Wow, that’s crazy! Probably because Namibia is now one of the ‘hot’ new places to visit. Also, Tauck stays at the most exclusive hotels who I guess are experiencing great demand. Namibia is a great place to visit and otherwise very cheap.
I am seeing the same thing for the Singapore trip. I just booked for 2025, and the price increased by about $2,000 from 2024 rates (for solo travelers).
I guess if more and more Tauck guests want the fancy hotels, Tauck have to pay the going rate. All I know is, we stayed in mainly excellent hotels apart from in a couple of more remote areas where we had the best available for three weeks with all meals and activities paid for, transport to and from the airport and baggage handling and it was way less than the 11 or 12 days you stay with Tauck.
British - You should get a marketing job with the other tour company. This is a Tauck forum. You should probably keep the marketing spiels to PMs.
Perhaps you're trying to drum up support to convince Tauck that lesser hotels (some with shared bathrooms) are the way to go.
If it isn't lesser hotels where your tour company is saving money then it only leaves a few items:
a) they pay their employees less money
b) the activities/excursions that they provide cost less
c) they accept smaller profit margins
d) the food/transportation they provide costs less
It seems like you feel it is a) and/or c) because you say that the hotels, services provided, food provided, and activities/excursions provided are all equal to or better than what Tauck provides.
Have you ever written directly to Tauck and pointed out your observations. That might be a more efficient route to effecting change than through posts on the Tauck forum.
We have signed up for this tour just recently and we are leaving on June 3, 2025. It is a smaller group and the cost was $14,490 per person and not $15,824. It is an expensive trip but we think Tauck delivers. We are both in our seventies and we like a little luxury. Also, we are doing back-to-back tours which helps with the business class airfare and the travel insurance. This is a good way to save money if we don't mind a longer trip.
Sam, I’ve never named the other company I found on the main forum.
I did call Tauck several times to ask about having a Namibia tour. They said they would let me know when they had one. Turns out they didn’t do that. I had researched other companies by then. Having already been to Namibia before, I preferred the other company’s itinerary and the longer tour., price did not really come into it.
Plenty of people mention other companies. I have mentioned OAT who are not good when trips go wrong or you try to get money back from the many many online complaints
Of coarse I will continue to travel with Tauck, still my favorite. If they went to some of the places I now have a taste for, say like Madagascar or Mongolia, they would be top of my list. I will do more Europe tours with them but Europe does not excite me as much these days if I can go further afield while I am still able.
Supposedly Tauck is adjusting the price for some of the 2024 and 2025 more popular tours.
To all,
I would continue to travel with Tauck and enjoy all three trips with them so far. Just not blindly, realizing that there may be greener pasture out there.I am just too adventurous to stick to doing mainly Europe tours these days. I have been to multiple European countries more than once. Mongolia and Madagascar sound really fun and would not suit well for the Tauck demographics due to dietary requirement, activities fitness level, dependency on the TD, and wine selection.
BTW, I still received the packing tubes not the toiletry bags despite not signing up for anything next year with Tauck. Not yet I supposed.
In love Tauck and I'm planning some more trips with them, and I know prices are going up everywhere, it's just that I have not seen an increase like this before in any of their tours. I'm glad I'm doing the most expensive one right on time...
mil - I have not seen an increase like this before in any of their tours.
Right after Covid we experienced this. We had booked the Iceland tour pre-Covid that got cancelled. We moved it to the next year (same room on the boat, etc.) hoping that tours would actually happen, not knowing what the price would be, but assuming that it wouldn't increase by more than 3-5%. When you book prior to final pricing you have the option in a two-week window to cancel at no charge when prices are announced.
Our Iceland tour was one of the first that Tauck started after Covid. The price of that trip went up 18% from the pre-Covid trip. Funny thing was it wasn't an across the board increase. The 18% increase was just for the room category we had booked. Other room categories only experienced a 3-5% increase, which was typical for most year-to-year increases. I actually had discussions about this with Tauck and found out that Ponant had changed their pricing in the Covid lapse, but only for the rooms we were booked in. Since this change only impacted a few people that had booked and then re-booked the same room, in the impacted area, from pre-Covid to post-Covid, Tauck agreed to split the increase with the affected parties. I thought this was very nice customer relations for which they had no obligation to do.
Comments
Wow, that’s crazy! Probably because Namibia is now one of the ‘hot’ new places to visit. Also, Tauck stays at the most exclusive hotels who I guess are experiencing great demand. Namibia is a great place to visit and otherwise very cheap.
I was surprised!! but you're right, Namibia It's now the "HOT" spot!
I am seeing the same thing for the Singapore trip. I just booked for 2025, and the price increased by about $2,000 from 2024 rates (for solo travelers).
milmil
4:41PM edited 4:43PM
It's actually the entire trip, not only the single supplement.
look: price per person in 2 guess reservation.
Apr 23, 2024
Smaller Group
$13,490 USD
May 7, 2024
Classic
$12,990 USD
May 21, 2024
Classic
$12,990 USD
Jun 25, 2024
Classic
$12,990 USD
Jul 9, 2024
Classic
$13,990 USD
Jul 16, 2024
Classic
$13,990 USD
Jul 30, 2024
Classic
$13,990 USD
Aug 27, 2024
Classic
$13,990 USD
Sep 24, 2024
Classic
$13,990 USD
Oct 1, 2024
Classic
$13,990 USD
2025:
May 20, 2025
Smaller Group
$14,490 USD
Jun 3, 2025
Smaller Group
$14,490 USD
Jun 17, 2025
Smaller Group
$14,490 USD
Jul 1, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,490 USD
Jul 15, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,490 USD
Jul 29, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,490 USD
Aug 12, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,490 USD
Aug 26, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,490 USD
Sep 9, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,490 USD
Sep 23, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,490 USD
Classic
mil
4:47PM
look: price per person in1 guess reservation. I guess I booked at the right time.
