Many cruises, It’s barely within the 330 day window to book flights for Japan now and Tauck may not have done contracting with their flight partners yet….depending on when in April your tour begins. If you can find flights cheaper on line, get Tauck to book those for you, you should not have to pay for the flights until just before you go. I do hope that Japan gets its act together in time for our next try to get to Japan, that was originally this September but will now be in 2023. The Japanese just hate foreigners, so will be in no hurry to welcome us.
British: Thanks for your help. I didn't realize Tauck will book our preferred flights (that we find cheaper on line) and we wouldn't have to pay for those until final payment. I hope I'm understanding your post correctly. Please confirm.
Yes, we have done this quite a few times. ….our latest booking was exactly like that. The flights we wanted did not show up on the Tauck system, so the agent went to the public one and she booked the flights we wanted, we chose the seating and we don’t pay until the final payment.
The last few years, if you book, I think it is, a South American flight, you might have to pay for it up front.
I am finding this confusing. I called Tauck to book flights to Hidden Galapagos in March 2022. I did my online research first. I was told they would only book their contract flights and not anything outside their system. For arrival, the only flight arrived at 11:30 PM. For the return flight they only had one flight at 6:30 AM. Business class roundtrip was $3600. I booked Delta One and First Class for $2100 RT arriving Lima at 5:30 PM and leaving Guayaquil @ 7:30 PM. We paid now but the savings and the flight times were worth it.
I guess you weren’t talking to a good agent. We have done this many times including this week. We were in the Galápagos I think 2018 and will have done this. I think we have only flown Delta once many many years ago.
We first realized this in 2007 when we did the K and T tour. We did not research flights first and Tauck had us go Philyl Detroit Amsterdam Arusha. They never offered us Philly Amsterdam Arusha. A couple of years later when we did the Tanzania tour, they wanted to do the same, but we had researched and said no we want to cut out Detroit and they booked what we wanted. It made the journey a lot shorter especially as we were flying coach in those days.
We went through a period of booking our own flights for a while being attracted to the five times points our CC offered, but since the Pandemic, we have been sticking with Tauck to save the hassle when tours are cancelled
2 days this week ,I have called and both time hardly 3 min. wait. talked to a rep. and solve my issue....
Monday's is their busiest day, I called Wed, an Friday around 3:00 pm their time. No wait.
Had to speak to a Tauck representative three times last week trying to finalize a reservation. Each time I used the call back option and received a call back within 15 minutes.
After several attempts, I got through yesterday mid-morning, a Tuesday, in about 40 minutes. I suggested Tauck consider expanding what we can do online and rep agreed to bring this suggestion to next weekly meeting. Many companies for instance let you sign up for a tour without calling in. You can request a callback, but that means nervously waiting for a call.
One thing I realize by reading the forum is that people seem to call Tauck a lot. I hardly ever call them and yet I’ve been on many tourswith them, Admittedly, it’s been different during the pandemic, but even so, I had tours that were cancelled, but I did my homework before I anticipated they would call and was ready to decide how I wanted to proceed. So nine times out of ten, I call them to book a tour. Many questions people want answered can be found on the web page. You only have to have been on a couple of tours to figure out how they operate and understand the language and information they give about the full daily itinerary about whether for example, a site is going to be a drive by or a full top and visit.
However, I hope when more tours are happening, that they will be open at weekends again, I think it’s needed so people aren’t waiting on the phone forever. I don’t rhik the call back approach is helpful for me personally. I couldn’t get on and concentrate on anything else knowing I would be interrupted in the middle of another project.
Oh, the crosses we all have to bear! At least we aren't complaining about no food, no money, no air conditioning. But, yes, many questions are answered on the tour pages of the main website. One feature that might be helpful is a better "search function" which is currently limited to finding a tour, not finding details about a tour.
As British says, after a few tours and reading the forums, though not 100% reliable, you learn Tauck's terminology, e.g. the difference between just "a visit" or "tour the city," which can be tour on your own or a "drive-by" vs "a guided visit", "tour with a local guide," etc.
Your best bet is to learn how to use the forums search functions- the forums contain a lot of good information. Also, you can sometimes find answers to tour specifics by using Google- a Google search will often return results from the forums. I do both before calling Tauck.
The daily schedule is problematic, since it is ALWAYS subject to change. Except for new tours, the phone agents will often have more detailed info than the website or even the Green Book, now replaced by emails, but they will usually advise you it is subject to change. The info is sometimes the schedule as it was designed, but it can also be feedback from the TDs.
