Top travel agents named by Travel + Leisure

October 27, 8:25 PMRaleigh International Travel ExaminerJS Fletcher

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Compiled by J. S. Fletcher and Kathy M. Newbern

If you're planning a special trip, consider a travel agent. They are professionals and know the ins and outs of travel. They can be your "Go-to" source for that perfect trip for you.

Whether you’re looking to reserve a seat on a sold-out flight, book that preferred corner room with a view, or map out a complicated itinerary, a trusted expert is key. Since your time and money matter more than ever, agents can take the hassle out of planning a trip.

Travel + Leisure unveils its eighth annual A-List of 129 Top Travel Agents in the October issue, as selected by T+L editors, who evaluated hundreds of candidates for this highly-selective guide. This list organizes the agents by area of specialization and includes their years of experience, other specialties, consulting fees, and contact information. For more recommendations including over-the-top requests, secret finds, and dream trips from all 129 agents, visit the 2009 A-List

Travel + Leisure Editor-in-Chief Nancy Novogrod said, “Given the complications of life these days, along with the abundant opportunities to travel well at a good price, an experienced travel agent can make a huge difference. Our A-List Guide is a terrific resource for interesting travels--and stress reduction.”

Travel + Leisure’s 2009 A-List

Super-Agents
Priscilla Alexander* (Protravel International, New York City)
Barbara Gallay* (Linden Frosch Travel, New York City)
Diane Hilliard* (Hilliard & Olander Ltd., Stillwater, MN)
Lisa Lindblad (Lisa Lindblad Travel Design, New York City)
Mary Ann Ramsey* (Betty Maclean Travel, Naples, FL)
Anne Morgan Scully* (McCabe World Travel, McLean, VA)
Pallavi Shah (Our Personal Guest, Inc., New York City)
Jim Strong* and Nancy Strong (Strong Travel, Dallas, TX)
Valerie Ann Wilson (Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc., New York City)

United States and Canada
Alaska – Harold C. Jenkins (Corporate Vacations, American Express, Lake Forest, IL)
Alaska – Margret Propper (Brownell Travel, Birmingham, AL)
Hawaii – Carolyne Brandon (American Express Travel, Palo Alto, CA)
Hawaii – Julia Kostenko (Altour International, New York City)
Hawaii – Darlene Mulkewich (American Express Travel, Oak Brook IL)
Las Vegas – Maria Guerrieri (Linden Frosch Travel, New York City)
New York City – Amy Glass (Protravel International, New York City)
Western U.S. – Deborah Trevino (Hobson Travel, Naperville, IL)
Canada – Mark Hoyer (American Express Travel, Houston, TX)

Europe
England – Ellen LeCompte (Sterling Brownell Travel, Richmond, VA)
England – Tammi R. Van Volkinburgh (Private Travel Consulting Services, Raleigh, NC)
England – Susie Worthy (NoteWorthy Group, London, England)
France – Craig Loupassakis (Liberty Travel, Allentown, PA)
France – Clare Seyer (Your French Connexion, Shoreline, WA)
Germany – Elisabeth Landry (Century Travel, Atlanta, GA)
Greece – Kelly Shea (Earle Travel Co., Indianapolis, IN)
Greece – Christos Stergiou (TrueGreece, Maroussi, Greece)
Hungary – Nathalie Nagy (Protravel International, New York City)
Ireland – Carol Cornell (Covington Travel Inc., For Wayne, IN)
Italy – Margot Cushing (Linden Frosch Travel, New York City)
Italy – Joyce Falcone (Italian Concierge, Aspen, CO)
Italy – Deborah Hyte (Unique Travel Services at Altour, Los Angeles, CA)
Italy – Judy Nussbaum (Unique Travel of Palm Beach, Delray Beach, FL)
Italy – Andrea Sertoli (Select Italy, Chicago, IL)
Italy – Marjorie Shaw (Marjorie Shaw’s Insider’s Italy, Bronxville, NY)
Italy – Sally Watkins (Century Travel, Austin, TX)
Russia – Greg Tepper (Exeter International, Tampa FL)
Scandinavia – Carol Arklind (Travel Dynamics Group Inc., La Jolla, CA)
Scandinavia – Tor Jensen (Jensen World Travel, Wilmette, IL)
Scotland – F. Peter Herff II (Herff Travel Inc., San Antonio, TX)
Scotland – Claire Schoeder (Century Travel, Atlanta, GA)
Spain – Virginia Irurita (Made For Spain, Madrid, Spain)
Spain – Judith Wolf (Frosch, Deerfield, IL)
Turkey – Fred Poe (Poe Travel Service, Little Rock, AR)

