Flight reservations for Australia/NZ trip

HuntNfun

Those of you who have been or are planning to go on this trip --did you make your flight reservations yourself or did you book your flight through Tauck? If you booked your own flight, did you have any problems with booking the Sydney to Wellington flight? I will be flying American to LAX and then Quantas to Melbourne. AA partners with Quantas so I am now trying to determine whether I will receive American frequent flier miles if Tauck books the flight as well as a cost comparison. Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Florida Traveler

We booked through American using frequent flier miles, and the flight to Wellington was included. It was no problem to book that flight ourselves. We're on the Apr 28 departure. I'm sure if you book through Tauck you can also get the mileage credit though.

AlanS

I'm not sure it is applicable to your particular airline and flights, but it is something to check out.

We had Tauck book our flights to/from the US for the England, Scotland, Wales, last year. It was easy, painless, the fare competitive, and we didn't have to pay until 60 days before departure so the airline or some booking agency didn't have my money on the float for months and months.

However, we only received partial frequent flier miles from Delta because it (Tauck's price) was a "special unpublished fare." After digging deeply into the Skymiles info, I was able to verify this was in accordance with Delta's Skymiles award program- certain group travel and special unpublished fares do not receive full frequent flyer miles. Similarly, if booking through some travel sites like Travelocity, etc. you may not be eligible for any frequent flyer miles.

If frequent flyer miles are important to you then you need to dig into the fine print to verify you will be eligible.

crackers54

I went in November of 2012 and booked my flights on my own. There was no trouble getting the flight Tauck wanted. Some on our tour did not go on that flight and they arranged a service to take them to make their flight and to get to hotel in New Zealand.

I have always done my own flights and had in issues.

VA2Aussie

Hi
I am only doing the Aussie trip but I booked my own flight.
I got a quote from Tauck and actually beat their rate.
If I am not mistaken Tauck locks in prices in Jan, therefore if prices go up their customers are safe.
If they go down I don't think they refund the difference. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I am scheduled to receive my FFM from Delta and Virgin (their partner).

I booked my flight when I went to HI in 2012 and saved money.
When Delta changed my return times I argued the change and they dropped my price.
I don't know what Tauck does in that scenario.

When booking yourself you do have to pay at that time.

Twice I have seen someone mention a special Tauck rate or sale.
Please explain that scenario.

crackers54

I have heard they sometimes have buy one get one free for flights.

I always do flights on my own and when I flew out of Grand Rapids at the end of the Yellowstone tour the people that book thru Tauck had 3 connecting flights to get to Boston and the 1st went to Salt Lake in the opposite direction. I had one connecting that headed east that day not west.

British

Yes sometimes Tauck is not always able to give you a logical or convenient route for their locked in prices. If we can fly non stop instead,we will and book it ourselves. If we can get a good flight with them, we sometimes chose to use Tauck even if it a little more so we don't pay until 6 weeks before. Not aware of special flight prices as a routine thing for them, unless they are struggling to fill a particular trip that occasionally happens. They do lock in their prices in or around January. Pretty sure they do not refund any price changes, fares vary by the hour it seems, if you see a good price, don't hesitate, buy it because nine times out of ten the next time will be more , not less.
We did the Australia only part of the tour last year in August, we spent an extra 2 days in Sydney,visited a relative there and chilled out before our return home. New Zealand will have to wait! We booked Premium economy which was good and more within our budget.

jdurkin

crackers54 wrote:

the people that book thru Tauck had 3 connecting flights to get to Boston and the 1st went to Salt Lake in the opposite direction. I had one connecting that headed east that day not west.

Oh, the joys of the US airline hub system. It took me a few trips to the States to realise the airlines only have their own peculiar, aka pecuniary, sense of direction. Now I tell the travel agent exactly where I want to go and more importantly, the connection times I want built in. The ones the airlines build in have little relation to the reality of their "on time" statistics. You only get what you pay for and I suppose the hard fact is that if you miss their connection time, they will make more money out of you when you have to scramble to find a flight. Perhaps my peace of mind costs more, but I would much rather have that! Good karma is important at strange airports.

In Tauck's defence, I guess they contract for their flights & fares eons in advance and when the time comes, well, reality can strike. Of course, then it would be Tauck doing the scrambling, I guess. I must confess that this comment is all conjecture on my part since Tauck don't make the getting to the departure point air arrangements for foreigners.

