Airlines
We booked our air through Tauck - Miami to Doha, Doha to Arusha, and coming back through Doha. Called Tauck today as AA has cancelled flights to Doha due to security concerns, and we are very concerned about the unrest. We booked through Qatar and wanted Tauck to reroute us through Europe - because we were within 30 days they wanted to charge us an exorbitant upcharge fee to go with Air France. I found the same fare online for $9000 cheaper - they said sorry nothing they can do - I am going to book myself but want you guys to know their air people do not have your back.
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Yes they have contract pricing and can't change. That's why we rarely book air with Tauck. The time we had to leave Sicily for a family emergency was one time I had booked with Tauck, and we had to make travel arrangements at 5 am local time. You know that 24 hour emergency number Tauck has? It's a recording. I hated to wake up the poor TD that early but did not know what to do, but finally they told me to make our own arrangements back and the trip protection would reimburse us, which they did, but we see very little advantage to booking air with Tauck.
Mary I sure hope your trip is fabulous because you are having a lot of headaches trying to get there!
When is your trip? I booked my own air, leaving from North Carolina on July 5th. American Airlines to Dallas, then Qatar to Doha, Doha to Kilimanjario. So far I haven't had any changes.🤞🤞
Tauck is very transparent in advising prospective guests to review its Travel Policy section(s) before finalizing their booking and payment. I am paraphrasing here, but resultant fees/penalties arising from air changes by the guest are dictated by the airlines.
I have used Tauck’s air department many times and have always had exemplary service. They know my preferred airlines, seats and routes. When I had an issue in Germany once due to a cancelation while at the airport, I phoned the emergency number and within a short time I was rebooked on another carrier.
We use the Qatar route a lot and will be doing so later in the year. We usually book ourselves these days. I’m not sure Tauck has a contract with Qatar. Tauck will book any air for you as a courtesy, so I’m not sure they can help. Is that what they did for you?
My husband usually does all the air booking, so maybe Qatar is one of the contracts these days. I guess he will be checking our Qatar flight now.
I do hope you are sorted and have a great time. The flying part of tours is definitely the challenge these days!
I should add, out of fairness, that besides convenience, the main other reason to book air with Tauck is that if you "cancel for any reason" then the air is covered under that trip protection. At least, that used to be the policy.
Es I agree Wan, but if you don’t want to cancel, it’s a problem
Thanks all - we found an alternate route through Air France - I am not comfortable flying through the middle east right now, so we'll have a bit lengthier of a journey but the important part is getting there! I know right now American and United have cancelled flights to Doha, but I think they may have gotten a "suggestion" to do that.
I’ve been reading about this. Qatar air from New York is still ok. Weird! Qatar was one of the few airlines that kept running from the very beginning of the pandemic….they got us home when we were stranding at that time.
Qatar is still flying, but my husband and I are uncomfortable with the current situation in the middle east - things have a habit of changing quickly there, and so we opted to change - my only concern was that Tauck wasn't helpful at all.. In the future I'll book my own air and save $$ - thanks all. Stay safe and enjoy your trips!
Please, everyone, stay safe.
I just read Qatar and UAE have closed their airspace temporarily. It does not say for how long.
I am hoping that for everyone's sake this is over by the time we leave, and that there are no casualties. I did speak with Tauck today and they have done several things to make up for not helping us to change flights - it seems we just didn't get to the right person. We are set to go through Paris, and hope you all make it safe and have a wonderful trip.