Travel companies to avoid?

[vafoodie]

Now that my husband and I are both retired, we'll be doing that first few years of retirement traveling. For years I've been looking longingly at last minute travel deals with Gate 1 and other companies. This leads me to ask if there are companies that I should absolutely avoid?

 

[Freedom56]

After the shutdowns in 2020 and cancellation of travel by airlines, I would avoid all third party travel agencies. Book flights, hotels, and cars directly with the service providers.

 

[Bamaman]

Our flight to Berlin during the pandemic was cancelled by the airline and we were due a refund. Ovago Travel did nothing to help us apply for the refund--and it took weeks even to get them on the phone. I had to provide correspondence from British Airways to American Airlines so credits would be issued.

I finally talked American Airlines into issuing the airfare credit, but it had to go back to Ovago's Visa Card. Then Ovago didn't even know they had received the credit. Then we went round and round for months before they'd admit they'd been refunded the airfare.

Who ever heard of a travel company paying with Visa cards to airlines?

Ovago then refused to refund us without charging a "service fee". I tried to go back on my Capital One Visa card, but they couldn't reverse the charges. They were nice enough to pay us $100 to help with the "service charge", however.

Had I originally checked their internet ratings, I would have never done business with Ovago. Their reputation is beyond terrible. In my 52 years of international travel, I've never run into such a dishonest company with such dishonest employees.

And I think they also issue tickets under other internet names too. We only buy directly from airlines from now on.

 

[OldShooter]

We generally travel either independently or with private guides, which means we have no need for US domestic agents or tour companies. We seek out travel provders in our destination country, both to cut out the middleman and to improve our chances of getting help if problems arise. (An agent eight or ten time zones away is not likely to be much help.) The internet has made the process of finding a good overseas company pretty straightforward.

Tip: Overseas providers really like being paid in cash and often will offer a discount. Money must be in brand new US $20 bills due to fear of counterfeiting, but I've carried $5-10K on the outbound airplane more than once. Ask.

We always book our flights directly with the airline.

 

[brett]

We sometimes buy travel products from TUI. They are one of the worlds largest travel providers. They operate cruise ships, airlines, and sell vacations.

Our last 2 last minute AI's in Mexico were purchased through them. Pay in GBP. They were about 20 percent less than NA.

We had a pre covid credit from March 2020. They advised us to either request
an immediate refund or leave it as a credit. If we left it as a credit it would be automatically refunded in Oct. 21.

We had an email every two months reminding us that the credit was in our account. In October we received a cheque. Did not request it...they just sent it along as promised.

Just compare that to some of the cruise ship and airline nonsense that people went through!

 

[ElizabethT]

OP, we have used Gate 1 nine times- we think they deliver amazing value for the price being paid.

However . . . I have no sense of confidence that now is the right time to begin rebooking tours given that COVID protocols worldwide are still continuing to evolve. And evolve. And evolve. What if we get ill just prior to departure, enroute, or during the trip? As others have experienced and shared on this forum, the monetary risk of being denied participation as a result of testing positive somewhere along the way is still to great for me to feel comfortable in turning over the cost of a tour to the tour operator, including our much enjoyed Gate 1, at this time. YMMV of course.

 

[brett]

OP, we have used Gate 1 nine times- we think they deliver amazing value for the price being paid.

However . . . I have no sense of confidence that now is the right time to begin rebooking tours given that COVID protocols worldwide are still continuing to evolve. And evolve. And evolve. What if we get ill just prior to departure, enroute, or during the trip? As others have experienced and shared on this forum, the monetary risk of being denied participation as a result of testing positive somewhere along the way is still to great for me to feel comfortable in turning over the cost of a tour to the tour operator, including our much enjoyed Gate 1, at this time. YMMV of course.

Nor us. Not interested or shopping tours or cruises. We have done one five week independent trip to Portugal. Looking at another in the fall.

