Tour Reviews Can Teach You A Lot Before You Book a Tour

(What I’ve learned from reading Tour Company Reviews Before Booking a Land Tour.)

While the itinerary (and price) is the main attraction in choosing a tour, it isn’t the only thing that you should look for while booking a tour.

In the past, depending on where my husband and I were going and whether we were traveling with friends or family, the itinerary dictated the tour selection. 

After so many years of taking different trips with different companies, these are some of the things I’ve learned from looking at reviews (or wished I had looked at reviews before we booked).

It’s important not just to look at the itinerary and the price attached to the tour. 

Gaining insight to how the tour company operates and how travelers like different aspects of the tour will help you make the best decision to insure you have the best time.

Look at the reviews on the tour company’s site. You can also check out reviews on Google, TripAdvisor, etc.

Consider these factors when choosing a tour company:

First, what are the things that are important to you?

Itinerary, price, tour group size, hotel selection, free time, number of included meals, communication, best time of year for weather concerns, etc.?

Make a list of what you want and when reading reviews see what past travelers had to say about your interests and concerns. While reading the reviews be sure to see if there are patterns to the remarks.

Overall satisfaction with tour and company.

Look for overall satisfaction with the tour. It’s a rare person who is happy with everything. As people become more experienced travelers, they come to know what to expect. If the tour receives a grade of 80 percent or better, it’s worth considering. (Look at reviews on the tour company website for this information.)

Over the years, my husband I have found two land companies that we generally travel with. We still always read the reviews so we understand what the pluses and minuses of each tour may be. That isn’t to say we aren’t open to trying a different company but for us our we have been very satisfied with the two land tour companies we’ve used.

When reading the reviews are you seeing the same things over and over that people like or don’t like at all? Are these things important to you?

Do you prefer a large group or a small one?  

Pay attention to the size of the tour.   Tour companies will generally cite that there are no more than a certain number of travelers on each tour.  For the most part, the larger the group, the less expensive the trip.   

For me, anything larger than twenty-two participants is no longer a small tour. But that might be considered small if you are on a bus with over forty people. In the past, we’ve done that too.

If it is a larger trip, see what the reviews say about how long it takes to load and unload the bus at each location.

If you are going on a large tour, say 25 people or more, is there a way for the travel tour company to let you know if there is a big group going on your tour?  Years ago we took a very nice tour of Portugal, it was a moderately sized group of 32 people.   Of the thirty-two people, sixteen of the travelers were in a multi-generational group traveling together.  They were all cordial but not interested in hanging out with other people.  

The travel companies we generally take nowadays are small group travel. Depending on the trip, the group maxes out at about twenty-two people. Lately, we’ve taken trips that we thought we going to have between sixteen and twenty-two people. When we arrived at our destination on several occasions there were only ten to fourteen people on the trip due to cancellations. Fortunately, everyone got along very well.

Large tour groups give you the ability to mingle with larger numbers of people, small groups may be more intimate.  Large groups give you more opportunity to find people with whom you are simpatico. Sometimes having fewer people can result in finding less people that you sync with.

If you are traveling alone, are you interested in meeting other people and do you want to travel with a tour company that specializes in solo travel or at least reserves a decent number of slots for solo travelers?  

Many tour companies charge dearly for the “single supplement”. While some such as Overseas Travel Adventure do not. There are always some spots reserved for solo travelers to have their own accommodations.

  Conversely, there are many companies such as Singles Travel Interntional that will team you up with a roommate so you can save money.

After taking several trips with the same tour company, you can usually get to know what type of travelers are attracted by that tour company.   

Extra Expenses.

Are there additional costs not included in the tour cost? For example, look to see if there are excursions that are not included and you will be charged for separately.

If you are traveling as a solo, is there a “single supplement.” Can you ask the company to waive the fee if you are traveling off season. Will the company pair you up with a roommate to save on the cost?

Do you need a visa? This can be a big extra expense depending on why you are going. How much does the tour company charge to assist you with obtaining the visas? Can you do it yourself and will you get the visa back in enough time and will the visa cover the number of days you need it for?

The tour guide.

Probably nothing is more important than the tour guide.  We’ve had mostly outstanding guides. 

See what reviews say about different guides.  Were they knowledgeable, did they handle unforeseen challenges well, how did they interact with tour members who were high maintenance or difficult?  Did the guide provide the tour members with alternatives for activities where appropriate?   How did the guide manage if someone were ill and required medical care?  And how did the guide handle troublemakers (if there were any)?

Unfortunately, you can’t request a specific guide, but you probably could try to avoid a guide that you might think you will not gel with by asking the tour. We have never done that, but it can’t hurt to ask.

Things to look for in a description of the guide:

Was the guide passionate about showing tour members their country?

Were they knowledgeable about their country,, people and sites?

Were they organized?

Could they offer good suggestions on where to eat or what to see during free time?

They they have a good sense of humor?

Were they good at handling unexpected challenges on the tour?

Did tour members feel the guide kept them safe?

Did they make each person feel important?

Communication.

Did reviewers say they were adequately prepared by the literature, website, communications either by phone or email from their tour leader. Were all the their questions answered before they departed for the trip?

Arrival and departure.

Were people greeted on arrival by a travel company representative? Did transport to the hotel go smoothly? Were people happy with the departure services?

