mauiva air tours

We ve been to the Mauvia Western Experience USA in September 2014. Visited so many beautiful places in a week. The hotels and b fast were good, hotel and b fast in Fresno a little bit disappointing compared to the others. We met lovely people and our tour guide Consuelo was very knowledgable and nice. Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone.

Following our fantastic West coast tour in 2013 (see my Tripadvisor review) we decided to indulge in an east coast air tour. Disappointed? Hardly. Once again Mauiva delivered the goods - Niagara, Toronto, Washington DC, Pennsylvania and a host of features experienced at each.Our trip was hosted and brilliantly expedited by our "movie star" guide Sherry (ask her about it) and, once again the value for money was exceptional.The trip was a visual, educational and emotional feast of historical, sobering, iconic, spectacular and diverse experiences one could possibly hope for in such a short period. For a great view of Niagara Falls, go up to the Restaurant at the Sheraton (well before dinner service begins) and ask if you can have a drink at a table by the window. A great view can also be had from the Crowne Plaza dining room where we watched the lights on the falls over a nightcap.When in Washington, check out why the Willard is so historically important while having an ale at the iconic Round Robin and Scotch Bar and also pop in to the unique Old Ebbitt Grill Duck Bar around the corner. You can also see a painting of Ulysses Grant in the Grants bar at the same establishment.Make sure you have a few days either side of the advertised Mauiva departure in case a change is necessary. This happened to us on both occasions but was a minor inconvenience. Also, don't plan to leave New York on the day you return as you will be battling standstill peak hour traffic to get to the airport. A massive thank you to Sherry, the pilots, coach drivers, our flight attendant Janet and fellow travelers who all contributed to yet another fantastic and unique holiday experience. Here's to the next one.

Dear Valued Guest,I would like to offer my sincerest apologies if you were not satisfied with the hotel or food in Fresno. Here at Mauiva we want your stay with us to be enjoyable. We have contacted hotel management with your concerns and we expect our vendors to give a high level of service to our patrons. Our vendors send their apologies to you and will speak with the catering staff and housekeeping.We also thank you for the suggestion to utilize Maverick Airlines for our tour to the Grand Canyon to shorten the day. Mauiva is always open to feedback. We want to hear from everyone who travels on our AirCruise and will carefully review their comments. Your input will help enhance future AirCruise Service.

