universal travel.biz

EXPLORE DESTINATIONS HERE >

United States 407-278-7006

Puerto Rico 787-954-9434

Universal Cruises and Travel is a world leader in Christian Pilgrimage and Travel - Helping you see God’s incredible works across the globe for over 15 years!

Building memorable experiences for faith-based groups and individuals is what we love to do! For more than 15 years we’ve become industry experts at creating well- organized trips that are sure to delight. You’ll see and experience God’s splendor while enjoying incredible sites and sounds. Contact us to build a truly unforgettable trip for your Church or group.

Our Core Values

Led by experienced, competent, and attentive executives, Universal Cruises and Travel offers the dedicated services of a large team of  professionals who provide personalized and hands-on operations and guidance support to both groups and individuals. Our team will work with you, listen to your wishes, advise you on the different options available to you, customize the package that best suits you, and will always do our best to meet your highest expectations.

More About Us

Universal Cruises and Travel was created to serve and promote religious and pilgrim tourism to the Land of the Bible.  In time, and as the work grew, we expanded our scope to other areas of professional tourism while maintaining our original commitment to introduce pilgrimages from many nations, backgrounds, and interests to the biblical marvel of the land and the people of Israel.

As you consider your upcoming visit to the Land of the Bible, it is imperative that you partner with a resourceful, innovative, well organized, and competent Tour Operator. Whether this is your first visit to Israel or a sequel to previous tours, our commitment and goal is to ensure that your experience in Israel will be enjoyable, enlightening, heartwarming, and life changing.

Should you desire to visit and explore other Middle Eastern locations while in Israel, we offer coordinated tours that include Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Greece and more through the excellent services of associated companies in those countries.

Our Annual Numbers

Hosted Tours

Places Visited

Happy Travelres

Years in the Business

See Upcoming Tours

Explore tours to Israel, Europe, and more!

Universal Travel

Hours updated 3 months ago

Review Highlights

“ we booked an airline ticket through aanchal and the service was very quick and clear at the same time the prices were reasonable and competetive. ” in 2 reviews

“ Was looking for a good travel agency for purchasing tickets to India and Universal travel was recommended by my friend. ” in 5 reviews

“ Was acknowledged right away and on time, he has traveled the world & shared his experience, gave me lots of suggestions thru own personal experiences. ” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours

Suggest an edit

4400 47th Ave

Sacramento, CA 95824

You Might Also Consider

TravelStore-Sacramento

4.7 miles away from Universal Travel

Jenny B. said "We worked with Jeanine who set up everything for us including airfare, hotels, ferries, and all private pickups. I gave her our budget and the 3 cities I wanted to go, and although the total cost of the whole trip was slightly…" read more

in Travel Services

European Travel

Sharise K. said "My boyfriend and I just got back from an AMAZING three night stay at cancuns Hyatt Zilara. He's never been to Mexico and I wanted to make sure it was the perfect trip and I knew that linda would make that happen. Shes been booking…" read more

Gomez Vacations

4.5 miles away from Universal Travel

Imagine having a partner plan your next dream vacation! This means, finding you the best rates, negotiating with top-line resorts, cruises, excursions, and destinations. We do the homework for you, keeping you updated along the way,… read more

in Travel Agents

About the Business

Business owner information

Business Owner

Extended hours from 9:00am to 7:00pm Monday through Fridays. Office location by appointment only. Texting now supported! Call or text us at (916) 429-2711 for flights, visas, and other travel services. …

Ask the Community

Ask a question

Yelp users haven’t asked any questions yet about Universal Travel .

Recommended Reviews

• 1 star rating Not good
• 2 star rating Could’ve been better
• 3 star rating OK
• 4 star rating Good
• 5 star rating Great

Select your rating

Overall rating

Have booked tickets twice so far with this travel agency and it has been a good working experience. They are prompt, the ticket fares are reasonable and comparable, good at last minute bookings and honoring special travel requests. Worked with Bobby Shah before who was very helpful and even was resourceful in getting a refund from an airline. Worked with Aanchal Chopra this time and she was very efficient as well.

Pathetic responses- called twice just to make sure I wasn't been pranked. Useless customer service and could not hear clearly or communicate with person who picked up phone. Wasted time .