Latin America
Argentina – Maita Barrenechea (Mai 10, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Belize – Katie Nelson (Belize and Costa Rica Travel Points, Boulder, CO)
Brazil – Robert Betenson (Matueté Expeditions, São Paulo, Brazil)
Brazil – Jerry Greenberg* (Cassis Travel Services Inc., Los Angeles, CA)
Costa Rica – Rachel Bockhoven (Big Five Tours & Expeditions, Stuart, FL)
Ecuador – Tatiana Johnston (Big Five Tours & Expeditions, Stuart, FL)
Mexico – Marianne Braly (Now Voyager Travel, Huntington Beach, CA)
South America – Carlos L. Fida (PanAmerican Tours and Travel, Salt Lake City, UT)
South America – Eric Sheets (Latin Excursions, Bal Harbour, FL)

Caribbean
Margie Hand (All Seasons Travel, Montgomery, AL)
Janet McLaughlin (Provident Travel Corporation, Cincinnati, OH)
Susan Shevlin (Linden Frosch Travel, New York City)

Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific
Australia – Catharina Apodac (San Diego Travel Group, San Diego, CA)
Australia – Cassandra Bookholder (Camelback Odyssey Travel, Phoenix, AZ)
Australia – Terry Coffey (Windward Travel/Tzell Travel Group, Fair Haven, NJ)
Australia – Suzy Mercien-Ferol (Touring Treasures, Brighton, Queensland, Australia)
French Polynesia – Susanne Hamer (TravelStore, Los Angeles, CA)
French Polynesia – Robin Turner (American Express Travel, Chicago, IL)
New Zealand – Donna Thomas (New Zealand Travel, Langhorne, PA)

Asia
China – Karin Hansen (Frosch, Deerfield, IL)
China – Guy Rubin (Imperial Tours, Beijing, China)
China – Mei Zhang (WildChina, Bethesda, MD)
Hong Kong – Laura Woo (West University Travel, Houston, TX)
India/Sri Lanka – Ellison Poe (Poe Travel, Little Rock, AK)
India/Sri Lanka – Ashish Sanghrajka (Big Five Tours & Expedition, Stuart, FL)
Japan – Noriko Townsend (Aggie Travel Points International, Fort Collins, CO)
Southeast Asia – Diane Embree (Michael’s Travel Centre, Westlake Village, CA)
Southeast Asia – Sandee Litwin (Litwin Travel, Los Angeles, CA)
Southeast Asia – Darlene Ravin (Andavo Independent Elite, Greenwood Village, CO)

Africa and the Middle East
Africa – Robert Berghaier (Premier Tours, Philadelphia, PA)
Africa – Katie Cadar (TravelStore Platinum, Los Angeles, CA)
Africa – Dana Welch (Travel Society, Denver, CO)
Africa – Joel Zack (Heritage Tours Private Travel, New York City)
East Africa – Sandy Cunningham (Uncharted Outposts Safari & Travel Company, Santa Fe, NM)
East Africa – Jeanie Fundora (Cox & Kings U.S.A., Tampa, FL)
Egypt – Malaka Hilton (Admiral Travel, Sarasota, FL)
Israel – Rachel Epstein (Frosch, New York City)
Middle East – Janet Moore (Distant Horizons, Long Beach, CA)
Morocco – Laurette de Moro (Worldview Travel, Santa Ana, CA)
Morocco – Michael Diamond (Heritage Tours Private Travel, New York City)
Safaris – Norman Pieters (Karell’s African Dream Vacations, Miami, FL)
Southern Africa – Julian Harrison (Premier Tours, Philadelphia, PA)
Southern Africa – Robert Malmberg (Malmberg Travel Companies, Boston, MA)
Southern Africa – Judy Udwin (Century Travel, Atlanta, GA)
Southern Africa – Phoebe Weinberg (Greatways Travel, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI)
United Arab Emirates – Lindsey Wallace (Linara Travel, Eagle, ID)

