Australian $ pricing for 2017
A query for the Moderator.
On the featured trips under this new tab, I can't see any reference to Time on Tauck. Is this deletion a consequence of forward FX rates? A quid pro quo as regards the general agent? A new, overall policy, regardless of whether the client is North American or Australian based? Or perhaps it's merely a web design oversight? I can see that the page layout has changed for each trip. It doesn't look at all like the traditional Tauck tour page or itinerary.
I'm sure I'm not the only long haul, or indeed short haul, traveller who ... if they qualify and make it through the exclusions ... appreciates this benefit. It's a nice (and valuable) trade off for booking travel so far in advance.
Cheers,
Jan
On the featured trips under this new tab, I can't see any reference to Time on Tauck. Is this deletion a consequence of forward FX rates? A quid pro quo as regards the general agent? A new, overall policy, regardless of whether the client is North American or Australian based? Or perhaps it's merely a web design oversight? I can see that the page layout has changed for each trip. It doesn't look at all like the traditional Tauck tour page or itinerary.
I'm sure I'm not the only long haul, or indeed short haul, traveller who ... if they qualify and make it through the exclusions ... appreciates this benefit. It's a nice (and valuable) trade off for booking travel so far in advance.
Cheers,
Jan
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Comments
We have made a design change to our tour pages, which is an ongoing process and soon enough all pages will be changed. I do not have an answer about Time on Tauck, but if you could please send an email to esupport@tauck.com, then the appropriate people will be contacted and we will be able to provide an answer on this. I apologize that I couldn't answer the question right now, but wanted to respond so you know I did see your post.
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Kristen
"What's in a name?"
Glad you are on track for 2017. I have a deposit riding on a still-unpriced 2016 trip, so I check the site very morning to ease my ongoing FX stress disorder syndrome. Naturally, I've chosen a trip that does not qualify for the free night ... despite the offer being displayed prominently on the Australian page for that trip right up until the new web page was posted the other day. So that's a good thing! Nothing worse than misleading "translations" from the real Tauck page to the imitation Australian one.
Cheers,
Jan
Thanks for the prompt reply, Kristin. I'll do as you request.
Cheers,
Jan
I couldn't see the new name listing you have referred to. Was that in a local press ad?
When I checked that Sydney mob's booking conditions this morning, they are still charging an "admin fee" of A$110 per person to ascertain any availability before a reservation is made and deposit paid, and a further A$110 per person cancellation fee, regardless of any insurance taken, for any cancellation ... and that is in addition to any Tauck cancellation fee. I'm not sure that even qualifies as "money for jam", since not even jam is supplied.
Consistent spruiker for Tauck's products that I am whenever I'm discussing my travels with acquaintances, (or anyone, really) what I consistently hear is that Tauck is just too expensive in Australia. Yes, the end product is exceptional they agree, but, in the end, they settle for a lesser product the next time rather than pay through the nose ... for all the extras. I can't think of any Tauck extras ... I think I would have found them after all this time. Those extras, or the impression thereof, have to be coming from somewhere. And then there are the inevitable snafus you hear about if they've had the misfortune to experience the Sydney effect.
While I think that Tauck's product can only get better and more pleasurable with a wider customer base, I guess Tauck have to make a business decision as to how to meet their business targets. I guess the only thing those of us who have experienced the Sydney effect can do is to act with our feet. While a confirmed A$ price might be nice, (although as a long time follower of world FX rates I have serious doubts about the consumer outcomes in this instance) it doesn't solve everything. Determined travellers that we Aussies are, I am confident that ... we can work it out. (I do so like a good Beatles tune.)
We're in the wrong business, Ron.
Cheers,
Jan
Rod
I have a market research relationship with an international organisation involved "loosely" in travel and hospitality. It is heartening to see to what lengths some organisations go to to "listen" to their market. There are none so blind as those who will not see. Alternatively, drinking the Kool Aid doesn't fix everything and it's really shortsighted.
Cheers,
Jan
Regarding the Gift of Time and River Cruises, have you ever received the Gift of Time w/a River Cruise? I asked when I put a deposit on the Amsterdam to Brussels yet-to-be-priced April 8th, 2017 cruise and was told it's not given w/River Cruises??