I been coming to book my flight from last couple years, My family n myself travel a lot every year. There staff are very friendly n helpful. I get great deal compare to online price n other places around Sacremento. The best part about this place is whenever you have to change your flight, I just give them call n they take care right away with very less money. I always travel with best airline n faster way to travel around the world. I know every single person works. If you guys want to travel this is the place to go..... thank you universal travel. For more info call 916-429-2711. If you guys have any question, feel free to message me here.

called several time to book a ticket got transferred ever time no one picked on my 4th call some picked up when i complained about no one trying to help me i was cursed at and told to buy my ticket somewhere else. I will NOT recommend it to anyone and i will gladly take my business somewhere else. I have a choice and they lost my business.

According to CA Dept of Justice, this place still has an active license to sell travel. And according to the Attorney General, they're still in business. So, I called to book travel for my parents. This was a disaster, at best. I worked with a gal named Marcy over the phone and via email. I laid out most of what I needed over email and confirmed with her over the phone. Response time was anywhere from 4 hours to 48 hours. Best part was, she could recall the flights that I needed, but none of the special accommodations I requested. Come on! That is why most travelers enlist a travel agent...to take care of the little things for them. If it was just about booking flights, I would have gone to cheapoair.com. Needless to say, she ended up telling me to call the airline for her. Is that not her job??? My advice: call one of the bigger agencies over the phone (expedia.com, etc.) to book your travel and get your preferences relayed to the airline/hotel/car rental. Travel agents are becoming a thing of the past, mainly because they've dug their own graves with service like what I've just experienced.

ouch this was a really bad travel agency. I was referred to by a friends friend, did not check yelp reviews before contacting the agent. I got a quote after more than 24 hours (and 2 reminders from me!) for a decent price, but I had to confirm the same day for the airline was raising prices the next day. Fair enough. I replied within 30 minutes asking what information was needed to confirm. Ha! no response again and none the next day, I finally booked another airline online for a pretty good deal. How busy can these guys get, I thought the primary reason for travel agencies was to provide good service. Silly me.

This office is just a joke, I emailed and called them over and over but they didn't respond. It's really hard to talk to the right person.

Do not use this travel agency. Pete Patel doesn't know how to respect his clients He yells very loud at you when you don't answer the phone rite away or get back to him immediately. If anything goes wrong he blames the client. We even didn't get to our destination because he forgot to give us our visa to enter India. Of course we were blamed for that. He brags he has been in the business for many decades without a problem. Well he is a problem and s big one too. Plan to travel don't use universal travels. You would be lucky if you even make it to your dream vacation

Aanchal' was awesome. She was genuine, knowledgeable, and friendly!!! She worked with me to accommodate my needs and got me the best deal possible. If you are looking for a trustworthy agency to plan your next trip, this is the place to go!

This place isn't even worth 1 star. This travel agency had booked my flight reservation under my married name and not my maiden name which is on my passport. They did not book the flight with my passport copy, which they also never requested, but only based off of what they assumed. (My in-laws went to the agency, not myself). I had contacted this agent as soon as I found out and they told me it will take a 2-3 days to sort out. Of course, any help was fine so I waited. They didn't contact me until 2 weeks later and stated that I had to wire $180 right away to a wells fargo bank online before "3:00 pm", ehm? No. I rather give you the money but $180 was a lot of money so I told them no and that I would rather apply for a new passport. She did not care, so I assumed she understood. Here's the catch, she did not tell me that in order to fly out of country, especially to Fiji, and you must have a valid passport 3-6 months PRIOR the visit. How did she not know, she's a travel agent? I was so disappointed to find out last minute, so I contacted Fiji Airways directly and told them my situation. Fiji airways explained that they have a contract with the agency and they were unable to make any changes without them, but what made matters worse, the fee is actually $130 and NOT $180. I called the travel agency and told "Aanchal Chopra" who then said she can't help me, it is too late and I should've paid when given the chance because now it will be "more than $180"!!LIES!! I told her that I spoke to Fiji Airways directly, she had nothing to say and then tried to use the excuse that "I'm a customer" so it's different for me. I then told her that Fiji airways said they will allow me to do a conference call with her so it wouldn't allow any type of issue and she had no idea what to say and hung up. I can't believe she gave me not only MISEADING advice but then also tried to charge me more for the fee then the original price and then had the audacity to say she'll have to charge me more since my trip was next month and that she would have to do extra work. Seriously, all it took me was one call. Long story short, Fiji Airways understood my dilemma and helped me so I wouldn't have to deal with these rude travel agents. So here's a tip- don't go here unless you want poor service from lazy employees.

