Based In Rayleigh, Essex

Samm Avis

Available for new enquiries

Looking for help with your business travel? Find out how I can help here

It's Nice To Meet You

Hello, I'm Samm a Travel Counsellor based in Essex.

I am passionate about travelling and visiting new places. I care about my clients, taking the time to listen to their wishes to plan the best experience and build a long term professional relationship with them.

I put together bespoke holiday quotes searching a vast choice of travel operators and suppliers. Your holiday is 100% financially protected and covered by ATOL. I take care of everything from initial enquiry, right up until the moment you return home. I'm always available to talk. I can help you with anything from skiing, cruise, family, Disney, UK breaks, short and long haul.

I've always loved travelling; from a young age my parents stopped telling me when we were going away as I would get too excited so they'd just wake me on the morning of the holiday to tell me we were going away. I've travelled alone from a young age, visiting a pen pal in France at age 14 and work experience in Germany at 17 years old. I then went away to University in Devon and also a semester in the USA. After University I went to the Philippines to work and travel. I've had some amazing experiences in Asia, USA, Africa, South America, Australia and Europe. I love to experience different cultures and meet the local people.

I'm happiest when I am planning my next adventure or writing a list of what I need to do for my next trip. I love being outdoors and keeping fit. My husband and I have a campervan and I love our short trips exploring the beautiful countryside. I enjoy writing, especially travel blogs. The only thing I don't love about travel is leaving my lovely cats behind!

Please do get in touch if you are thinking about your next holiday or adventure.

I can't wait to hear from you!

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My customer stories

Sent by Sam Brown

Thank you Samm Avis Travel Counsellor for arranging our trip to Malta. We had the most amazing time and made lots of memories to cherish ??

Sent by Jo Church

I will NEVER book a trip away again without using Samm. The stress is all taken away. Samm has worked her magic for us on a number of trips, including our honeymoon tour in Japan. This women is truly outstanding. The options she offers the arrangements she makes and the customer service she supplies is simply 5 star.

Sent by Jenny Powell

Excellent service and good pricing of a special break!

Sent by Keith Dixon

Samm has spent time getting to know what we like and dislike when thinking about a holiday to help further tune her suggestions when we are looking to book a holiday. Samm is helpful and enthusiastic when approached.

Sent by Elaine Priest

Samm really helped to identify all our needs and presented several options on the type a craft to hire for our Norfolk Broads trip. Couldn't rate the service more highly.

Sent by Gilda Bagnall

Samm is very knowledgeable and provides options, so you are not just given the most expensive options available you can choose. Samm also put up with my endless questions and have saved me many many hours looking through websites to book the holiday myself, she most likely saved me money as she definitely saved me time. This trip is 100% tailormade and we could not have done it to this level without Samm's help.

Sent by Diane Staggs

Samm was very helpful and informed when booking our trip. She was able to put together an itinerary based on our preferences that exceeded my expectations and included experiences that I hadn’t considered previously. She dealt with all of the details and logistics of our booking giving us a trip that we are definitely looking forward to.

Sent by Claire Smart

Very happy to recommend Samm, super efficient and very helpful!

Sent by Lisa Barron

Very efficient service. Got us a wonderful price for our weekend away and an excursion for our trip to the USA later in the year. Gave us lots of options and prices. Would definitely use again.

Sent by Naomi Anisman

Superb! I didn't know what it was to have a travel counsellor, but now that I do I won't book travel without out. Samm was super responsive, had great ideas about what elements we could add to our trips, picked the perfect flights and meant I didn't have to think about hotels - because she did, taking location of activities into consideration. Really great experience. Many thanks!

Sent by Lindsey Jackson

Samm was so helpful and patient with us regarding our cruise booking. We were indecisive and dealing with another party in relation to the booking but she was always understanding and helpful which made her an absolute pleasure to deal with and why we decided, in the end, to book with her rather than the alternative.

Sent by Emma Dixon

Handled quickly and effectively by Samm

Sent by Sarah Jones

Samm turned round our request for holiday suggestions very quickly, allowing us to narrow down the choice to find the holiday best suited to our situation - great service again :-)

Sent by Steven Yeung

Fantastic, personal service and very responsive to all my requests.

