ABD has changed their deposit and cancellation policy effective 1/1/16

[Bobo912]

We looked at Costa Rica also but over Christmas vacation. We chose California for next year with Tauck. They do a great job with the kids IMO.

The Bridges Majestic California trip? We did that one a few years ago. It was a really great trip and I think they've even improved the itinerary since then by adding the visit to Glacier Point.

 

[sayhello]

Are you guys talking Tauck Bridges or "regular" Tauck?

Sayhello

 

[EllinK]

These changes have me seriously considering booking with another tour company for our African safari in 2017.

I've been coveting an ABD trip for 2 years and was planning on going ahead with the African safari in 2017 but now have second thoughts. Would love to know what alternatives you are considering.

 

[paddles]

Not to pile on, but I have to agree with what everyone is saying. I don't currently have anything booked for 2016 or beyond, but not sure we'll book another ABD. I'd love to do a river cruise or Ireland, and Tauck has great itineraries for much less. ABD has been fun and the guides are great, but they have degraded the product and increased prices enough that the Disney name isn't enough for me to spend all those $$. I know there are similar threads for DCL and people keep booking. But ABD is niche enough that keeping loyal customers is very important. First rule of Marketing is that it's a lot cheaper to retain good customers (especially those who are positive net promoters) than acquiring new ones!!

 

[BluesTraveler]

Are you guys talking Tauck Bridges or "regular" Tauck?

Sayhello

I'm referring to Tauck Bridges, I'm guessing posters with kids are as well.

 

[aggiedog]

We are booked for the ABD river cruise this summer. We have been considering transferring our deposit to something further out, but have held off doing anything until we see where our company's finances are this year. We needed a 2-3 months into the spring to make sure everything was rock solid. This announcement may be the end of any ABD for us. We often don't know, for sure, what money we will have until less than 6 mos out. Yes, we could just keep saving up, but with a family of 6, that is still a huge chunk of money we could spend on multiple smaller or DIY vacations. Add that to having two kids going off to college in 18 mos, and 2 more still at home, and this new policy could be a serious hurt to our bank account. If Kevin is reading this, sorry, we'll be contacting you before the Jan 1 deadline.

 

[tgeorge]

Rapunzellover....with the Tauck $600...is the refundable or do they have the same 14 day refund that ABD does? Just curious

In a way, I get it....if you up the price more people will 'think before they book' may allow them to be able to count on those people traveling and be able to plan a bit better. It sucks for those of us not DVC,but I guess that is the way most things are going. They will still have people travel with them. I probably just won't be booking as early anymore.

 

[Bobo912]

Rapunzellover....with the Tauck $600...is the refundable or do they have the same 14 day refund that ABD does? Just curious

In a way, I get it....if you up the price more people will 'think before they book' may allow them to be able to count on those people traveling and be able to plan a bit better. It sucks for those of us not DVC,but I guess that is the way most things are going. They will still have people travel with them. I probably just won't be booking as early anymore.

Only some Tauck trips have a deposit of $600. It is dependent on the itinerary. For the European land based trips the deposit is usually $600. For North, South and Central American trips the deposit is $350. The deposits and cancellation terms are slightly different for the cruise itineraries. Below is an example of the cancellation policy for a US trip. If you purchase Tauck's trip insurance the cancellatin penalty is the price of the insurance policy.

Guests choosing not to purchase Tauck’s Guest Protection will incur cancellation penalties per person as follows: 60 days or more before departure $350.00 per person 59-8 days before departure $600.00 per person 7-1 days before departure $900.00 per person

 

[tgeorge]

Thanks for the info Bobo912

 

[sayhello]

Only some Tauck trips have a deposit of $600. It is dependent on the itinerary. For the European land based trips the deposit is usually $600. For North, South and Central American trips the deposit is $350. The deposits and cancellation terms are slightly different for the cruise itineraries. Below is an example of the cancellation policy for a US trip. If you purchase Tauck's trip insurance the cancellatin penalty is the price of the insurance policy.

Guests choosing not to purchase Tauck’s Guest Protection will incur cancellation penalties per person as follows: 60 days or more before departure $350.00 per person 59-8 days before departure $600.00 per person 7-1 days before departure $900.00 per person

Well, heck! That's a seriously more liberal cancellation policy than ABD ever had! Fully refundable (besides the deposit) up to 60 days before and mostly refundable up until 1 day before! That's better than ABD's current policy by a LOT, and WAY, WAY better than ABD's new policy! Cripes!

At what point does the deposit become unrefundable?

Sayhello

 

[Calfan]

These changes have me seriously considering booking with another tour company for our African safari in 2017.

Losing a $300.00 deposit per person is not ideal, but palatable if one has to cancel. Losing 10% of the cost of the trip -- I am left speechless by this change. If I look at our China trip, we would currently be out $600.00 if we had to cancel. With the new changes, we would be out almost $2,000.00. That's a significant difference.

I really like that Thomson has "teen" trips and trips for families with younger children. They have a number of safaris in a few countries (as opposed to just one) and their lodgings sound amazing.

ABD was wonderful while it lasted, but after China we will almost certainly part ways with them.