44 other reviews that are not currently recommended

Sunrise Navigation Travel

Take the guesswork out of planning; rely on our experts for a selection of cruises and things to do that will make your trip memorable. read more

Tanya’s Travel

Maureen V. said "In a day and age when everyone is trying to be their own travel agent...please take a moment to read this review. I just have to say...Tanya is fabulous and really pulled through for us in many ways! First, she found my boyfriend…" read more

People Also Viewed

Wish My Trip

American Travel and Tours

Giselle’s Travel

Executive Travel Center

Travel Transparency

Ships and Trips Travel

Zoe’s Cruises & Tours

Elk Grove Travel

Exquisite Travel Group

Best of Sacramento

Things to do in Sacramento

Other Travel Services Nearby

Find more Travel Services near Universal Travel

Browse Nearby

Restaurants

Things to Do

Limo Service

Traveling Agency Near Me

Related Cost Guides

Town Car Service

OUR SPECIALISTS

From archaeological digs to kayaking, from countryside walks to wildlife safari adventures – our travel advisors know the world and all the ways for you to discover it. Our advisors have:

• Imagination
• A passion for travel
• An ability to think outside the box
• An uncompromising commitment to service

As founder, owner and president of Universal Travel, Randolph Ney entered the travel industry in 1969 when his family’s store opened a travel agency department in their retail store. At a young age, Mr. Ney collected stamps from all over the world, and that combined with his interest in geography, generated an interest of seeing the world. Today, Randy enjoys traveling the world discovering new and exotic destinations, outstanding hotels, unforgettable guides, and favorite neighborhood restaurants and shops.

His most memorable travel experiences include traveling on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, visits to Amritsar and Varanasi in India, and spending the night in the Sahara Desert in Morocco. Randy has extensive knowledge of most areas of the world including train journeys, East and Southern African safaris, India, Turkey, New Zealand, Antarctica, Morocco, Europe, and particularly educational, group and family experiences.

Kristie England

Kristie serves as Universal Travel’s general manager of the Beaumont and Houston, Texas offices. Kristie is a Certified Travel Consultant, Accredited Cruise Counselor, and she is honored to be an IC Bellagio Silver Ambassador.

Whether you’re seeking a private yacht, an expert guide in a faraway land, a wonderful family trip or that perfect weekend getaway, Kristie can seamlessly plan the perfect trip. Kristie’s extensive knowledge of the travel industry combined with her attention to detail and relationship with her clients ensures every trip is full of memories to last a lifetime.

While Kristie has been fortunate to experience many memorable trips, her unforgettable experiences include a hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara in Kenya, visiting the Vatican with a private guide, holding a koala bear in Australia, and an entrance to the Taj Mahal before the general public.

Jill Goldstein

Jill Goldstein serves as the manager of the Houston office. From her experience in luxury retail and the knowledge she gained from her educational background, Jill has outstanding attention to detail and commitment to customer service. Jill excelsin planning African safaris, trips to New Zealand, ocean cruising, multi-generational travel, group travel, and custom designed trips. And she was honored to be selected as a Virtuoso 2018 Rising Star Cruise Finalist.

Some highlights of her travels include Gorilla trekking in Uganda, wildlife safaris to East and South Africa, and enjoying the culture, food and wine Australia has to offer.

Lisa Daumann

With years of experience, Lisa is a professional advisor who can help you no matter wherever you wish to travel.  From multi-generational family vacations, to luxury cruises, each trip is approached from a new perspective. Furthermore, Lisa has traveled extensively, and can leverage her destination knowledge and strong industry relationships to design detailed itineraries full of rich experiences.

Some highlights of her travels include hot air ballooning in Cappadocia, bungee jumping in New Zealand, biking through Brittany France, touring Myanmar, and wildlife safaris to East and Southern Africa.

Margaret Larkin

Margaret began her travel adventures early in life, as she took many family trips growing up. After college, Margaret began her career in luxury travel at Neiman Marcus. Since starting her own family, Margaret has enjoyed family trips to Hawaii, Tanzania and South Africa being the most memorable.