Last November I booked a Western Wonders air tour with Mauiva, to start on 9 June 2014 in Los Angeles. This was the first available date after the end of my 3 week Canada/Alaska tour which ended in Vancouver on 31 May. This gave me over a week to get to LA, for which I planned a trip using trains and planes, visiting various cities along the way.In late April, I was notified by my travel agent that Mauiva had changed the start date of the tour to the 11th June, confirmed in a letter sent by Rich O'Brien, Mauiva Sales Manager. This not only added 2 extra days I had to fill in between Vancouver and LA, but required a change in the day of my flight home, which at this late stage incurred a financial penalty. But I changed my itinerary, adding a self drive from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, from where I was to take a train to LA to start the air tour.. On the evening of 5th June, when I was halfway down the coast in San Francisco, I received a call from my travel agent to tell me that Mauiva had changed the start date yet again, from the 11th to the 7th June i.e. in 36 hours time. I had to decide whether I should fly down to LA the following day and book hotel accommodation for that night and join the tour the next day, or to stay in SF, where the tour was to spend the first night. The latter seemed preferable, although it meant missing most of the first day of the air tour (sightseeing in SF) but which I managed to do anyway on my extra day in SF. It also meant having to reschedule 4 hotel bookings plus the rental car for my self drive from SF to Santa Barbara and the train from SB to LA. I also had to book a plane flight from LA back to SF after the air tour finished, as I couldn't do the drive in reverse (i.e. LA to SF) because my flight home, which had already been rescheduled once for extra cost, was leaving from LA. So it seemed logical to stay one more night in SF and join the group there. I was able to book a second night in the SF hotel where I was staying, so there was only one other issue to resolve. Storage of my excess luggage. We had been advised that the weight limit per passenger on the air tour was 30lb, considerably less than what my case weighed (around 45lb). The situation was straightforward for those commencing the air tour in LA - they were able to leave excess luggage in the LA hotel where the tour started and finished. But I had to find somewhere to leave mine in SF. I didn't want to leave my luggage at my SF hotel, as it was located downtown and quite some distance from the airport, and after the air tour I was going to fly back to SF and pick up a car at the airport for the coast drive. I also didn't want to leave my luggage at the SF hotel where I was to meet with the group, as it was located even further away from the airport on the other side of the bay in Berkeley. After some internet searching and a phone call, I found that SF airport would store luggage (which turned out to be incredibly expensive).I was advised I could meet up with the air tour group at around 3pm in the Berkeley hotel. So that morning, after dropping off my excess luggage at SF airport, I made my way to Berkeley. Despite receiving a phone call from a Mauiva rep at the Berkeley hotel around 6pm that the group would be arriving shortly, they didn't arrive till after 9pm. No apologies were offered, and the tour leader didn't even seem to know I would be joining the group in SF.The tour group consisted of 8 Chinese who didn't speak any English and was their first trip out of China, plus their interpreter, plus 10 Swiss who, except for one, only spoke French and 5 English speakers plus the tour leader who spoke English and French. So for the whole trip, all information, instructions, commentary etc had to be repeated 3 times. Apart from this, the tour itself was mostly enjoyable, with some notable exceptions. On the day we had an early start for the long coach drive to Yosemite, we had to endure a bus ride of nearly 1.5 hours after (a very disappointing) dinner before we got back to our Chowchilla hotel. In Chowchilla, where we stayed two nights and where it was very hot, the air conditioners in the rooms simply could not cope, and the night time temperature in my room never got below about 80F. To make it even worse, the breakfasts were inedible. We spent the last two nights of the tour in Las Vegas. We did a sightseeing coach tour of The Strip on the afternoon we arrived, and also had the opportunity to do further exploration that evening and after our return from the Grand Canyon at around 3pm the next day. There was no itinerary for the last day in Las Vegas. So between mid afternoon of the second last day and mid afternoon of the last day when we flew back to LA, there was nothing planned. We arrived back in LA that evening, far too late for anyone to make their flight home, which necessitated spending an extra night in LA, the cost of which was not included in the tour. The letter received from Mauiva when the first change in date included this: “If change fees or other charges occur as a result of the change, please present the fees to Mauiva for review and we will do our best to reimburse the client”. I emailed Mauiva on my return home, requesting that due to twice changing the date of my tour, I had incurred several extra direct out of pocket expenses (change in return flight home, luggage storage in SF and flight from LA back to SF, the total of which came close to $1000) and for which I sent copies of the receipts. It took them over two weeks to reply, in which they basically said they would not be reimbursing any of my extra expenses.So my advice is if you are thinking about taking a Mauiva air tour - DON'T.

Everything from beginning to end was fabulous and without hiccups. I was a bit reluctant after reading a few reviews which indicated that the tour gets postponed on short notice. As a single traveller my other concern was that there will be only couples but all my fears quickly became something of the past once 15 of us boarded the plane in LA to take off to San Francisco. I made brilliant friends and enjoyed the "air cruising" a lot. One sleeps at each hotel for 2 nights which is great as it does allow you to get some rest and not having to pack and unpack after every reaching every destination. I loved the whole itinerary - perfect! Our tour guide was great and although the language was supposed to be German everyone quickly settled for English which was great! Would love to see other air cruises started and perhaps one that does not require a visa for Cananda... I highly recommend that you book yourself on this trip. If you are contemplating, do not think about it too much. Just do it and treat yourself to an exceptional experience!

We were on the same Mauvia East Coast Air Cruise ( departure April 16th ) as Andrew and Sandra and fully endorse their comments. No we are not spoiled brats. Yes it is expensive,even if good value when you buy in January. For many it's a very special treat, even the trip of a lifetime, which is why Mauiva guests expect perfection. Why don't they have fewer departures rather than try to amalgamate separate tours ? We would still recommend the air cruise, with reservations. Be prepared for a change in itinerary, and be prepared to regard the glass as half full rather than half empty.

