AskAladdin, The Egypt Experts! Recenzje 129

We were visiting Egypt for the first time and were a little skeptical about the whole trip, especially with what media has been showing these days about Egypt. From the get-go, our experience with Ask-Aladdin has been amazing and definitely unparalleled. As soon as we landed in Egypt, the representative was there to pick us up from airport, helped us in getting visas, escorted us all the way to the hotel, and ensured that we were comfortably checked in. Next day, we flew to Luxor and began our trip on 4-day Nile cruise and had a personalized guide, who is an Egyptologist, all throughout the cruise trip. For the next few days we stopped at various historical places along Nile and on 3rd day we arrived at Aswan, our final destination. The guide made our whole cruise trip experience historically enriching and fun in the evening times suggesting the events to participate on the cruise boat. Albeit we were travelling with three (3) kids, below the ages of 10, Ask-Aladdin’s arrangement ensured that kids were constantly entertained with various rides such as horse rides during historical stops, comfortable personalized mobile vans, personal sailing boat rides etc. On 5th day we were back in Cairo and spent next 2 days touring Giza pyramids and old Cairo Cathedrals.

Overall I can definitely say that this is one of the best trips in my entire life and me and my whole family had awesome fun and amazed by the history of Egypt. My sincere thanks to Ask-Aladdin for making this trip a breeze with their hospitality and their impeccable arrangements and finally Egyptians are very friendly people.

The biggest problem I had with the company is they took long times to respond to emails. In addition, no one answered any of the phone numbers on their website. This made booking inconvenient as I had questions that I wanted answer prior to paying for the full trip. Once in Egypt, everything was very smooth, but the planning part had me frustrated.

We have completed a trip to Egypt (23-31rd December 2016) impeccably organized by Heba and Our trip guide Mr. Bassem Ask Aladdin.We went with our family Me my wife Son and my in-laws.We visit Cairo Luxor ,Aswan and Abu simbel.
Arriving at Cairo airport we were met by Ask Aladdin's agent, Mr. Ramadan, who steered us through immigration and customs and ensured all of our travel arrangements in Egypt were completely stress free. At no time were we unsure or anxious about our transport, accommodation or our security.
Our accommodation was exceptionally good 5 star. What could be better than gazing at the pyramids from your bedroom in Cairo, feluccas sailing in a Nile sunset from your balcony in Luxor or all of Cairo spread before you from our last hotel on the banks of the Nile. Our four night Nile cruise not only took us to many amazing archaeological sites, but also turned out to be great fun, scenically stunning and very relaxing. Again, very comfortable accommodation, great food and enthusiastic staff.
Our guides Bassem in our whole trip extremely knowledgeable and very accommodating to our needs. As well as giving us all the information we could need about the ancient sites we chose to visit, they also gave us insights into modern Egyptian life and the Egyptian people. Their generosity in sharing and explaining aspects of their lives fostered in us a great affection for Egypt. Bassem also took us Al-khalidi ,we taste wonderful food ,cane juice .He is wonderful person .My 8years son still love him a lot .
We had studied Ancient Egyptian History at school, so this trip had been a dream for us,It lived up to and beyond all expectations and we unreservedly recommend Ask Aladdin if you are planning to visit Egypt. And do visit Egypt. It's an amazing experience on so many levels.
Heartfelt thanks to everyone at Ask Aladdin who made this journey so memorable.

Thank you
Amalendu and Family

I am very pleased with how my trip to egypt was due to the exemplary service of Ask Aladdin and my guide Bassem. Even before my trip I was given a free upgrade from a three star to a five star hotel .My representatives in Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan made sure I did not face any problems and made sure I was satisfied with the hotel and the rooms. My guide Bassem's lectures about the history of Egypt also lightened my trip.I enjoyed his lectures a lot and my son also befriended him. He also made sure I was buying the best Egypt has to offer and warned me about what I should avoid. I very much enjoyed his company during my trip and I have been referring him to my family members who are planning to go to Egypt. Overall I very much enjoyed my trip due to the great service AskAladdin provided.