Sent by Kirsha Mason

I just wanted to say thank you for the great service you have given us during our trip to Iceland. Particularly phoning the excursion companies on our behalf to find out pick up times, as well as rearranging our excursions when they were cancelled due to bad weather. We will definitely be using your service again soon. Thank you

Sent by Amanda Pinkerton

Thank you so much for all your help with our trip, I know it hasn’t been the most straightforward one and for being there to help resolve the issues that popped up whilst we were away. Knowing you were there to help took a load off my mind particularly with the flight cancellation on the way out and changing our Eurostar booking.

Sent by Tanya Pumpr

Very patient and managed to find something we were all happy with booking. A pleasure to deal with.

Sent by Craig Wood

Samm was very professional and got me a great deal on my holiday for next year

Sent by Joanne Mapp

Fantastic service couldn't ask for more

Sent by Adam Stubbs

Very helpful, I only sent 2 emails and my whole holiday was sorted! Thanks Samm :)

Sent by Katerina Rabava

I knew how strategic and detailed you are from our times in EY, but you have really accelerated in your new career. Thank you so much for organising my recent trip to Italy. You listened to my desires, and planned this multiple cities trip to perfection. Thank you for choosing wonderful destinations (Pisa, Florence and a lovely town near Portofino), as well as creating a hassle free itinerary for me! I also loved the personal touch you created in every hotel with your lovely notes. Thanks to you I m coming back to London relaxed and recharged, ready to start my next professional adventure.

Sent by Claire Lawrence

The service has been faultless and has made the whole process of booking our holiday so much easier and enjoyable. Excellent insightful advice too. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Samm.

Sent by Ben Rigby

Samm is a superb travel adviser, bar none.

Sent by Tracey Pauley

I have already recommended and given Samm’s details to friends because I am really pleased with her service.

Sent by Kirsha Mason

Samm was very helpful and listened to our wishes for our break. Nothing was too much trouble and Samm made several changes to our itinerary with no issues Thanks Samm

Sent by Alison Brown

I will definitely be recommending Samm to my friends and family. Patient, pro-active and super helpful. Thank you!

Sent by Amanda Pinkerton

I had a difficult holiday challenge for Samm and she came up with some great options and was patient with all the chopping and changing we did. Thank you Samm and we are all looking forward to our trip.

Sent by Laura Thackerary

Samm has been beyond helpful. Always with a great and professional attitude, providing a lot of options, endlessly accommodating to our needs and wants. We’ll definitely recommend Samm and look forward to continue using her services.

Sent by Tracey Pauley

We have just booked a holiday with this lovely lady. Samm found us a great deal and a fabulous holiday. Thank you again Samm Avis can’t wait to go now xx

Sent by Sarah Jones

We’ve just returned from a fantastic family Easter holiday in Tenerife. We booked with Samm Avis Travel Counsellor and found her really helpful; she thought about every detail. She arranged a return private transfer from the airport to our hotel so we didn’t have to hang about. She sent us our boarding passes on email and via text. She also called up the hotel to check our rooms would be next door to each other. I will definitely use her again and recommend her to friends and family.

Sent by Beth Milton

Samm was brilliant in sorting out our summer holiday. We’d made a few suggestions of destinations and Samm came up with lots of choice. We settled on a Mediterranean cruise, and as this will be our first, Samm thought of every detail from the flight, to the transfers, hotel and the cruise itself. She answered all of my questions and has taken care to ensure that we are happy. I would thoroughly recommend Samm and will definitely be booking through her again.

Sent by Steven Cameron

Samm selected a number of holiday destinations that matched our brief, then when we decided on the perfect location, Samm then provided us a number of alternatives, such as flight dates, number of nights, to help bring the holiday within our budget. The holiday app is an added bonus which makes the flow of documents and payment very easy. Excellent service all round.

