Who is and who's not booking with ABD for 2010

[Tozzie]

Congratulations! I hope you have a great trip. I am keeping several Tauck, Austin Lehman and ABD trips on the radar for next year, hoping to find a good deal on one of them. We will definitely be taking a trip with one of the family adventure companies - maybe ABD, but maybe not. Although I know and love ABD, I don't believe they are totally unique and a lot of the things that they tout and that we praise them for are done by other companies as well. I found a review of Austin Lehnman's Yellowstone trip where the reviewer said the following:



Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Austin Lehman also has a 6:1 guest to guide ratio with no trip having more than 18 guests. The reviewer's Yellowstone trip had 3 guides. I've been checking out the Tauck Yellowstone trip too and it looks great. Sorry to go off on company comparisons when I just meant to congratulate you on your trip. I'm still a bit disapointed by the fact that ABD does so little to secure our return business, so it's hard to pass up an opportunity to point out that they aren't the only game in town.

BOBO maybe you can answer this question, I have read you and another poster consistently say this but my question is, what do other comparable tour companies with comparable trips do to secure return buisness. I have not been able to find anything where other companies offer great discounts to return travellers and I am very interested.

 

[Bobo912]

BOBO maybe you can answer this question, I have read you and another poster consistently say this but my question is, what do other comparable tour companies with comparable trips do to secure return buisness. I have not been able to find anything where other companies offer great discounts to return travellers and I am very interested.

I don't think I've ever commented that other companies similar to ABD offer discounts to return guests. I think I've only said that ABD should. I have seen that Austin Lehman offers discounts to returning guests on their new itineraries and Abercrombie & Kent has a club that you pay to join and I believe they offer discounts. I've also seen mentioned in the Thomson newletter that they will work with you if you're on a budget. They have guest who travel repeatedly with them (I just read about one family recently who were on the 11th trip) so either they're trips are absolutely fantastic or they are offering some incentive to get people to come back. But I don't know for a fact of any company that offers an incentive, since I've never traveled with any other company. I certainly haven't researched all the escorted vacation providers, so there could be some out there who offer return guest discounts. I was thinking of other areas of the travel industry that incent repeat business. Even DCL offers 10% off to guests who book their next cruise onboard. And airlines and hotels give free flights and stays to their loyal customers.

Now I have commented that Thomson's customer service leaves ABD in the dust. Thomson, and Austin Lehman, as well, have been much more helpful and responsive when I've contacted them and I've never spent a cent with either of them. I will say that I have been treated well by ABD when I have booked trips with them and last year I sent an email to compliment the service I received, knowing they were getting a lot of flack over the cancellation. They responded to that email immediately. This year, I haven't been all that pleased with them.

Having been on trips with ABD I think it's easy to become blinded and think that they are the only company that provides the type of experience that we have enjoyed with them. And they certainly want you to believe that, but I think it is highly unlikely. They would be wise to take advantage of the afterglow we all feel when we come home from our ABD vacations and follow up with some incentive to book again the following year, before the afterflow fades. That's one reason I think they really missed the mark by not offering the EBD this year. I came home from Costa Rica last year and 3 days later booked my 2009 trip. I would have done the same this year if the EBD had not been discontinued. They wouldn't need to offer any incentives, if all their trips were filled to capacity, but we know they aren't. My Alaska trip had 30 people and we've heard reports of 20 and fewer, so maybe they should work as hard to retain past customers as they do to lure new ones. I'm torn between wanting to stick with ABD, since they are a known, and the urge to try another company and see how they compare.

Wow, that's a long post!!!

 

[Tozzie]

I don't think I've ever commented that other companies similar to ABD offer discounts to return guests. I think I've only said that ABD should. I have seen that Austin Lehman offers discounts to returning guests on their new itineraries and Abercrombie & Kent has a club that you pay to join and I believe they offer discounts. I've also seen mentioned in the Thomson newletter that they will work with you if you're on a budget. They have guest who travel repeatedly with them (I just read about one family recently who were on the 11th trip) so either they're trips are absolutely fantastic or they are offering some incentive to get people to come back. But I don't know for a fact of any company that offers an incentive, since I've never traveled with any other company. I certainly haven't researched all the escorted vacation providers, so there could be some out there who offer return guest discounts. I was thinking of other areas of the travel industry that incent repeat business. Even DCL offers 10% off to guests who book their next cruise onboard. And airlines and hotels give free flights and stays to their loyal customers.

Now I have commented that Thomson's customer service leaves ABD in the dust. Thomson, and Austin Lehman, as well, have been much more helpful and responsive when I've contacted them and I've never spent a cent with either of them. I will say that I have been treated well by ABD when I have booked trips with them and last year I sent an email to compliment the service I received, knowing they were getting a lot of flack over the cancellation. They responded to that email immediately. This year, I haven't been all that pleased with them.

