Testimonials
Shalom, Ophir: It’s about time (I)...got around to letting you know about our trip. Yes, we had a wonderful trip, thanks to your planning and our wonderful guide and driver. I don’t know how you could have done better, considering that we had a very active 5 year old along with us, who could not help but being bored so much of the time. Everything went quite well, and in a short 8 days we saw so much of Israel and it is history...Everyone who participated in those activities enjoyed the experience, except that for most everyone the camel ride was toooooo long. Just a great trip, Ophir and we would be pleased to recommend your services to others.
"...Our travel went without a glitch from beginning to end. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping to enrich our lives. We had an amazing experience". This is a video of David at Paradive Skydiving in Israel.
Susan of Orlando, FL, wrote of her family's trip to Israel in the summer of 2011:
We arrived home...from a wonderful trip filled with abundant happy memories and a strong desire to return as soon as possible. I really appreciate all you did to help make our itinerary a success. I have to say that the pace, while busy, worked really well and we had the ability to do most everything we set out to do. The alpaca farm was a big hit and a great start to the trip. Thanks for that suggestion. The van (from Avis)worked fine. We (barely) were able to fit all of our luggage. The Kia Carnival is actually a bit shorter than our Kia Sedona with no real trunk space but we made it work. I’m glad it wasn’t any bigger because parking in Israel as I’m sure you know is quite an experience and my Van didn’t exactly make that easy!
A couple of glitches that all worked out including my bag getting lost upon arrival and being delivered 3 days later. The travel guard company has been incredibly helpful first in helping me locate the bag and then in helping me with my claim. We’re very glad we had the insurance. Also for (the) Bat Mitzvah the rabbi we hired lost his mother 3 days before the event. Fortunately he found us a replacement rabbi. The videographer we hired was in a car accident the day before (he is ok) but fortunately I had my video camera with me and recruited a friend to video. So all worked out with just a little bit of nail biting.
A couple of things I want to share with you when you’re helping other clients plan their trips: first, the kibbutz where you could shoot an Uzi no longer allows tourists to do so because of insurance regulations. Also at Manara Cliff the company that contracts with the site to run their rappelling and zip line closed their doors a few months before we arrived so we were not able to do that but the cable car was great and at the top we took a train tour conducted by the kibbutz up there that gave us a nice history and geography lesson of the area. The kids also loved the ride they have at the bottom where you drive your own car down the track as well as the trampoline.
We really loved the Maagan Holiday House. That was our favorite place we stayed. We found the standard rooms at Maagan to be far superior to the expensive rooms at Ein Gedi. Also we discovered that the resort also had washers and dryers – a real plus when on vacation!! We never had time to really appreciate Ein Gedi since we were up at 4:30 am to climb Massada but the location was perfect and the view from our room was spectacular. We did learn that Ein Gedi also offers discount tickets to the falls but we used your suggestion for the Green Card so we didn’t take advantage of it.
We did some other wonderful things at the end of the trip...that you may want to mention to other clients including Gan Garu Zoo where you get to go into an area and directly interact with kangaroos! That was a really big hit with all my girls. It is right next to Sachneh, another treasure. In Tel Aviv we also toured Coca Cola, went to the blind exhibit at the childrens museum in Hulon, went to Luna Park and the water park across the street in Tel Aviv and I took just the older girls to the Palmach museum while a friend watched my little one which I thought was phenomenal. We spent some time at the Kinneret and even enjoyed a day on the lake water skiing and jet skiing with friends who had a boat. So many great experiences that I can’t even recall them all right now.
Anyway, thank you again so much for everything from start to finish. It was wonderful working with you and I will spread your name to anyone planning a trip to Israel and hopefully you’ll be able to help us again upon a return visit!
"I ONLY use Ophir Ben Yitschak. He lives...in Milwaukee...He is a friend and a sweet man! He is a GREAT travel agent and has LOTS of ideas...He really is great and really worth it. He texts/emails/calls upon arrival, works with a great agent in Israel, and has put together some wonderful packages for a lot of our friends. YZ, like me, recommends him UNCONDITIONALLY!"
