Decoding
a tour operator - How a tour operator ‘operates’.....
Here we are taking a case example of a random tour operator.
All of them follow a similar procedure.
Remember – the tour
operator is running a business, and he wants to make profits. It is up
to you to check on the offerings and the final actual cost. Caveat Emptor –
Buyer 'Be aware'!
They start with a low price to interest you
But when you get into specifics, you
realize that the actual price changes as you get into proper vacation time
(school vacation time in April or May) and you choose your departure city
Note the ‘on request’ pricing – they will increase prices so
significantly at those times, that they don’t want to put it on record right now.
ALSO – These rates are for Twin sharing. If you are
travelling alone, you will have to pay ‘single supplement’ charges extra. Which
can be quite steep.
As you change cities, the price changes significantly. The
price from Hyderabad is 10 - 15k more already. And the whole of May is ‘On
request’
Then you realize that their counting of days is suspect. This price is advertised for a 11 day tour, but on perusing their itinerary, you can see that the Day 1 is actually Day 0. You have just arrived into Paris in the evening and are going to have dinner and go to bed.
Day 1 –
arrive by flight, be greeted by Tour
Manager, have delicious Indian Dinner and retire to
your hotel room.
Last Day – after breakfast, go to airport for return flight home, laden with memories of a lifetime.
So on a 8-10day itinerary, two days,
20-25%, is just Gone With The Wind. Poooof....
Bonus point : Always keep an eye out for the bullshit .
For instance, check out the text in red on the
website- here they are talking about
Paris being the ‘glamour capital of the World – Paris known for fashion houses,
art museums, elegant avenues, beautiful monuments and exciting cabarets.’
This is a general statement. They are nowhere saying that
they will take you to the fashion houses, art museums, elegant avenues,
beautiful monuments and exciting cabarets.
Remember – the museums are extremely expensive! As are many of the
monuments and cabarets!
Other
important points :
Look out for Peak Season Departure
surcharges – anytime when you would want to go anywhere, is
“peak season” which includes all school holidays, summer, Christmas,
Diwali, etc. This quietly adds a
couple of hundred dollars or Euros per person to the stated fare.
Taxes extra – Govt of India
service tax 3.09%, other local taxes, taxes
on airfares.... bring them on.
Tips extra – for the tour
manager and the coach driver, ten Euros per day is hundred Euros per
traveller on a ten day itinerary. A
family of four will sink at least 400 euros. About 26000 INR at current rates.
Where will you be staying: See Venice, Rome,
Florence..... and stay in Padova,
Vicenza, Arezzo. It is far
cheaper for them to put you up in back of beyond Arezzo than in a hotel in
Rome. You will get your Indian dinner, but
you won’t be able to experience Rome at midnight, because you don’t have your own transport to
get from your Arezzo hotel to Rome and back.
Forex purchases – you will have
to pay the foreign exchange component on your trip cost to your tour operator
at his exchange rate calculations-
which will be above market rates - at least five percent higher on USD, up to 10 percent or worse on the non-hard
currencies.
Day 3 – ‘Day at leisure in Paris’ - basically means that the tour operator does
nothing!
‘OR’ – go to
Disney park or Disney studios
Here the scam is ‘Day at your own leisure or for shopping’ – these are the couple of days when the Tour
Manager will abandon you to your hotel room, or in a shopping mall, enjoy your
day as you like and by the way, pay for
your own lunch. This is what he means when he says that he will provide 10
dinners, but only 7 lunches in the trip!
Bullshit alert: Look out for the ‘OR’ ! this means
money. Pay extra for Disney and Lido. Ask specifically about Eiffel tower and
Montparnasse – is it included or not?
Day 4 : ‘On to scenic
Switzerland’ means a long long day in a bus - Coach Class!
650 odd kilometres, 6-7 seven hours in bus as per Google
maps, the actual time will be higher as you will stop for lunch, toilet breaks,
etc. Check the map below.
You can get between Paris – Lucerne, Lucerne-Innsbruck, Innsbruck-Padova, Innsbruck-Munich, Venice-Rome in under four hours if you are taking a 300kmph TGV or similar train, but the operator will put you in a coach
since it is cheaper, and you will spend
six-eight hours seated in a coach with fifty others to get from one city to another.
Day 5: ‘Leisure’
...Another day for the tour operator to do nothing. OR pay through your nose to
go to Jungfraujoch
And spot the word : Anything with an ‘OR’ in caps and bold means a
chargeable extra. Optional Extras – anything worth doing will be an optional
extra, so keep shelling out....
Jungfraujoch- if you don’t want to pay,
you can sit in your hotel room.
Another bullshit – What exactly is ‘central Switzerland’ ? They are
not committing where you are going to stay the night.
