Purchasing a pre-packaged tour and joining a group is usually the best option if you’re traveling out of the country for the first time. More so if you are traveling alone and/or know little about the place you are visiting. Many have chosen a tour package and gone off to a relaxing holiday and a happy experience to bring home and cherish forever. Then, there are those who return with nothing but horror stories to tell.
If the tour had been booked through an agent, he would most likely bear the brunt of blame and nothing can be more deadly to a business than a disgruntled customer. He will definitely talk. And news travels fast. Bad news travels fastest.
Many times, it’s not entirely the agent’s fault. It does happen that an agent is merely an unsuspecting victim of unscrupulous tour operators who withhold information or conceal it with vague descriptions and fancy terminology.
Here are a few tips to keep (agents and travelers alike) from falling into the travel trap:
Before buying (or selling) a Tour Package, read everything written on the flyer especially the fine print.
- Check out all “inclusions.” Many inevitable expenses are not included in most packages such as:
- Philippine Travel Tax
- Terminal Fees
- Tour Guide Fees
- Entrance Fees
- Meals (Many passengers assume that breakfast is included. Sometimes they are not. If they are, sometimes breakfast is served outside the hotel – we know a few who went straight to the hotel’s breakfast buffet and got charged extra because it was not part of the package. Sometimes, passengers are given cash or vouchers to buy their own breakfast)
- Check if transfers from the airport to the hotel, and vice-versa are included.
- Some city tours bring you to a certain place and leave you there to find your own way back to the hotel.
- Beware of overly cheap packages with “compulsory tours.” These are usually subsidized by stores and factories that pay tour operators to bring their passengers in to shop. Exits are then blocked and guests are not allowed to leave until they have shopped enough!
- Make sure the hotel name and location are specified.
- Some flyers state a hotel name with an attached “or similar” clause. Who knows which part of the world “or similar” is?
- Some hotel chains have branches in different locations within the same city.
- Ask for the type of room and what facilities are available.
- And the type of bed/s (two real men wouldn’t want to share a queen-sized bed, would they?).
- For packages inclusive of airfare, make sure to ask which airline and “Booking Class.” Some booking classes are highly restricted and are non-rebookable/ nonrefundable/etc. Some can get you bumped off the flight.
- Ask about form of payment and currency exchange rates if cost is quoted in foreign currency (Airline Exchange rates are higher than bank rates and change daily hence the clause “Prices subject to change without prior notice”).
- Ask about payment deadlines, a.k.a., “option.” A lapsed option may cause you to lose your reservation or pay higher rates.
- If a package flyer claims that travel insurance is included, ask for your passenger card (we use Assist Card and each passenger is provided with a card, baggage tags and info booklet).
- When booking a multi-city tour, ask about Visa requirements. Many countries (including some in Asia) require entry or transit visas.
- For international to domestic connections, ask about terminal and luggage transfers.
- Always ask about baggage regulations.
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Tags: breakfast buffet, entrance fees, guide fees, inclusions, philippine travel, relaxing holiday, tour operators, unsuspecting victim, vague descriptions, vouchers