Credit card cash back for Tauck charges

Claudia Sails

Just read a new offer from Costco for their VISA card. It offers "3% cash back on restaurant (including cafes, bars, lounges and fast food restaurants) and eligible travel purchases worldwide, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, travel agencies, cruise lines and Costco Travel." Pretty nice perk considering what our trips and airfare cost.

However, it's dependent on the merchant having the right code - restaurants have a special codes, airlines, etc.

Does anyone who has a costco card or another that gives extra points or cash back for specific purchases like this (not just the general 1%) know if Tauck charges are coded for this?

lucinjo

I have a chase Sapphire preferred which gives double points for "travel" and my Tauck charges have always received double points. I may need to look into the Costco Visa card!

British

Worth looking into.
Until a few years ago, Tauck participated in vouchers with American Express and we got $1000 off our Tauck tours quite often. Sadly no more!

jdurkin

Lucky you! Every bit helps, after all.

We poor Australians just get to pay more than you do for the same Tauck tour ... in extra, non-refundable fees and surcharges. This doesn't have anything to do with fx conversion. I'm sorry but there's little point in me giving you the reference to the appropriate page here on the Tauck site because our site is the special .au one.

Claudia Sails

Costco's offer seems pretty good so I think I'll give it a try. In addition to the 3% for restaurant and travel charges, Costco also gives 4% for gas, 2% for Costco purchases and 1% for everything else. The real test will be the first time I pay towards our Tauck reservation for next year - months away.

Sorry, Jan. I guess there's other travel companies you could try.

jdurkin

Claudia Sails wrote:

Sorry, Jan. I guess there's other travel companies you could try.

The only option is not to travel with Tauck. All Tauck bookings from Australia ... if you follow their booking conditions as published on this Tauck site ... incur these extra charges for no discernible extra services. Tauck HQ have refused my next booking.

And yes indeed, I have made other non-Tauck arrangements for the future.

Claudia Sails

I added .au to the regular Tauck site and can see the Australian version. The only extra fee I see in the $110 Australian dollars for the Travel the World outfit that I assume is the one most complaints have been about.

I also note just for grins what the delta was in US vs Aus for a sample trip compared to todays conversion rate. The Seine Versaille London based on todays conversion rate of $1 US = $1.31 Australian.

8 Apr 17 cheapest room $6790 US ( today $8868 Aus) vs Aus website $8490
21 Sep 17 - most expensive room $10,240 US (today $13,374 Aus) vs Aus website $12,800

Gotta be hard for Tauck to try and price a trip is non-us currency not knowing what the conversion rates are going to be. Based on todays conversion rate the prices are pretty good.

jdurkin

That's interesting, Claudia. I can't see the US Tauck site here in Australia. The wonders of geo-blocking and exclusive agency agreements.

The extra fees, for interrogating the Tauck booking system before a booking is even made, are per person. The extra fees on cancellation are per person. Egregious though these extra fees are, they are just a symptom of the underlying issues that have been piling up over time for Australian non-direct (dare I say most) Tauck bookings. The A$ is well known for its gyrations. As a boutique currency, it is often used as a safe haven by fx traders as a buffer against the main trading currencies, like the US$. I actually think it is fairer to price a Tauck trip in US$, as long as the conversion is made fairly, legitimately and open to cross-checking.

The new A$ pricing is, I assume, an attempt to "legitimise" ongoing pricing in some way over a history of "unusual" end user pricing. Another point of the A$ pricing is probably an "enticement" to some Australian consumers, particularly those unfamiliar with fx conversion generally. It is so much easier to not to have to worry about Monopoly money! Pat, pat ... don't you worry your head about that. One more point of difference is the payment date. You will find that Sydney requires payment, at all stages, much earlier than Tauck US does. I have been assured that these egregious Australian terms and conditions no longer applied, but as you saw, Claudia, they are still on the Tauck site. I would like to think this is just another ... um ... geographical oversight?

I hate to think how many thousands of dollars, US and Australian, I have spent with Tauck over the past 23 trips. And remember, those are for solo prices! I don't want to think about how many dollars I have trustingly spent with Tauck! But I do think about the future and where and how I should spend those dollars from now on. I don't think I am being unreasonable in wanting to spend them with an organisation with a reputation for fair dealing. An organisation such as Tauck. I am still begging them to reassure me that my future trust will not be misguided. I'm not getting far, though.

Check those prices again next week, Claudia! I bet they're different!

British

Miss you Jan, there is only me to cause controversy these days, come on get writing and make this forum fun and controversial and of course your traveling wisdom is appreciated.

Gwyn36

AAA Bank of America card gives 3% back on any travel related purchase. I received my 3% not only for my trip deposit and trip insurance but also for the two TSA-approved suitcase locks I purchased.

British

Good luck with the locks, I gave up on TSA locks ages ago, they are always gone when I see my bags appear on the luggage carousel

jdurkin

British wrote:

Miss you Jan, there is only me to cause controversy these days, come on get writing and make this forum fun and controversial and of course your traveling wisdom is appreciated.

Aww ... best of British to you, pet.

You know, I started watching Ask and Share (as it was then) in about 2005. I asked some questions and didn't receive any specific answers. But still, there was lots of generic information available. Since words and information were my particular professional skill, I thought I could at least help other people. So I posted the answers to all the questions I'd asked prior to my Galapagos expedition, in particular.

I just kept doing it.

Then one day, I received an email from Tauck Emily. I was a bit nonplussed. Would I please continue to answer people's questions and generally answer and talk? It took me about a week to reply. Way back then, I didn't do social media. (Perhaps I should reconsider!) If my loyalty is requested I think about it before I offer it in return. So I continued to post.

