Booking Air Travel Tauck versus Direct
Hey all, I'm researching airfare for my Wildlife Odyssey trip in September 2026. I have called Tauck several times, most recently today, and they do not have any flight information in their system. I've called American Express and they have provided several options. Has anyone gone through this process yet and can provide recommendations on what to do because I am not getting anywhere with Tauck. Thanks!
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From what I understand flights are best to be booked with Tauck( I think) in case of mishaps and delays, but I also had the same experience with them that they don't have anything in their system yet. Curious to know what others have done and which airlines are best for this trip. Thanks!
Seems to me you should book air on your own. I've never used Tauck for air. I prefer to control my own booking, route, etc.
When is your trip?
Occasionally we book with Tauck. Funnily enough we booked with Tauck for this very tour just after the main part of Covid. It’s tricky getting to the start at the best of times to Vic Falls The Tauck agent said we had to book the short flight to Vic Falls ourselves and told us not to delay, it was a non refundable price and she said we could get it cheaper ourselves. So we booked the main flight with Tauck and the other ourselves. In the end we had to cancel because there was still Covid testing requirements in Joberg …there was no testing available at that airport and the one from home was no good as it was too soon. Consequently we lost the money for the short flight $700.
We have never rebooked the tour. We took the other Botswana tour with Tauck years ago. Since then we have been back with another company and discovered that away from the river in Chobe the roads are very narrow in the park and when it’s busy you can’t get near to see a big cat. Also lots of vegetation makes it difficult to spot what animals there are in that area. By the river it’s totally different many many elephants If/ when we go again, we will take the other Tauck tour again.
The last time I booked my own ticket with the airlines, Tauck cancelled the trip because of Covid and I still had an expensive nonrefundable ticket to worry about. At the last minute I was able to get a refund, but it was stressful. I have since booked with Tauck (assuming I'm not using miles) which makes cancellation very easy. If you book the air with Tauck, once the air is ticketed, the cancellation penalty is $400 per person in economy and $500 for business class, which is much less than the cost of the ticket.
I always book my air for European travel with Tauck. They have my preferred airlines, aircraft configurations and seats on file. They are always helpful and professional, especially when something goes wrong through no fault of their own. The fares are competitive and routes direct, at least for my needs. I also always purchase the travel insurance through them.
I had forgotten there is a penalty after ticketing. Of course if you book yourself and tickets are refundable, you don’t necessarily pay that.
Tauck prices are definitely not the cheapest, sometimes booking the exact same flight yourself it is thousands cheaper with business class. You have to do your homework. When Tauck did not charge you until final payment, that was a great deal, but mostly they have done away with that.
I have never booked air with Tauck. I ask my travel agent to find out what Tauck offers, and also what she can do for flights. Sometimes I choose the flights that the TA offers, but more often, I book flights on my own, because I prefer the itineraries and airlines. (I hate connecting through LHR, which seems to be a frequent Tauck option from Boston. I also avoid Lufthansa, whenever possible. )
I book with my true blue travel agent after doing extensive research on my own. I do not care for short layovers only because unpredictable things happen in between flights. I prefer to have a 2 hour+ layover to get from one terminal to another. I’ve been caught in precarious situations and call up my travel agent to fix everything.
Side note: my agent is on TV with a travel series competing with another travel agent for the best trip among so called celebrities.
I prefer to book my own flights. The only advantage to booking with Tauck that I can see is that you are covered under the "cancel for any reason" clause with the trip protection insurance, but if you book your own flights then you are still covered for usual things like medical reasons. We had to interrupt a trip once due to a family emergency and had booked our air with Tauck that one time,and they were not able to help us in that emergency. (Also of note, when we called the emergency line at 5 am we got a recording.) We booked our own flights back home and got reimbursed through AON.
Of note I had an interesting thing happen this week. I was trying to book a side trip in Turkiye and thought I might use a travel agent for those 2 days. I was looking for round trip tickets from Istanbul to Nevsehir to go to Cappadocia and the travel agent I was using quoted $500 RT each person for flexible economy. I had just seen the prices on Turkish Airlines a week prior, and it was $200 each. When I asked the TA, he could not explain the price difference, and said that the pricing was coming from the special website TA's use. I confirmed this with AAA Travel when I went in yesterday for something different. So I totally agree with OurTravels34, do your homework before you speak with a travel agent or Tauck. Not sure why the pricing was so different for our little side trip, but I booked those tickets on my own.
(By the way if you still want to go with Tauck for your air for whatever peace of mind there might be, I have found that even if the call center agent offers to help find a flight, they sometimes do not know how to access ALL the available flights. Make sure you specifically speak to the Air department.)
Yes Wan is correct,Tauck cannot access all flights, found that out years ago when they put us on a route that included three plane changes instead of two. That’s when we realized they were not that good They tend to pick flights that align with the timing of the tour on the first day too.
On our Iceland cruise I found that fully refundable tickets booked direct with Iceland Air were substantially cheaper that the price Tauck offered for the same flights, so I booked direct.
I did same two years ago for the Iceland cruise we had to cancel because I came down with Covid the day before departure. But since I had booked fully refundable I didn't get to text whether the Tauck travel protection plan would have covered that.