Sent by Anna Millar

Very excited to have booked a holiday in Cyprus thanks to the brilliant advice and tailored service from Samm Avis Travel Counsellor! It looks perfect for us and combines sun and sea (me), pool (kids), activities (kids), shopping (Katie), archaeology (me- well, I can pretend) and free Wi-Fi (Tom). Thanks so much for listening to what suits us all, Samm, and making things so easy! Highly recommended! ?? ??

Sent by Elaine Priest

Thoroughly recommend Samm Avis Travel Counsellor. So attentive and found the perfect break for us. Can't wait

Sent by Annie Jones

BIG recommendation for Samm! I recently asked her to help me and my sister book a cruise. She found us a great holiday, on a cruise line we didn't even know existed! Will definitely use her again, saved me so much time researching everything! Thank you

Sent by Sarah Jones

We’ve just booked our Easter family holiday with Samm Avis. We found her very informative and helpful at suggesting places to visit that would be appropriate and fun for our family. We settled on a 10 day all inclusive holiday to Tenerife with Samm suggesting hotels that would appeal to our 12- and 15-year-old daughters as well as my husband and me. I would recommend using Samm to my friends and family.

My Blog

I absolutely live and breathe travel and I love to write about my experiences! Please take a look through my posts - you might find your own holiday inspiration.

Christmas markets Paris

03 February 2025

Joyeux Noel! Just back from a few days in Paris to visit family and check out the Christmas markets. Yummy food with a bit of a mix from Greek, French and Korean!

Fabulous short break ski holiday

03 February 2025

So easy with flights from London Southend Airport with easyJet to Geneva and then 1 hour transfer with Ski Lifts Airport Transfers to the lovely resort of Les Gets in France Yummy mountain food from raclette, fondue and hot stone. Good ski conditions even though we did get very wet one day! Les Gets is a lovely family friendly resort that links up with the Portes du Soleil so there's lots of sk

April sun in Crete Greece

23 April 2024

Just back from 6 days in Crete, Greece. Had a lovely time. Flights with Ryanair to Chania then about 45 min transfer to our resort in Georgiopolis a village with several hotels, tavernas and a small church out on rocks that you can walk to. We stayed at the Mare Monte Beach Hotel, about 10 min walk along the beach to the village. The hotel had a stunning pool and right on the beach with sun lounge

Dracula v Santa in Romania

13 December 2023

I have had a fantastic long weekend in Romania with great friends. We flew from Stansted on Friday morning; flight was 3 hours. Arrived in Bucharest early afternoon and they approx. 40 min transfer to the hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Central which lived up to its name and was very centrally located. Dumped our luggage and they set off for the Christmas market. This was one huge market outside the

Canada Part 2 - Vancouver Island

04 October 2023

Leftovers came in handy for breakfast then off to pick up our hire car. Avis, of course! Love checking in for car when the ask for my last name! The off we drove up to Deep Cove for some paddleboarding. We couldn’t go a whole 11 days without paddleboarding!! Amazing experience and such stunning scenery. Slightly challenging with a speedboat/water-skier getting quite close and making lots of waves!

British Colombia - Part 1 Vancouver

27 September 2023

Just back from an amazing adventure in British Columbia, Canada. This was a trip that’s been postponed since 2020 due to Covid. It didn’t disappoint. Flew from Gatwick to Vancouver (approx. 9.5-hour flight), slight delay out but not too painful. Arrived Vancouver mid-afternoon. Bit jetlagged but after checking in to central hotel, Sutton Place, headed out to explore and for some food. Booked tab

P&O Britannia short break from Southampton

28 October 2022

Just returned from a short break cruise from Southampton on P&O cruises Britannia. The cruise began and ended in Southampton and was 5 days in duration. I booked parking at Southampton which meant we could drop the car right at the port and it was valet parked for us whilst we entered the cruise terminal to check-in for our cruise. We dropped our luggage off outside for it to be delivered to our c

Israel – Jerusalem (Part 3)

12 October 2022

Israel – Jerusalem (Part 3) After an early start as we needed to disembark from the Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas by 7am (see Israel part 2) we headed to the station. Located very conveniently right next door to the ship. We managed to buy one-way tickets to Jerusalem for about £20 from the very helpful and good English-speaking lady at the ticket desk. Then waited about 5 mins for the tra

