About Us

Travel Agents are alive and well, right here at Beach Travel in Hermosa Beach!

The Travel business is in full swing and we are here assist with planning your next travel adventure.

At BEACH TRAVEL our travel advisers have over 60 years combined travel sales experience and know how important the details are. We are your… “Worldwide Travel Hassle Remover”

Reasons to use Beach Travel…

  • We take the stress away with one-stop shopping at a full service travel agency
  • An array of options and price quotes for any destination
  • A Personal touch to your travel experience- something you cannot find on the internet
  • That little “out of the way place” that only we know about
  • First hand knowledge of most destinations
  • A personalized itinerary based on your travel wish list-perhaps a private, romantic villa, a kid-friendly resort, or that perfect surf spot in December?
  • Unique adventures, private guided tours
  • South Pacific Experts – Certified “ Fiji Matai” Specialist and “Tiare” Tahiti Specialists on staff as well as Aussie and Kiwi(New Zealand) Specialists.
  • Personalized Weddings & Honeymoons along with our Honeymoon Registry

We develop a relationship with you that allows us to make the travel experience as expedient, cost effective, and pleasurable as possible by paying attention to your special needs and requests. We travel to many of the destinations to familiarize ourselves with the product, as well as taking time to attend seminars to keep up with new happenings in the marketplace to be able to give you a first hand account.

Other Services Provided:

  • All airline options & seat assignments
  • Frequent flyer numbers
  • Hotel ID numbers
  • Hotel discounts worldwide
  • Attention to details
  • Exceptional Customer Service
  • Traveler Profiles
  • Travel Insurance advice

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CREDIT CARDS BEFORE YOU CHARGE OVERSEAS…

When traveling abroad, it is wise to carry a credit card.  However, many US cards have a magnetic stripe, but these are technologically passé.  They’re supposed to work abroad but they don’t always.  Many foreign merchants use smart cards with a chip.  Some require a personal identification number to work; others just a signature.  You may have problems abroad using a magstrip card such as we use in the USA. Some options to use to make the situation workable.

  • Apply for a Chip and Pin MasterCard through USAA. The Pin offers extra security but there have been problems using the card on-line.
    • Bank of American offers a card with both the old and new technology combined.
    • Chase has a credit card with a chip which can be used; however, you will need to sign a receipt.
    • Citibank has a policy to upgrade your Advantage credit cards to the Chip and Pin cards. These cards work with both a pin and swiping.
    • AAA offers a Chip and Pin card.NOTE: Chip and Pin cards are the most secure cards to use. A thief would have to be as close as 4 inches away to grab the signal from this card. And if the chip is breached, the information is heavily encrypted. What someone gets is a serial number which is not your credit card number, your Social Security number, nor even your name. The card itself changes with each transaction. Some people try to protect the card by using a Radio Frequency Identification blocking wallet, but to use the card you must remove it from the wallet and then the magic shield is gone.

In searching for the right card for you, check to find out (1)  if there’s an annual fee for the card; (2) if it charges a foreign transaction fee; and (3) if it’s a credit or cash advance card such as an ATM card.  And continue to put pressure on banks and governments to get smart cards so we can make travel a lot easier.   Whether using Visa or Mastercard, either will get the most favorable rate from their card network’s exchange rate (with or without foreign transaction fees added). Transaction fees are typically 1% to 3%, but it would be useless to you to compare one card against the other or one transaction to another on different days. There is too much fluctuation within the worldwide currency systems within a 24/7 range of time. These rates are certainly better than what you would get by exchanging dollars for euros at a bank in advance of your trip or by using currency exchange services once you get to your destination. So the cheapest way to convert currency is to make purchases with a credit or debit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. An easy approach to save money on ATM withdrawal is to check with your bank to see if there is a checking or savings account that carries the benefit of the bank canceling foreign ATM fees as well as their own fees. Inquire if this applies to fees for using other banks’ATMs. If you own bank doesn’t offer these services, consider setting up a separate account in a bank that does offer this service.