Compare travel agents in New Zealand at Canstar Blue. YOU Travel & Cruise, Eco Travels, Helloworld Travel, Orbit World Travel, House of Travel, Flight Centre and XTravel were compared on Overall Satisfaction, Communication & Advice, Level of Knowledge, Friendliness of Agent and Price of Trip.
See our Ratings Methodology.
YOU Travel & Cruise is your go-to for professional travel service & advice, earning top 5-Star scores across all our ratings categories and taking home Canstar Blue’s 2024 Award for Most Satisfied Customers | Travel Agents.
Our review compares travel agents on customer satisfaction, so you can discover what other Kiwis think about our compared travel agents before you go ahead and book a holiday or trip. Think of it like asking hundreds of your friends and family which travel agents they recommend!
Canstar Blue surveyed 1007 Kiwis who had used a travel agent/agency to book a trip within the last two years and asked for their feedback on the travel agent/agency they used.
Respondents rate their satisfaction with their travel agent from zero to ten, where zero is extremely dissatisfied and ten is extremely satisfied. Brand satisfaction was rated by respondents on the following criteria:
The winning brand is the one that receives the highest Overall Satisfaction rating once all the scores from the Overall Satisfaction criteria are combined and averaged.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included, so not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The brands rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.
Find more information on our Most Satisfied Customer methodology.
YOU Travel & CruiseYOU Travel & Cruise is the clear winner of Canstar Blue’s 2024 Most Satisfied Customers | Travel Agents Award. Earning perfect 5-Star scores across all categories, YOU Travel & Cruise is also the only brand to achieve any 5-Star ratings, setting it well above its competitors on our awards table. Congratulations to the team at YOU Travel & Cruise for such an outstanding result.
YOU Travel & Cruise is a part of the First Travel Group, New Zealand’s leading independent travel alliance. Boasting 22 Kiwi owned and operated stores across New Zealand, YOU Travel & Cruise is one of the country’s oldest retail travel brands, so they have an abundance of knowledge and expertise ready to share with you.
YOU Travel & Cruise specialises in premium travel packages, luxury cruises, and has a team of passionate and professional Travel Experts knowledgeable in all things travel, from popular to unique destinations around the globe.
For more details on YOU Travel & Cruise’s range of travel packages and destinations, check out the company’s website.
Eco TravelsEco Travels takes out second place on our ratings table, earning an impressive 4-Star rating for Overall Satisfaction. The brand earns further 4-Stars in every other category except for Communication & Advice, for which it earns 3-Stars.
Eco Travel has been providing New Zealanders with great overseas experiences for over 14 years, and offers a seamless and convenient platform to book flights, hotels and other travel services.
Eco Travels allows customers to personalise their travel plans, by allowing them to book hotels, cabs and flights individually. For those who prefer the convenience of a packaged experience, Eco Travels is in the process of offering organised tours and trips.
Helloworld Travel’s customers are obviously very happy with the level of value and customer service delivered by their choice travel agency brand. Helloworld Travel earns 4-Star ratings in all of the five award categories, including Overall Satisfaction.
Helloworld Travel is an Australian-based travel company that operates over 30 stores across New Zealand. Helloworld Travel offers flights, hotels and accommodation, as well as cruises and holiday packages. Its expert travel professionals are available either online or instore to help you organise and book your travel or holiday plans.
Orbit TravelOrbit Travel is the third and final brand on this year’s ratings table to take out a 4-Star rating for Overall Satisfaction. The brand clearly impresses its customers, as it earns a clean sweep of 4-Star ratings across all our award categories.
Kiwi-owned Orbit Travel markets itself as a travel company for businesses, and is best suited to those making group bookings. Orbit Travel is an All-of-Government (AoG) travel management supplier. The brand has a strong commitment to sustainability, as it works in partnership with its AoG clients to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability.
Orbit Travel features an online booking platform, Orbit Online, which is designed to simplify business travel. Orbit Online is also available as an app for most devices.
The winner of last year’s Canstar Blue Travel Agents award, House of Travel earns a 3-Star rating for Overall Satisfaction. It scores 3-Stars in two other categories: Communication & Advice and Price of Trip. The brand performs well in the remaining two categories, earning respectable 4-Star ratings.
House of Travel is one of the country’s most recognisable travel agency brands. It combines a comprehensive online presence with over 60 owner-operated offices and 300 specialist consultants across the country.
House of Travel offers travel services from cheap flights through to package deals and cruises. It also offers a free video service, Face2Face, allowing you to talk to a travel consultant and plan your next holiday via a video call, from the comfort of your home.