Pre covid I did a fair amount of research for a planned 18-21 day solo trip (DW not interested) to India. At that time I had narrowed it down to Gate 1 or OAT. Plan to move forward with the booking at some point in the future.

 

[Scuba]

We have never done a tour as we also prefer independent travel, but if I were going to do a tour, I’ve heard great things about OAT.

 

[explanade]

I get the sense that all these package tours involve ground transportation in large buses to either take you to daily activities or moving between cities from base to base.

So probably not the best thing in pandemic times, to be in buses for hours with a lot of strangers.

The hotels they offer are value hotels but maybe not so great for location or quality.

It takes more work to book everything yourself.

Sometimes I look t these packaged tours to get itinerary ideas but that's about it.

 

[braumeister]

We did a two week tour of Ireland a few years ago with OAT and it was great. 17 people, so a small bus, and the hotels were excellent. It was a wonderful way to experience a country for the first time. We extended it for an additional week on our own, driving through a part of the country the OAT tour didn't cover, and felt we made the right decision. That was the only time we have ever used a tour company, and I doubt we would do it again, but I would recommend OAT to anyone looking for such an overview trip.

 

[athena53]

We did a two week tour of Ireland a few years ago with OAT and it was great. 17 people, so a small bus, and the hotels were excellent.

I'm taking my 3rd trip with OAT to E. Europe next week. For some destinations (in this case, multiple countries where I can barely read the local language) I'm willing to trade flexibility for an experience with an excellent guide and visits to things I'd miss on my own. I also know from personal experience (getting out of Bolivia in March, 2020 2 days before they closed their borders) that OAT goes above and beyond when things go wrong.

Expensive, but you get what you pay for.

 

[Gotadimple]

I get the sense that all these package tours involve ground transportation in large buses to either take you to daily activities or moving between cities from base to base.

So probably not the best thing in pandemic times, to be in buses for hours with a lot of strangers.

The hotels they offer are value hotels but maybe not so great for location or quality.

It takes more work to book everything yourself.

Sometimes I look t these packaged tours to get itinerary ideas but that's about it.

Having travelled almost exclusively with US-based tour companies, I can't tell you who to avoid, but I can tell you that the larger ones have very firm protocols in place for COVID, including mask-wearing. So in response to your assumptions:

You may be in a large bus but it will be to allow social distancing. You may be required to demonstrate you have up-to-date vaccinations for 2 reasons: (1) to enter the country, and (2) to travel with the provider.

Depending on the provider you may be in value hotels, or 5-star properties, and prices reflect that. Location of a property depends on the tour. In-city may be preferable, but if the country has a high incidence of COVID or other transmissible illness, you will be sleeping outside the city but have transport to the high density areas for scheduled activities.

Oh, and you will need to carry travel insurance to covers costs of your stay if you have to quarantine in place, medical coverage, and coverage for transport home if you can't use your return ticket.

Bottom-line: you pay someone else to handle the details, know specifically which areas are safe to travel in, and provide a high quality set of protocols to prevent COVID from being transmitted (or any other disease that is endemic in that area).

- Rita

 

[Bamaman]

We have never done a tour as we also prefer independent travel, but if I were going to do a tour, I’ve heard great things about OAT.

I was on a tour my first trip to Europe in 1970. Since then, it's been all independent travel. The internet makes it so easy to find rooms and get from place to place.

Guided tours are for old people, and I'm not an old person--even though I'm of real retirement age. Maybe I'll be ready for one of those big buses in another 10 years or so.

 

[Gotadimple]

I was on a tour my first trip to Europe in 1970. Since then, it's been all independent travel. The internet makes it so easy to find rooms and get from place to place.

Guided tours are for old people, and I'm not an old person--even though I'm of real retirement age. Maybe I'll be ready for one of those big buses in another 10 years or so.

And when you travel, how to you get explanations of the local culture? Especially when you don't speak the language? How do you manage yourself through Customs and Immigration if you are visiting several countries that have strict borders? Or do you just use local guides when you travel?

