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Air bought through Tauck
Good evening.
When it comes to purchasing your air for travel do you veterans find that TAUCK can offer the best deals for the most part as opposed to buying through other sources?
Thank you!
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Good evening.
When it comes to purchasing your air for travel do you veterans find that TAUCK can offer the best deals for the most part as opposed to buying through other sources?
Thank you!
Comments
Depends, sometime they are cheaper, something not. You have to do your own research
We have typically found that Tauck air is more expensive than booking directly with the airline. One advantage (but I'd confirm specifics with Tauck directly), however, is that you can cancel the air without penalty up until you've made the final trip payment.
I inquired once or twice, then never again. I prefer full control over my airline, route, seat, etc. and the easiest way to deal with that is book yourself via the airline's web site, once you find the flight you want. There are plenty of excellent resources online such as google flights, kayak, etc.
The few times I performed my own research, I found that Tauck was either less expensive or competitive in their pricing structure. It might be due to the fact that I fly out of and into a major airport. Moreover, knowing that Tauck will take care of my flight(s) should something go awry certainly gives me peace of mind in knowing that they will assist me no matter what. It is a personal choice that I make to mitigate risk.
I always call Delta to book the flights for me. I have accumulated over 300,000 Delta Skymiles and plan to use some of them for First Class to Amsterdam in August 2024 for the Dutch Waterways cruise. Delta is great in allowing bookings well in advance and I will book my flights in November if allowed. British is correct about doing your own research.
I think it depends (at least in part) on whether you would purchase refundable tickets if booking on your own. If so, then Tauck may be competitive; if not, they will most likely be significantly more expensive. But as others have stated above, always do your own research and make sure you are comparing like to like products.
Sometimes Tauck is more expensive for me and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes they offer the route and stops that I want, and sometimes they don't. One time I called and they didn't have my preferred route. I called a few days later about something else, and just happened to double check about the other route, and all of a sudden a click of the mouse revealed a bunch more options for me. So it also depends on who you talk to and if they know where to look. Asking specifically to speak to the "Airline Reservations" person may help.
If you buy with Tauck, my understanding is that you can cancel for any reason up until the start of the trip. If you buy directly from the airlines, you need to have a covered reason such as illness of yourself or family. This may have changed recently so please confirm.
The tricky part in comparing is the price fluctuations from day to day. Last year I was checking on possible routes on Delta's website and the prices were crazy - like Premium seats more expensive than Business Class - then the next week it was more what you would expect and Tauck's prices were pretty close.
You can go ahead and reserve early with Tauck but keep checking prices with the airline up until the tour is fully paid for and the tickets actually purchased by Tauck. I have a friend on a cruise later this year that reserved with Tauck but then found she had a credit with the airline and a good fare so she booked on her own and canceled Taucks.
One way to get around the seating issue is to go ahead and have Tauck purchase the tickets even before the tour balance is due. Then you can make whatever seat choices you want including upgrading. That's how it used to work for Delta Economy Comfort which at that time Tauck couldn't book. They could only do economy and business. I had Tauck book economy then use the confirmation code to upgrade the seat and pay Delta directly.
That’s interesting Claudia. I understood that if Tauck booked your flights, then only they could do any changes including upgrades, not you, because they are the ones who purchased the tickets. Years ago, We had friends who booked their second tour with Tauck. Tauck booked their seats economy. They then decided to change to business class, so they went on line to the booking reference and paid the difference, choosing their seats etc. When the tickets came, they were still economy and there was no record of our friends changing the flights or their payment. Tauck told them then that only Tauck could deal with the booking. They were so angry, they have never traveled with them since.
For years, we liked to book flights with Tauck even when they were a little more expensive because it was great not to have to pay for them until the final payment date. I always laugh that my husband hates having to part with his money until he has to, which was sensible back in the days when you got great interest rates on your money in the bank. But these days, Tauck wants payment for flights when you book for ‘exotic’ tours, so there are fewer and fewer advantages.
