Purchasing Airline Tickets via Travel Agent or Tauck

Virginia Travelers1

We are planning a July 2019 trip with Tauck and are deciding whether to reserve and purchase airline tickets with Tauck or through a travel agent which we have done before. The travel agent has been able to obtain for us the type of seat (like premium economy and business class) and also specific assigned seats (aisles) and we are not sure if Tauck does that. We are also trying to determine how far out from a trip we will be able to purchase tickets. Can we obtain tickets and seats in January 2019 (earlier or later?) for a July 2019 trip? Is that totally dependent on the airlines? Comments are appreciated.

AlanS

Virginia Travelers wrote:

We are planning a July 2019 trip with Tauck and are deciding whether to reserve and purchase airline tickets with Tauck or through a travel agent which we have done before. The travel agent has been able to obtain for us the type of seat (like premium economy and business class) and also specific assigned seats (aisles) and we are not sure if Tauck does that. We are also trying to determine how far out from a trip we will be able to purchase tickets. Can we obtain tickets and seats in January 2019 (earlier or later?) for a July 2019 trip? Is that totally dependent on the airlines? Comments are appreciated.

Google is your friend. Most airlines don't start selling tickets until 330 days before departure. With airlines or a TA you pay when booking, with Tauck you pay 60 prior to departure. You've got some months to go! Seat selection depends on airlines and ticket class. Call Tauck to discuss your flight plans and desires. They will tell you their contracted carrier, routing, and tentative price.

In your other post you said you were headed to K&T in 2018? When are you going? Or is this for another trip that you posted on the K&T forum by mistake?

AshvEd

We have taken five Tauck trips, and have three more booked. We considered Tauck on our first trip however we didn't like the connections, therefore we have always used our travel agent. The airline's reservations usually open up 330 days before the flight date. So that generally means 330 days from the date of our return flight is the earliest we can book, and pay for the airline tickets. Our travel agent has been able to get us very good prices as he often works with a ticket broker. I understand there are some benefits to booking with Tauck, such as payment for tickets are bundled with the trip so payment is due 60-90 days out rather than much sooner thru a travel agent or directly with the airline.

British

Have explained before that you do not have to go with The Tauck flights, you can give them the exact flights you want to take and they will book them for you at the going rate, but you do not pay until 60 days before, that is the advantage. For example, on our first trip to Africa, one of our earlier trips with Tauck, they routed us via Detroit, it was only when we sussed out how they operate that we booked a more direct flight on our next tour to the same destination, meaning we took just two flights instead of three and saved hours off the journey, Tauck booked the tickets for us, but we only paid with the final bill 60 days before our tour.

Claudia Sails

We usually book with Tauck but I do research beforehand to know what the options and prices are. This year has gotten more convenient now that they will book Delta economy, comfort plus and business.

I give them big kudos as last year the Tauck flight dept are the ones that warned me that Delta had canx our flight from Salt Lake to home (one of their regional carriers) 2 weeks before our tour start date. The flight from Heathrow to Salt Lake was fine, it was just the shorter flight home that was affected. For months beforehand Delta would email me every single minute change in the transatlantic flights but didn't bother to tell me one entire flight was gone. And at such short notice, options were limited.

As I said earlier, do your research then call Tauck and see what they come up with.

AshvEd

Thanks Claudia. May have to give Tauck another try with flights.

joycesw

Airline booking has become a bit of a crap shoot! We have done it all of the aforementioned ways. In fact, when the days of airline internet booking were new, I used it enjoy the challenge of getting the best flights at the best price myself, and I used to do quite well! Nowadays, I am older, it is more difficult, and, best of all, we have a cracker-jack travel agent! First, we always have her check Tauck’s pricing and route , and then see if we ( the travel agent and I) can do better. For our next trip, we found a decent price and route ( we have caveats...I.e., my husband loathes JFK...sorry NYC’ers...i’m not crazy about Lufthansa’s business-class seats), but I told her to hold off as there was no rush. Well, she would periodically check, and about three weeks later she sent an email that the route we wanted was $1000 cheaper per ticket! We jumped on it! Interestingly, she had another client looking at much the same route and sent him the same notice, but he delayed getting back to her by two days and by then the price was gone! So, my point? I think getting good airfare for good routes is 50% skill and 50% luck! You are starting so early that I doubt flights are even listed. For our next trip, we got tickets about eight months out...but, I think the time of year greatly affects pricing and availability...July is a popular time to travel, and bargains might be few and far between...good luck to you as you navigate the mine field of airline ticketing!!

Claudia Sails

Agree Joyce it's a bit of a crap shoot. Particularly when the airlines track your surfing. Noticed last year that Delta comfort upgrade cost one price the first time I looked, then the next day the exact same one had gone up. Fortunately Tauck had a better price on the base economy fare so overall I came out ahead. Argh!

AlanS

Claudia Sails wrote:

Agree Joyce it's a bit of a crap shoot. Particularly when the airlines track your surfing. Noticed last year that Delta comfort upgrade cost one price the first time I looked, then the next day the exact same one had gone up. Fortunately Tauck had a better price on the base economy fare so overall I came out ahead. Argh!

I like the "only two tickets left at this price" footnotes, too : )

Since we started flying business class, I generally find ticket prices follow a steady, upward trend as departure gets closer. I've actually gone through the booking process late in the booking cycle using the exact flights we have already booked just to see the price difference- some prices doubled!! However, I have never seen "deals" on business class tickets during the booking cycle. I book as early as possible to get choice of seats. With interest rates as bad as they are, Tauck's late payment doesn't offer much savings in that regard. One advantage of Tauck tickets is they have a contracted price, which, if you book late in the cycle, can be significantly less than booking the same flights on your own- I saved a couple of thousand going with Tauck on a last minute decision to go on Romantic Germany.

When booking early, one thing I am conscientious about, is regularly checking the Delta website for flight/itinerary changes since Delta doesn't seem to send alerts until a few weeks prior.

British

Claudia Sails wrote:

Agree Joyce it's a bit of a crap shoot. Particularly when the airlines track your surfing. Noticed last year that Delta comfort upgrade cost one price the first time I looked, then the next day the exact same one had gone up. Fortunately Tauck had a better price on the base economy fare so overall I came out ahead. Argh!

We noticed several years ago that the airlines tracked your surfing. We always booked Economy class in those days. So we started just doing our research on another little used email and when we were ready to book we used our regular email address and noticed we were offered the original cheaper fare that would escalate if we looked a second or third time on another email address. Recently we have been a little lax looking at prices from another email. These days we sometimes fly business class but have neglected t be actively looking for price differences when doing frequent surfing on the same email. Thanks for the reminder about this Claudia.

Virginia Travelers1

AlanS wrote:

Google is your friend. Most airlines don't start selling tickets until 330 days before departure. With airlines or a TA you pay when booking, with Tauck you pay 60 prior to departure. You've got some months to go! Seat selection depends on airlines and ticket class. Call Tauck to discuss your flight plans and desires. They will tell you their contracted carrier, routing, and tentative price.

In your other post you said you were headed to K&T in 2018? When are you going? Or is this for another trip that you posted on the K&T forum by mistake?

Thanks Alan S. Yes, we will be going to K&T in July 2018 and we are looking forward to that trip.