Testimonials
The following are testimonials that have been voluntarily sent to us by customers. Unfortunately we can only share a few of the many we received. They consist of handwritten letters, typewritten letters on corporate or mission letterhead, emails, cards, and notes with gifts of appreciation. These letters come from directors of mission organizations, adoptive parents, people visiting missionary friends in foreign lands, evangelists, pastors, and leisure travelers.
If the writer of a letter preferred we withhold their name or we were not able to contact the person, we withheld their name for privacy purposes. If the name is included, it is by permission.
Dear Folks at Golden Rule Travel,
We wish to thank you for your great service to our family this summer! All 6 of us booked flights from Pittsburgh, PA to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti for a missions trip. Everyone was so kind and helpful during the ticket buying process with answering questions, helping us find the best fare, etc. April McCombs was so patient with my many phone calls and many repeated questions!
Our flight out of Pittsburgh was delayed due to bad weather and as a result we missed our connecting flight from Atalanta to Miami that same night. At the Atlanta airport we were told there was no more availability from Miami to Haiti for 2 more days! We were understandably quite upset and kept trying to get someone from one of the airlines to help us. Finally, one of the Customer Service folks asked why we didn't call our travel agency emergency number. I didn't know we had one! I called and found out that yes, you did have someone to help us, even in the middle of the night!
What a huge relief when Marvin answered the phone and immediately set to work on our problem. Within about 20 minutes he had us booked and confirmed not only to Miami the next morning, but to Haiti as well!! He was so kind and reassuring and very knowledgeable. What a comfort it was when ended the call by saying, “I will be praying for you.” Wow! After all the hassle we had been through from the airlines themselves this was so wonderful!! This wasn't just a business transaction..... but a caring Christian helping someone very cheerfully.... at 1:00 a.m.!!!!
On our return flight we had some difficulty getting out of Port-Au-Prince and so once again had to get a different flight out of Miami. The attendant there said there was no flight availability for that day. I was just about to check with someone at another desk when I remembered Marvin! I called him and sure enough he corrected the problem once again! There was availability and we don't know why they told us there wasn't! Marvin got us all booked for the next flights and we were on our way home!
We can't say enough good about all the great folks at Golden Rule Travel. Even in the middle of the night we were treated with kindness and helpfulness. We will definitely call Golden Rule the next time we need to make a trip!
Thanks again and may God bless you for your kindness and godly business practices!
Alex and Kelly Crouch
Nathan, Heidi, Natalie, and Jadon
[Utica, PA]
Hello Mr. Mast,
I wanted to write and tell you about the experience my husband and I had while going to Ukraine in May to see my son and his family that are missionaries there. Jeremy Yoder was our agent, out of the Walnut Creek office. He has gotten our family tickets before, and is always very helpful. This time was no exception. He worked to find us the best possible price that would work with the time my husband could get off work. I appreciated his help so much! He booked us on Lufthansa from Chicago to Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine via Frankfurt. We had a long layover in Frankfurt (9 hrs.), but he also booked a rental car for us and we were anticipating a nice day in the country we lived in 30 years ago.
They weren't able to give us the Frankfurt to Dnepropetrovsk boarding passes when we left Cleveland for Chicago, so we decided that upon landing Frankfurt we'd immediately get those passes before we left the airport. How grateful we are that we tried to do that! It turns out our flight was cancelled, and we spent the next 3 hours working with an uncooperative Lufthansa agent trying to get to Dnepropetrovsk. She would not put us on a flight from Frankfurt to Vienna to Dnepropetrovsk on Austrian Air because there was only business class left from Vienna to Dnepropetrovsk. Our only option, she told us, was to fly from Frankfurt to Kiev on Lufthansa, then on a Ukranian airline, Aerosviet, to Dnepropetrovsk. We were very unhappy with this arrangement, but she was inflexible. She said the problem was Ukraine would not let Lufthansa fly in because of paperwork, and the soonest they'd be flying was May 12th. We were to fly back out of Ukraine on the 26th. She would not reroute us for the return, but said we'd have to check with Lufthansa after the 12th.
After arriving, our concern was how we'd ever get home if Lufthansa still was not flying from Dnepropetrovsk. (We were not going back the way we came!) We felt helpless being so far from home, and also over 2 hours from Dnepropetrovsk and a Lufthansa office. I got on your website and read the testimony you have on the cover page [which is now in the About Us section]. I was so encouraged! I emailed Jeremy, and he assured me he'd work on it. He found out that Lufthansa was still not flying, and was able to reroute us on Austrian. Jeremy went beyond his expected job! He was so helpful, and continued communicating with us while he was trying to work it out. I cannot tell you the peace we felt being so far from home and having him work for us to get out of there.
We just wanted to let you know how grateful we are for Golden Rule and Jeremy Yoder in particular. He is an asset to your company. We will always book through Golden Rule, and encourage our friends and family to do the same.
Thank you for having a business that does use Scriptural principles! God Bless you!
Sincerely,
[signature]
Dear Mr. Miller,
Thank you for your persistence in finding us low-cost tickets to Mongolia. More of our money can go towards the Lord's work because of you.
Myron-
Please excuse my informality, but I did want to thank you again and with great sincerity for all you did to help my son, his wife and his two adopted Ukrainian babies. Let's hope more of your requests don't have as many ups and downs as I gave you!