Dear Valued Guest,First, let me start by apologizing for spelling your name wrong, while it was an auto-correct typo, it should have been caught in review. Despite that, I did try to respond to your email accordingly and was sincere about your concerns. If, after this second response, you still do not feel we have adequately addressed your concerns, I would be happy to go over the events of your tour with you at your convenience by phone if preferred.We provide our guests the ability to book by phone, or contact our offices for full support prior to their tour, or should they choose, to handle their booking completely within our fully automated website. Our call center is readily available for any guests pre-booking our tour for any reservation needs, however, those that choose to book on their own, we do not reach out to if they have no further inquiry as guests provide their contact details online with some expectation that it will only be used when necessary and do not wish additional contact.While we can appreciate that when on vacation, some customers wish to upgrade their room types – suites, views, etc – the original package does not guarantee these upgrades, and we apologize if there was ever a misunderstanding.All guests have the option to participate in itinerary items they wish, or, if there are other ways they would prefer to spend their time, they are at leisure to leave the group and rejoin at their convenience whenever desired. Scenery and traffic is not something we have control over, but it is a necessary inclusion to get to the promised tour spots.As I explained in my initial response, there was an issue with traffic that prevented your group from going to Arlington. While this was both unforeseen and unavoidable, our Travel Host did her best to give a thorough and in depth history to the group about Arlington and continue to tour with as much inclusion as possible under the circumstances.Regarding your wife’s inability to continue the US Capitol tour because of security screenings, again, there are some things that Mauiva AirCruise, unfortunately, cannot foresee or pre-plan. Security within the United States, particularly in Washington DC and government buildings, fluctuates based on various deemed “security threat levels.” On any given day, they may have harsher or lighter restrictions when going through security. To date, we had never had a guest turned away for such an item, and so did not know to forewarn guests about this usually standard entry procedure. While I know this does not change your scenario, we can assure you that now that something like this has occurred, we will prep our Travel Hosts to give an example of something like this that items security may deem impermissible now.Regarding the invoice received requesting gratuities from the Lancaster hotel. You should never have received any bill or request for tips. Gratuities are included with the AirCruise and as such, we immediately contacted our vendor upon hearing of this incident. They quickly let us know it was done in accident and to pass on their apologies. They have also stated this would not happen again in the future. Inclusive gratuities is a standard unique to Mauiva AirCruise that many other tours do not include. Therefore, the hotel made a mistake and issued invoices usually standard for other groups, but not those travelling with Mauiva.While we regret to hear that you did not care for the Hershey’s tour, this is an included itinerary item, and while we switched the day of the tour, we still maintained the approximate 3 hour visit that is generally enjoyed by many of our guests.We did have a need to change the flight schedule on day 6, however, this was only done when it was confirmed that all attractions could still be met and attended by all groups, as we do not consider any of our guests or tours expendable and we are sorry to hear you were made to feel that way. While every part of the Pennsylvania portion of the tour was still maintained, it was brought to the Travel Hosts attention that some people would be left with nothing to do during the extra time in New York that was given as a product of the changed flight. As many guests did not have the extended city time, it was requested by the majority to have a city tour. Mauiva agreed to block the bus for additional time and take the group on such a tour, one that received excellent feedback from guests that went.Please contact me directly if you would like to discuss this further or I would be happy to contact you again.

Dear Valued Guest,Here at Mauiva we set our standards so you may have a worry free vacation and our hope is for you to enjoy your vacation. Passengers were given an updated itinerary on the first day of the tour. A description was given by the Travel Host to all patrons that we would travel on a comfortable luxury coach from our 3rd party vendor. Our vendor communicated to us that the bus pick up is no more than 30 minutes before proceeding to the Canyons and not two hours. The coach would have included several, scenic stops along the way which included a photography stop at Hoover Dam, a drive through Joshua Tree forest and other amazing sites in addition to lunch being provided. Our Travel Host was notified the night before your scheduled tour that the group made a decision to secure their own means of Ground transportation to the Grand Canyon. The group was notified by the Travel Host that any unused portion of the AirCruise was non-refundable.We appreciate your feedback and in the future we will make sure to notify our guests and agencies, in a prompt manner, if there are any deviations from our schedule.

