy from companies located outside the US....millions!!! I would say that there are more people who have had problems with companies within the US than with the ones abroad.

Anyway John, if we do not try , we will never know.
I am having my next holidays in June and I will check what these companies are offering. I will let you know!!!

 

[DiverBuoy]

Dear John,
If you are interested in our package just drop me a line or send us enquiry,
we also have a special price for a group. Recently i just organised live-aboard cod-hole and ribbons for one of our customers. Not only he had a good diving trip in queensland but also had a nice new year overthere. So I'm look forward to being of service to you. All the best Ben
welcome all feedback.

Wow it's really a stunning site, extremely intuitive, and laid out brilliantly ... I found answers to my questions easily. Never heard of it before this thread. Question though ... I didn't seen Hawaii listed?

 

[Lailis]

Has anyone ever used http://www.save-money-diving.com?
I just stumbled on it and they have some great packages.
Any feedback?

John

Hey, look at what I found:

http://www.asiandiver.com/editorial/editorial.aspx?id=40&sc=8&grp=Destination

 

[squali]

Has anyone ever used http://www.save-money-diving.com?
I just stumbled on it and they have some great packages.
Any feedback?

John

Hello John,

I am Maria and i am Italian

I used save-money-diving.com and went to Palau.
I was on board Ocean Hunter II from Dec 29th 2005 to Jan 6th 2006.
The trip started on the 28th but I was not able to get there on that date so this company offered to arrange a special trasnfer on the 29th for me.
The booking process was very quick and I had my confirmation including the special transfer in 3 days.
Once on board I talked to the other divers about the price they had paid. I could not compare the price with the ones that paid for sharing cabin but there was a japanese diver staying in a single cabin as me and she paid 35% more than me.
Of course I was very happy to know that I had really got a very good deal.

This company is offering good packages and the prices are very convenient specially compared to the ones I can find here.
I recommend it as my first experince with them was very good.

 

[erdoc1]

I found this site too when looking for liveaboards in Palau. I've PM'ed him for references in the US and will let you all know when/if I get a response. The call center was very professional and got back to me via email in 24 hours. I did contact the direct booking number of one of the liveaboards I was researching, though, and the staff told me that the cabin offered was already booked, but there were others available. I think this is because the liveaboard folks haven't updates their website with availability of rooms in a while, and the travel agency is just using the website to determine what is there.
Report to follow, friends.

 

[tomhuck]

Yes! We live in US, and used SMD. They are very professional. We are very happy with their service, first rated! We will write more after we finish our trip which we booked through them. But so far, they have out performed our US agent.

 

[erdoc1]

Ok guys - got a referral from another American who used SMD. He gave me permission to reproduce his comments here:

I used Saved Money Diving in April to book a liveaboard in Thailand. I found the company after reading a review in Asian Diver magazine. I have used many dive-travel agents in the US and in Indonesia and have booked many trips to SE Asia myself, but in the case of my trip, SMD offered the lowest price out of all my research. I found the staff very knowledgeable, they spoke English well and they answered all my questions/emails within a day. In my case they went beyond the scope of their duties by also helping me find hotel options within Thailand for the remainder of my trip (although in the case of "non-dive" hotels, they did not always have the lowest prices). I also liked that they took credit cards but did not charge a fee for this (many times when dealing with trips outside of USA, I have either had to wire money or pay a 3% charge for using a credit card).

As for my trip--it went off without a hitch and the boat was great. I would definitely use SMD again.

He asked me not to relay his email address so he would not be bombarded with comments. If you speak to someone from the website, they will likely send you his info as they did for me.

 

[erdoc1]

I agree that they responded quickly to emails (within hours for the emails I sent late at night since the time difference is about 11 hours) and the Ocean Hunter staff acknowledged that SMD is an authorized dealer for their liveaboard.