Luggage
We are talking Tauck Portugal Tour this Sept. In our pre-tour material, they mention size restriction on checked luggage (which is not an issue for us). However we asked about carry-on luggage and were told by Tauck that they do not allow a second piece of luggage. You can only take a back-pack or something similar, but no second piece of luggage with wheels. That did not make any sense to me as we always travel with 1 checked bag and 1 carry on bag. Does that make sense that they limit you as to 1 piece of luggage per person?
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That doesn't seem to make sense. I think you need to have some carry-on luggage for your medications and one set of clothes in case they lose your suitcase. I've done Tauck tours with in-tour flights and always had a carry-on (a small suitcase with wheels).
On land tours where you are changing hotel rooms every 1-2 days there is an extensive process to collect bags from the hotel rooms by the hotel staff, count them to make sure they all get collected by the TD, and load them under the coach by the driver. This is reversed at the next hotel.
Anything beyond that one large bag per person either adds to the above workload or you handle it yourself which is what most people do. The coach has one compartment under it that bags carried down by the guest to the coach can be stored in. When you get to the next hotel you just grab that bag and take it up to the room with you. Don't put anything in that bag that you are likely to need before reaching the next hotel.
There is some space inside the coach but the amount can vary depending on the size of your group and the design of the coach. Most coaches have fairly shallow overhead storage and often have no doors. They're fine for day packs, tote bags, hats, coats but standard airline wheeled carryon will not fit. They also have fold down foot rests that limit your ability to put something under the seat in front of you like on a plane. Though I found on a recent tour that I had room under my own seat so that's where put my day bag.
If you're on a Small Group tour there is usually plenty of room inside the coach and in that one designated under coach compartment. On classic sized tours that compartment can get very full and the driver has to do a lot of configuring to fit it all in. I've been on 2 land tours with 39 guests and it was tight.
You are allowed to have one carry-on luggage item but you are responsible for taking it to the bus yourself. If it is too large for the overhead bin, as most are, you can have it placed in the undercarriage of the coach. You will not have access to it, however, until you arrive at your hotel. Tauck will handle your larger piece of luggage throughout the tour.
If there are on-tour flights, follow Tauck’s instructions. There is a wealth of information on Tauck’s website. Go there and search for your specific tour. There will also be guidance in your final paperwork which will be e-mailed to you before the tour start date.
I think the person who spoke to you from Tauck must have been confused about what you were asking.
You are allowed one main piece of luggage, but in addition you can have a ‘carry on’ piece on the coach which cannot be a traditional wheeled carry on piece because it will not fit in your seat area. If you do want have such a piece, it will have to be put under the coach as people have mentioned and not be a available to you during the day
This is what it says for your tour.
Although oversize bags and wheeled, carry-on luggage are popular for airline travel, they are often not convenient or appropriate for motor coach travel or for many on-tour flights. Most modern sightseeing motor coaches offer limited space for numerous or larger items. Space under seats or in the overhead rack is typically small, and designed to accommodate items like coats, hats, purses, and small camera bags, etc.
For your day-to-day travel while on tour, we recommend that you limit your hand luggage to a small, soft-sided carry-on piece, and that you bring only those items you need handy during the day such as make-up, medications, cameras, film, etc. Items too large to fit under the motor coach seat or on the overhead rack must be stored in the luggage bays beneath the motor coach, and may be inaccessible during daytime travel.
Most tour directors will ask you to bring your roll on hand luggage down to the coach yourself to be put under the coach but I have know some tour directors say they will organize having that taken down to the coach for you. It often depends on the staff available at particular hotels. Tauck do figure out tips based on one bag per person and have staff available for that number. One reason you have to have your luggage ready up to two hours before departure on hotel change days, is to accommodate luggage especially when people do have more than one bag to be sorted to go under the coach
Last year, we were on a non Tauck tour that involved a group of us who filled the coach seating. Some people had necessary second bags and the driver could not get all the bags in the coach. He was fairly new, called the coach company who said they would send a bigger coach but it could take some time. Eventually, the coach driver we had had the day before came along and fitted everything in without a problem. Thank goodness, many of us were eager to get to London.
I’ve been on a couple of small group tours, maximum 16 people where we have had big coaches and only have to have our luggage ready maybe ten minutes before departure which meant we could have a much longer lie-in and later breakfast.