British Air did manage to get them from Warsaw to Boston the 22nd--temporarily "lost" their luggage for a day. The five days of travel and activities from [undecipherable] were hard on the boys, but they've already proved they're made of strong bodies! Now they can start their lives as Americans.
It was indeed a pleasure to work with you.
With regards,
[name withheld]
Sharon,
I wanted to let you know that I received the refund on my credit card bill this week from my canceled trip to Nepal. This would not have been possible without you[r] persistence and faithfulness to serve me, your customer. Thank you for all you did to help me be a good steward of the Lord’s resources. Please pass this note on to your supervisor, not so you will receive praise, I believe Golden Rule needs to know the superior quality of service that you/they provide. Hebrews 6:10
Pastor [name withheld]
Faith Bible Church
Hello, Marvin,
Wanted to let you know that the issues with Rashel's ticket have been completely resolved by Ronald Miller, an agent in Golden Rule's Kansas office. He was absolutely wonderful to work with and graciously gave part of his Saturday evening to help us. His true sacrificial servant's spirit was a beautiful testimony of Christ's love; and we could not have hoped for more responsible or caring service. We really appreciate your organization and the work you are doing, and thank you so much for your patience with all of my calls and emails yesterday.
May the Lord bless you with His peace.
[name withheld]
I want to take a moment to share with you the gratitude we have for Jeremy's critical role in helping us plan what turned out to be one of the most memorable and rewarding vacations our family has ever enjoyed.
Earlier this year we decided to take a first-time trip to Europe and, after determining London and Germany to be our destination, I was referred by our local Catlett Golden Rule office to Jeremy for planning. To be honest, I was leery of making the intricate plans with someone I couldn't sit across from or receive brochures in person. But, this fellow took our specific requests and promised a summary of options in terms of airline connections and hotel accommodations. Specifically, we wanted a 4 stop trip, including a flight from Wash Dulles to London, trains to Cologne, Heidelberg & Munich, with a final return flight from Munich back home. In addition, we requested hotel reservations for 2 adults and young teenage son with compliment of full breakfast, minimum 4 star rating. Finally, we told him we didn't want to be part of any tour groups, that despite our novice ways that we wanted to explore Germany on our own and rely on my limited German language skills.
Jeremy did an outstanding job in compiling our options and providing us with choices. In fact, he couldn't have done better. Prompt, courteous, attentive to detail, thorough in his research efforts, and always responsive, I found myself thinking that we couldn't be working with a more professional travel consultant. But....there's the trip, and that's the final proof!
One of the best things he did was refrain from recommending our purchase of a Eurorail Pass. When I shared with him feedback that it might be better to wait until arrival in Europe to procure train tix he agreed. Turned out to be excellent advice, I saved just under $1000 by making individual train reservations with Die Bahn!!
Our trip turned out to be fantastic, all airline connections, train connections and hotel reservations turned out to be punctually and perfectly fulfilled. The service was "auserordentlich" (German for outstanding) and we kept seeing Jeremy's fingerprints in the streamlined convenience of our accommodations.
Neither my wife or I could say anything more other than, Jeremy Yoder turned out to be the greatest help and consultant in the building of such a wonderful vacation. His professionalism, courtesy and 'can do, will do' attitude towards fulfilling our expectations was simply perfect. We are so very grateful that we were referred to him for the consult. He will very definitely be the first call we make for our next vacation. I think he's even now on our Christmas card list!!
THANK YOU JEREMY!!
Thank you so much for all your hard work on our behalf. We all really appreciate it. This could have been much worse for us had it not been for your sensitivity to the situation and positive, upbeat attitude.
Thanks again,
[names of two couples withheld]
The following letter is written to a husband-wife team that worked at Golden Rule for some time. Rhoda is now a mom and homemaker, but Myron is still working at Golden Rule as the manager of the Hutchinson office.
Myron & Rhoda,
Here is a small gift of appreciation for all you have done for us in the last few years and especially in the last six months. You have been a model of extraordinary customer service. I have been quite vocal to all and sundry in recommending your office. Please convey our gratitude to the rest of the staff at the office.
[...] you are always welcome at our home anytime, day or night. [...]
Again many thanks for your help and "saving the day" so many times,
[name withheld]
Dear Linda Rose,
Thank you, once again, for working on our behalf. We really appreciate your hard work. I'm sure we'll be in touch in the future.
By the way, if you would like, send me some of your business cards and we'll give them out to potential customers. We are in contact with many missionaries!
God bless you for your ministry to us!
For the King,
[missionary couple from Honduras]
Thank you, Linda! We appreciate all the efforts you put into making travel arrangements for us! It's nice to have someone take care of this who understands and takes an interest in our mission. God bless you!
[missionary from El Salvador]
Great Linda! I am so glad things worked out! I appreciate your hard work and honesty.
Thank you again for your prompt attention to my request. You made this so easy!! and I truly appreciate your assistance. Have a wonderful day!
[name withheld]
Dear Linda,
I'm wanting to thank you for the many hours you put into checking out prices & making arrangements for Rosemary & the others going to VA. I know that while you willingly did it, it also wasn't your first choice to be working on a holiday.
God bless you!
Love,
[name withheld]
Now that you've heard what people are saying about us, please give us a chance to earn your business and let us give you a free airfare quote!