Hidden Greece Air Travel
I've reserved this trip for Oct 2026. When trying to book air travel through Tauck at the advertised promotional rate I'm having a difficult time. The itinerary Tauck is offering is extremely problematic ( I'll spare the details) and if it can't be improved I'll have to book air myself at a non promotional rate or cancel the trip..Has anybody else had similar issues trying to take advantage of Tauck promotions or found a work around. BTW..this hasn't been a problem on my past travels with Tauck.
It may be the "old grouchy " me speaking but I find this Tauck behavior less than attractive.
Anybody have thoughts?
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I have this issue even when non-promotional fares are offered. I do my own air now as a result. It appears Tauck does not have contracted rates from all airlines, so there are some weird itineraries proposed.
Yes, all true,you hsve to do your research
Yes, we used the Take Off with Tauck offer once successfully going to Italy but the next year Tauck air debt could not find flights from our home to Scandinavia and back that were within what they would pay. That's what they mean in the " certain restrictions apply" caveat. Alot depends on how close you are to a major hub like JFK, Atlanta, etc. or whether you can pay to get yourself to one.
Creating your own air itinerary gives you control of schedules, departures/arrivals, connecting airports, and number of flight segments. Dealing directly with the airline is much easier than dealing with a 3rd party.
Tauck air doesn't just book something for you. They work with you laying out what flights they have and if you want they reserve them. If you don't like the options then you can arrange your own. Most air reservations with them are not locked in until you make your final tour payment so you can continue to look for better alternatives.
I have found that I can almost always find better fares and routes myself. Tauck seems to do a lot of the early - early departures so people are headed to the airport at 3:00 am to catch the early flights. I looked at that Greece itinerary and it looks difficult no matter how you would try to do it - especially starting and ending in sort of out of the way places for airports so they look like smaller towns and you can't do a round trip. yikes!
If you choose not to do the research or to book airfare on your own, use a reputable travel agent. Easy peasy.
Hi Jeff. I’m booked on the October 16th tour flying in and out of Dallas Ft worth. It took a little bit of effort, but Tauck came thru for me. I fly Lufthansa from DFW to Frankfurt Germany, and then connect to Thessaloniki. I wanted to avoid Frankfort but there was nothing that got me to Thessaloniki with only one connection. Coming home, I’m going to fly to Athens on Agean Air and stay 3 days in Athens. Most of this came about due to how difficult it is to connect from HER airport in Crete, then fly back to DFW. My return is on United operated by Air Canada. I connect in Montreal to DFW avoiding having to retrieve luggage in NY, Chicago or Phili. I thought Tauck was very creative in assisting me. I know this itinerary has been a challenge for Tauck as the code sharing is limited to Star Alliance.
This itinerary looks so fabulous, it was worth effort to do more research and get details worked out. I have a super travel agent in Athens if you decide to go this route.
Thanks
Agree this trip's itinerary is very appealing. I'm booked on the tour starting Oct 5. I was able to reserve ,thru Tauck, an itinerary/airline choice that works for me. The Tauck air desk provided special effort to make this happen.That said I wasn't able, at this time, to take advantage of the promotional fare, having to reserve at full price plus a slight premium. It seems that all flight/airline options are not available, at this time, to Tauck. Star alliance code sharing is not completely available to Tauck. That said i can continue to check with Tauck should more ticketing, at the promotional rate, choices become available. Not an issue as the trip can be canceled and any deposit be applied to another Tauck tour although I will be taking this trip regardless of air fare.
I consider it wise to book air thru Tauck even at premium pricing since they provide round the clock assistance should any issue with the airlines occur. This has been helpful to me on more than one occasion. I'll spare details of my past issues dealing directly with airlines.
Safe travels.