Are there any trips still going the last half of July???
Hello, I am a regular reader of this forum, occasional poster. Like many of you, we are avid travelers and Tauck fans. We are concerned about our upcoming trips and can't wait for us to get past this virus so we can enjoy traveling safely again. We are scheduled to go on our third Tauck trip, K&T at the end of August. I have been keeping up with the Tauck updates but have been curious about how the trips are selling this summer. I looked at the Africa trips and saw the trips scheduled for the month of July are gone, not sold-out, waitlisted, gone. I did a spot check of some other trips and saw others were gone too. If they have cancelled all trips within a region I am curious why Tauck didn't include that in their update? In other words the May 11 update says they have cancelled everything through July 15 but in reality it looks like just about everything through the end of July. The earlier we know, the earlier we can make alternative plans and likely book another trip with Tauck for next year with the proceeds from the travel wallet. I understand and am sympathetic they are overwhelmed at their headquarters now. I am likely over anxious as I am a compulsive advance planner, but if they have made decisions I wish the update would be more inclusive. I know this is a first world problem compared to the losses and misery some on this board have experienced and everywhere throughout the world......but inquisitive minds want to know.
Comments
Hi Taxare, I totally understand your frustration. Tauck are cancelling their tours in blocks of time, so they will be canceling yours soon. What ever you do, don’t you cancel, let them cancel and then you have better choices and control of your funds instead of vouchers in your travel wallet. In fact, I was reading this morning that Kenya has closed it’s. Ordered with Tanzania.
As someone who is married to a guy who is in drug development, I can assure you that there will be no foreign travel this year. If we are incredibly lucky, there may be a chance towards the end of 2021. We are already thinking what we are going to do with the money we can’t spend on vacations for an entire year. Some, I am sure is going to support a hospital in Tanzania, some on bits of home projects. Yes we Tauck travelers are Lucky. Those of us advancing in age just have to keep healthy so we can travel in the future.
You may be correct British, but I read yesterday that Italy is opening up. We will see where that goes.
Taxare, I'm a big planner too and we're in the same boat with a trip in Sep unlikely to go. Waiting on a decision from Tauck. Since dates for the trip at the same time frame in 2021 were filling fast, we put down a deposit on the same trip for next year. Totally refundable up to 2 weeks after prices are posted (likely in July). Hopefully by that point we will have a decision on 2020. If you're really worried you could do the same. The only risk at this point might be that all the money for both trips won't be refunded or reapplied to 2021 i.e that it would remain in credit for a completely different trip later.
Sealord, I love your positivity. So in theory, I could have gone on my tour which began on June 4th. Because it ends in Italy. We are still on lockdown where I live, no actually, it’s due to finish June 4th. But it won’t because we have one of the few sensible governors in the country, if we were to move into the next stage, I still couldn’t even get a haircut, never mind fry to find a flight to Italy..Next weekend, Memorial Day, I’m frightened people going out and mingling and causing a resurge.
People who are rebooking for next year, had you already got other bookings made for next year to? I’m concerned that if my remaining already booked tours get cancelled, I’m going to have thousands of dollars stuck in a dream saver that has to be used by a certain date. It could be lost money. I’m not booking any more tours right now. My husband won’t even book the flights for one of the tours that we would normally have done by now.
Thank you for your advice and comments. I am optimistically bullish on a vaccine being available by first quarter of 2021. We have 4-5 Tauck trips on our list, with Normandy right after K&T. I will wait until they cancel, but may do as you suggest Claudia.
We are lucky in that we only had the one trip booked for this year but had about 3/4 of it paid for (splitting payments between 2019 and 2020 to balance out credit card % back between the 2 years). If things are looking good early next year we might add to the trip - either another Tauck tour If the timing works or something on our own like flying to Scotland and renting a car. Like you British I'm hesitant to tie up too much money and then try to scramble and spend.
I wonder what the limits are on the Travel Wallet. Can airfare bought thru Tauck be included or just the tour price?
Claudia - I got some answers about the Tauck Travel Wallet and Dreamsavers Accounts from Tauck and posted them in that specific thread. I've asked for some additional clarifications and if/when I get responses to those I will post them in the other thread as well. Not sure all of your specific questions will get answered but maybe some of them. If you haven't looked at the other thread you might look at it and get some details about the two accounts.
The deeper you dig the more confusing it can become. Each question answered generated a new question from me when I was researching waitlists and availability. At the end of all this, if and when it happens, Tauck will need to respool and re-publish their guidelines, whether they be the original ones, the current ones, of a synthesis of the two. It is good they have responded to this situation by adjusting their policy. Of course, I suspect a significant portion of Tauck's clientele, (who don't visit the forums) just lets their TA handle all of the messy details.
I'll add this wonderful quote from the movie, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," - "Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right, then it is not yet the end."
I may have to watch that movie again!
Love that quote, Alan. "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is one of my favorite movies. I have seen it twice already, however, I could watch it again and again. If you enjoy comedies, one of my all time favorites is "Office Space" from 1999. If you ever worked in a Corporate Environment, you will definitely enjoy this movie. I have lost tract of how many times I have viewed it.
We've been watching Dame Judy on TV. PBS has been re-running the entire "As Time Goes By" series. We never really watched it before. It is well written, humorous, very subtle and an interesting premise (we had a honeymooning couple with a similar story on our Classic Italy tour a few years ago!) In the most recent episode Lionel proposed.
Thanx Smiling Sam. We currently have half of a 2020 tour paid for, deposit/insurance paid for the same in 2021, a $1000 credit for a disrupted river cruise from last year (has to be spent Jul 2020) and the potential for another credit if this year's tour is cancelled. Easiest would be everything goes on the one tour of Switzerland that we want (2020 or 2021). We'll see if it's all that easy.
My April river cruise was canceled and I booked the same one for next year. I'm almost sure that my Scandinavia trip in September will also be canceled so they money will go the Singapore/Bali in 2021 that I booked last year, I travel solo so have to book early. Tauck has canceled all trips through 7/31.
Even though they haven’t updated their announcement yet, it looks like they have cancelled all of the Africa trips through August. There are no longer any August departures listed. As mentioned earlier, we expected this but now have to seriously put option B or C into effect!