Having visited many corners of the world either professionally or personally, Margaret is very familiar with the ins and outs of many destinations. Whether you are looking for an active adventure, escape to Europe, a trip of a lifetime to Africa or a beach getaway, Margaret can plan your unforgettable vacation.

Laurie Bourque

With over 30 years of experience, Laurie is an experienced advisor with extensive product and destination knowledge to help you plan your perfect getaway. Laurie is an Accredited Cruise Counselor, Certified Travel Associate, and a graduate of the Disney College of Knowledge.

Laurie enjoys planning ocean and river cruises, trips to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Mexico, and Italy, and memorable vacations for Honeymooners. One of her favorite trips was seeing the dramatic coastal scenery of the Cinque Terre and eating the delicious food Italy has to offer.

Lisa Anne Chapman

I engage with clients in a uniquely personal way. Learning of your personal interests, style and taste and wrapping this knowledge into curating unique travel experiences. Drawing from a lifetime of personal travel experiences, two decades of service as a luxury travel advisor, and a dedication to delivering evocative memories worthy of your coveted leisure time.

Texas born and Midwest raised my passion for travel started at a young age. Mapping out many road trips across the United States, researching interesting food and culture to explore when sailing the Caribbean, and figuring out the best route to walk around Disney World opposite the crowd. At twelve years old I spent a summer travelling through Europe with my mother. This introduction to the tantalizing variety of food, language, scenery, and hostory solidified my answer to the “what do you want to be when you grow up” question.

My most recent travels included stargazing in the Atacama Desert, Chile; exploring the Galapagos Archepeligo through the eyes of my 10-year-old son; meandering slowly along the coastal Scottish Highlands; delving into the ancient traditions and culinary mastery of the Basque Culture in Northern Spain; and excelling my golf game on the challenging courses of New Zealand.

I have enjoyed exploring this big and beautiful globe under the care and guidance of travel legends. It is a privilege to use this wisdom in assuring every client enjoys a seamless experience with complete trust and peace of mind.

Stefanie H. McIntosh

Stefanie's early career background was in Corporate Human Resources, which fed her love of working with people. After a 16 year hiatus from working in the corporate world to raise her family, she landed in the travel industry in 2016, and has since fallen in love with this as a full time career.

Stefanie loves the challenge of researching a destination to perfectly match her clients' travel wish lists. Her astute attention to detail and customer service shines with repeat, satisfied clients. The travel industry feeds Stefanie's passion to learn about our big, beautiful world, while allowing her to enjoy her love of working with and getting to know people.

Stefanie specializes in group travel, multi-generational family travel, and romantic vacations for couples. She is also a Certified Accessible Travel AdvoAdvocate, which helps her to plan smooth and enjoyable vacations for people with any type of special travel needs.

Sheila Berggren

Sheila took an eighteen-year break from her career in the energy industry to raise her family. Two years ago, she decided to get back into the working world and joined Universal Travel. Sheila has really enjoyed learning about the amazing and incredible world of luxury travel.

Brandie Hensley

“Better late than never.”

That saying can pertain to so many aspects of our life, whether it be a new career, new relationship, or a new travel destination.  After years of working as an Outside Sales Representative, I believe I have finally discovered my calling. I may be new to Universal Travel, but I am far from new to travel.  For me, a vacation is never merely just a vacation.  It is an ADVENTURE.  Travel has always been a vital part of my life. I have been blessed to have been able to create many travel adventures with my children as they were growing up.  Now that they are all grown and I have a new granddaughter, the fun is just beginning.

With the knowledge and skills that I have learned throughout my years of traveling, I am confident that I can assist you with your next travel adventure.

“It’s the not the Destination, It's the journey.”

Sarah Katherine Hoopes

Sarah Katherine has a B.S. in Marketing from LSU and spent her younger years working for companies such as Gatorade, Merck, Inc. and Coldwell Banker. As a young girl, she loved to travel, and that love turned into a passion as she grew older. After experiencing many trips across the world, and dealing with the new "Covid way of travel", Sarah Katherine realized that it was time to turn her passion into a career.

“I have very high expectations when it comes to luxury travel and I expect nothing less for my clients. I use personal connections and firsthand expertise to craft luxury trips, including unique experiences, special values, complimentary perks, VIP treatment and rare access.”