Having been on trips with ABD I think it's easy to become blinded and think that they are the only company that provides the type of experience that we have enjoyed with them. And they certainly want you to believe that, but I think it is highly unlikely. They would be wise to take advantage of the afterglow we all feel when we come home from our ABD vacations and follow up with some incentive to book again the following year, before the afterflow fades. That's one reason I think they really missed the mark by not offering the EBD this year. I came home from Costa Rica last year and 3 days later booked my 2009 trip. I would have done the same this year if the EBD had not been discontinued. They wouldn't need to offer any incentives, if all their trips were filled to capacity, but we know they aren't. My Alaska trip had 30 people and we've heard reports of 20 and fewer, so maybe they should work as hard to retain past customers as they do to lure new ones. I'm torn between wanting to stick with ABD, since they are a known, and the urge to try another company and see how they compare.

Wow, that's a long post!!!

I apologize, I thought you had stated other companies offer loyalty incentives. I was just curious, I am not blind to ABD and I did look into other companies and the problem I have with all of the higher end tour companies is that none of them with the exception of Tauck includes airport transfers. I looked into austin lehman and the tours they offer didn't really do anything for me, now Tauck offers some tours I would definelty be interested in taking. Thanks for your response and again I apologize if I offended you.

 

[Bobo912]

I apologize, I thought you had stated other companies offer loyalty incentives. I was just curious, I am not blind to ABD and I did look into other companies and the problem I have with all of the higher end tour companies is that none of them with the exception of Tauck includes airport transfers. I looked into austin lehman and the tours they offer didn't really do anything for me, now Tauck offers some tours I would definelty be interested in taking. Thanks for your response and again I apologize if I offended you.

Not at all, Tozzie, you didn't offend me. I wish I knew for certain of a company that offers incentives. That would give me a good reason to try them out. I know I have seen a few companies that offer airport transfers, but I don't remember which ones - I have looked at so many. Thomson does, although I know they don't appeal to a lot of people because they are not currently offering any European trips. I think they change their itineraries often though, so who knows what they may offer in the future. They are expensive, but their quoted price includes insurance and tips. Just based on the quoted prices on their website, there is no cost savings over ABD. Their Galapagos and Peru itineraries are identical to ABD. They even use the same hotels, with the exception of one nicer hotel on the Thomson Peru trip. I just want to take a nice trip with my son, and it was so easy the last couple of years, but it's been so difficult to make a decision this year.

 

[need2travel]

Originally Posted by Bobo912
Congratulations! I hope you have a great trip. I am keeping several Tauck, Austin Lehman and ABD trips on the radar for next year, hoping to find a good deal on one of them. We will definitely be taking a trip with one of the family adventure companies - maybe ABD, but maybe not. Although I know and love ABD, I don't believe they are totally unique and a lot of the things that they tout and that we praise them for are done by other companies as well. I found a review of Austin Lehnman's Yellowstone trip where the reviewer said the following:

Thanks Bob912!! we can't wait!

Hi Tozzie,

You said Tauck offers some tours you'd be interested in, just wanted to let you know we've (husband & I-no kids) taken 4 w/ them & 2010 will be #5 & they are FANTASTIC. If you do decide to go w/ them you will not be disappointed!

 

[Bobo912]

Originally Posted by Bobo912
Congratulations! I hope you have a great trip. I am keeping several Tauck, Austin Lehman and ABD trips on the radar for next year, hoping to find a good deal on one of them. We will definitely be taking a trip with one of the family adventure companies - maybe ABD, but maybe not. Although I know and love ABD, I don't believe they are totally unique and a lot of the things that they tout and that we praise them for are done by other companies as well. I found a review of Austin Lehnman's Yellowstone trip where the reviewer said the following:

Thanks Bob912!! we can't wait!

Hi Tozzie,

You said Tauck offers some tours you'd be interested in, just wanted to let you know we've (husband & I-no kids) taken 4 w/ them & 2010 will be #5 & they are FANTASTIC. If you do decide to go w/ them you will not be disappointed!

need2travel, which 4 Tauck trips have you taken? Any particular one you would recommend? I'm still hoping to go with ABD next summer, but keeping my options open. TIA.

 

[marcemch]

need2travel, which 4 Tauck trips have you taken? Any particular one you would recommend? I'm still hoping to go with ABD next summer, but keeping my options open. TIA.

I'm anxious to hear too! I like Tauck's Northern CA itinerary, but can't find a review anywhere!
Am still keeping ABD options open, along with Backroads and Austin-Lehman. A family tour is a top priority for us as well.
It's hard for me to NOT have something booked by this time of the year, but the ABD prices and change/cancellation policies are just too much of an obstacle (along with that new roof I just had to purchase!)