We were always able tell Tauck to book any routes we wanted, even if it was not one of their contracted flights. It really is complicated to figure everything out about their rules. Again years ago, on our first trip to Africa, we did not research first and they booked our flights. They had us fly Philly, Detroit, Amsterdam, Arusha. We never knew we could have flown just a Philly, Amsterdam, Arusha. I guess the Detroit route was the best deal they could get. That is when we first realized you have to do your own research, the next time we booked Philly Amsterdam….that was of course before we discovered Qatar was the best airline for that route!
All these examples show that it varies as who you speak to at Tauck and when, where you are flying to and the airline.
I do a lot of research before calling Tauck. On a recent booking Boston to Tokyo, Tauck had no idea that you can book a non-stop. I found the flights I wanted and then had Tauck book them, same price on line.
We are flying Boston to Tokyo in a few weeks Debi.
Debi Horan and British--did/are you flying Japan Airlines out of Boston? I am looking at them for Boston to Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand next February, business class. They seem to have better connections than Qatar and Emirates. Would love any feedback you have on them. Thank you.
voikk
Hi-We did use Japan Airlines from Boston to Hanoi for the VCT.We had good connections and I would recommend that option,
Yes, Japan airlines.
When we went to Vietnam we used Asiana and it was a great airline. Very attentive flight attendants. We are going to Vietnam again next year and will probably use them again though we haven’t started researching yet.
Thank you, British and PF606590.
As a platinum member of AMEX I do get 5 times the number of points making the actual air reservation through American Express so that is another factor to consider. Thanks all!
I using my Amex Platinum to get 5x points as well. I have found good deals on their international air program. Sometimes I book directly on the airline web site and still get 5x points.
When I was looking at Japan Airlines aircraft it looked as though there are individual suites on some but not all.
British, I was told last year when booking business class tickets with Tauck NOT to go into the airline's website and make seat changes as it could affect the price and they'd had problems with that in the past. I did it anyway but made sure not to change it to anything higher priced (if there was any) but I can imagine if it was lower fare seats like comfort or economy that there might be a problem. If your friends did make the change thinking that Tauck had purchased the tickets then they could have had a problem. It's hard to tell when the tickets have been purchased since Tauck frequently sends air itinerary documents which are generated by the airline along with confirmation numbers so easy to think they've been paid for. But until the document lists the eticket numbers they haven't been purchased.
Tauck is the one who specifically said that the way to get Delta Comfort (then not now) was to go ahead and have Tauck purchase the tickets and then do the upgrade myself. I had to do that and give Delta my credit card number for which I got a receipt. Your friends may have thought they'd done everything but not realized it hadn't actually been completed.
I have reservations later this year for the Christmas cruise and for months the seats for the flights to Vienna and from Nuremburg weren't selected with AF. On their website they would apparently let me pick them but then listed a charge to do so (about 9 euros) so I just left it. It's a 2/2 seating plane so who cares. I just left it alone and will wait until Tauck pays for the tickets then worry about it.
To answer your question, our air is with Japan Airlines, non-stop. Book early if you want non-stop.
Also, in 2019, we used American/Japan Airlines for the Vietnam trip. One of my favorite trips!
Wan If you cancel air tickets after payment to Tauck, there is a $400 fee per ticket.
Bucketlist thank you for clarifying, and as usual I realize that my contribution was not clear. I was thinking more in terms of getting your money back if you bought the Trip Protection, which we always do, for various reasons. In that context, I believe you can still get your money back (after filing a claim) if you cancel your trip for any reason by booking air with Tauck, no? But if you buy your own ticket, to get a refund your reason has to be one that is covered, such as illness with a doctor's note. That is my understanding.