To be fair, Thomson (with whom we've booked our 2016 China trip) requires a $700 per person deposit that is also non-refundable, so ABD is probably not way off market with this change. For me, it's more the trend of what ABD has been doing that leaves the bad taste in my mouth. That, plus having had 49 adventurers on our Baltics add-on. If I were otherwise happy with ABD, this change probably wouldn't turn me away on its own because we are usually very set on what we want to do when we book (although, since we are DVC, we probably would not book on opening day as we did with Scotland and Central Europe following this change), but I'm just not happy with the way ABD has degraded its product and the lack of enough guaranteed departures. Again, to be honest, the real deal killer for me with ABD is the large group size. We just don't want to travel with groups of 40+, which is a big reason we turned to Thomson for China (max. of 20, and right now it is just our family of 4 with a guaranteed departure). Here is Thomson's cancellation policy, for anyone who might be interested:

Time of Cancelation Cancelation Fees
January to November Adventures December Adventures
121 days plus before departure Deposit amount per person Deposit amount per person
120-91 days before departure Deposit amount per person 50% of the package price
90-61 days before departure 50% of the package price 65% of the package price
60 days or less before departure 100% of the package price 100% of the package price

 

[Rapunzellover]

Honestly, I don't worry about cancellation, cause I have very specific vacation time. I'm not canceling once I book. Trip insurance covers emergency.

But a larger deposit and earlier final payment are irritating. But then, Tauck irritated the heck outta me when they basically wouldn't take my solo reservation for Ireland, on a non bridges trip, because I was too young. Still sore over that one.

 

[tgeorge]

They wouldn't take your reservation for a solo trip because of your age?? That is crazy!! Now that I would be very upset over!

Same here, usually once I book I don't cancel,but there have been a few instances that came up where I had to. But, then again, I'm so used to cruising that this has been a change for me as far as deposit money goes. I think it is just a change of perspective!

I figure if I pick the itinerary that I like best among the difference options (ABD, Tauck, Nat Geo,etc) then I won't be disappointed

 

[sayhello]

Honestly, I don't worry about cancellation, cause I have very specific vacation time. I'm not canceling once I book. Trip insurance covers emergency.

But a larger deposit and earlier final payment are irritating. But then, Tauck irritated the heck outta me when they basically wouldn't take my solo reservation for Ireland, on a non bridges trip, because I was too young. Still sore over that one.

That would irritate the heck out of me, too! Do you mind my asking just how young they considered "too young"?

Sayhello

 

[Rapunzellover]

I thought I mentioned this before-- yes, I tried Tauck for Ireland, and while she didn't say I couldn't book, she "strongly recommended" I not book because "doubted I'd be happy." I'm currently 36-- was 35 at the time. I was seriously upset; I kinda like Tauck's itinerary better, but it worked out well-- ABD was fab and I met great people.

 

[tgeorge]

That i just crazy! I thought you were going to say you are 22. Even so, if you want to go and can afford it, it should not matter! I just turned 39 and can't even imagine someone telling me 4 years ago that I was too young for that!! Wow

 

[DisneyKevin]

Before we burn anyone at the stake.....it's a travel agents job to assist a guest and help them make the best choices.

I have no idea of the circumstances, but just as an example, if everyone on that departure was in their 70s and it was all married couples....I would steer a single 35 year old in a different direction as well.

There must have been something about this group that suggested to this agent that a single 35 year old would not be happy. There could be many reasons.

No travel agent would try to talk someone out of booking unless they had the guests best interest at heart.

I'm surprised the agent didn't share her concerns, but I can imagine why she did it.

 

[Cousin Orville]

I ran across a tauck adult trip in Australia. The group was significantly older than I am - 38. I'm guessing most were in there 70's. I would not have felt comfortable, and I'd worry about being shut out of conversations and interactions if I'm the youngest by a couple of generations. However I'm not adverse to looking into Tauck Bridges since others have had good experiences with that.

 

[Bobo912]

When we were on the Tauck Bridges Northern California trip a few years ago the World Discovery Tauck group was staying at the same hotel and most of the guests I saw were in their 70's or older. Some had oxygen tanks or walkers. I know some couples in their 40's who take the regular Tauck trips and some parents and grandparents who have taken their children/grandchildren on the trips, but, in general, they do tend to be older guests. I imagine the agent, knowing the ages of the guests already booked, had good intentions, although maybe she didn't communicate that well. When I booked our Uniworld cruise earlier this year the agent told me that most children don't enjoy riverboat cruises (and this was for a family cruise!). I'm sure they get a lot of people who expect kids activities similar to an ocean cruise and they don't want anyone to be disappointed, so they make a point of mentioning that and it's also on their website. We've done a riverboat cruise before and my son actually asked to do another one, so that didn't discourage me from booking, but if I was expecting ocean cruise type activities, I would be glad that the agent had warned me.

 

[tgeorge]

I can see that. Is there an easy way to determine demographics of tour groups? If you book with a TA who maybe doesny know the product as well, it may be hatd to get thatvinformation. Obviously, with ABD, even on an adult exclusive, you have a pretty good idea,but I never would have thought about that with Tauck. Again, having done primarily cruises, it isn't something I've really been exposed to. Although, my husband and I have looked into some of the smallwr, luxury lines and those seem to have an older clientele.