There is much to be said for going independently and I have done it with friends, but, then I rely on Viator or something similar to help with seeing some of the hidden places, and what they mean.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I did all independent travel when married. Now I am taking tours. Our tour group had a maximum of 35 people. Now that I am home for awhile I can be more objective about EF tours. We stayed in really nice hotels and our guide was excellent. Their Covid promise coverage which everyone gets with a tour was excellent. It cost them 4K. Because they had so many people get Covid on tour they hired a third party to get people home. This outfit was horrible. When EF tour took over my travel arrangements to get me home everything went smoothly. Most impressive is that they paid for a private driver to take me the 4 hours to Dublin. That costs 1k.

 

[Souschef]

One thing we have been doing is to look at a travel company itinerary and do it independently.
We may even stay in the same hotels as the tour. This worked out great in

Switzerland and in New Mexico.
Couple of quick stories:
While in Switzerland we planned to go to the top of the Jungfrau. Our TV feed showed it was socked in, so we made alternate plans. There were a number of tours taking the train up that day because it was their schedule.
While in Chimayo, NM, we were eating lunch when a bus full of tour people pulled up. We were imagining how long it would get food for them.

 

[foxfirev5]

Tip: Overseas providers really like being paid in cash and often will offer a discount. Money must be in brand new US $20 bills due to fear of counterfeiting, but I've carried $5-10K on the outbound airplane more than once. Ask.

Also Jacksons over Benjamins here in the US. Everybody knows $100 bills are highly counterfeited. Some are pretty good. I will not accept them for cash transactions at all.

 

[bmcgonig]

There’s a group called Eldertreks that serve over 55s. I haven’t used them but I want to at some stage. They limit groups to 16. I think OAT limits it to 16 as well. From the reviews online sometimes they have 10-12. Which is a very nice size. I agree that 30+ people in a bus sounds unappealing. Worse is when you see groups of 50+ people walking around a city following a tour guide who is holding a flag up. Those people are never smiling!

If I’m traveling alone I like the idea of joining a small group for a 7-10 day tour in a place that I haven’t been before and then spending time there after the tour. If I have company I’d prefer to do it myself.

Funnily enough when I look at tours on websites of countries that I’ve visited, the itinerary always seem so obvious I.e., hit all the famous spots, which I had done myself. The price sometimes seems a lot compared to how I did it myself..but maybe that’s ok.

 

[HarveyS]

We had a great trip to Peru using Gate1. We usually do our own thing in Europe. In SA we liked having a guide and bus.

 

[athena53]

Guided tours are for old people, and I'm not an old person--even though I'm of real retirement age. Maybe I'll be ready for one of those big buses in another 10 years or so.

My upcoming trip includes:

-Visit to a farm in Mrizi, Albania with a meal and discussion with the owner who will tells why he returned to Albania

-Meeting and discussion with a Balkan war survivor in Dubrovnik

-Home-hosted dinner in Sarajevo, where the hosts will discuss their experiences in the Balkan war and today

-Overnight stay at a family-owned farmstead and inn in Karanac, Croatia. Dinner with a local family in small groups- they might be ethnic Serb, Croat or Hungarian.

On previous trips I've found these local encounters to be real learning experiences. Of course they choose hosts carefully for their ability to speak English, sanitary cooking practices, modern Western plumbing and ability to avoid extremist rhetoric but they're about as authentic as they can get under the circumstances. The guides are "Ask me anything" types and they don't sugar-coat controversial issues although when the Communist party won an election in Nepal the guide seemed only cautiously optimistic.

OT, I know, because we were discussing companies to avoid, but I find that for some destinations there are valid reasons for guided tours. Right now I'm plowing through a 6-part BBC series the tour guide suggested when I told her in an e-mail I was doing research. I hope I can get through it all!

 

[explanade]

Having travelled almost exclusively with US-based tour companies, I can't tell you who to avoid, but I can tell you that the larger ones have very firm protocols in place for COVID, including mask-wearing. So in response to your assumptions:

You may be in a large bus but it will be to allow social distancing. You may be required to demonstrate you have up-to-date vaccinations for 2 reasons: (1) to enter the country, and (2) to travel with the provider.

