The Good Times Travel Experience

 

When planning to take an escorted tour, whether it be a short getaway or the tour of a lifetime, it’s important to do some research and plan carefully. The success of a tour depends heavily upon the decisions made prior to departing. There are many tour operators in the travel industry ready to take your money and send you on your way. But how are you supposed to know if they’re experienced, financially secure and able to provide a good value for your money?

Good Times Travel is a family-owned and operated tour operator that began from the ground up 32 years ago. We began as a small neighborhood tour operator offering several southern California day trips each week. Over the years we have continued to grow as travelers have continued to travel with us and have subsequently brought their friends and family members along with them. Today, Good Times Travel operates several hundred day tours annually throughout southern California as well as a wide variety of multi-day tours throughout California, North America and to international destinations.

Since our modest beginnings, we have continued to design and add hundreds of tour itineraries to new and exciting destinations, designed to offer our travelers the mo\st comprehensive historical, cultural and exciting qualities of the places they visit, while feeling completely taken care of by our tour directors. In addition, we’ve provided our customers a great value for their money, while still providing outstanding quality and service. In total, we ultimately strive to design tour packages that feel as if they were created with you specifically in mind!

We believe that motorcoach travel is the best way to travel. Not only is it the most efficient and environmentally friendly but you’re able to sit high above the sights while a knowledgeable tour guide passes on to you the important facts or stories that go along with the landmark or locale that you are visiting.  You don't have to handle your luggage, worry about directions or think about where you're going to eat.  Your tour director, driver and local guides have it all covered!

At Good Times Travel, we believe that it’s important to explore and learn all that you can when you visit a specific destination. Who knows if you’ll ever return? This is why our tours include the “off the beaten path” stops along with the popular landmarks and destinations. We believe that it’s these lesser-known points of interest that truly represent the area that you’re visiting. This is why every one of our tours is planned from the bottom up by someone on our staff who is familiar with the area and knows what really signifies the true nature of each location on the tour. 

Considering traveling with someone other than Good Times Travel? There are advantages to traveling with us and we've listed some of them below. Ask who your considering traveling with if they offer the following?

• Services of professional, certified tour directors
• Expert, local, step-on guides
• The option to travel with your tour director and group from your hometown rather than having to fly alone and meet them at the airport or first hotel
• Sightseeing and admission charges included with few optionals to buy
• Deluxe, 2018 or newer, fully-equipped touring motorcoaches
• Included airport-hotel transfers (with purchase of group airfare)
• Movies shown onboard to supplement what you're seeing
• Water and snacks provided on your journey
• Maps provided to many of the areas you visit
• Special "insider" and behind-the-scenes experiences
• Fellow passengers and tour directors from your area
• Credit cards accepted online
• Registered Seller of Travel with the State of California and all payments for multi-day tours are held in an escrow account

And that's just scratching the surface.  We've expended on some of the more important ones below that you should keep in mind when deciding who you will trust with your vacation.

Local, Family-Owned and Operated Company
While we offer all the benefits and savings as our large competitors, we are a family-owned local business catering primarily to travelers in Southern California. Because your traveling companions and Tour Directors are from your general area, you’ll often travel with people you’ve met before and therefore enjoy a greater sense of camaraderie on our tours. Further, this makes for an ideal environment for single travelers who quickly make new friends. Welcome to the family!

All-Inclusive Vacation Packages
Our prices include most of your travel expenses at an incomparable value – hotels, many meals, local guides, trains, sightseeing, entertainment, taxes and most gratuities – with no hidden costs and few optionals. Compare our inclusions and prices to our competitors and you’ll see!

Quality & Value
We design our vacations to insure high quality and value priced. From some of the world’s best hotels, local guides, featured entertainment, meals and our signature "mystery stops," our travelers often remark that a Good Times Travel vacation is better than that of a large "pricey" tour operator, and at a significant discount.

Travel in Comfort an Style
The late-model, luxury touring coaches that we use on our tours are raised high and have large windows ideal for sightseeing, comfortable reclining seats, arm rests, luggage bins, video screens, air conditioning, a restroom and kneel for easier access. Passengers often comment that our coaches are the best they've ever been on.

Unique and Diverse Itineraries
Creative itineraries custom-designed to our traveler’s requests that feature the "must see" attractions as well as "off-the-beaten-path" experiences at a leisurely pace – that together allow for discovery, education, and inspiration.

Peace of Mind Travel
Before, during and following your journey, we will go above and beyond your expectations to ensure your vacation is spectacular. From making arrangements to extend your stay at your start or final city, passing on special requests to hotels and airlines, reviewing final documents and details with you prior to your journey, hotel check-in, luggage handling, or emergency assistance while traveling with us – everyone at Good Times Travel will work to ensure you are impressed beyond your expectations.

Featured Entertainment
On most tours, fun and interactive entertainment reflective of the character and culture of the area you are visiting is included. From Los Angeles to New York City, all included entertainment is the latest and best available with preferred seating.

Accommodations –Reflecting the Locale You’re Visiting
The Grand Hotel, the Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, the Apple Farm Inn. These are just some examples of the hotels offered on our tours that reflect the locale you are visiting. When planning a tour, we search for hotels that are historic, luxurious, unique, or a combination of these, all the while ensuring that they are centrally or scenically located and continually monitored for comfort, ambiance and service.

Authentic Dining Experiences
The meals you experience while on a vacation are integral to your overall experience. Because of this, we include meals at restaurants that offer a true "taste" of the area you are visiting and offer menus that not only typify the cuisine of the destination you are visiting but offer choice and variety.  Say no to chain restaurants!

Leisurely-Paced Tours
All of our tours are designed by our knowledgeable tour designers who travel to the areas you are visiting to ensure your journey allows enough planned sightseeing as well as leisure time so as to create a balanced vacation.

Fully Accredited and Licensed
As a registered seller of travel with the State of California, we adhere to a strict code of ethics and laws as required by the state including the use of an escrow account to ensure your money is always safe. See more online at: https://oag.ca.gov/travel 

Renowned Expertise
Each Good Times Travel journey evolves over more than a year of research and planning by our tour designers to ensure your vacation surpasses all of your expectations. Our professional and knowledgeable Tour Directors are dedicated to ensuring an educational, fun and safe journey while you travel together. They will not only share the history or facts of an area, but are there to suggest a restaurant, help you with local customs and aid in any way necessary. Lastly, the Local Guides that join your group on tour are hired by us to insure special "insider" experiences and knowledge that only a local would be aware of.