When I saw this post and looked into it, the Tauck site only says the Christmas cruise is excluded.
I'm going to ask Tauck when we receive the pricing, but just wanted to know what your past experience has been w/this?
This was the site I looked at: http://www.tauck.com/info/giftoftime.aspx.
Thanks so much!!!
Kathy
I have to say as I have previously that I don't know why Tauck continues to give the gift of time for those tours that sell out so much in advance. Maybe it is to encourage people to be there early, I see there are many people who are traveling to distant places in winter and planning to leave last minute, risking snow delays.
Jan, I am mistified about the 'special' travel agent Tauck has in Australia. I presume you cannot call Tauck directly here, I cannot understand why that would be. I understand the time difference but I assume you have been willing to call at maybe some ungodly hour for you. I know when we book a tour with them, it only takes a matter of minutes when we call. We have always found the Australians we meet our tours fun and interesting
I wonder how Richard B books his tours in England. I do know that when I was in England and I log on to Tauck, it always takes me to Tauck England.
When we booked the XMAS Markets on the Rhine cruise two years ago, Gift of Time was not available nor offered (it was not listed on the Tauck website and the reservations rep said it was not offered). We are US travelers. We have received it for all other land tours.
I checked the link and I have a "." at the end in my post. Sorry about that!!
Try this one: http://www.tauck.com/info/giftoftime.aspx
I hope it works.
In Australian, via the wonders of geo-blocking, the Tauck web site we see does not list any contact information for Tauck. The real Tauck. Nor do the paper brochures we receive, which are dispatched locally. Instead, it lists information for a "fake" Tauck, domiciled in Sydney. Fortunately, I found (and have kept under secure care) an outdated Tauck brochure with contact details for the "real" Tauck. Additionally, I have contact details in my email records. Heaven help me if my computer ever blows up!
Not being a web designer, I don't know how these things "actually" work, but the shell we see is tailored for Australian viewers, except that in (currently) all prices are listed in US$. Up until the past week when a new web shell was introduced for a few pages, there were large, red "special" spots superimposed on many pages advertising the extra free night, with a note to various conditions (follow the fine print). This Big Red Spot was shown on many pages, including the Christmas Markets pages. When you follow the fine print, Christmas Markets are excluded entirely. I have brought this to the attention of the real Tauck, because I am aware that over the years, the Australian site has had ongoing issues with access blocking in our region. (Something to do with how web sites work. This coincided with the Tauck URL changing from Tauck.com to Tauck.com.au.)
Free nights do have various conditions (date of booking, particular trip ... see Christmas Markets above). The Australian, fine print, web page does not detail the exact date of booking requirements, which I imagine has led to disappointment for some customers. In the past, these free nights were not available at all to Australian customers, regardless of who you booked through. For one brief shining moment (year) for us in Australia two nights were offered ... but with very strict advance booking conditions. (This again was via my direct Tauck booking.) If trips were first opened in November, they had to be booked by the following 31st December. More recently, dates are opened much earlier therefore allowing more than 1 month to 6 weeks to settle on a particular trip and arrange your international, long haul and possibly domestic flights.
Yes, Kathy, I have been offered the free night with a river trip. I had a free night last year in London before my Belle Epoch trip and the year before in Amsterdam after my Rhine & Mosel trip. I can't remember if the free night was available in 2010 for the Grand European river trip from Amsterdam to Bucharest. I have a feeling it was not, because I made my own reservations for Amsterdam and didn't stay on in Bucharest. I have had free nights from 2011 on, but they were conditional on booking as soon as the trips were listed and before December 31st. of the previous year of travel. One of the trips I did in 2011 in that overall excursion to the States was not booked till the new year and did not qualify for the free night.
Up till the present, apart from my early, near disastrous encounters with the local general agent, I have booked my trips directly with Tauck in the US. (Australian clients, including me in the early days, are/were generally unaware that their Tauck trips go through a third party. They don't know why it is so complicated, unsatisfactory, expensive ..... yada, yada, yada ... to book a Tauck trip. This experience influences their decision to book future Tauck trips.) I am aware that in the early days of the free nights being available to Australian customers, third party customers were not offered the free night or indeed transfers.