Some years later a label appeared against my sign in. Then it changed to another label. Since I'd had no input, I took little notice. Many years later I realised that I had a label that some people envied. How bizarre! Who knew!

Since I write, in a professional capacity, American English, I am aware of the linguistic differences from English English and Australian English. Because of my advanced age, I am natively fluent in both the English and Australian versions. (It's an imperial thing.) I am also fluent in American English. Still, I will never cease to be amazed (and often gobsmacked) at the often startling usage of American English.

My brain works in a comprehensively English way. (My Irish born father, could he have spoken any language at the time) was legally proscribed to be English and to speak that language. That was the way things were. That was history. Times change. Necessity moves on. Doesn't mean that intelligent people keep the rules of centuries past. That was history. Times change. Necessity moves on. Intelligent people make new, more appropriate rules. I'm sure I know more important dates in English history than those in Irish history. That speaks for itself, but we won't go there ... )) It's just the way education was here when I was at school!

As an unpaid, non-volunteer, I have found dealing with aggressive and wilfully ignorant posts difficult. As a foreigner, I found, and still find, this shocking. How is it possible that people say, think, believe that? This? Don't they read? Can they not analysis data then form an intelligent opinion of their own? No one told me I'd have to deal with that. And increasingly this. My blood pressure didn't sign up for this. Neither did the rest of me. Of course, I now realise that many people don't have access to actual data. Or even care if they do, then understand or believe it if it landed in their porridge.

Like you, British, I've always travelled ... though of course I had further to go to get there than you did! I'd really love it if we could share a shout one day. I'm sure we will cross paths ... given the law of averages ... just don't know how we'd ever manage to know it.

I commend you to your own content.

Jan

British

As usual Jan, I am too dumb to figure out whether you compliment or make fun, but I enjoy your content anyway. English and correct grammar is certainly not my best subject, but I am respected for my common sense, being organized and helpful and patient in my non digital life, though clearly not here. Most questions have already been answered in the Tauck tour webpage. It does stagger me how much money people are willing to pay out and yet do no research about really important details. I once read a 'profile' in either a newspaper or website that said the typical Tauck customer was a doctor or lawyer. Yikes, I hope I never have to rely on one who can't even figure out the Tauck website....Such as when Tauck says a weight restriction is 44 pounds, it means just that for everyone. And malaria carrying mosquitos will bite Tauck customers because mosquitos can't tell that Tauck customers, especially American customers are more important than anyone else on the planet. Yikes, I have to get back to sleep.
Next time I hear an Australian accent, because I can even destinguish one from a New Zealand one, I'll wonder whether it is you. Whereas here, I have been mistaken for Australian, Irish, Scottish, English. Oh and my husband once got a bad review in the newspaper for having a fake English accent in a play.
Yes, now I see why you got fed up. Well I don't do Facebook, but maybe it would be safer.

Kathy18

Claudia Sails wrote:

Just read a new offer from Costco for their VISA card. It offers "3% cash back on restaurant (including cafes, bars, lounges and fast food restaurants) and eligible travel purchases worldwide, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, travel agencies, cruise lines and Costco Travel." Pretty nice perk considering what our trips and airfare cost.

However, it's dependent on the merchant having the right code - restaurants have a special codes, airlines, etc.

Does anyone who has a costco card or another that gives extra points or cash back for specific purchases like this (not just the general 1%) know if Tauck charges are coded for this?

Claudia,

I had the original Costco American Express card which has been changed over to VISA. I will need to read the info again, but if it is similar to the Am. Ex. card, the credit you receive is a voucher to use only at Costco.

Claudia Sails

Kathy, yes you are right that its "an annual reward coupon in February billing statements, redeemable for cash or merchandise at US Costco Warehouses". Given how much we spend there I'm not too worried. Will keep my old visa as well for other purchases. It only gives 1% but I take it in prepaid VISA gift cards. Very useful.

AlanS

Well as a relative newby, but still someone who has traveled a bit (courtesy of the US Navy) and taken over a half dozen Tauck tours, I find it is sometimes a chore not to be snippy. That can be especially true as we get older- yes, it is true, many of us, me included, are in truth, getting crotchety in our "old age." While I'm not a computer expert, I guess I'm a bit more savvy than many, but it often bothers me when travelers have trouble with or do not use all the information available on the Tauck website. I must admit that it isn't one of the better arranged websites, so I just try to bite my tongue. It can also be frustrating when you see the same questions asked time and time again. It is impossible to tell if a person is just lazy, or just doesn't know how navigate to or search the forums (the search feature is not the best). Maybe I would feel more inclined to jump in if these questions began with, "I read the archives but . . " , "Does anyone have any new info about . . . " Another personal frustration is editing- I'm not the best writer, but I know what it means when there is a squiggly red line below a word and I use the forum's edit feature. If, subsequent to a post, I find I made an error (info, spelling, grammar, etc.), I correct it, even days later. Some things will undoubtedly change as the next generation technically savvy travelers starts participating in the forums in greater numbers. From what I have seen, however, we are not likely to see improvements in spelling, grammar, etc.

I guess it comes down to why we participate here. We each have our own motivations, but the primary ones should be that we want to learn and help people have a better Tauck experience by offering our knowledge and personal experiences. When they no longer are the primary reasons, then it is time to move on.

Sue

Jan, Sorry to hear you won't be traveling with Tauck, although under the circumstances, I understand perfectly why you will do that. I will miss your posts as they are usually informative and frequently amusing. I always enjoyed reading them.

Since you have been such a good customer over the years, i think Tauck will probably come to miss your business. Of course it was their own doing!

I hope you will continue to monitor the board occasionally. Let us continue to hear from you.

Sue