Wan - FWIW, I was in Turkey 10+ years ago (not a tour). We booked a 2-3 day tour to Cappadocia once we got to Istanbul and used a local travel agent there. I don't recall details, but it was very reasonable, booking RT air, stay in a cave hotel, seeing the sights, etc.
My understanding is that Tauck will never have access to ALL flights, because they have contracts for specific routes. Some tours have more contracted choices than others.
When is your trip?
Will be there in May.
BKMD just saw your comment. I guess I am more comfortable planning ahead, but even so, it seems pretty reasonable.
I just booked our return flights from Quebec for our Shores of Eastern Canada and New England trip. I booked using miles, and booked each leg separately 331 days prior to departure. Using miles you can book the outbound and the return separately without penalty. It is sometimes more efficient to do it that way as you can build your own itinerary and not get married to an itinerary built by a computer. Actually, I was surprised to see that these trips for 2026 are already sold out. The Tauck agent told me they always sell out quite early.
Sealord that is interesting that you can book each section of your journey separately. We have a trip booked for September/October next year and I have been waiting for the return dates to be available.
When you use miles do you book online directly or do you need to call the airline? We have built up miles but never used any yet.
We did the trip in 2025. We booked it ourselves and used Ethiopian Air. They have an excellent business class and all new planes . We changed planes once in Addis Ababa to get to Vic Falls. Flew directly from DC to Addis.
Many airline flights do not go live until about 8-9 months out - so it is still a little early for September 2026 flights. I have booked many flights on my own and can do it less expensively than Tauck will do it for you. I have also used miles for simple travel like DC-London - Paris - DC...its harder to do with lesser known airports but probably still manageable. I have gone thru my airline website to book with miles - but do it myself without a person intervening. The only time I think hard about letting them book my flights is if it is an "iffy" time of year where delays are possible - then they will offer more help sorting things out if necessary....like February travel with the potential of snow delays, etc...or if it is a more difficult location like Africa.
With many airlines the booking limit is 331 days. I don’t know why. Some will book up to a year. But, if you are using ‘miles’ you want to be first in line. If you are using cash, that is not necessarily the case. The prices go up and down, and one way fares using cash can be equal to a round trip. With most airlines the ‘miles’ cost is just based on distance. Agents are often not very helpful when using miles. It is best to do it on your own if you know what you are doing. It took years before as a retired employee I got a discount even using miles. Now, I just learned the ‘system’ knows me and automatically gives me a discount. Many people think retired airline employees fly for free. That is true, but only if there is an empty seat. After the third trip when we spent alll day at the airport and then went to an airport hotel, that was it. We have not done that for at least fifteen years, and we no longer fly ‘coach’. Just too old, bad knees, we don’t do coach anymore.
Sealord
Usually the "originator" works for us, however, have a feeling the first flight of the day may soon be a huge challenge using our retiree benefits. Safe travels!
I’m guessing that MMM is a retired airline employee, and ‘originator’ is the first flight of the day. Non-reving to a Tauck trip or a cruise I think is crazy … ill advised. Right now during the shutdown, those who are non-reving to tours or cruises are in serious jeopardy. I am a retired AA employee, but I’m also Aadvantage Platinum Pro, and will likely be Executive Platinum this year. They recently gave us a pile of free money for canceling our flight out of Rome on our last trip … it will pay for the Grand Hyatt SFO for our next trip.
Sealord
Yes, also a retired AA employee. I would never take a chance and try to non-rev to meet a tour. I enjoy researching routings and making my own reservations. Some destinations are more challenging than others, but I make it work. The less flight segments/legs, the better!
This is great advice. For those who booked on their own, what airlines did you use to get to Victoria Falls? Which one has the most flights/options if we're going from NY to Johannesburg for the first leg? Considering staying overnight in JNB and then taking flight in am? Has anyone done that?
Anyone know what might be going on with Delta?
Last week (10/29) we booked r/t business flights to Switzerland for a Sept '26 Crown Jewel tour. Like always, we booked the instant the date of our (return) flights became available in the 330 day booking window. The fare was $5500 p/p for non-refundable tickets for our particular dates and routing.
Out of curiosity, I checked earlier today and again just now- for the exact same dates/flights/routing the fare is now $14,400 p/p for refundable option only, NO non-refundable option. I have never seen that before- no non-refundable fare option available and such a large difference between refundable and non-refundable fares.
Thanks all, for your thoughts. Definitely doing a ton of research.
When we took the Botswana, Zambia, S. Africa tour which started in Livingstone, Zambia, we booked our own Air. We chose United, Chicago to Newark to Johannesburg, where we stayed overnight at the Intercontinental, located very close to the airport terminal. The next morning, we flew S.A. Airlink to Livingstone. I assume there is also a flight to Victoria Falls. It worked out well.
On Tauck's South Africa: An Elegant Adventure , I used United non-stop Newark-Capetown (trip origination), and United non-stop Johannesburg-Newark (trip ending). SA Airlink segments were included within Tauck's tour. SA Airlink is a great little airline with a terrific performance record. Hope this helps!