Australian customers of Tauck have had to be very determined and somewhat devious to remain Tauck customers.
Have I missed answering anything?
Oh yes. Up till now, as far as I know, using the third party has been a case of direct choice or a consequence of using any Australian travel agent ... who are compelled to direct their bookings to the third party. So much for free enterprise. A direct booking with the real Tauck means that Tauck debit my CC, as per the published Tauck conditions, on the due date or before that if I authorise them to. The transaction goes through on the date (with consideration for the US being a day behind Australia) at the published rate for that CC, plus any CC fees. It is straightforward and importantly, verifiable, which is quite important when you are dealing with many thousands of dollars and notoriously fluctuating FX as regards A$ and US$ cross rates.
We received the gift of time on the Tauck Bridges Danube cruise. It wasn't a Christmas cruise.
Well, it's nearly the end of March and a great new raft of trips and cruises for 2017 have been listed … which all look wonderful, by the way ... but I still don't see any mention of "Gift of Time" or "Time on Tauck" for Australian customers.
Are we still waiting on website updates? I know, that all takes time, I really do. It's like proofreading. I can not do my own, just other people's!
Alternatively, don't we in Australia get that benefit any more? (Yes, I know … not every trip and conditions apply!)
Cheers,
Jan
Whilst the moderator's do look into and answer most queries on these forums I do think they put "their Australian problem" into the three monkey's basket. Nothing has changed all these years and I'm pretty sure they never will. There must be a very good contract in place to allow those charlatans in Sydney to keep doing what they do. I told Tauck in a long and detailed letter in 2011 the problems their Sydney cousins were causing and one of those was withholding "Time on Tauck" nights but except for a nice phone call - nothing changed. I guess we're just not a big enough market for Tauck to give a damn.
Rod
I fear you're right, but the Irish part of me won't let it go! How many centuries did it take to stop slavery in Ireland ... but they got there eventually. I just wish someone would refer the "Australian problem" to Tauck's contract department. Remember the advice ..."Follow the money."
It does seem to be a bit over the top to have to get someone overseas to interrogate a web site for me so I can see what is really available. I'm not so techy that I know how to set up (or really need to) one of those private, interstellar networks! I was told that the Tauck site was ... poetry still in motion, but this ditty is taking a very long while to spin.
I'd just like to know when and how fast I have to pull up stumps continue with my plans in other directions. Perhaps it really is time to look at what the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can do for us. But small steps in the right direction first. I am still not convinced that HQ are fluent (comprehension wise) in all branches of the English language. I'm sure if they actually understood how much business, i.e. actual money they at HQ are missing out on, then something might change. And then I ask myself .... why am I bovvered? I have no stake in this. At all! I am merely a determined customer who goes to extreme lengths to remain one.
But you are right. At some point we will decide that it is all a lost cause and pull our fingers out of the dyke. I know which side of the wall I'd rather be on.
Cheers,
Jan
You might be able to access the US Tauck website by downloading and installing the free Firefox browser. It has a "private browsing" feature that prevents sites from knowing your ip address, location, and anything about you.
Alan or other techies, is it possible to cut and paste parts of the US website in the forum so Jan can see them, if she tells us what tours she is looking for?
Its possible but only really feasible with small text segments or as screen capture images posted on an image hosting website- websites often have a lot of formatting code which doesn't do well in a cut and paste operation.
Here is an example (I added blue) of a simple cut and paste of text from header info (Tauck's (US) forum page):
Call 800-788-7885 or your travel agent and book your trip today!
Yet here is a cut and paste attempt for a portion of Ancient Mariners: Venice, Croatia, Greece pricing/availability table. Formatting and color didn't copy (again, I added the blue):
Single: Star Legend
Deck Plan: Star Legend
Date Ocean View Suite Ocean View Suite S1 Deck 5 Ocean View Suite Deck 6 Ocean View Suite Deck 5 Balcony Suite Deck 6 Balcony Suite
May 14, 2017 $11,488 $12,224 $12,666 $13,696 $15,021 $16,052
Same data using a screen capture image saved to a hosting website then linked here:
(As an aside, one of the reasons statistics say that Australians are the most hardworking thieves of movies and TV content is that the cable suppliers here restrict current foreign content. I have no idea why. So it's not that everyone intends to be a thief ... the content owners have contrived to encourage them on the path to crime!)