Recently, friends of ours invited us to accompany them on a ten day trip to Egypt. With a little apprehension, we consented to go. While booking the trip with AskAladdin, the package almost seemed too good to be true. From the accommodations, the pyramid/temple tours, hot air balloon ride, Nile River cruise, Felucca ride, etc. - all exceeded our expectations. An AskAladdin agent, Mustafa, met us at the airport and quickly got us through the custom/visa area and Zaki, our driver was always ready and waiting to pick us up and drop us off at our next destination. Most importantly, Hazem Bazid, our Eqyptologist, was a wealth of knowledge. He was a wonderful person to have as our guide. We highly recommend AskAlladin!
Vern and Jean, Connecticut

P.S. If anyone is concerned about security (as we were), we never once felt threatened or uncomfortable.

Throughout my work life, I've always been taught to underpromise and overdeliver . . . and that is exactly what happened with our recent trip to Egypt. I am so happy I stumbled upon Ask Aladdin. I must have had 10 different phone calls with Alan Khalifa before we went. He was always courteous, answered my questions and never made me feel rushed to get to the next phone call. As promised, an agent met us at the Cairo airport and walked us through the Visa and Passport Control process. Then we were put in a waiting van and whisked off to Giza with an exciting ride through Cairo. (NOTE: traffic in Cairo is NOT for the faint of heart but certainly adds to the whole experience!). The next morning, we met our Egyptologist guide - Hazem Bazid - and we were together for most of the next 8 days. Alan had told me we would like Hazem . . . and we did! He was incredibly well versed in ancient Egypt as well as able to answer the many cultural questions we threw at him. We had a wonderful driver (Zaki) who braved the Cairo traffic many different times as we went into the city to visit the Egypt Museum (fabulous!), mosques, markets, airport runs for intra-Egypt flights, etc. Then Hazem flew with us down to Luxor and took us through the wonderful antiquities that are on both the east and west sides of the Nile there. (Tip: absolutely take the balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings!) The ride down the Nile on the M/S Farah couldn't have been any nicer. We enjoyed Aswan and are also glad we took the extra side trip to Abu Simbel. I would highly recommend this as well. Lastly, we added on a trip to Memphis and Saqqara which was also very nice. All things said, I'm not sure how the accommodations and logistics could have been any better. Each evening we met for dinner with another couple we were traveling with and were in awe about how well planned (and executed) things were. If we needed extra time to do something, Hazem found the time. I will finish by saying I would recommend Ask Aladdin to anyone looking for a trip of a lifetime to Egypt. This is VALUE TRAVEL at its best. We are 100% satisfied.
Joe and Sandy K. Ellington CT

We were kind of skeptical for planning to go to Egypt because few of our friends were telling about what was going on there , it may be unsafe and etc. But when we talked to Ask-Aladin , they understood our concerns and , told us that tourist are totally safe there , the people of Ask-Aladin are really nice. They made our tour plan as per our schedule. They gave us the best tour Guide , (his name is Mr. Bassem Samir) , Bassem is a very knowledgeable guy and very friendly and understandable and have a very good sense of humor , he was like our family in all those days , at the end out Egypt vacation was really wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend Ask-Aladdin to everybody who want to go to Egypt for vacation. The kept all their promises what they were supposed to do. Thanks Ask-Aladin!