Israel trip (part 2)

12 October 2022

Royal Caribbean cruise from Haifa to Limassol and back on Rhapsody of the Seas Our transfer from Tel Aviv to Haifa port took just over an hour and we were dropped right near the baggage drop area. It was well organised that our luggage was taken from us, and we were free to board the ship. We went through security, passport control and checked in to receive our Set Sail passes. Then it was along

Israel – Tel Aviv (part 1)

11 October 2022

Israel – Tel Aviv (part 1) I booked early morning flights from Luton to Tel Aviv, so we arrived early afternoon. We then stayed at a central hotel in Tel Aviv for 2 nights in the main street called Dizengoff Street. It was a good location for the beach and exploring. As we arrived early afternoon after 5-hour flight we decided to explore and find somewhere for some local food. On a road towards t

Madrid long weekend Sept 2022

26 September 2022

Madrid long weekend Sept 2022 After a 2 year delay my family holiday with my parents and sister and her husband to Madrid for a long weekend happened. The holiday started with an overnight stop at the Hampton By Hilton at Stansted then Ryanair flight to Madrid. I booked a private transfer from the airport to our centrally located hotel, The Pestana Plaza Mayor for 3 nights. Lovely hotel right on

Please don't ignore me

29 July 2022

Here are some things I’ve learned in my new sales career. I’m new to a sales role and one where it’s my business so I really care about making people happy and making my business successful. I’ve learned a lot so far, to become more ‘thick skinned’ and not take things to heart. It’s taken me out of my comfort zone but in a good way. Thick skinned – do we grow more layers? When I speak to potenti

Campervan roadtrip June/July 2022

05 July 2022

Just back from an epic roadtrip around England on a mission to reach the Lake District in our 1998 VW campervan called Kermie. And we succeeded! Yay! Part 1 - Lincolnshire We set off on Thursday 23 June from Essex with our first campsite for the night in Brant Broughton in Lincolnshire. We had a few quick stops to stretch our legs including services, visit to Brewster’s Brewery to collect suppl

Top 10 travel myths of travel counsellors

22 April 2022

It’s been nearly 3 months that I have been loving my job as a travel counsellor and I thought I’d share some myths that I have come across from clients either asking me about or using someone else as they assumed I wouldn’t be interested. So here are my top 10 Travel Counsellor myths: 1. We have a minimum spend – I am happy to look at any enquiry regardless of my client’s budget. I get a real se

South Africa Adventure

07 April 2022

In November 2015 I finally managed to convince my husband we should travel around South Africa. He was reluctant but agreed. We arrived in Cape Town and checked into our guest house. They were so friendly and welcoming. We then set off up Table Mountain …as they say if you can see Table Mountain then you should climb it. We took the gondola up which rotated so everyone had a good view. It was am

Holiday ideas to distract a teenager

16 March 2022

A client asked me where he could take his 16 year old son on holiday in June after his GCSEs. My client is pretty active and didn’t want to just stay on a beach and wanted lots of distractions to stop his son being glued to his phone. So here are my 6 suggestions including budget friendly and also including a bit more extravagant. 1. Greece - it’s not only the food that makes Greece one of the

My top 5 adventures so far …

14 February 2022

I have had some amazing adventures and experiences, studying in Pennsylvania and working in The Philippines but of my adventures my greatest ones have to be … 1. South America 2018 This was amazing, I loved planning it almost as much as experiencing it! We covered Chile, Patagonia and Argentina (and Brazil – sort of). People were great, food was great, scenery was out of this world. There will be

Husband’s 50th birthday UK road-trip

08 February 2022

So, we had planned to ski for 4 nights in Les Gets in France but since we weren’t allowed into France we settled on a small UK road-trip. Suffolk fun with friends and family For the first 2 nights I hired a youth hostel in Suffolk to celebrate with friends and family. It was great fun! And I even manged to organise a p**s up in a brewery! Northampton rest and relaxation We headed off from Suffo

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