2024:
Apr 23, 2024
Classic
$13,312 USD
May 7, 2024
Classic
$14,345 USD
May 21, 2024
Classic
$14,345 USD
Jun 25, 2024
Classic
$14,345 USD
Jul 9, 2024
Classic
$15,754 USD
Jul 16, 2024
Classic
$15,754 USD
Jul 30, 2024
Classic
$15,754 USD
Aug 27, 2024
Classic
$15,754 USD
Sep 24, 2024
Classic
$15,754 USD
Oct 1, 2024
Classic
$15,754 USD
2025:
Apr 22, 2025
Smaller Group
$14,823 USD
May 20, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,824 USD
Jun 3, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,824 USD
Jun 17, 2025
Smaller Group
$15,824 USD
Jul 1, 2025
Smaller Group
$17,318 USD
Jul 15, 2025
Smaller Group
$17,318 USD
Jul 29, 2025
Smaller Group
$17,318 USD
Aug 12, 2025
Smaller Group
$17,318 USD
Aug 26, 2025
Smaller Group
$17,318 USD
Sep 9, 2025
Smaller Group
$17,318 USD
Sep 23, 2025
Smaller Group
$17,318 USD
Oct 7, 2025
Smaller Group
$17,318 USD
I guess if more and more Tauck guests want the fancy hotels, Tauck have to pay the going rate. All I know is, we stayed in mainly excellent hotels apart from in a couple of more remote areas where we had the best available for three weeks with all meals and activities paid for, transport to and from the airport and baggage handling and it was way less than the 11 or 12 days you stay with Tauck.
British - You should get a marketing job with the other tour company. This is a Tauck forum. You should probably keep the marketing spiels to PMs.
Perhaps you're trying to drum up support to convince Tauck that lesser hotels (some with shared bathrooms) are the way to go.
If it isn't lesser hotels where your tour company is saving money then it only leaves a few items:
a) they pay their employees less money
b) the activities/excursions that they provide cost less
c) they accept smaller profit margins
d) the food/transportation they provide costs less
It seems like you feel it is a) and/or c) because you say that the hotels, services provided, food provided, and activities/excursions provided are all equal to or better than what Tauck provides.
Have you ever written directly to Tauck and pointed out your observations. That might be a more efficient route to effecting change than through posts on the Tauck forum.
We have signed up for this tour just recently and we are leaving on June 3, 2025. It is a smaller group and the cost was $14,490 per person and not $15,824. It is an expensive trip but we think Tauck delivers. We are both in our seventies and we like a little luxury. Also, we are doing back-to-back tours which helps with the business class airfare and the travel insurance. This is a good way to save money if we don't mind a longer trip.
Sam, I’ve never named the other company I found on the main forum.
I did call Tauck several times to ask about having a Namibia tour. They said they would let me know when they had one. Turns out they didn’t do that. I had researched other companies by then. Having already been to Namibia before, I preferred the other company’s itinerary and the longer tour., price did not really come into it.
Plenty of people mention other companies. I have mentioned OAT who are not good when trips go wrong or you try to get money back from the many many online complaints
Of coarse I will continue to travel with Tauck, still my favorite. If they went to some of the places I now have a taste for, say like Madagascar or Mongolia, they would be top of my list. I will do more Europe tours with them but Europe does not excite me as much these days if I can go further afield while I am still able.
British,
Supposedly Tauck is adjusting the price for some of the 2024 and 2025 more popular tours.
To all,
I would continue to travel with Tauck and enjoy all three trips with them so far. Just not blindly, realizing that there may be greener pasture out there.I am just too adventurous to stick to doing mainly Europe tours these days. I have been to multiple European countries more than once. Mongolia and Madagascar sound really fun and would not suit well for the Tauck demographics due to dietary requirement, activities fitness level, dependency on the TD, and wine selection.
BTW, I still received the packing tubes not the toiletry bags despite not signing up for anything next year with Tauck. Not yet I supposed.
In love Tauck and I'm planning some more trips with them, and I know prices are going up everywhere, it's just that I have not seen an increase like this before in any of their tours. I'm glad I'm doing the most expensive one right on time...
Right after Covid we experienced this. We had booked the Iceland tour pre-Covid that got cancelled. We moved it to the next year (same room on the boat, etc.) hoping that tours would actually happen, not knowing what the price would be, but assuming that it wouldn't increase by more than 3-5%. When you book prior to final pricing you have the option in a two-week window to cancel at no charge when prices are announced.
Our Iceland tour was one of the first that Tauck started after Covid. The price of that trip went up 18% from the pre-Covid trip. Funny thing was it wasn't an across the board increase. The 18% increase was just for the room category we had booked. Other room categories only experienced a 3-5% increase, which was typical for most year-to-year increases. I actually had discussions about this with Tauck and found out that Ponant had changed their pricing in the Covid lapse, but only for the rooms we were booked in. Since this change only impacted a few people that had booked and then re-booked the same room, in the impacted area, from pre-Covid to post-Covid, Tauck agreed to split the increase with the affected parties. I thought this was very nice customer relations for which they had no obligation to do.