Perfect organization, all vests were on time as per the schedule, the tour guide was very professional, high end luxury cars for all transportation, very professional staff overall very satisfied and would strongly recommend Ask Aladdin for all your trips

Our family of four just came back from a 10 day trip to Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. We had a wonderful time there. Our guide Azhem and our tour coordinator Mustafa were there with us all the way. Our guide had so much knowledge about the sites we visited and made sure we didn't miss any important info.
Just some advice and thoughts that we needed to share are as follows.
1. There are many hagglers around Egypt which is very annoying. On one hand there is great security entering pyramids and other sites but on the other hand there are guys with a fake ID ready to haggle the tourist and nothing is being done about that. Which makes us doubt the security.
2. We were surprised with the excessive tipping culture of Egypt. We needed to tip at every step and more. If Ask Aladdin provides 5 different drivers then we needed to tip each one. If our bags were carried out there was a separate tip for the person who takes the bag from your room and separate tip to person who puts them in the car. That continues through out the trip. Airport bathroom have person asking for tips when all they do is handout napkins. I understand the rest of the city bathrooms but airports shouldn't have that. Our guide had to give us guidelines for tipping.
3. The hotel that we stayed in Aswan was supposed to be 5 stars but it was rundown and an empty hotel that would be 2 stars at the most. The restaurants were closed and rooms were in need of major updating. Possibly due to recent slow down in tourism.
4. The Niles river cruise was wonderful and also excellent food and service.
Overall Ask Aladdin service was excellent! Our guides made sure we were ok and takled some of these challenges. Our advice to Ask Aladdin is that there needs to be a better plan for tipping. Tipping should be included in the overall price. So the guides can handle it. Our sincere thanks to Ask Aladdin for making our trip a success!

AskAladdin looked after us from beginning to end. We had a tight schedule so they tailored our itinerary to suit us best and it certainly worked. The tour guides they hired for Cairo & Luxor were extremely friendly and their knowledge of Egypt was extraordinary.

The only piece of feedback would be if AskAladdin provided a suggested amount to tip for both the guides and drivers. As we didn't know how much each activity/day cost, we couldn't gauge how much to give. We hope we were generous!

We had an incredible time in Egypt and have many fond memories.

I am so glad I booked with AskAladdin. They were so helpful every step of the way from the booking to arrival to the tours. We arrived in Egypt very late (2:30 am) after a missed flight, we were greated by someone who helped us with our luggage questions (the airline lost our bags) he then helped us get the Visa and through customs. He was on top of it calling the airline for us demanding answers where our bags were so we didn't have to stress it. Our tour guide Adham was fantastic!!!! I loved having him teach us all about the ancient life in Egypt. He was kind, knowledgeable and had the same goals we did to keep us safe and have a great time. For those worried about safely never once did I feel unsafe there. If we wanted to do anything not included in the tour (like the hot air balloon ride) Adham was helpful and would arrange the whole thing for us. Really it was all around wonderful and we hope to retun again soon! Thank you for making us feel at home in Egypt

Excelent and trustful service with very kind people, I would do it again! I'm really happy with the service

Ask Aladdin is a trustworthy company you should consider while you are planning your trip to Egypt. All the staff I contacted during the trip were professional and friendly. We felt the trip enjoyable and safe with a well planned travel arrangement, a warm welcome from the local representatives and drivers, a comfortable stay, and especially the informative introduction of our tour guide. We really have a wonderful time to experience the ancient Egypt culture date back thousands of years.

We were asked if we wanted to visit the khan el khalil market. Not knowing what it was about we were told that it is like a spice market where haggling is a part of the act. We were made to believe that the market was "just another" market so we decided not to take part of it on the first day when we were too exhausted from our flight arriving late 7 hours later and giving us only 3 hours to sleep and get ready for the day. We of course not knowing how important the market was said no. We were allowed to take part of it on the last day and our request approved by you but we wish we knew how amazing the market truly was and would have loved to spent just about all day there. Other than that ask alladin was willing to work with us.

