New Smaller Groups Introduced by Tauck
Interesting! This was just posted on the official Tauck facebook page.
Introducing Smaller Groups!
Thanks to the feedback we’ve heard from travelers like you, we’re introducing Smaller Group departures, averaging just 15 guests, available on select journeys around the world. These Smaller Groups will provide you with more time, more flexibility and more opportunities to connect even more closely with your Tauck Director, local guides, fellow travelers, and the incredible places you visit.
Click below to see our collection of Smaller Group journeys!
https://bit.ly/48n7W4C
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Comments
Interesting. I looked at the Northern Spain tour and it varies as follows:
Classic, up to 40 people, $7,490/person
Small, up to 25 people, $8,590/person
Smaller, up to 15 people, $11,690/person
WOW I wonder if they include more activities in the up to 15 group.
Some of the A&K land trips have 15 guests. Good question about the activities.
There are peoples who will happily pay those prices, not me.
Thank you, Tauck, for listening and acting upon our feedback for more immersive experiences. Well done!
Should we mention A&K? Some people get mad at me for mentioning that name.
A much delayed and welcome change.
According to family members who have traveled with Trafalgar, Trafalgar usually limits their large group size to 40. So for the popular Tauck Switzerland and Northern Spain, the group size will almost be as big as Trafalgar.
Yikes!
Supposedly, the A&K tour I am going to in six to seven weeks has a maximum group size of 17. I'll find out.
Is Tauck still giving out fixed price business class round trip airfare to Europe(?around 3000 to 4000) for the month of February?
Imagine some one from Omaha Nebraska or Santa Fe New Mexico needing round trip plane tickets?
My last tour had six people in total Trouble is, you can’t escape them!
The extra price all goes to the Tour Director. I checked out one of the tours, you get exactly the same, whether classic size trip or smaller small.
According to the Tauck website the Take Off with Tauck promotion is good through February 29, 2024. It is only good for travel from March 1 through August 31 and only to Europe. I don’t know if the smaller feeder airports are included. They had this promotion when we took our first Tauck trip and we were able to get business class for quite a bit less than booking on our own.
I am curious about the Tour Director gratuities for the extra small groups. I am wondering if Tauck is recommending the same amount as the full size and regular small groups.
Personally, I would not want to be on a tour with less than thirty. We have done fourteen Tauck tours and most of our companions were great and friendly. We have, however, done one or two where there were obnoxious people that we could not escape. It reminds me of a friend that took a barge trip with a ‘friend’, just two couples. After the trip they never talked to each other again. Small groups may be great if everyone is compatible, but if not you will probably not have a good time. We did one trip to Africa with a couple from Malibu that diminished the experience for everyone. He even got into a fight with someone in the eggs to order in the restaurant. That was after almost taking my wife’s fingers off by slamming her window from behind without her knowledge. I would not do a tour that was designed for only fifteen people. That being said, we did do one Africa trip where we only had eighteen people. And the B,Z, and SA trip is a small group, but ours worked out fine. I remain leery of small group tours. I think you need to be prepared to deal with some people that you find difficult.
I have been Tauck trips with 30-40 others and one of my trips had a few as 8 travelers..I prefer large groups — more opportunities to find like minded travelers. Tauck always divides the large group in half for touring so basically you are touring with 15-20. The large size of the group has never been an issue for me. Even with a small group, you can have inconsiderate and/or entitled travelers who hold up the groups and demand a lot of attention from the TD.
We've been happy with the small group tours. Our last tour was 22 people and it was a good group.
We had one tour that was only 10 people (during COVID time) and there were some problems. Two couples were good friends and they tended to not associate with the other six people. We were one of those three other couples (6 people) and that group was very nice.
I spoke with a veteran tour director some time ago. As I have said, the extra expense goes to the tour director, it has to, or Tauck would have difficulty finding anyone to conduct the tour because the tips would be so diminished without that incentive.
Responding to henrypoon, we.aren't that far from Santa Fe and attempted to use the Take Off with Tauck offer with no luck this year though we used it last fall.without a problem. There is a price cap on each class of airfare and Tauck had nothing that would work from Albuquerque airport. And even just limiting it to round trip.from a.hub didn't yield anything workable without negating the overall.price benefit.
In think tour group dynamics can be challenging if pre-trip cliques such as several couples traveling together are involved. This is where an experienced TD can make all the difference. Thankfully, I do not need nor do I depend on my fellow travelers to insure I have a good trip. I have learned to walk away and ignore incompatible travelers because I refuse to pay big bucks and travel half way around the world to be bothered by them. True, this is more difficult in smaller groups, but it will never deter me from having the time of my life, and I just thank my lucky stars I will never encounter the bad apples again. 🥳
I've mentioned this to some people via PMs, but IMO there are at two drawbacks of a Classic size tour vs a Small size tour.
1) A Classic tour, assuming they have close to the 40 limit, fills an entire motor coach. This means there is no room to spread out into empty rows for add space/comfort.
2) If there are intra-tour flights it takes way more time logistically for 40 people vs 25 people. This can mean 1-2 hours less time for viewing the sights. This was shown to be the case by comparing time spent at ABU SIMBEL on the Egypt: Jewel of the Nile tour. In PMs with a person that did the Classic tour they spent 60-90 minutes less at the attraction than we did in the Small tour because of the extra time needed for the logistics of the Classic tour.
Obviously the price points are always the key, just like on airline tickets. Every person has there own sweet spot in terms of value/bang for the buck that drives their selection of tour, tour size, flights, etc.
