When will China tours resume?
Does anyone know when Tauck will resume its tours to China & Hong Kong? Abercrombie & Kent goes every week of the year but I want to wait for Tauck.
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Does anyone know when Tauck will resume its tours to China & Hong Kong? Abercrombie & Kent goes every week of the year but I want to wait for Tauck.
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I suggest you call Tauck and ask them. That’s where you will get the best and latest answer. They will also know you are interested. Maybe if they get lots of inquiries, they may consider it. We went in late 2019 and it was a fantastic tour. In fact, quite a few on the tour were sick with fever and cough, including my husband. Who knows if it was early Covid. We, thankfully have never had Covid.
Tauck seem a lot more cautious about going back to places after such problems. Over the years, here on the forum, I’ve noticed that those who post often say they have canceled tours at the slightest whiff of a problem. Tauck still has not gone back to Turkey either and who knows about Israel, Myanmar and that wonderful Arabian cruise.
If you call, please consider posting what you hear.
A bit off topic, but I saw a news article that China was offering a 10 day visit without a full visa, for certain countries, one of which is the US. There were limitations, such as you had to enter China through certain gateways but there seemed like a fair number of them.
But 10 days is fairly short for a tour. It would be nicer if they offered two weeks. Tauck could do a 13 day tour, maybe even extend it to 14 days.
For more information search on something like "china offering 10 day visas for us citizens"
Here's one story - https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/travel/china-240-hour-transit-visa-intl-hnk/index.html
Mike & British, thank you for your posts. I emailed Tauck about resuming China tours and their reply was that there were no plans to resume at this time. I think you are right British; if enough people ask for a China timeline, maybe Tauck will begin to formulate a plan. Abercrombie & Kent's 2026 itineraries go up around March 2025. I will probably sign on with them as I think Tauck might take awhile to decide. I remember the wait for Egypt tours to resume was something like 8 years.
There was an Abercrombie and Kent tour shadowing our China tour. I looked their tour up when we got home. Their tour went home after China and the Tauck tour went on to Hong Kong. The A and K tour was still more expensive. We noticed the same thing when we had an A and K tour on our coattails on the Kenya and Tanzania and Rwanda tour, they were going home after. K and T and we were going on to see the Gorillas. Can someone explain why A and K are so much more expensive?
British - I haven't taken an A&K tour but I can speculate what would drive up costs:
a) smaller group sizes
b) higher quality accommodations
c) more meals included
d) more services provided (perhaps some spa days 😃)
e) use of entirely private/charted jets for in-tour flights
f) etc.
Some of these items are what cause Tauck tours to be more expensive that tours with companies like Globus.
Different tour companies find their niche in the market by how they formulate their tours. Their success is driven by how well their tour formulation is accepted by the clientele.
Same accommodations as us on both tours, met for same flight on one. That is what I experienced. I only have one friend who has taken an A and K tour, it was a private tour for a group of their friends and she complained bitterly afterwards, it was when we were on the Tauck Warsaw, Vienna, Prague Budapest tour, hers was the equivalent A and K tour without the Warsaw component. Their hotel rooms had no views, they did not get to all the promised locations and one time the driver got completely lost and the men in the tour what do you had to get out their phone maps app for him.
British - sounds like on the experience you describe the main price driver must have been the group size.
On my recent Croatian land tour, we overlapped several times with an A&K tour. Same hotels, higher cost but a shorter trip. Their included dinners were with the entire group of 16-18 at one long table at a fixed time. One of the A&K travelers told us that they preferred Tauck. The group appeared to have a wider range of ages than Tauck.
A& K is definitely not for every one especially certain demogrpahics. If the view of the hotel is a big deal to you, this company is not for you. A&K had inferior rooms in Kyoto at the Four Seasons but kept every one very busy with night time excursions,amazing meals, flexible schedules and half empty buses.
For cruising the Greek Isle,
A&K got reservations for all the twentysomethings at a dance club in Mykonos and picked them back up at midnight back to the boat. There is no idiots that asked questions how to tip and what to wear. There were tanktops, tube tops and shorts for the twentysomethings and a few Golden Bachelorettes and Bachelors at the dinner on the deck.
On the island of Patmos, only one or two Tauck guests went tp Agriolivadi Beach in the afternoon while over 50 or 60 A&K guests went to beach with a full meal served.At the Grotto of St John, Tauck turned back half way while the A&K people went further. One of younger and more active Tauck guests asked us to share the beach picnic and wished she has signed up for A&K.
I don't mind the driver getting lost since most A&K guests do not need on time restrrom breaks and they know how to carry local money in case the toliet is coin operated.
Flame away Tauck guests!
BoonyW25
Make sure you are a good fit with A&K. There are other companies that go to China.
Goodness Henry, why do you even bother to post in here, when all you do is trash Tauck. Just travel with the companies you prefer and be happy with those.