Schedule details typically only matter, at least for us, if we are trying to squeeze a non-tour activity into the daily routine. It can be dangerous and costly to plan a hard activity in the middle of a tour. We have done it and have been very lucky, so far. We always have a back-up plan or make sure we can cancel for a refund with short notice. The daily schedule for some tours is subject to change more than others. Classic Italy is a prime example. Due to the Vatican schedulers, your after-hours tour of the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums can happen on any of the days and at any time you are in Rome- some "after hours" tours can happen on a different day and in the morning! The schedule in Florence can be less variable. Sticking with the same tour, winds and sea conditions can prevent you from traveling by boat to Cinque Terre or train problems can delay your arrival in Venice. How about Africa- on-tour flights can be delayed or the balloon flight with its pre-dawn wake-up can be rescheduled to the next day and eventually cancelled due to high winds. During Peru & Galapagos, we were supposed to fly first thing in the morning from Cuzco to Lima to Guayaquil, then to Balta in the Galapagos. The airport got fogged in. Instead, after the fog cleared late in the day, we flew to Quito. We arrived in the middle of the night and got a few hours sleep before flying to Guayaquil then Baltra the next morning.
Bottom line, if you are planning an extra on-tour activity, you pays your price and takes your chance.
Just about every tour or cruise we've taken has had to make at least minor adjustments to the daily schedule. A concert going on the night we were supposed to have dinner at Pont du Garde which made getting into it difficult and we missed out on a walk on the bridge.
A marathon happening in Lucerne the day we were supposed to visit. Traffic congestion getting to Cliffs of Mohr in Ireland. We've also had the TDs add extra sights to the schedule. Not common but can happen. etc etc I try to have a plan for any free time on a tour but know that things could change with little notice.
I find the itineraries so jam packed that it's best not to plan anything outside of the planned activities. If there's something you want to see or do along the way that is different, just recognize that something will have to go, either a Tauck activity or you lose $$$$ as Alan S. says. You can't have your cake and eat it too! It's easiest to plan an extra activity in the departure city or at the end of the tour. That doesn't help if it's something in the middle of the tour but it is what it is. Yeah, I'm from Patriot Nation so you'll have to forgive the use of the phrase.
Comments
Many cruises, It’s barely within the 330 day window to book flights for Japan now and Tauck may not have done contracting with their flight partners yet….depending on when in April your tour begins. If you can find flights cheaper on line, get Tauck to book those for you, you should not have to pay for the flights until just before you go. I do hope that Japan gets its act together in time for our next try to get to Japan, that was originally this September but will now be in 2023. The Japanese just hate foreigners, so will be in no hurry to welcome us.
Just talked to United. The call back was an hour and ten minutes and I got someone who was very near the bottom of the food chain.
I called today around 3:30 pm pacific and about 6 min. I was talking to a friendly rep. She was very helpful.
No complains.
British: Thanks for your help. I didn't realize Tauck will book our preferred flights (that we find cheaper on line) and we wouldn't have to pay for those until final payment. I hope I'm understanding your post correctly. Please confirm.
Yes, we have done this quite a few times. ….our latest booking was exactly like that. The flights we wanted did not show up on the Tauck system, so the agent went to the public one and she booked the flights we wanted, we chose the seating and we don’t pay until the final payment.
The last few years, if you book, I think it is, a South American flight, you might have to pay for it up front.
I am finding this confusing. I called Tauck to book flights to Hidden Galapagos in March 2022. I did my online research first. I was told they would only book their contract flights and not anything outside their system. For arrival, the only flight arrived at 11:30 PM. For the return flight they only had one flight at 6:30 AM. Business class roundtrip was $3600. I booked Delta One and First Class for $2100 RT arriving Lima at 5:30 PM and leaving Guayaquil @ 7:30 PM. We paid now but the savings and the flight times were worth it.
I guess you weren’t talking to a good agent. We have done this many times including this week. We were in the Galápagos I think 2018 and will have done this. I think we have only flown Delta once many many years ago.
We first realized this in 2007 when we did the K and T tour. We did not research flights first and Tauck had us go Philyl Detroit Amsterdam Arusha. They never offered us Philly Amsterdam Arusha. A couple of years later when we did the Tanzania tour, they wanted to do the same, but we had researched and said no we want to cut out Detroit and they booked what we wanted. It made the journey a lot shorter especially as we were flying coach in those days.
We went through a period of booking our own flights for a while being attracted to the five times points our CC offered, but since the Pandemic, we have been sticking with Tauck to save the hassle when tours are cancelled
2 days this week ,I have called and both time hardly 3 min. wait. talked to a rep. and solve my issue....
Monday's is their busiest day, I called Wed, an Friday around 3:00 pm their time. No wait.
Call center still slammed this week but I did get to use the call back feature which worked fine.
I did note on the prerecorded intro that they are having a company wide meeting Wed (?) and would not have agents available then.