 

[sayhello]

I'm starting to get confused here if you folks are talking Tauck or Tauck Bridges. need2travel says it's just her & her husband, so there's a chance she's talking Tauck and not Tauck Bridges. Tauck Bridges is the family tours that are comparable to ABD, I thought... Just hope we're talking apples & apples...

Sayhello

 

[need2travel]

Hi Bobo912,

We've done Colorado (no longer offered), A Week in Ireland, The Canyonlands & A Week in Paris & Provence. All were w/ Tauck not Tauck Brideges but there were several children/teens on each & none had a problem being around adults. I will say that we are usually among the younger set (at 39 &41) but again that was w/ Tauck not Bridges. I recommend them all, they were all terrific but our 2 favorites were the Canyonlands & Paris & Provence. The Canyonlands because it covered so much-Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Monument Valley (we got there by way of flightseeing over Lake Powell), Bryce Canyon & Zion Nat'l park. We stayed in the park (on the rim) at Grand Canyon & Bryce & in the park at Zion. The scenery was just outrageous everywhere we went. Paris & Provence because Provence was just so beautiful & different (such a great feel/vibe) & we saw so much-Nice, Monacco, Arles (we went to a bull race there!) & Avingnon. Paris was great-I am not a city person at all & I could have stayed weeks in Paris-the food, wine, museums, everything. We also took a daytrip on our own to Normandy-that was a must see for us. Anyway, I could go on & on but I guess you get the jist.

 

[need2travel]

Just reiterating that we have taken Tauck not Tauck Bridges but there were kids/teens on all our trips anyway. Our Provence trip had several mother/daughter or grandmother/granddaughter combos w/ high school age girls as were as a few families & one 8 year old boy. Ireland had high school & middle schoolers & Canyonlands had everything from kids to college kids. Hope this clears up any confusion!

 

[marcemch]

I think I'm to blame on the confusion. I didn't read the post thoroughly. Serves me right for peeking at the disboards while at work!

Still wish there was SOME, ANY kind of feedback or reviews on the Tauck BRIDGES tours on the internet.

 

[sayhello]

Still wish there was SOME, ANY kind of feedback or reviews on the Tauck BRIDGES tours on the internet.

Here you go! I found a couple, at least.

http://hinsdaletravel.mvpweb.net/default.asp?pid=25218

http://www.epinions.com/review/166159553409-Tauck_World_Discovery/content_249206181508

Has anyone looked at Classic Journeys? I don't recall seeing them mentioned. I remember looking at them a few years back, and recall them being a good company, although I don't remember much detail at this point. They have several "Family Journeys", and seem to be in around the same price range as ABD. I haven't had a chance to look at the website too closely yet.

http://www.classicjourneys.com/family/

Sayhello

 

[Bobo912]

Just reiterating that we have taken Tauck not Tauck Bridges but there were kids/teens on all our trips anyway. Our Provence trip had several mother/daughter or grandmother/granddaughter combos w/ high school age girls as were as a few families & one 8 year old boy. Ireland had high school & middle schoolers & Canyonlands had everything from kids to college kids. Hope this clears up any confusion!

That's really not all that different from lots of ABD trips. Our last trip there were 5 kids under 12, 4 high school/college kids, 2 adults under 40, maybe 3 or 4 between 40 and 50 and I'm pretty sure everybody else was over 50. I've read several posts on the internet about ABD trips with very few kid, although I know there are some trips that have a lot of kids. But with Tauck you don't have the children's activities that seem to help the kids bond. I haven't read a whole lot of reviews for Tauck Bridges, but I've seen 4 or 5 and they were all around 50/50 kids vs adults. We discovered on our last trip that we didn't need a lot of kids, just one or two that DS can make friends with and we're good. When he's a little older we can probably throw Tauck (the non-family part) into the mix when we're considering our vacation choices. I think we'll stick with the "family" trips for now.

 

[Bobo912]

Here you go! I found a couple, at least.

http://hinsdaletravel.mvpweb.net/default.asp?pid=25218

http://www.epinions.com/review/166159553409-Tauck_World_Discovery/content_249206181508

Has anyone looked at Classic Journeys? I don't recall seeing them mentioned. I remember looking at them a few years back, and recall them being a good company, although I don't remember much detail at this point. They have several "Family Journeys", and seem to be in around the same price range as ABD. I haven't had a chance to look at the website too closely yet.

http://www.classicjourneys.com/family/

Sayhello

The Classic Journey trips look great. There is one big difference between their trips and any of the other family adventure trips I've seen. There are a lot of occasions where the guides entertain the kids with some really fun sounding activities, while the adults participate in some fun activities of their own. In a way that would be fantastic, but, on the other hand, as I read about what the kids would be doing, the thought that occurs to me is that I would miss seeing my son having fun. But I think I could make that sacrifice. I'll have to do some more research on them. They definitely look link a contender.