One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen from reviewers is that there were problems with travelers’ arrival.   Some said they weren’t picked up or picked up very late, others complained that if the plane was delayed they had to find their own way to the hotel.  Were the travelers kept apprised of what the plan was for their pick was from the airport to their hotel.  Was the tour company or guide easy to reach in case of emergency.  

Food.

For my husband and I, food is a very important part of our travel experience.  Because we generally take more moderately priced trips and above (but not the upper crust land tour companies), we know the food will be variable.  Some of the time, the food will be outstanding, most of the time it will be pretty good and hopefully, there will be no bad meals.  When we were on our trip to Thailand, I have to say every single meal was fantastic.  (We love Thai food!)

Make note of what people said about the types of foods that were offered.
Do you have dietary restrictions, are you a vegetarian or vegan? Check to see not only what the company says it will offer but also look at the reviews to see if there were any reviews indicating how happy the travelers on the trip were with their food choices.  On one of my first trips, at the final dinner, a woman stood up and said, “I liked the tour but I was hungry the entire time!   I told the company I was a vegetarian and there were few vegetarian options! “ 

Know what kind of eater you are.  Are you an adventurous eater?  Do you like spicy food, exotic ingredients or do you like more bland food?  Do you eat meat, carbohydrates, or fried food?  If you are not open to everything, then you might want to make sure the tour company can provide the type of food that will make you happy.

Most tours include breakfast before you start the day touring.  You might not want to spend time eating lunch with the group or want more dinners to plan on your own.  We’ve been on trips with people who, while they enjoyed the tour, didn't like to eat lunch or wanted to eat later than the tour group usually ate.   Now they look for tours that offer less group eating options.

Hotels.  

If you are accustomed to taking trips with the same travel company then you become pretty familiar with what type of hotels you will be staying in.  Budget travel tours will have you staying in mostly basic but clean hotels with standard amenities.   More moderately priced tour companies will have a scattering of hotel classes.  Some will be fairly basic, some will be middle of the road and others will be pretty high end.  High end tours will have you staying in places like to Ritz Carlton, The Four Seasons, or at very high-end boutique establishments within the country of your destination.   Be sure to take a look at the hotels on your tour itinerary.  Check them out on different booking sites such as Trip Advisor, Booking.com, Expedia, Trivago, etc.  

If you prefer to have a shower and not only a bath or vice a versa be sure to see what each hotel offers. Let your tour company know that you require a hotel room with a shower or bath if you see that one of the hotel selections only offers one type.    

Is there an elevator?   

Do you have to lug your suitcases to your own room?   

Time of year of travel.  Weather.

Generally, you can tell by the price when high season is and what is the most desirable time of year to travel to your destination. You can save a few bucks (maybe quite a few) by choosing off season.

Pay attention to reviewers to say what is said about weather at different times of the year. Was it very hot? What did reviewers who traveled off season have to say? Does it rain a lot, is the weather cool but great for traveling, are there a lot of bugs, are a lot of things closed?  You might really snag a great deal and a less crowded experience by traveling on a shoulder season.

Safety.

Did the guide keep the tour members safe? Did s/he advise them where it was safe to go or an iffy area?  This is especially important when tour members don’t speak the language of their destination and/or traveling to a country that is known to have political and domestic problems.

Did tour members feel secure in their sleeping accommodations?

Was the bus driver an excellent driver?  Did he stay within the speed limit?   Did s/he exercise caution while driving?  

Were the restaurants clean and did the food look fresh?

Time in transit.

On the bus. Taking planes in between locations.  Be sure to note the time you will be traveling from one location to another.  Are there days that are very long days that you will be traveling on a bus or traveling by bus to the airport for a flight to another location on your itinerary?   Are you okay with long days?  Do you prefer a more concentrated itinerary with less time on a bus or in flight?

Activities. 

Is the trip intensely paced or is it leisurely?  Does it take you to all the sites you are hoping to visit?   Do you think there will be too much to see/do or not enough each day?  

Do reviewers say some of the activities or places visited could be skipped?

Can you keep up? If the tour literature says that the itinerary is very active make sure you can keep up. Tour guides have been instructed to send people home who habitually can’t keep up with the other participants on the tour. That isn’t to say that if there is a hiking or an occasional vigorous or long walk that other accommodations won’t be make for those who don’t want to participate.

Buses. 

If you are taking a land tour you will be traveling on a bus.  How did reviewers rate the buses?  Were they comfortable?  Was there a bathroom aboard?  How often did the bus stop for bathroom breaks and to stretch the travelers’ legs?  Did they feel safe with the tour company drivers?

Flights. Is the tour company making your air arrangements?

This is an area near and dear to my heart.

Most of the time the travel accommodations are okay. Sometimes we haven’t known what flights we will be on until pretty close to the date of departure. We don’t like that at all.

You can generally choose you airline or at least find out what airline partners the tour company has. Check out those partners before you let the company book your flights.

Be careful to check the amount of time between flights that the company books for you. If you think the connection is too close to when you land make sure that the company knows your needs.

We were on a tour where one participant could not travel at night because of prescription drugs he needed to take before going to sleep. It is important that the company is aware of that especially since occasionally air travel plans can be changed by the airlines at the last moment.

There have been a few times when the tour company has done an outstanding job of getting us great prices for upgraded travel. That is something we usually don’t do but what a difference it can make in how you feel when you get off the plane.

Be sure to take a look at reviews from several companies for the same trip you are interested in taking.  It will educate you and help you make the best decision for taking the trip that fits you the best.