My husband and I just came back from a 17 days trip in Egypt, I compared hundreds of tours, checked reviews and took about 90 hours to organize the trip. Ask Aladdin was the best agency experience of my life, and I am VERY very demanding an picky. Since the email exchanges with Ms. Heba Elbarbary, Mr. Alan Khalifa, and their local (US representative) Mohamed help to circumvent a problem I had with my credit card for the entire trip payment, the agency demonstrated high professionalism, all representatives are cortenous, EXTREMELY patient, thorough, PRECISE in their responses, and very reassuring. The trip was spectacular, the local contact., Mr. Mustafa (who arranged all the logistic and airport help) was very helpful and gracious, the drivers are careful and kind, and our personal guide egyptologist, Mr. Hazem Bazid, who fully immersed us in the Egyptian history, culture, and made sure that we had a full understanding of each site we visited, positioning the site in history and providing continuity throughout the entire trip. We loved the trip and we highly recommend the packages suggested by AskAlladin. We visited Alexandria, Cairo, 7-days Nile cruise, and extended until Abu Simbel - we were upgraded to Sonesta Star (with cabins), though the crew from Sonesta Goddess was more approachable and nice (make sure your trip uses the SONESTA boats, only) - the only complaint is that I was harassed by the masseuse representative, really annoying. If your trip duration is tight, cut Alexandria but keep the other sites. We also recommend to visit the valley of the workers, if you haven't this one in your radar. The hotel choices were fabulous, except Alexandria, we recommend AskAlladin to change from Sheraton to another 5-star hotel. BTW, if you read other reviews that do suggest to stick to 5-star hotels, DO. JUST DO, it will make a difference. Probably it did not matter 10 years ago, but you will feel the difference, nowadays.

Caution: Read and prepare yourselves with local vendors, they tend to insist too much, to harassment point, they are deceiving and trick you. If you do not have patience, like me - avoid buying from them and avoid eye-contact. I definitely thank Mr. Bazid for helping us as the third-party negotiator, for us. If you hate bargaining like me and hate the deceiving part of getting souvenirs that you may regret later or you end screaming at the vendor as they do not leave you alone as I did, ask your agent to help you with the negotiation and to guide you in terms of quality.

Egypt is for ever in my heart, people are kind, genuine and friendly. AskAlladin will help responding all your questions prior to the trip and be upfront with expectations and what you would like to see, not to see, what to do or not to.

Be prepared for tips, everywhere, all the time. you can exchange $ at the airport AT ARRIVAL, the bank is 24x7 and you need to buy the visa upon arrival, anyway and if you only need the visa, bring change: $25/person. Two tips that will make your trip more pleasurable and you will avoid surprises: Ask for HIGH (I MEAN HIGH) floor at the hotel, and Nile side room, if you have a ridiculously soft sleep like me, so you are not awake at sunrise with local noise. I mean it, and take my advice very literally. We were lucky as we were upgraded a few times, but if it is difficult for you to sleep, follow this advice. Some hotels may have a wonderful restaurant that shares space between smokers and non smokers, or the space split is mostly for smokers, so if you are allergic do ask for tables far from the smoking section, which is much larger than the non-smoking.

I want to reiterate that the help we got from ALL the AskAlladin staff, prior to the trip, during the trip and all the logistics, were spectacular. You WILL pay more than a group tour, but it is totally worth-it, and it is 100% private and customizable trip, it makes a huge difference for a trip in EGYPT. This comment comes from a 100% self-organizer, where in Europe and the Americas we organize everything ourselves. Believe me, in Egypt you will want to have the comfort, the help and the guidance from an agency, we do recommend AskAlladin. The remaining 3 days of the trip, we got a hotel reservation, and we got help from another mega international agency, and their service was not comparable to AskAlladin, in any way. Know that these multi-mega international agencies do hire local agencies, representatives to help, hence they are not employees of the same group. The choice by Ask Aladdin for the local help was IMPECCABLE, particularly Mr. Mustafa. At any time we felt that the trip/service quality was not spectacular. Also, having the same guide with us at all times (he travelled with us), we had the explanation continuity, he was extremely professional, kind, educated, and due to the fact that he lived in several countries and studied in American schools, his English was impeccable. And no, my native-language is not English but this is the chosen language of the trip. WE LOVED EVERYTHING!!!

