Tauck Reviews 

4th Tauck Tour and will never use them again. Booking my own trip was a nightmare. Inconsistent answers, long wait times on phone, and insisted they pick me up at Charles de Gaule...never showed up. Said there was a laptop for use by passengers...not true and my cell phone broke so I was out of touch with everyone. 2 Covid passengers and the worst was the raw sewage that came up from my shower the last day of the trip...no wonder my room stank the whole time. I never wanted to go anywhere this year because of Covid and disastrous airline performances all summer, but Tauch said I would lose my deposit from a cancelled trip last year and I had to book a European River Cruise. So, between Delta Airlines (Tauck booked me) and this cruise I came home tired, angry, upset.

Beware of the travel insurance that Tauck partners with from Aon. We bought this insurance specifically to cover a pre-trip positive Covid test. My wife tested positive 3 days before the trip. The insurance company asked her to get a PCR test which came back positive too. They are now denying the claim because she wasn't sick enough to see a doctor. Tauck now says they will not get involved. This insurance company is labeled as its partner. Terrible customer service. We will never again trust Tauck.

Right now waiting for any responses to problems with upcoming tour of Southeast Asia. Lots of call holding and bs. I would never recommend cibt for visas. Disorganized mess with no one ever responding and delays that are not explained and charges to credit card yea reversed but $1400 errors. And visas still not delivered and no explanations.

I recently enjoyed a 10 day Tauck Tour of Tanzania and Zanzibar, Africa. The tour exceeded my wildest expectations. If you are interested in experiencing unparalleled and close up wild animals in their natural habitat this is the tour for you. While the daily safari drives are a bit grueling for my age (67) they are worth the bumpy drive (referred to as an African massage), not to mention the very comfortable accommodations every evening with the best possible views. Our tour guides were superb. They were knowledgeable and eagle eyed at seeing and then quickly driving to see animals doing everything animals due in the wild including hunting and killing prey, caring for their young, mating rituals and much more. We even had a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti. Our tour guide, Ivan, was a wealth of information on local customs and traditions. We visited a local tribe and were granted unprecedented access to their daily lives. A visit to the site and museum where Professor and Mary Leakey spent their lives uncovering the “cradle of civilization” where they discovered the bones of the earliest humanoids was an unexpected treat.

BUYERS BEWARE! On day 4 of our 2-week cruise Tauck canceled our riverboat cruise because of low waters in the Danube. All of us understood the problem, but we couldn't understand Tauck's response to it. The company literally left us "high and dry"! They gave us absolutely no support to transfer to other river or land cruises, help with transportation home, or any other kind of assistance. None of us could even get a callback! Why can passengers on the other cruise lines (Viking, Uniworld, etc.) switch to coach tours when the water is low and Tauck has no options at all? We paid a lot of money for this trip and it was a disaster! FYI: We did get a refund from Tauck for the remaining unused days of our trip, but that's it... no letter of apology, no extras of any kind. And... it cost us an additional $8500 to fly home early. SHAME ON TAUCK for treating us all so poorly!

We contracted COVID on the 7th day of our 10 day small group Canadian Capitals tour Aug 2022. We are avid mask wearers and understood the risk. We self tested the afternoon of the 7th day and immediately notified the guide. He came to our room and presented us with a covid policy sheet and picked up our Vox (transistor radios). Said every trip has someone get covid. The next morning we got an email from the company that said basically you are now separated from the group. We would never have risk infected anyone! But at this point we were on our own in French speaking Quebec. Thank goodness for our translator app! We had to locate test site(PCR required for travel insurance), had to make our own hotel reservation changes. I asked the guide if there was a travel agent in the hotel or nearby. He said check with the front desk. We were not given any local information eg. testing sites, maybe a medical sherpa(translator). The day after, got a message from guide that said hope you are feeling well and a reminded do not show for any planned event. Nope you are on your own.

PS They advertise that all gratuities are included. That was not our experience. The day one information said the gratuity for the the guide was to be $10/day for the guide and driver $7/day. in US DOLLARS. We paid him cash when he came to our room.

I have taken 3 tours with Tauck. the first was to Provence France and it was wonderful on every level. the second was to northern France and again the best experience. The third was last month July 2022 Best of the Canadian Rockies. The itinerary was good the accommodation were good and the tour director was the worst. He was unorganized, defensive, and combative. He brought no value to the tour. If you are considering this tour I strongly suggest you avoid any tour run by a man named Pete. I made the best of the situation, however when you pay premium prices this is not acceptable and the tour company did not have any concern, which is also a red flag.

Tauck does an excellent job organizing tours. But they are not the best for solo travelers. They will not tell you if other solos are going at least I couldn’t find out, and I was the only one alone on a recent trip. . Given the profile of the other travelers including some families that had to be attached at the hip every second, which made it uncomfortable for me (ie entitled young adult telling me where I could sit so they were all together) probably will not travel with them again unless they will disclose/have other solos - better to go alone and copy their itineraries!

Very disappointed in Tauck. When Tauck had to cancelled my 2020 tour due to COVID they were the only company that held back $600 of my trip and then dictate how I have to use my money. I lost a Disney trip to COVID and they returned ALL my money, so did hotels, airlines. I complained to Tauck and they don’t care. Boo to Tauck!!! Will never travel with them and recommend nobody else does!