Tauck used to provide free phone contact numbers for Australians all clearly listed on the web site and their brochures. Not any more! Only the fake Tauck number is listed. So far, I haven't been refused service by HQ but I have a feeling that day won't be far off.
As for Aussie pricing for 2017 on ... The FX rates between the US$ & the A$ are notoriously volatile. You don't need to be a genius to work out that if A$ prices are being listed now for 2017 trips who will be the beneficiary of any gains. I doubt it will be the real Tauck because they have always had to list their prices way out. It certainly won't be me. Perception is everything. Tricky is as tricky does. And who knows about that free, extra night .....
By way of comparison, this is listed for the new Treasures of the British Isles, in A$:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Single: Le Soléal
Deck Plan: Le Soléal
Date Superior Cabin - Deck 3 Deluxe Cabin - Deck 3 Prestige Cabin - Deck 4 Prestige Cabin - Deck 5 Prestige Cabin - Deck 6 Deluxe Suite - Deck 6 Prestige Suite - Deck 5 Prestige Suite - Deck 6
April 22, 2017 $11,759 $12,096 $13,003 $13,153 $13,303 Call Call Call
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Could someone oblige with your listed US$ price for a single, please?
The formatting didn't quite copy but I'm sure I can work with it.
Cheers,
Jan
For those who have been to England and Ireland before, I think this will be an interesting addition to seeing the less visited parts of the 'Isles.' I have to confess I have never visited Guernsey, Scilly or the Isle of Man--the latter famous for the motor bike TT races around the island and the tail-less Manx cats. It is going to be like seeing Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in comparison to mainland US.
What does surprise me is the time of year the tour is being offered, April 29th, I just realized the tour goes two ways, did not look at the other date. It is going to be downright cold at that time of year on the boat, especially after sundown. The gardens are not going to be at their best, too late to see any daffodil color, too early for azaleas and the like and too early for the annuals that formal gardens are so famous for in Brtain. The suggested packing list for clothing is a joke, you will not require shorts or short sleeves, more like a windbreaker jacket hat and gloves for being on the deck of the boat while sailing. Mid summer would be a more suitable time. I can't imagine there are crowds in these places any more,the Brits have found more exotic places to vacation. Tauck, do forgve meet on this one. But then this is on an Australia thread,, unlikely to be seen by too many.
Single: Le Soléal
Deck Plan: Le Soléal
Date Superior Cabin - Deck 3 Deluxe Cabin - Deck 3 Prestige Cabin - Deck 4 Prestige Cabin - Deck 5 Prestige Cabin - Deck 6 Deluxe Suite - Deck 6 Prestige Suite - Deck 5 Prestige Suite - Deck 6
April 22, 2017 $9,407 $9,677 $10,402 $10,522 $10,642 Call Call Call
Land / Cruise Price includes all private Tauck shore excursions, cruise fare, port charges, applicable fuel surcharges, entertainment and gratuities to Tauck Director and ship staff. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are available throughout the day aboard ship, including house wines & spirits; premium spirits and wines are available at extra cost. Departures will be hosted by one Tauck Director for approximately every 40 Tauck guests.
- See more at: http://www.tauck.com/tours/europe-tours/great-britain-and-ireland-tours/cruise-ireland-england-xlw-2017.aspx?tabPage=PricingAvailability#sthash.il7ijJiA.dpuf
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Jan
It would mean a ship ... over actual ocean.
Cheers,
Jan
I really don't want to fall foul of our Customs people if I try to buy them online. If they are not "allowed" to be sold here they might be a prohibited import and I certainly don't want to get a bad rep with our very nasty Border Force people. I might just have to paddle my own canute rather than sail on a big ship!
Cheers,
Jan
Cheers,
Jan