Safety: Obviously there are risks and we still do suggest travelers to organize the trip via agency and DO NOT go by yourself, I mean even if you are a couple, do organize with an agency and have someone with you. Also, for precaution, be in touch with international travels notification and do know where your embassy is, in Cairo. But at every location we were at, we felt safe, the security is very high and the in/out traffic is controlled by the tourism police. If you are American and you don't mind having a policeman with you at all times, tell your agent you do want to specify you are American. We did not feel the need, and you are still surrounded and protected by your agent and driver. You are never (NEVER) left alone. Are you at risk? Yes, you are but you are at risk in other large cities as well where there have been attacks by fanatics so you have half idea of going to Egypt, DO GO NOW as it is less crowded and more affordable. Despite of not getting any confirmation from locals, who obviously will try to deviate from the subject, I would avoid the Sinai area altogether, PERIOD - not only the North Sinai, which is definitely "closer" to danger (Google it if you are unsure). If you are in Egypt for the first time, and do not have much time, no reason to go to Sinai anyway, and if you are not a scuba diver or a snorkeler, you will not miss it - is it beautiful and interesting? YES. Avoid it, anyway, as well as Hurgada. You can do these things elsewhere, focus on the rest of Egypt | But if you scuba dive, DO GO to the Red Sea, it is one of the best places to scuba in the world - we are not divers.

We went to Dubai after Egypt and did the desert excursion there, instead of Egypt. DO NOT do that as you will be deceived, if you want to go any day, half-day, or days in the desert, do this in Egypt.

If you are blond and single, or have blue eyes, and you travel towards South, do cover your hair and/or be prepared to be stared A LOT. I am not blonde and got a ton of people staring, in a friendly way, though some people may be annoyed, I was not but avoid male teenagers. Take pics with teen GIRLS or kids, needless to say to avoid taking pictures WITH teenager boys. That is kind of obvious, but I thought I would post anyway.

Do travel in November, it is the best time of the year, and do bring a light pullover / long sleeve blouse for the evening, just in case.

Make sure to visit the Mohez Street and related touristic points, and you can skip the park completely, unless you have a month in Egypt.

Last thing: I don't care if you have no idea of what this is: GO to the tannoura show at the Wekalet el Ghouri center, near the Khan El Khalili. My husband totally does not care and he is not interested in any folk dance, but he left the place, stunned, speechless. I promise that you will not regret, it is jaw-falling.

We hope you enjoy your trip in Egypt, we loved it and it was the best trip of our lives. The comments above are totally unbiased and honest, from a very demanding tourist. Cheers! O&H

Being an Architect Egypt was number one in my bucket list
We were skeptical, but ASK ALADDIN, went out of their way to make this trip exceptionally memorable. We purchased budget package because that itinerary was the best, it covered all major points of interest and relaxation at HURGHADA ocean front and than we upgraded to 5 star, Mr.Aladdin spoke to me several times during booking and made sure we were going to get 5 plus star. All hotels were top notch,
Meridian at pyramid was 5* on surface but very outdated, I guess that was picked up due to location, because Cairo traffic is horrible. Mr Ramadan picked up up and dropped back, very cool and pleasant guy, cruise was just ok, it was just a place to sleep and move along Nile river. Nothing more.
14 hour train ride from Cairo to Aswan was not very comfortable, but that's only way to see whole Egypt passing thru windows, trailing along Nile river on one side, lush greenery and sand mountains on other side, what a scenery and we passed thru many many towns and cultures...beautiful.
Itinerary for all 11 days was very well planned, we covered most of the stuff from landmarks, museums, beautiful scenery and great experience.
We also did few trips on our own, one of them Abu simbal in my opinion over rated, very time consuming and expensive too..we didn't enjoy. Hot air balloon was amazing, it's an experience, how a team of workers do so fast and great view
We always had a A driver and a guide, some location a security agent also drove with us to protect US citizens, which was great assurance
The tour guide BESSAM was " The Best part of our trip" he was so smart, knowledgeable and extremely caring person. He went out of his way to help us with food, shopping and was with us 12-15 hours a day if needed, what a nice person. We have done many guided tours, mostly with larger groups. Though this was much better with only our party, we could customize, but we felt bad that tour guide got so little tip for working 12-14 hours a day.infact driver got same, Tour guide does lot more work and he is educated and very caring, we tried to top a bit, but we could not cut from driver as suggested in guideline..so please look at the guidelines.
Wish we could give more, but honestly tipping rest of the world in Egypt was the worst part of our trip. Each couple spent at least $250 in tips for 12 day trip with nothing descent to show for BESSAM, he never complained and came back to assist us again.
I heard other tourist in Egypt complains about same thing, bathrooms, paid boats. Guard man, any one you talk to wants tip...that was ridiculous, just letting you know so people are well prepared.
Overall Egypt is recovering from depression, very poor country, but most heart warming people and abundance of History
Very nice hotels...thanks Mr Aladdin and thanks Bessam, a trip to remember.....keep up good work

