Review Time
Below is my review of our recent tour with Gate 1:This is their response: $75 pay off for the inconvenience. I’m laughing out loud for the first time since I went through the horrible ordeal in my travel with Gate 1. ————-my review————My husband and I took two recent trips with Gate 1 Travel, one to Iceland in January and one to Spain and Portugal from March 15 to 25, 2023. The first one, to Iceland, was a wonderful experience in every way. The second, to Spain and Portugal, was an awful experience filled with anxiety and needless difficulties. What was the difference between the two trips? It was the tour managers. Our experience with Nico in Spain and Portugal has convinced us that we cannot count on Gate 1 for any future travel. Here’s an outline of why. —I have a condition in which I experience extreme nausea sitting in the middle or back of buses. I actually throw up in such situations. This condition is verified by doctors. —When traveling to Iceland, our tour manager there accommodated my request to sit at the front of the bus throughout the tour. Another member of our group had similar needs and was also accommodated. This accommodation caused no trouble among the rest of the members of our group. —Because I could see that Gate 1’s written policy states that tour members must rotate in their seats and there are no exceptions to this policy, before our next trip (to Spain and Portugal) I contacted Gate 1 multiple times to check whether accommodations could be made for me to sit in front of the bus. I was told that such decisions are at the discretion of the tour manager, and I understood this to mean that accommodations are possible even if not guaranteed. My further inquiries about this were unanswered. —At the beginning of our tour in Spain and Portugal, I told Nico of my needs and offered to show him a medical certificate I brought with me. He did not want to see the certificate, and he told me that he was instructed by the home office that he could not make exceptions to the seat rotation rule and that his directive was to maintain harmony among the members of the group. If he was indeed told this by the home office, it indicates a contradictory policy in the company because the directive doesn’t match what I was told earlier that tour managers have discretion. —In any case, Nico did exercise discretion and did make an exception for me (apparently contradicting the directive he said he was given) and allowed me to sit in the front seat next to him during much of the tour. But he made sure to tell me that he reported the fact that the tour manager in Iceland had made an accommodation for me. Nico told me that that tour manager would be fired for doing so. This caused me great distress and set the tone for the remainder of the tour. —During the tour, Nico told a tour guide not to answer my questions, saying that I ask too many questions. He told the guide this in Spanish. My husband speaks Spanish and overheard it. On another occasion, Nico told another tour guide, also in Spanish, to be careful what he said because my husband could understand Spanish. The fact that such conversations occurred further damaged our trust. —In Barcelona, Nico said I would not be able to sit in the front seat with him during the trip to the Gaudi Monuments — the most highlighted and popular attraction in the city — because he would need the space so he could do paperwork during the journey. As a result, I could not ride on the bus for that trip and missed out. —At another point, we wanted to take a train to a destination but did not want to do so if it would mean taking all of our luggage. Nico told us that he would be able to keep our large luggage on the bus. Because he told us this, we were willing to book the train, and Nico helped us book it. But just before the train trip, Nico told us that he would not be able to keep our luggage for us after all. Later, we met another group that was also on a Gate 1 tour. The members of that group had taken the train to their destination and all of them were able to leave their luggage on a bus. So there was a contradiction between how Nico handled us and how another tour manager handled a separate group. These are just a few points among several that could be made. I have tried to be brief in my description of what happened, and as a result, the full sense of how unpleasant our experience was may not be completely apparent. But it indeed was. The way Nico dealt with us left us feeling demeaned and relegated to nuisance status.
We loved Gate1 until our flight that we booked through them was cancelled. We have gone on 5 trips and loved them all but we learned the hard way about their policy. They own the flight until the flight. If flight is cancelled, they simply cancel the flights for the entire trip and rebook at last minute rates. They called us to tell us it would be $2200 more and we would need to arrive a day early (meaning lose another day of work) and pay an additional $220 for hotel. This became no longer an Affordable Trip to Italy.
One of the best !!!!We have been traveling with Gate1Travel many times and always enjoyed its tour guides. Not always the cheapest but the best customer service! Henry Maaravi (Israel tour guide) was the best so far! We also know many others have traveled with Gate1Travel and were impressed with the quality of the resources provided.
I have taken several trips with them in the past but they are awful now. Have tried several times to use a credit from a cancellation during Covid but their customer service managers put you on never-ending hold and then either book the wrong flights or come back to tell you that they can’t do it. Originally told I could book by December 31, 2023 in order to use credit and now told I have to finish vacation by then. They are highly unreliable and terrible to use now.
Just returned from the 10 trip to Spain. It was amazing! Carmen and Javier were at the top of their game as well as the local guides who provided excellent knowledge of the various, towns, churches, castles, etc. Could not have asked for a better time with our fist trip with Gate1.
We bought a river cruise and took the Travel Insurance through Gate 1 Travel. Then she asked if we wanted the Cancel For Any Reason extra policy and we added that as well. Now we need to cancel and find out it is going to cost thousands of dollars and a partial Future Cruise Credit, not a refund. Be careful if you book with GATE 1 Travel!
They used to be a great company, not any more. Had a trip planned for 2/26/23. One 2/22/23, they called and cancelled the trip! No offer to help with another trip, no assistance and was told I would be refunded. I feel like they canceled the trip because they weren't making money on it. This is not the first time it's happened. They did this to me last year. There is no customer service and I'm still waiting for a manager to call me. My money should have been refunded IMMEDIATELY. I called my bank, only $400 is in there. Now I can't even book another trip since my money is not back. PLEASE...Use trafalgar, GO Ahead tours or GA Adventures.
I've taken one group tour and five independent trips thru Gate 1. Never had a problem. But i've heard part of my luck has to do with getting the name of the agent and,get their extension - so you're always dealing with the same person.And fyi - can't beat their prices!
No dice! Plan for a year this trip for our honeymoon after we got married. And big part of if was ruined by gate1. 3 weeks before our departed date they change our flights, we paid extra to have direct flight to our destination. Now we had terrible layovers in LAX, and they cut day short by one day so we missed the activities of the last day. Our guide was very nice and kind and we even had a corporate member or gate1 on our trip but. They told us to call the customer support number. And we called three times each time being told we had to pay extra for any changes, but that we had to accept the changes they had done without our approval. Very upset and don’t see us doing a trip again with them. Ended up going online and doing my own tickets. Back home. All I can say is they stressed my out and really frustrated me on my honeymoon, did not need this. The tour guide are very nice but the customer support, and and reservations. Leave a lot to be desired.
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