Dear Valued Guest,Thank you for bringing the issues you faced on your recent Mauiva AirCruise. We set standards so you may have a vacation worry free and want you to thoroughly enjoy your vacation. All passengers were given an updated itinerary on the first day of the tour which reflected that day 6 would be by coach to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. On day 6 when we reiterated that we would be using ground transportation to the Grand Canyon we were notified that the group had decided not to take the ride in a comfortable luxury coach double decker from our 3rd party vendor. Instead passengers chose to secure their own means of Ground transportation to the Grand Canyon. This coach would have included several stops along the way which also included a photography stop at Hoover Dam along with driving through Joshua Tree forest ,other amazing sites and lunch was being provided. The guest were notified by the Travel Host that any unused portion of the AirCruise was non-refundable.

Please Note: We sent The Holiday Place this review in advance of this posting and asking them to comment on any factual errors. They failed to find any nor did they ask for any changes.We booked this trip via The Holiday Place in London UK in January 2013 to take place on the 25th September 2013 to celebrate a 50th Anniversary. We made the booking after receiving an email from Telegraph travel.The booking was conditional on the commentary being in English only during the tour. In conjunction with The Holiday Place, we arranged to visit friends in Los Angeles after the tour for 8 days. Our friends then had made special arrangements for us based on the original dates of travel.During the tour, communication with Mauiva was poor. However, this was nothing compared to the awful communication before, during and after the tour with the Holiday Place, which was late, inaccurate, confusing and subsequently unhelpful.Eight days before departure, we received a call from the Holiday Place to say that Mauiva had delayed the start of our tour, by three days, to the 28th September 2013. No reason was given. After contacting our friends in LA, we decided to go ahead, as they could accommodate us for the change of dates, but at some inconvenience to them. Before agreeing to the change of date, we checked the Mauiva web site, to discover that the new tour would be in English and German. As we did not want to hear everything twice, we questioned this, and were assured that there would be one German couple with good English and the commentary would be in English only. This proved to be NOT the case! Most of the tour was conducted in both languages. Prior to departure, we also received confusing details as to the start point for the trip and the hotels we would be staying in. These details were sent to us 48 hours before flying, but it appeared from our guide, that the hotels had been changed in May 2013. Before leaving the UK, The Holiday Place made a derisory offer of compensation for the inconvenience caused, which we rejected.AT NO TIME did Mauiva, or The Holiday Place, inform us that there was a possibility of the US Government closing the National Parks. If they had done so, we would have cancelled the trip altogether. It is clear from Mauiva's response to another reviewer, that they were well aware of the problem. In fact, by moving us to a later date, they recklessly increased the risk that we would be affected. Giving credit where it is due, the start of the tour went well. Our guide, Hella, was excellent and worked her socks off to try and make sure her guests were happy. Unfortunately, for Hella, Mauiva did not help her very much. We woke in The Claremont, Berkeley, (not at Fisherman's Wharf as we were told) on the 1st October, to discover that all the National Parks were closed, This meant we were unable to visit Yosemite, Cedar City, Bryce Canyon or The Grand Canyon. What did Mauiva do? They took us to Las Vegas for four days instead of one! They bought us tickets for a stand up comedian (Carrot Top), at the Luxor, and very late, hired a coach to take guests on a very long trip to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon, a trip we were unable to take, as were other guests too as, in desperation, we had made alternative bookings for that day. If we had travelled on the initial date, we would have been unaffected by the Government shut down, and had a guided tour only in English. Since our return, we sent full documentation of our complaint to The Holiday Place, as Mauiva's agent in the UK. Their representative took 31 days to reply, and the company completely ignored the central issues. That is: both Companies' recklessly changing the date of our tour, without advising us of the risks involved or offering us a full refund for the change of date. On our return to the UK, The Holiday Place failed to engage properly with us in resolving these issues.After protracted negotiations, we eventually accepted a totally inadequate level of compensation as we had other priorities to pursue. We would therefore, never deal with either The Holiday Place or Mauiva AirTours again. We strongly advise other people to take care before booking with either company.