While Flight Centre doesn’t manage to earn a top rating from its customers, it scores a sweep of 3-Star ratings across three categories, which signifies a strong level of consumer satisfaction. The brand scores particularly well for Level of Knowledge and Friendliness of Agent, for which it earns 4-Stars.
Flight Centre is an Australian travel agency that has grown into a global brand. In New Zealand it operates over 25 stores nationwide. Through its website and high-street locations, Flight Centre sells a complete range of holiday products, including cheap flights and hotel deals, package holidays, tours and cruises.
XTravelRounding out our ratings is XTravel, which earns a 3-Star rating for Overall Satisfaction. It’s collection of 3-Star ratings across all but one category indicates that XTravel’s customers are satisfied with its service. The travel agency earns one 4-Star rating, for the Price of Trip.
Based in Central Otago, XTravel has been operating since 2016. XTravel provides travel services for both business and pleasure, with an emphasis on snow and cruise options. For extra peace of mind, the travel agency offers a full 24-hour support service.
Not all travel agencies in the market qualify for our ratings (based on minimum survey sample size), but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth considering. Here are some more travel agencies to check out before booking a trip.
MANN TravelMANN Travel is an Auckland-based travel agency that offers deals on flights, hotels and accommodation domestically and internationally. MANN Travel focuses on delivering great customer support and provides 24/7 support for travellers.
Travel AssociatesTravel Associates has seven boutique agencies across the country. Travel Associates provides bespoke travel plans, tailoring each trip to its customer’s needs.
Webjet’s NZ site is designed specifically for New Zealand travellers, and although it doesn’t operate bricks-and-mortar stores, it has a 24/7 helpline manned by experienced travel professionals to help with any problems and to answer queries.
A holiday is often a trip into the unknown. Indeed, over two-thirds of travellers in our survey (67%) say they always prefer to explore a new holiday destination.
But even if you know where you’re going, there should be no unknowns about your flight and accommodation details.
That’s why great communication and advice from a travel expert is the most important aspect of booking any trip, whether to a domestic destination or abroad.
In this year’s award ratings, over a third of travellers (35%) cite Communication & Advice as the biggest factor influencing their satisfaction with the travel agency they used.
And the importance of experience and knowledge extends even further. For Level of Knowledge (28%) rates well above the price paid for the trip, which was the most important factor for just 15% of respondents.
Overall, here’s how the Kiwi travellers in our research rate the different factors affecting their choice of travel agents:
About the editor of this pageThis report was written by Canstar Content Producer, Caitlin Bingham. Caitlin is an experienced writer whose passion for creativity led her to study communication and journalism. She began her career freelancing as a content writer, before joining the Canstar team.
| International | 74% |
| Domestic | 26% |
| Online | 46% |
| In person | 37% |
| Over the phone | 14% |
| Some trips | 76% |
| All trips | 24% |
| Once a year | 37% |
| Every two years | 21% |
| Every three to five years | 17% |
| More than once a year | 12% |
| Less often than every five years | 11% |
| Never been outside of NZ | 2% |
| Hotel | 46% |
| Stay with friends/family | 28% |
| Airbnb | 14% |
| Bed and breakfast | 7% |
| Camping | 2% |
| Europe/UK | 24% |
| Asia | 17% |
| Australia | 16% |
| Pacific Islands | 15% |
| NZ (domestic) | 10% |
| USA/Canada | 10% |
| Africa | 2% |
| South America | 1% |
| Sightsee | 36% |
| To relax | 30% |
| Visit family | 26% |
| Visit friends | 6% |
| Business | 2% |
| Winter | 40% |
| Summer | 31% |
| Spring | 15% |
| Autumn | 14% |
Knowledge of destination: 48%
Package deals: 45%
It feels safer: 44%
Travel inspiration/ideas: 43%
Better price: 42%
Prefer to deal with ‘real people’: 30%
Too busy/cannot be bothered doing it themselves: 19%
Relaxing on an island or at a resort: 32%
Eating and drinking new things: 25%
Exploring museums and heritage sites: 17%
Outdoor adventure activities: 15%
Took an overseas experience (OE) when younger: 70%
Prefer to travel somewhere never been before: 67%
An OE is a rite of passage for Kiwis: 39%
Prefer to return to somewhere visited before: 33%
Canstar Blue surveyed 5108 New Zealand consumers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from customers who used a travel agent/agency to book a trip within the last two years, in this case, 1007 New Zealanders. Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criterion.
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