BTW...wasn't there someone on the board who wanted to do the Provence ABD trip that was cancelled. Classic Journeys has 3 Provence itineraries.

 

[marcemch]

Thanks for the links to the Tauck Bridges reviews. I had forgotten that I had read the epinions review - not so great! I hadn't seen the more favorable review of the Italy trip. I guess the Tauck guests are not as verbose (maybe "effusive"?) as us ABD folks!

I have looked at the Classic Journeys tours as well, and like the Ireland family trip itinerary better than ABD's. BUT, the kid's discount is only $250 when sharing the room with one parent, the trips are expensive to begin with, and they don't include airport transfers or tips for guides/drivers. So the cost adds up even more. But I'd be all over this trip if there was some additional discount offered. I agree with Bobo912 that they do seem to have more "kids off on their own" activities than AbD which would be fine with me and my daughter.

I liked the Switzerland family itinerary that Backroads does as well. I like them because if you have to cancel your trip, you can leave your deposit with them and re-use it for a future trip. With some uncertainties in my work schedule for the summer, that's really appealing. No airport transfers included either, but the base price is more reasonable to begin with.

 

[Tozzie]

Has anyone looked at Classic Journeys? I don't recall seeing them mentioned. I remember looking at them a few years back, and recall them being a good company, although I don't remember much detail at this point. They have several "Family Journeys", and seem to be in around the same price range as ABD. I haven't had a chance to look at the website too closely yet.

http://www.classicjourneys.com/family/

Sayhello

I looked at the Classic Joiurneys Trips and the problem I have with them is they don't provide transfers to or from the hotel to the airport and I am not comfortable with this when traveling to a foreign country so off my list they went.

 

[Bobo912]

I looked at the Classic Joiurneys Trips and the problem I have with them is they don't provide transfers to or from the hotel to the airport and I am not comfortable with this when traveling to a foreign country so off my list they went.

They really need to reconsider that. Airport transfer seems like a trivial expense, and I agree with you, Tozzie, that is a necessity. I might consider a US trip without the airport transfer, but that's part of the convenience of a trip like this and I really wouldn't want to give that up. Outside the US, especially to a location where I don't speak the language, there's no way.

 

[kristilew]

Wow, those Classic Journeys Family trips do look great. I like that they offer discounts for the kids up through the teenage years, unlike ABD which counts them as adults after age 11.

Airport transfers are easy to arrange on your own, through the hotel, online, or with your travel agency. DH always has a driver meet him when he travels for work to other countries - he pays ahead of time by credit card so that's one less thing to deal with.

 

[Bobo912]

Wow, those Classic Journeys Family trips do look great. I like that they offer discounts for the kids up through the teenage years, unlike ABD which counts them as adults after age 11.

Airport transfers are easy to arrange on your own, through the hotel, online, or with your travel agency. DH always has a driver meet him when he travels for work to other countries - he pays ahead of time by credit card so that's one less thing to deal with.

The discounts are pretty significant too if you are traveling with 2 adults. For us with just 1 adult and 1 child, it's not quite so good. I signed up for their newsletter. If they have any special offers, I would definitely consider traveling with them. They don't specify where you meet up with the group, but if it's at a hotel it should be easy to arrange transfers. I imagine they would be willing to make suggestions on how to handle the transfers. I shouldn't be such a scaredy cat.

 

[marcemch]

As for airport transfers, for me, it's the cost and hassle that I am most worried about. For some European cities, to take a taxi from the airport to a hotel in town can be quite expensive - $100 plus. I've never priced private cars, but perhaps they are less. When I have traveled on my own to Europe in the past, I've normally lugged my luggage to the train station, which is almost always at the airport, then taken a train to town. Then I've taken a taxi from the central train station to the hotel. So either you pay big bucks or you endure hassle after a long exhausting flight. Many train stations in Europe don't have elevators or escalators, so you end up carrying bags up and down stairs. YUCK.
So while I wouldn't be afraid of doing the transfer, I would definitely look into the options and the cost, as it might be fairly substantial. Then you have to weigh the "hassle" factor. I did end up on the wrong train once in Amsterdam on my own - which put me way out the burbs when I wanted to be downtown. I got back okay, but it was somewhat stressful after a long flight, and it would be even more so now traveling with a child.
All that said, for a great trip itinerary and price, I'd put up with paying for/arranging my own airport transfer just about anywhere in the world.