Cheers,

Jan

rabo

After Tauck had announced the Treasures of Southeast Asia tour, we had requested the brochure. We were originally planning to go in January of '15. We received an email from Tauck offering "companion" air in addition to the "Gift of Time" for the winter '14 dates. We jumped on that immediately. I had researched flights from Baltimore to Hong Kong, and the flights that Tauck offered were actually the same ones I had found (the best available!).

We're on Day 2 of the tour now. I'm posting a daily blog at www.rabo.com/blog

jdurkin

That's the view from your hotel room! Wow. Tauck can work miracles. Have fun.

Cheers,

Jan

AlanS

VA2Aussie wrote:

Hi
I am only doing the Aussie trip but I booked my own flight.
I got a quote from Tauck and actually beat their rate.
If I am not mistaken Tauck locks in prices in Jan, therefore if prices go up their customers are safe.
If they go down I don't think they refund the difference. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I am scheduled to receive my FFM from Delta and Virgin (their partner).

I booked my flight when I went to HI in 2012 and saved money.
When Delta changed my return times I argued the change and they dropped my price.
I don't know what Tauck does in that scenario.

When booking yourself you do have to pay at that time.

Twice I have seen someone mention a special Tauck rate or sale.
Please explain that scenario.

The standard Tauck blurb on this site says:

"Air Travel & Services

Let Tauck reserve your flights

Traveling to Europe with Tauck ensures more than a memorable travel experience; it also enables you to take advantage of additional “do it for you” travel services that take the hassle out of arranging them yourself! As an added service, we can make flight arrangements for your journey, if your travels originate in the United States, offering you a number of welcome advantages. With Tauck, you can:

Reserve your flights now; pay later when tickets are issued
Enjoy significant savings on Business Class airfare on select flights
Benefit from Tauck’s lenient change and refund policies
Earn Frequent Flyer mileage on most airlines

What's more, if you purchase Tauck's Guest Protection, you'll receive a refund should you need to cancel your flights due to covered reasons. Another great reason to buy your air from Tauck!"

You will probably only know if you are getting a "significant savings" if you checked fares on your own, first. Tauck quoted a higher business class fare for our flights to/from Munich this summer than I paid when I purchased the tickets directly from Delta. The Delta flights are non-stop to/from Atlanta, the layover for our short connecting flight home is quite lengthy, however. Tauck routing may have been different, with less layover, or it may not have been one of the "select flights," I didn't ask. I don't know if Tauck actually identifies which flights are "select" or the possible savings, but I do know the Tauck booked economy class fares for our flights to the UK last summer were classified by Delta as a "special, unpublished fares" so we received less FFM.

I guess each person needs to weigh all the factors and decide which are important, then decide where to buy tickets.

txnonnie

I booked the Sydney to Wellington trip myself and Qantas requested frequent flier affiliation and number and it appears on the ticket as FF#:AA1234567, so I'm assuming we'll get credit.

njhoo

We are on the October tour and booked the flights on our own. Last December we used Tauck's air desk for flight to Germany and home from Vienna - price was favorable. For this trip we first checked the airlines and had a good idea of the cost and available flight options. When I spoke with the air desk, the connections, timing and price were not favorable. As I looked at the airlines directly, was disappointed that we connected from Dulles through LAX and was still unhappy with the pricing, timing and the aircraft (read too many reviews). Using a multi-city approach I searched from IAD to SFO, then to Melbourne and home, again through SFO, from Auckland. Much better flights, price and aircraft. We're flying Air New Zealand over seas and United to SFO and Virgin America from SFO to IAD; all booked directly with ANZ. With information from Tauck, went to the Quantas website and booked the flight between Sydney to Wellington that most of the travelers will be using. Took a while, but quite satisfied with the results. Checking the same itinerary the other day, the price went up about $800/ticket. We'll be able to accrue miles for most of the trip (not the Quantas).

jdurkin

You will enjoy your flights with Air NZ. I have taken the flight home from SFO to Melbourne, via Auckland many times. I flew with them yesterday … Auckland to Dunedin … very nice.

Cheers,

Jan

BPfeil

Hi

I booked my travel on the day 11 trip my self. I understand from Tauck the flight is Qantas 161, Sydney to Wellington. Very easy to do.

Bill