Depending on the provider you may be in value hotels, or 5-star properties, and prices reflect that. Location of a property depends on the tour. In-city may be preferable, but if the country has a high incidence of COVID or other transmissible illness, you will be sleeping outside the city but have transport to the high density areas for scheduled activities.

Oh, and you will need to carry travel insurance to covers costs of your stay if you have to quarantine in place, medical coverage, and coverage for transport home if you can't use your return ticket.

Bottom-line: you pay someone else to handle the details, know specifically which areas are safe to travel in, and provide a high quality set of protocols to prevent COVID from being transmitted (or any other disease that is endemic in that area).

- Rita

Distance in a large bus doesn't matter so much as how well ventilated it is.

If you could open windows that would help.

But I'm guessing in the summer, they're running AC pretty high which means windows are closed, even if they could be opened.

Often in large tour buses, they can't be opened.

And to run AC at high levels, they're probably recirculating the air in the bus, as opposed to mixing in air from outside. That's even worse for concentrations of potentially infectious aerosols.

 

[braumeister]

Guided tours are for old people, and I'm not an old person--even though I'm of real retirement age. Maybe I'll be ready for one of those big buses in another 10 years or so.

Interesting aside: When we did the OAT small group tour of Ireland, there was another larger tour group on a similar route. It was run by Grand Circle, which is the part of OAT that caters to older customers. They had a much bigger bus, and occasionally stayed at the same hotel we did. It was fascinating to watch those oldsters getting on and off their bus, very slowly, and stand around waiting for everything, like someone to take their bag out of the bus, etc. No idea how old the average Grand Circle customer is, but they all looked pretty decrepit to me.

 

[Souschef]

We normally cruise, so the bur tours do not involve luggage. My biggest problem with tour buses is the time to get everyone on and off a bus.
If it only takes 30 seconds average for each person, on a 40 passenger bus, that means it kills 20 minutes off and 20 minutes on per stop.
If you are on a 4 hour tour that cuts almost a quarter of the time.

 

[Chuckanut]

We normally cruise, so the bur tours do not involve luggage. My biggest problem with tour buses is the time to get everyone on and off a bus.
If it only takes 30 seconds average for each person, on a 40 passenger bus, that means it kills 20 minutes off and 20 minutes on per stop.
If you are on a 4 hour tour that cuts almost a quarter of the time.

Ummm... it does not take 20 minutes to get everybody off a bus. So, I think your assumptions may need some work.

When unloading luggage and checking in to the hotel, that can take 20 minutes. Hopefully, you don't do that more often than every other day.
If you're on a tour that changes hotels every night, all I can say is Why Bother? Too much windshield time, IMHO.

On several tours we did a 'strategic dump'. This is done when it's not possible to for the bus to get near to the hotel. The bus stops where it shouldn't. Three or four tour members (usually men, but females can help if they wish) and the driver jump off the bus, open the luggage compartment doors, and then proceed to remove the luggage and 'dump' it on the sidewalk. Once done the bus driver immediately move the bus to a legal parking area, while the travelers sort through the mess and find their luggage.

The key is for the rest of the tourists to stay back and not get in the way of the dumpers. It's great fun!

 

[athena53]

Interesting aside: When we did the OAT small group tour of Ireland, there was another larger tour group on a similar route. It was run by Grand Circle, which is the part of OAT that caters to older customers. They had a much bigger bus, and occasionally stayed at the same hotel we did. It was fascinating to watch those oldsters getting on and off their bus, very slowly, and stand around waiting for everything, like someone to take their bag out of the bus, etc. No idea how old the average Grand Circle customer is, but they all looked pretty decrepit to me.

Thanks for this- sounds like I WILL be avoiding Grand Circle for many years, God willing. I can't climb hills like I used to but I'm not ready for that crowd.