Favorite vacation moments include: Swimming with manta rays in Hanifaru Bay, in the Maldives, riding a camel on the beach in Oman, shopping in the souks of Dubai, seeing the great pyramids in Egypt, and sailing through the BVI on a catamaran.

Jordan Bumstead

Jordan has accumulated extensive experience abroad, thanks to regular family vacations and studying abroad in foreign countries. Having explored more than 35 countries across five continents enables her to create amazing journeys and share first-hand knowledge of distant lands with her clients.

Her most memorable travel experiences include snorkeling the shores of Mozambique, seeing the Pyramids and temples in Egypt, viewing the Great Barrier Reef from a seaplane, and petting lion cubs in Zambia.

Ara Cromwell

Interests & Specialties Luxury Travel

Are you dreaming of an intimate beach hideaway?.....a villa in the Tuscan countryside?.....an oceanfront room on an exotic Hawaiian beach?.....a tour of fascinating old world Europe?.....an adventure cruise to the Antarctic?  Whatever your destination and dream, Ara says her greatest joy is designing the perfect itinerary that places her clients in the world's Best Hotels, reflecting the history, art and culture of that country.

As a 1970 graduate of Kansas City Travel Academy, Ara's personal travels and industry certifications have given her the expertise to design itineraries that will exceed your expectations and delight you with the highest level of service and quality. 

Carole McFarland

At 18, Carole took a trip to Australia which awakened her love of travel, from flying, to seeing new and different places, and meeting people. With over 40 years in the industry, Carole still appreciates the diversity of travel - exploring new places, historical finds, wild animals or just relaxing.

Her most memorable experiences include taking a helicopter flight over the Kakadu National park in northern Australia, the first glimpse of Machu Picchu and the golden glow of Cuzco at night as the train descended the mountain; but truly every journey has left her with a memory to treasure.

Laura Madden

From childhood travels with family, to working with Delta Airlines as a flight attendant, Laura’s favorite places are where you get off the beaten path and get active. She has extensive knowledge of luxury hotels and airlines and is particularly adept at booking air.

Open seating no more? Southwest CEO says airline is weighing cabin changes

Southwest Airlines  is considering changes to its single-class, open-seating cabins to drive up revenue, CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC on Thursday, a shift that could be among the largest in the airline’s history.

“We’re looking into new initiatives, things like the way we seat and board our aircraft,” Jordan said in an interview after the carrier’s  disappointing first-quarter report.

Southwest’s all- Boeing  737 fleet has a single economy class cabin and no seating assignments, though it does offer earlier boarding for a fee so customers can snag their preferred seats. The airline has focused on keeping its product simple and user-friendly for years, aiming to keep its own costs and complexity to a minimum.

Meanwhile, rivals including  Delta  and  United  have touted high revenue growth for premium seating such as business class and  strong upsell rates .

Analysts have repeatedly asked Southwest about opportunities for premium seating or additional fees. (The airline doesn’t charge travelers for their first two checked bags.)

Most U.S. airlines charge travelers to choose many of its seats in advance, even those that don’t come with extra legroom. Eight U.S. carriers —  Alaska ,  Allegiant ,  American , Delta,  Frontier ,  JetBlue ,  Spirit  and United — together brought in $4.2 billion from seating fees in their domestic networks in 2022, according to Jay Sorensen, an airline ancillary revenue expert at IdeaWorksCompany.

Jordan said no decisions have been made on what kind of changes Southwest will ultimately make, but he said studies have yielded “interesting” results.

“Customer preferences do change over time,” Jordan said.

While details were scarce during Southwest’s earnings call, when asked whether Southwest would consider a separated cabin on its planes, Ryan Green, the carrier’s chief commercial officer said: “Curtains and things like that are a bit far afield from what Southwest Airlines is.”

Green added that the carrier is not considering charging for checked bags because “people choose Southwest Airlines because we don’t have bag fees.”

— CNBC’s  Phil LeBeau  contributed to this report.

More from CNBC:

• Honda to build $11 billion electric vehicle hub in Canada
• Comcast beats earnings estimates even as it sheds more broadband subscribers
• American Airlines swings to a loss, but tops estimates for Q2 forecast