ThatNYCShopper

May 13, 2020

Pro's and Con's

So I used them ten times due to the pricing they provide on their land tours. You have to take the good with the bad concerning this company, unfortunately. Good is the pricing and the itinerary they have for their trips. If you like a fast pace and seeing tons of famous sights without having to plan how you get there, allowing the language barrier not to matter then use them. Their tour managers are always very knowledgeable beyond measure. That's why I use them. Where Gate 1 Travel falls short is service, it is a hit or miss on the local tour guides. Some are excellent if you've never traveled, and others are okay. You have to speak up if you don't like music constantly being played on the buses. Some of the guides tend to play while you go to one destination after the next. Single travelers, you will typically get the worst hotel rooms, sorry to say, and on many occasions. They don't help with visa's. You are on your own with that. I buy travel insurance, but buyer beware and read the fine print because it is not cancel for any reason. Make sure you can go on the trip since their cancellation policy is horrible, especially for airfare. Last leaving a country, they place you on crazy early flights where you depart from the hotel 1 AM to 4 AM to get to the airport. They do not inform you of later flights to avoid this horrible inconvenience since they look to save on bring most to the airport at the same time. In short, they pretend they care; however, if something terrible happens and the local tour manager cannot help you, you are on your own. Gate 1 travel as a company does not give a crap about you as a customer. Booking trips customer service is not that great. You can never get the same booking agent even though they tell you, you can call them for all your bookings. Airport pick-up if your flight is delayed or you arrive late at night you are on your own, and they'll give you a voucher to use on the next trip instead of giving you back your money. You have to tip all the local tour guides they have on the tour, and it can add up to a pretty sum by the time your finish. Buses you use the whole trip are typically clean thanks to some of the bus drivers and others not so much. They are good at supplying water in countries where you cannot drink it from the tap. On the coronavirus, they only supplied vouchers to use on a later trip zero refunds no matter what and they are not available by phone. They don't care what your financial situation is and even with the purchase of the best insurance, you have pages to read through just to say sorry what's happening is not covered.