Margo from Milwaukee, WI wrote about her family's tour of Israel in the summer of 2010:
"Words can not express how wonderful the trip was. We loved the entire trip....the touring, Yuval our guide, Alex our driver, the accommodations and the country. I think we had a great sampling of all Israel has to offer. While there is still much more to see and do, I know we all agreed that we plan to go to Israel again in the future. Everything was superb! It was amazing to be in the country and really see first hand the history, the people and amazing sights from the past and how the resolve of the people has created such a magnificent country. It was such a unique experience to be amongst Jews everywhere you turned.You did a fantastic job scheduling and suggesting touring which really gave us a flavor of Israel. I know my parents really appreciated your personal touch of checking in with them too. Again, you have our heartiest endorsement as well as sincerest of thanks for providing us with such a memorable experience!! I would be happy to discuss the specifics of the trip with you if you have any questions for me.
Randy of Milwaukee, WI wrote about his family's tour of Israel and Jordan in the summer of 2009:
Your ears must be ringing. I was just telling (our friend) how much we appreciate everything you did to make our trip so special. I was also telling him how I hope I can send new customers your way. Thank you for absolutely everything. Also sorry for being a pain too...I will recommend you to everyone I know with pride.
Some recommendations I received from colleagues and clients on my LinkedIn profile:
“Ophir is the one of the MASTERS in the travel industry. With his open mind and spirit of innovation he his pushing the travel market to a new era. As know him for more then 10 years I'm sure that Ophir will lead Scopia to success.”
“Ophir is a knowledgable professional who goes the extra mile for his clients. He always finds the shortest, most convenient routes at the lowest cost. When I ran into a problem in Italy and I didn't know what was going on, I called Ophir and knew that the problem would be solved. It was. Ophir also finds solutions for problems that arise in a very resourceful manner. My family would not think of going anywhere else for what we need. In June, 2009 Ophir won first place in the Information Technology category of the Governor's Business Plan Contest. His knowledge, resourcefulness and creativity came to light during this process.”
“I had the pleasure of working with Ophir and his company number of times. I have referred him number of times to my friends. He never let anyone down and always excided the expectations.”“Ophir steps out of the box to perform his duties. He shines with attention to detail, manner in which he approaches issues and a clarity in explaining how he will tackle any situation that comes his way.
I find him to be a gentle, thankful and talented man that I would trust unconditionally and recommend unconditionally to anyone seeking his services.”
“Ophir served our travel needs on many an occasion. He is bright and very responsive to what we were looking for. There is no reason for me to go anywhere else...we've found a keeper!”
“Ophir is an outstanding teacher, a lifetime asset to his colleagues, business partners and clients. he is a professional that brings the best on people. It was a pleasure dealing with him and a double asset as a friend.”
Gregg from Milwaukee, WI is a very experienced traveler and always writes me the best type of constructive criticism. I just love it when clients give me actionable material. Here's what he writes about his family's trip to Malta and Sicily in early 2010 (this trip was a bit complicated because family members were flying in from different locations. It all worked out well at the end.)
1. Malta car rental went great - the guy was waiting for us at the airport.
2. Finding the hotel in Malta was an experience! Someone on the street actually got into his car to show us as the map we were given was pretty worthless.
3. The hotel was perfectly fine (which will be a repeating theme here!)
4. Tonya (the representative from United Travel in Malta) was extremely helpful!
5. Malta is worth one day and Gozo is worth one day, so our timing was perfect. We could have done both in one day (as you said, while the plane was refueling!) if we wanted to push it, but as it was, it was fine.
6. The car was perfect in Sicily - we would not have wanted a larger one, given the size of the streets. My son did all of the driving since he is used to standard shift and Israeli drivers, which he said were a pleasure compared with the Italians!
7. The hotel in Taormina was fine (again) except that it was impossible to find (our GPS went nuts with the "recalculating") and there was no parking. As it turned out, off season, much of the shops and restaurants were closed - and then we were there on a Monday, when everything is closed. We took the opportunity to visit Mt. Etna, which was fun, but other than the Greek theater (which was worth the visit) we could have lived without Taormina.
8. The hotel in Palermo was perfectly fine (again!) but traffic there was a horror. The city itself is not worth even visiting. If I had it to do over, I would have wanted to stay outside Palermo and avoid the hassle of driving in and out of the city.
So, basically, the hotels were fine, the cars worked out well and we very much enjoyed the trip. We look forward to next time!