I took a Tauck cruise of Greece called Treasures of the Aegean. The cruise itself was great. All the passengers tested negative for Covid before boarding the ship. However, at the end of the cruise more than 10 percent if the passengers had Covid and had to quarantine. I had known of the risk of Covid, I would never have taken the tour.

First tour to Yellowstone postponed until 2021 due to COVID. Unavoidable so fair enough. Missed the first night in Jackson Hole due to flight delays. Not a great start, but not Taucks fault so my loss. The tour director was wonderful but park restaurants were still closed, so lots of takeout, a buffet that ran low on food but I do realize there were staffing shortages….enough said. Given the price paid I was a bit disappointed but fellow travelers assured me this was all atypical and Tauck is usually fabulous, so decided to give them another try this year and had questions about the Spain/Portugal tour. After trying repeatedly to reach Tauck by phone, I emailed them. Three days later still no response. Not what I consider fabulous and certainly makes me hesitant to use them again despite what my friends say.

Cannot get through to TAUCK without a 2-3 hour wait on the phone and if I leave my phone number I never get a call back- It is sickening- I have a large family traveling and it is awful- like I have nothing else to do but hang on a phone waiting for someone to answer!

With covid rampant in 2020 of the tour was canceled. Talk said they would keep our $1,200 for future tour. We came to rebook now and have been told that it is no longer available to us. Basically they just stole the $1,200. Read the fine print and find another company. In the age when thousands of Americans are dying every day from covid one company stands out for being the most evil of all. It is Tauck tours

Tauck cancelled the Christmas Markets trip to Germany and Austria, leaving Dec 6, for my daughter and me. I did not cancel. 

Tauck is keeping $1,398 of my money. Again, they cancelled, not me. I spoke to Courtney their guest relations rep. She was curt and refused us a refund. She said we were "nobody special."

My daughter and I waited a lifetime to go. And while I understand Covid is not Tauck's fault, my many reassurances from the company as late as 3 weeks ago that the trip was proceeding has caused me to lose a considerable amount of money on train tickets and other aspects of this trip. Lufthansa is refusing to reimburse our airfare and, of course, Tauck will do nothing to help.

I am disappointed and shocked that Tauck would attempt to keep almost $1,400 when we have hung in there with them for 2 years; it was cancelled in 2020. We attempted to book the SAME cruise for next year 2022, but ALL THOSE CHRISTMAS MARKET TOURS ARE BOOKED. They want us on a different tour on different dates. Doesn't work for us. Does Tauck care? Not one bit.

Their motto is that they keep the porch light on. Buyer beware. They will leave you in the dark and pick your pockets.

Tauck is an example of a travel company acting very, very badly during Covid.

tauck Costa Rica wasted too much of our hard earned money. 2 of the 6 days tour was in long travel so you paid a 1000 for a day of travel x2 and two of the nights are spent in a cockroach, spiders, bug infested in your bed type of hotel. won't be recommending them. travel with national geographic or Patagonia if you can.
our tour director was the best part of this trip he was super friendly and kind. but the rest of it you can do on your own without a tour. its a small country easy to get around.

I agree with all the negative reviews. They canceled my original tour and offered me a full refund or rebook with a $250 per person discount. I made the mistake of rebooking. Now that the new strain of Covid is a threat, they will not refund. Additionally, services and tours on the tour have been eliminated and they are adding in tip “suggestions” even though the trip was sold as included. They do not answer their phone calls and refuse to speak to their booked customers. They couch the degrading of their tours, the poor service and lack of availability to speak to their customers in polite terms, but are rude, money-hungry liars.

Do not travel with this company!
There are too many other groups out there that will care about you and not making money!
Taulk is miserable to deal with. They kept 2 deposits on a trip to Japan that they never were able to go on because of COVID….They refused to refund anything. At one time they were considered the best but not now.
Money is their only concern so I would be very fearful of leaving the country in their care!

Whenever a tour is cancelled for any reason and trip insurance was purchased that amount is used for that exact purpose ie. insurance . Most tour companies take the premium , however Tauck credits that total amount to another tour if booked within their time frame . We have taken many tours , Tauck has gone above and beyond their duties to us each tour . It is unfortunate some do not understsnd trip insurance . When purcasing auto insurance your premium is not refunded if you have no accidents .

Signed up for an African tour with Tauck for 4 adults and one child. Tauck cancelled the Tour in the summer of 2020. They returned airfare of $27500 and a deposit of $ 2,500 approx. However, they refused to refund the insurance
of $3300 approx. Remember THEY canceled the tour but kept the Insurance . An insurance co they own.

TAUCK EVALUATION
TRUST PILOT

I will never book with Tauck again. During Covid when other travel agencies provided full refunds, Tauck refuses to refund the $639 Travel Protection plan fee. They will provide a credit for future travel but I am in a high risk group and a senior and not allowed to travel. Further, Tauck has proven that they do not deal fairly so I would never give them more money for a trip they then would keep as well. The Tauck website states that they "... always do the right thing, deliver more than what's expected,...." Clearly this is not the case. I recommend contacting the Attorney General of CT if you have problems with Tauck.