Faaaantastic. Wildlife, nature, history, monuments, 'must see' sights and a host of experiences across four States with a diverse group of like-minded travelers in great hotels with great meals and multilingual Ria, one of the best guides we've ever encountered. What more could you ask for? Extraordinary value for money and a great way to see a lot in a short time frame without feeling too pushed. We will be returning to experience some places in more detail when time permits. Our advice to anyone contemplating the trip, just pack you bags and go - you don't even have to carry them.

We have just returned from the East Coast Experience. Our guide Sherry was marvelous, very organised and very knowledgeable. The hotels were fantastic. If you are thinking about doing this trip you will see fabulous sights, stay in brilliant hotels but its hard work. On the go some days from 7 in the morning to 8 at night. We were lucky and sailed down to the Carribean for a rest!

Dear Valued Guest,At Mauiva, we strive to provide all of our guests with a truly unique and hassle-free vacation experience and we were quite surprised to hear of your dis-satisfaction.While many of the attractions associated with the Western Wonder itinerary do encompass visits to national parks, the pending threat of the government shutdown was a situation which we at Mauiva monitored extremely closely and took seriously. This was done so that other experiences could be added to the tours in the event the groups were not able to visit the ones effected by the shutdowns, which of course ultimately occurred through no fault of Mauiva or the guests on our tours.Under the government shutdown, Mauiva made attempts to contact all guests whose Western Wonder itinerary were effected by the national park closures and offered full refunds up to 24 hours prior to departure if requested. The option for refund was offered to confirmed guests in the event they did not want to travel knowing they may not be able to see or visit some of the highlighted places associated with the tour due to the park closures and as well because itineraries were being altered to provide more time in some of the other top destinations which are also featured as part of the tour.Your arrival for the tour 2 days after receiving our advisement that alternate arrangements may be in place for your trip, and as well as no communication regarding cancellation or refund, implied an acceptance of an altered itinerary under such circumstances.While it is unfortunate that the recent government shutdown not only effected our tours but as well those with other companies and organizations over that period as well, the Mauiva AirCruise provides excellent value for price when compared to the alternative of booking each of the components of the tour individually.While your request focuses directly on unused airfare, please understand that the AirCruise vacation experience you booked, does not have subsequent airline tickets included that can be refunded. The total amount of the package encompasses all components which include hotel stays, transfers (air and land), meals and porterage to the attractions, gratuities, and dedicated travel host which are all part of the experience.Additionally, in the case of altered itineraries associated with the government shutdowns, funds which normally would have been applied to a hotel in Cedar City for example, would have been applied to offset costs associated with either additional nights or added attractions on the trip. Unfortunately we are unable to offer the original refund after consumption of the services provided nor for reasons mentioned above, be able to offer compensation for any unused airline tickets being these do not exist. This said, should you still have questions, we would be happy to discuss all in greater detail with you as we have previously reached out to you by phone, but to date have received no reply.

We have just returned from the 7 day Western Wonder tour. It was excellent! Our group consisted of people from all over the world....all english speaking. Our tour leader Hella was excellent, helpful and professional. The hotels and dining options were excellent on all counts. Each day was packed full and all of us retired to our rooms to sleep. In our opinion this is the best way to see many places in a short period of time. The crew on the plane were professional, always helpful. We did have a couple of glitches like a mudslide in Zion that occurred on the road so we had to wait while they cleared it. Weather is weather and you deal with what you get. All in all this was a wonderful adventure and we would recommend this tour to anyone.

Hi there!Thank you for the kind words and recommendation. We're so glad you enjoyed your Mauiva AirCruise Western Wonder Experience!We hope to see you again soon!All the best,Kevin