Had to speak to a Tauck representative three times last week trying to finalize a reservation. Each time I used the call back option and received a call back within 15 minutes.
After several attempts, I got through yesterday mid-morning, a Tuesday, in about 40 minutes. I suggested Tauck consider expanding what we can do online and rep agreed to bring this suggestion to next weekly meeting. Many companies for instance let you sign up for a tour without calling in. You can request a callback, but that means nervously waiting for a call.
Best time to call it's around 3-4:00 pm. their time
One thing I realize by reading the forum is that people seem to call Tauck a lot. I hardly ever call them and yet I’ve been on many tourswith them, Admittedly, it’s been different during the pandemic, but even so, I had tours that were cancelled, but I did my homework before I anticipated they would call and was ready to decide how I wanted to proceed. So nine times out of ten, I call them to book a tour. Many questions people want answered can be found on the web page. You only have to have been on a couple of tours to figure out how they operate and understand the language and information they give about the full daily itinerary about whether for example, a site is going to be a drive by or a full top and visit.
However, I hope when more tours are happening, that they will be open at weekends again, I think it’s needed so people aren’t waiting on the phone forever. I don’t rhik the call back approach is helpful for me personally. I couldn’t get on and concentrate on anything else knowing I would be interrupted in the middle of another project.
Oh, the crosses we all have to bear!
At least we aren't complaining about no food, no money, no air conditioning. But, yes, many questions are answered on the tour pages of the main website. One feature that might be helpful is a better "search function" which is currently limited to finding a tour, not finding details about a tour.
As British says, after a few tours and reading the forums, though not 100% reliable, you learn Tauck's terminology, e.g. the difference between just "a visit" or "tour the city," which can be tour on your own or a "drive-by" vs "a guided visit", "tour with a local guide," etc.
Your best bet is to learn how to use the forums search functions- the forums contain a lot of good information. Also, you can sometimes find answers to tour specifics by using Google- a Google search will often return results from the forums. I do both before calling Tauck.
The daily schedule is problematic, since it is ALWAYS subject to change. Except for new tours, the phone agents will often have more detailed info than the website or even the Green Book, now replaced by emails, but they will usually advise you it is subject to change. The info is sometimes the schedule as it was designed, but it can also be feedback from the TDs.
Schedule details typically only matter, at least for us, if we are trying to squeeze a non-tour activity into the daily routine. It can be dangerous and costly to plan a hard activity in the middle of a tour. We have done it and have been very lucky, so far. We always have a back-up plan or make sure we can cancel for a refund with short notice. The daily schedule for some tours is subject to change more than others. Classic Italy is a prime example. Due to the Vatican schedulers, your after-hours tour of the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums can happen on any of the days and at any time you are in Rome- some "after hours" tours can happen on a different day and in the morning! The schedule in Florence can be less variable. Sticking with the same tour, winds and sea conditions can prevent you from traveling by boat to Cinque Terre or train problems can delay your arrival in Venice. How about Africa- on-tour flights can be delayed or the balloon flight with its pre-dawn wake-up can be rescheduled to the next day and eventually cancelled due to high winds. During Peru & Galapagos, we were supposed to fly first thing in the morning from Cuzco to Lima to Guayaquil, then to Balta in the Galapagos. The airport got fogged in. Instead, after the fog cleared late in the day, we flew to Quito. We arrived in the middle of the night and got a few hours sleep before flying to Guayaquil then Baltra the next morning.
Bottom line, if you are planning an extra on-tour activity, you pays your price and takes your chance.
Just about every tour or cruise we've taken has had to make at least minor adjustments to the daily schedule. A concert going on the night we were supposed to have dinner at Pont du Garde which made getting into it difficult and we missed out on a walk on the bridge.
A marathon happening in Lucerne the day we were supposed to visit. Traffic congestion getting to Cliffs of Mohr in Ireland. We've also had the TDs add extra sights to the schedule. Not common but can happen. etc etc I try to have a plan for any free time on a tour but know that things could change with little notice.
I find the itineraries so jam packed that it's best not to plan anything outside of the planned activities. If there's something you want to see or do along the way that is different, just recognize that something will have to go, either a Tauck activity or you lose $$$$ as Alan S. says. You can't have your cake and eat it too! It's easiest to plan an extra activity in the departure city or at the end of the tour. That doesn't help if it's something in the middle of the tour but it is what it is. Yeah, I'm from Patriot Nation so you'll have to forgive the use of the phrase.
Which phrase? I'm confused.
Claudia Sails--It is what it is! Bill Belichick after every game, particularly after a loss.
Okay, not a football fan so never heard him. Have heard that used lots of times by others and myself though. Thanx.