Is this typical of Tauck?
Would like to know your experiences with Tauck. We are brand new to Tauck and recently booked our first 2 tours with Tauck for 2026. We booked Tauck based on the stated itineraries and accommodations as described on their website. By chance I found out one of the main hotels (2 nights plus 2 breakfasts and a dinner) will now be at a much less-desirable hotel. However, the website is still listing the original hotel and even expressly features that original hotel in the the daily itinerary and describes a unique characteristic of it. While I realize some changes can be unavoidable, are changes like this very common? When are guests actually notified of significant changes--before or after final payment? If these changes are listed in the new brochure, Tauck had to know about them for awhile but have not updated their website or sent out an email about the changes. This is a bit concerning to me as the tours are not cheap. How often had you had accommodations or sightseeing changed significantly from what was advertised when you booked?
Comments
I haven't experienced that. If the change is concerning enough for you to cancel the tour, I would suggest contacting Tauck and asking for a refund.
In any case, you should contact Tauck and express your displeasure at the change and that they have not changed the description of the tour on the web.
If you go to the website and scroll down to pricing and availability, and look at the specifics, there are quite a few dates in which the Memphis hotel is the Westin. This is not unusual. I have learned to check this section of the website before booking.
That said, we have had a handful of hotel changes after booking. It has worked out fine for us.
You don’t indicate how you “by chance” found out about a change. If it was not generated by Tauck, I would ignore it.
Things change, schedules change and Tauck is very transparent about that. There are some things that are simply beyond their control. It would be prudent to contact them directly as well as familiarizing yourself with their “expectations versus reality” advice.
We've taken 19 tours with Tauck and only had one hotel change mid-trip. It was on the Germany trip in 2000 when the hotel in the Black Forest notified Tauck that it would be closing down shortly. Rather than putting us in a hotel that was in its final days, they chose another one. It was quite nice and continues to be used now 16 years later.
Our family is traveling with Tauck to Croatia next year. When we called to make the reservation, the agent told us that the hotel in Dubrovnik would be different than the one shown on line and in the brochure. The brochure shows the one they used in the initial years of the trip. They are now going to the one that had replaced it and is contained in Mike and Judy's blog.
Itinerary changes sometimes happen due to unplanned circumstances. On our Italy tour St Mark's was replaced by the Doges' Palace. The Obama's were in town and St Mark's was closed to give Michelle a private tour.
All sorts tours have similar things happen. On a Royal Caribbean Cruise cruise in the '70s or '80s we were notified that we would not be stopping at their private beach. People were very disappointed. This was in the days of transistor radios. We were able to get a BBC broadcast from Port au Prince. We heard the reporter speak about gunfire on the street by his hotel. The cruise line acted correctly by not putting a boatload of people ashore on their private beach in Haiti!
As an aside...this caused the ship to travel more slowly to its next destination. As a result we were going around Cuba at a different time than they expected. They sent out a helicopter to see what we were doing.
Bythebeach: This is not unusual for tour companies in general. Many of my friends use competitors and this happens a lot. Touring companies offer packages way in advance of departure, and often before contracts are finalized. As far as Tauck, they usually try to match the original hotel best they can, or at least one that has other advantages.
When I book a trip, I always ask the agent to look up if there are any scheduled itinerary changes or hotel changes before I choose my departure date. I have never had a change made after I made my final payment, except for one time in Italy pre-pandemic, when we found out while on tour the day before arrival at a hotel. In that case, everyone was pleased with the substitution, and each traveler received a 100 euro refund.
As far as the website, it has been my constant gripe in my 9 years with Tauck. It is their Achilles heel. Once you are on the ground with Tauck you will get an excellent tour but do not rely on the website alone for information. Call them or use this forum.
I think that I looked at the tour that you are going on (Music of America). If you look at the on line trip and choose the date you are going you will see a note that lists dates where the tour will be staying at the Westin Beale Street rather than the Peabody. If known at printing Tauck also puts asterisks in the printed brochure listing departures that will stay at a different hotel.
ByThebreach. I’ve been traveling with Tauck for over 20 years and hotel changes rarely happen. It looks as it was actually mentioned in the online version of your tour anyway, but not where it was clear for you to see. You could call and change the date so you get the other hotel, they should do that for you without penalty as it is not until next year.
The website does have the fault for not changing items at times which although I’ve noticed the change already, they have not done so there. I have called them a couple of times to tell them.
I haven’t checked out that tour, I have been on a number of the US tours and I find them so expensive when I can take one of their other tours abroad for the same price.
It was absolutely not mentioned on the website when I booked. Plus, the new hotel is not listed in the accommodations section as a possible option and apparently it is the hotel for half the tours. I do now see it if I click on the individual date.
It is mentioned there, not obvious, but it is. I just looked. Wow, what an incredibly expensive tour
We've only had one hotel change with Tauck, and they gave us plenty of notice. It was Tauck's trip to Cuba, they had to switch hotels for obvious (Government) reasons. The hotel they switched us to wasn't the typical five star, however, the TD explained reasons for the hotel switch and our group understood completely. No complaints, just compliments for an excellent tour!
I have never had a hotel change but have had a few schedule changes and, perhaps, two or three excursion changes—all of which were outside of Tauck’s control. We still had wonderful experiences and viewed the changes as part of the adventure.
Yes, one door closes for a better one to open. In this case, a different and exciting new hotel to explore, a change in itinerary, different restaurants to try even when it’s noted differently in the Tauck catalog or online. I enjoy change to embrace and accept something different while traveling . Perhaps it could be a better experience.
I love the metaphor, OurTravels34.
Travel is full of uncertainty. Whenever things go exactly as planned I’m astonished. I think Tauck probably does better than most. But, sometimes the best memories form when things go sideways. We arrived in Athens many years ago to find our small hotel being evacuated due to an AC failure with a huge unit on the roof being replaced with an enormous crane. They had arranged another place for us for the night and a cab was waiting. So after an exhausting flight we grumpily loaded into the cab and off we went. The new hotel was small and looked nice. The room was decent. I wandered downstairs to explore a bit and found a gaggle of visiting archaeology students from France excavating a dig in the cellar! They let me hang around and watch the excitement! Sometimes you just have to roll with it.
Sometimes the unscripted experiences are the most memorable.
We have only experienced one hotel change and that happened on the Michigan Lakes and Mackinac Island tour. The itinerary stated that we would be staying at the Dearborn Inn. During the tour, we learned that the Dearborn Inn had started its renovation project days before our planned arrival. It sounded like Tauck was not forewarned of the change in the start date. Tauck switched us to The Henry, which was a newer, Autograph Collection hotel and very convenient. I had stayed at the Dearborn Inn about 50 years ago and was looking forward to sharing it with my family so that was a small disappointment. The Henry really was nicer and a better option. I noticed that Tauck now includes in the itinerary that the Dearborn Inn is scheduled to complete its renovations in 2025.