And remember, these extras are very expensive! The tour operator
can charge upto a 100% premium over and above the ticket costs / entrance fees.
Day 6: Visit to Mt Titlis -
take a photo with the Shahrukh Khan cutout. Make sure that there is no extra
charge for the Titlis visit. ‘Orientation tour’ means that they will take you
by bus through Lucerne and point out the sights.
Important point : You will not be staying in Lucerne, but in
some village in Locarno or Bellinzona, where the tour operator has got a good
deal with a hotel. So you will not be able to go for a evening walk on the
lakeside in lovely Lucerne.
Day 7 : While you will visit Pisa and Florence, the entry fees to
the tower of Pisa and the museums of Florence are not included. Thats because
you will not enter the Leaning tower and Uffizi museum, but only see it from a
distance. The tour operator will probably hustle you from place to place. At
times, you may not even get out of the bus – but just see the place from the
window!
Important point : You will not be staying in Florence – but
in a village called Arezzo – 77 km from
Florence! So you will not have any
chance to see Florence in the evening, because you will be in a hotel in a
village.
Another important point:
Its 930 kilometers
from Locarno to Arezzo - 9 hours in a bus, even by Google maps!
The actual time can only be more. Prepare for early morning departures and
whole day cooped up in a bus.
Day 8 – Visit Rome and Vatican. The only thing he will show
you is the Colosseum . Remember, Rome is one of the greatest architectural and
historical sites in the world – and you will not be seeing any of it.
Also – the bus will not enter
Rome. The tour guide will take you there on public transport. Check the ‘Notes’
section at the end.
Vatican city is as good as a
suburb of Rome. Cross a street and you are in Vatican city.
Spot the bullshit: They are merely saying that Vatican city
includes the magnificent St Peters basilica – they are nowhere saying that they
will show you inside the basilica. Which they may not, because there is always
a huge line to enter the basilica and it will take hours.
Important point: Arezzo is 200+ km from Rome – so it’s a 500
km road trip which will take at least 4 hours, as per Google maps. And you are
back to Arezzo for the night – you are not in Rome.
Day 9 : Venice.
Another 400 Km bus journey. And remember – you are not staying in
Venice, but in Vicenza – 86 km away
from Venice! Check the map below. The
names sound similar, so tourists get confused.
Also – remember – romantic
Gondola rides have to be paid for by you. And they are expensive!
Day 10 – Innsbruck and Munich
Another 500 km bus journey!
And read the fine print
You will not be visiting the Swarovski crystal museum – but only the crystal shop! And that too only after May 1st . The museum costs
money – the shop is free to enter!
Also – in Munich, you are not
entering any building, but only seeing them from the outside – from inside the
bus. You will marvel at a road and a TV tower and the walls of an Olympic
stadium.
Day 11 – FLY BACK HOME!!
Then why include this in number
of days?!!!
This is essentially
a 9 day trip – out of which 2 days are ‘days at leisure’ and the rest is heavy bus travel.
Your actual cost for this trip
will be closer to 2.1 lakhs per person,minimum
(based on the 1.42 lakh advertised fare...if you are getting a higher fare then
add that differential amount) - without any extras. Adding Disneyworld and
Jungfraujoch and Lido show and so on– it
will probably go up by as much as 30 to
40 thousand INR per person.
Conclusion
The moral of the story is that
one should be very clear about what you expect and what you are going to get
when you go in for a package tour.
Caveat Emptor – you -the buyer -
have to be aware of what is and what is not included.
If you cannot function
independently due to issues of language, age, health or confidence; and are
completely dependent on Indian food – then a package tour may be the best
option for you.
But if you are able to function in English, and have basic fitness and
are not completely closed minded about food – then it might be a better option
for you to travel independently.
It would be significantly cheaper, (upto
half the price) and you can
have a much better travel experience
if you plan a trip as per your own needs, interests and abilities.
You can explore the European
cities by yourself – the streets, the markets, the monuments, the museums, the
bars, the restaurants...you have to see them to believe them. You can stay in
the heart of the city so as to experience the real pulse of the city.
You can experiment with living
in B&Bs, boutique hotels, Youth hostels, etc.
You can travel by high speed trains – European
trains are a real pleasure! Public transport is pretty good in Europe. Or you
can even try renting a car and doing a self drive.
If you are lost without Indian food, with a
little research you can identify Indian hotels almost anywhere. Or you can try
MTR ready mixes or self cooking in your apartment.
If you are vegetarian but OK
with non Indian vegetarian food, then there are enough veggie options in
sandwiches, pizzas and pastas.
Planning all this can be a real labour – but don’t worry! We can
plan it all out for you – all you have to do is go and enjoy your custom-planned,
independent holiday!
Email rbharathi@gmail.com for details.
Insightful ...
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