I just went on a seven-day Nile cruise that I booked through AskAladdin. I enjoyed every minute of my cruise. I spent one day in Cairo prior to flying to Luxor and boarding the cruise ship. My day in Cairo was amazing. My tour guide, Sally, was warm, attentive, informative, and great fun. I spent one of the most thrilling days of my life!

The cruise itself was perfect. My cabin was very comfortable, the food was fine, and the pace was laid back and easy. I cannot express how delightful it was to leisurely float down the Nile and visit a different temple every day. My tour guide was also perfect. Moustafa, too, was informative, caring, funny, and altogether delightful.

I appreciated how much care I had during my solo trip. Traveling alone can be stressful, but AskAladdin personnel took incredible care of me and ensured that all my needs were met from the minute I stepped off the plane in Cairo to when I walked through the departure gate at the Luxor airport. I think that AskAladdin went the extra mile to guarantee that I had the best holiday ever.

My friend and I, two women felt very safe in Egypt. Even if we were not on a tour I would feel comfortable walking around certain areas by myself. Ask Aladdin tours is very accommodating and their staff is superior. From the handlers to the drivers and our very educated English speaking guide, Adham was wonderful. The river cruise was outstanding, the food and service was superior. I would not hesitate to take a trip to Egypt.

This was our first time in Egypt and Ask Aladdin, especially Heba, did an outstanding job making it memorable and extremely easy to visit an area that is pretty foreign for American travelers. The Egyptologist/Guide (Yasser Wahab) was not only well-versed and intelligent but also a very nice person who went above-and-beyond to help us with purchases, experiences beyond the usual travel sites and even took us to Egyptian restaurants that were good and safe to eat at. Ask Aladdin provided a couple van drivers in Cairo/Alexandri (Zaki) and in Aswan/Luxor (Islam), who were so fun to be with and absolutely excellent behind the wheel in a country where driving is pretty much a sport and five lanes become 8. We spent about two weeks and only regretted that we were unable to visit Abu Simbal due to time constrains at Aswan. We would have rather added a day there and taken a day off Cairo at the end but, overall, this was a pretty spectacular time. The best part was having the same Egyptologist/Guide for the entire two weeks that was devoted to only us; his English was perfect and we enjoyed his company both personally and professionally. If you want to see Egypt, this is a great time to go. The prices are good, the crowds are low and it is not to be missed. Don't worry about safety... totally NO PROBLEM to travel there and, quite frankly, there were more security people and metal detectors than you will EVER find in the U.S. Friendliest people we have ever met in Egypt!

I booked the budget tour of Egypt for my whole family. We were able to customize our tour any way we wanted to: adding days, more tours, extending stays etc. AskAladddin made the changes and updated our itinerary every time quickly and without issue. When we arrived in Egypt everything went according to plan. We were met by a guide that helped us through customs and got us to the hotel, the hotels, tour guides, transportation, and restaurants were outstanding. Our tour ran perfectly. We were very happy with every aspect of it. Thanks to AskAladdin we were able to turn our dream trip to Egypt into a reality.