Cruises
Cruises – Sheryl Bernstein (American Express Travel, Miami, FL)
Cruises – Kathy Falkensammer* (Prestige Travel and Cruises, Las Vegas, NV)
Cruises – Betsy Patton (Betty Maclean Travel, Inc., Naples, FL)
Cruises – Anne Halsey Smith (Gayle Gillies Travel/Worldview Travel, Rancho Santa Fe, CA)
Cruises – Liz Sutton* (Alabama World Travel, Montgomery, AL)
Cruises – Ruth Turpin (Cruises Etc. Travel, Fort Worth, TX)
Residential Cruises – Claudia Gordon (Betty Maclean Travel, Inc., Naples, FL)
World Cruises – Lois Moran (Betty Maclean Travel, Inc., Naples, FL)

Family
Family/Active – Fontaine Denna Gatti (Travelong of Summit, Summit, NJ)
Family/Active – Kay Merrill (Are We There Yet? Family Adventures, Larkspur, CA)
Family/Hotels & Resorts – Kimberly Wilson Wetty* (Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc., New York City)
Family/Multigenerational – Kathryn Sudeikis* (All About Travel, Mission, KS)
Family/Safaris – Paul Largay (Largay Travel, Waterbury, CT)
Family/Skiing – Kathy Hannon (American Express Travel, Dallas, TX)

Business Travel, Hotels, and Spas
Business Travel – Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg (Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc., New York City)
Hotels – Manny Beauregard (Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc., Atlanta, GA)
Hotels – Bob Watson (Protravel International, Rye Brook, NY)
Spas – Karen Benson (Camelback Odyssey Travel, Phoenix, AZ)
Spas – Maureen “Mo” Smith (Well On The Way, Hilton Head Island, SC)

Special Interest
Adventure – Betty Jo Currie (Explorations, Atlanta, GA)
Culture & Education – Emmanuel Burgio (Blue Parallel, Bethesda, MD)
Culture & Education – Margery Hunter (Rudi Steele Travel, Dallas, TX)
Culture & Education – Paul Niskanen* (Cruise Masters/Concierge Travel Advisors, Portland, OR)
Diving – Gene Lashley (Century Travel, Atlanta, GA)
Fly-Fishing – Betsy Donley* (Camelback Odyssey Travel, Phoenix, AZ)
Food/Wine – Lynda Turley Garrett (Alpine Travel, Saratoga, CA)
Food/Wine – Katie McCormack Krinkie (McCabe World Travel, McLean, VA)
Gay/Lesbian – David Rubin (DavidTravel, Corona del Mar, CA)
Golf – Susan Dischner (Four Seasons Travel, Savannah, GA)
Golf – Jani Miller* (Central Travel, Toledo, OH)
Hiking/Walking – Doris White (Travel Dynamics, La Jolla, CA)
Honeymoons – Georgia Johnson (AMT American Express Travel, West Covina, CA)
Honeymoons – Peter Lloyd (Century Travel, Atlanta, GA)
Hunting/Fishing – Mollie Fitzgerald (Frontiers International Travel, Wexford, PA)
Photography – Janie Bullard (Distinctive Journeys, Powder Springs, GA)
Photography – Mark Nolting (Africa Adventure Company, Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Private-Jet Tours – Donna Christensen (Preferred Travel of Naples, Naples, FL)
Skiing/Snowboarding – Marrilee Foukal McLean (Alabama World Travel, Montgomery, AL)
Yachts/Villas – Sara Ryan Duffy (SRD International, Los Angeles, CA)

*Member of T+L’s Travel Agent Advisory Board (TAAB). Travel + Leisure's Travel Agent Advisory Board (TAAB) of 17 travel agents collectively employ 3,000 travel advisors representing all aspects of the travel industry. The group, which convenes regularly to discuss and share new research, trends, and market conditions, provides T+L's marketing partners with intelligence and insights to enhance their businesses.

Sometimes you can do it yourself; sometimes you can't. When you need a professional in any interest area, use one. For travel, the people on the Travel + Leisure A-List, have been chosen as the best.

International Travel Examiner J.S. Fletcher and spouse, Kathy M. Newbern, report on luxury destinations, spas and cruising around the globe. They are award-winning members of the Society of American Travel Writers and operate their personalized romance novel business.