Wan, I believe you are mistaken. We ran into his near the end of Covid when it was still concerning to travel. We decided to rebook for the next year but before we told the Tauck rep, we were advised there was a $400 charge per ticket. However due to Tauck's rather liberal policy during Covid, we were able to rebook and have our payment applied to the rebooked trip. Also, Air Italia changed our flight and was going out of business. On another occasion many years ago, we purchased our own airfare. Just before departure there was a bombing in Brussels and Tauck changed the tour end point so we had to rebook our airfare. To our surprise we were reimbursed for our out of pocket costs for the new airfare. We had insurance.
Tauck makes it clear that the air booking is a convenience and not a product of Tauck. Lots of exclusionary language in its "terms." It is the terms of the airline that applies to cancellations after purchase. However under the Trip Protection, if there is a covered reason for cancellation you will be made whole regardless of where you bought the airfare.
Tauck's Terms and Conditions (https://www.tauck.com/terms-and-conditions)provides "Should you cancel or change your flights before or after departure, all airline cancellation and change fees will apply." see https://tauck.com/terms-and-conditions
"CANCELLATION POLICY You have the right to cancel your reservation with Tauck at any time prior to departure of the Trip. However, regardless of reason cancellations result in costly expenses, therefore a cancellation may result in a penalty fee that increase the closer the cancellation is to departure. Fees vary between Trips; please see the specific Cancellation Fees and Schedules for your Trip in the Important Trip Booking Information section on www.tauck.com. You will find the other terms and links in the confirming documents you receive when you make the reservation and later upon final payment." "CANCELLATION BY TAUCK We reserve the right to cancel or reschedule any departure for any reason. If we cancel, except in the case of extreme circumstances as detailed below, we will offer alternate arrangements. We may at our sole discretion offer travel vouchers or refunds in accordance with our cancellation policy above. You are responsible for any additional costs for air tickets or other travel arrangements not made by us."There are other provisions in the Trip Protection Policy.
One of the many reasons why I travel with Tauck is that they are always forthright and transparent when it comes to their policies whether it be cancellation, airfare, transportation, covered expenses, et al.
On a side note, they have our airline and aircraft preferences, including seat preferences on file. It makes it so much easier to book airfare with them. Granted, I typically do not have multiple stops in order to get to my final destination, but even if I did I know I can count on them to assist me. I recently had to cancel one of my 2024 tours and had a lovely conversation with one of the booking representatives. She was exceedingly personable and gracious. As we were chatting, she was already in the process of refunding my deposit.
I recently discovered that for ‘exotic’ trips you have to pay for the tickets up front and there are change fees. I don’t know how they define ‘exotic’ but Arusha is one of them.
I think they define 'exotic' as anything outside of Europe or North America. If that isn't it exactly, it's pretty close to that.
Seat preferences only do you so much. They can work against you. Example: coming back from our Scotland trip our group of 4 were flying Business Class KLM Amsterdam to LAX in a 1/2/1 configured cabin. We all had window seats one after the other which is our preference for that type plane. At the very last minute - as in the cabin crew was taken by surprise - KLM switched the plane to one with a 2/2/2 business class. They put all four of us in window seats next to total strangers in the aisle. Thankfully everyone was very accommodating and I was able to switch my window seat with the guy who was supposed to sit next to my husband. Our friends got theirs's switched as well. (We were lucky as it turned out some people got bumped completely from the flight.)
I've had the airline do these switches multiple times before. If it happens long before the flight I was able to correct as needed but I only knew it because I regularly check what the airline has in their website. Tauck has never contacted us because of a seat switch. I suppose that's because they have that disclaimer that they can't guarantee seat assignments. They might if it was a seat downgrade.
We usually do our own air but for upcoming India tour the prices were through the roof, so we've oped for Tauck to handle. Glad we have this option. Appreciate everyone's comments about the Tauck air booking experiences. Thanks.
mazalea Agree, the India/Nepal fares were very HIGH...I booked with Qatar through AMEX. The AMEX International program fare was a few thousand dollars cheaper than what Tauck was offering...Again, like others have said, you just have to do your research.
United's fares were definitely thru the rook - but I realize it is because they cannot fly over Russia and has altered their routes.