Since Covid we have rarely been on a full classic tour. There have always been less people. But…IMO it depends on the tour. If you are looking at scenery, it is not a problem to have more people. When you are watching demos or are in museums it may be a bigger deal. We like large groups- we generally take 2(+) week trips and prefer more people to meet. There are always arrogant jerks we have no desire to be stuck with, annoying people who cough their way through the tour infecting everyone else, or those who push everyone aside to be in the front. Better to have more people to mix with for us, anyway. 🤷🏻♀️
We did a Tauck tour of Egypt last year and there were 10 in the group. We had Robin Tauck, daughter Colleen and four of their friends. Also, another couple from Oregon. I was a little nervous at first because the group was small and most of them were the Tauck family or close relatives of the family. However, I had the best time and a lot of fun. Robin and her friends were extremely helpful and inclusive and very down to earth. It was a wonderful experience! We like small groups.
I prefer I can take more tours for the smaller amount of money.
British - By the logic above you should always fly Economy because you can fly more for the cheaper price of tickets.
I think you fly Business because of the comfort. So it’s not always about doing more by spending less. Sometimes quality or comfort is the key driver vs price.
I agree with SandyFeet. I do not travel to make friends or to socialize, although we have certainly met many wonderful travelers on our trips. I am far more concerned about immersing myself in the culture, food and the people of the countries we visit.
It appears it is too early to ascertain how these 'smaller than small' groups will work. I am hoping the increased cost will result in smaller hotels and more enriching and cultural experiences. Time will tell.
My opinion has always been that there is no right or wrong when choosing a travel style. Do what works for you and don't fret over what other people choose to do.
This is great discussion. As you say kfnknfzk. We all have different ideas about how we travel. We don’t go on tours to make friends, and yes we meet some great people, most who live in states far away from us, little chance of meeting again. In fact, we have met two singles a second time on tours, but not on Tauck ones.
I wonder about smaller hotels. In most cases, they do not have the facilities that the big hotels have, which I think over the years is why Tauck does not use them much any more. I loved the smaller hotels that Tauck used years ago, especially the Italian ones.
Smiling Sam - I'll add another to your comparison between Classic and Small group tours - the line for the public washrooms!! On a small group tour in France, we had 3 women who seriously could not go for more than an hour between restroom stops. We had to leave the Normandy beach early because they couldn't wait. Every day it was the same. It was very disappointing, and the rest of us were always at the back of the line.
I'm too old to travel economy - we go Business for comfort. I can sleep on those lie-flat seats - and really appreciate being able to do so on those long flights. Remember the old saying, "Travel first class or your children will."
We did First Class on one international flight and I didn't think you got much more than we get in Business. Little bigger seat/sleeping bed, little better service - the attendant didn't have as many people to serve - but beyond that, not much different.
Oh, one more comment: Back when we did travel economy, there was always the problem that there were three seats. My wife wanted the window and I wanted an aisle. So either we had someone between us, or I sat in the middle seat, which I consider the third level of hell.
Regarding hotels, Tauck seems to get very nice hotels. I don't have any objections to the hotels I've experienced on Tauck tours. I wouldn't want Tauck to go for smaller hotels for the very small groups. It would have to be an exceedingly nice small hotel to get my vote.
I fly Business for my health. No matter what kind of compression socks I wear I still suffer from terrible edema. I walk around as much as I can, avoid salt and alcohol, and try to elevate my feet as much as possible. My concern is deep vein thrombosis so I will fly Business as long as I can.
On a 2023 Douro River Cruise, the lines at the rest stops were a little long at the Ladies. So all of the husbands lined up at the door of the men's and guarded until all our Ladies exited. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome!!
I agree with Mike. Even in the US (unless it is Phoenix or Los Angeles) we travel first class. We live in Tucson. The comfort is worth it for us. We love to travel and business class overseas for us is the only way we would go. We are old!
Interesting and timely discussion. I've recently been checking the "pricing and availability" on my upcoming classic N. Spain tour, just to see if it's full, sold out, or has limited availability.
It seems that the small groups are mostly sold out, while our tour is still available. This is on a tour that has many departure dates, some every few days. Clearly, people are booking those small groups more than the classic.
On every one of our 3 land tours and one small ship cruise, we never met full capacity. So I think it's a bit of a crap shoot. I think that things have definitely changed since Covid. Also, I think that as the population ages, last minute cancellations may become more common. And I think what with crazy airfare costs, few people are doing last minute trips, even if they are waitlisted on a tour. Tauck travelers seem to me to be people who plan well thought out trips far in advance. Not scrambling for a "deal" last minute (not that these exist, anyway!)
So if people cancel last minute, is Tauck really filling those spots?
I'll keep my fingers crossed that we'll have some space to spread out on the bus...
One potential advantage, IMO, to small/smaller groups is the expanded scope of hotels to stay at. There are small boutique-like hotels that may meet Tauck's criteria but are too small for large groups. The Morocco tour we took comes to mind.
I also think Tauck introduced the smaller group for competitive reasons. I constantly get emails from other tour companies touting groups of 15 or less.
As for airline class of travel, I am reminded of what someone once told me: "If you can afford to fly First Class and don't, your kids will."
That statement is a fill in the blank statement:
If you can afford to _______ and don't, your kids will.
Possible fill-ins:
a) buy the house of your dreams
b) buy the car of your dreams
c) take the trip of your dreams
d) ...