Gate 1 TravelReviews of gate1travel.com

Exceeded our expectations in every way! Most stress free vacation we’ve ever had!

Very well organized; well informed, nice, funny, caring tour guides and bus drivers; nice and central located hotels w delicious selection of breakfasts; good and clean buses; great group dinners and lunches at interesting and beautiful locations; interesting itinerary with enough free time for being able to do your own thing. Overall a great trip.

I have been on 7-8 gate 1 trips and had a wonderful time. I became wheelchair bound a few years ago and wrote to see if I could do an independent tour with just airfare and hotel as the terms of service required. I received a very blunt response and told I should have researched the terms of service. Which I did! There is entire subset of people gate 1 is ostracizing if you could not even do as I requested give me a little longer transfer time between flights when booking flights. I had already called the hotels who said they had wheelchair accessible and was told Gate 1 would not even allow that (although no extra charge) If you do not want handicap people to reach out in advance as your terms of service says, you should change. I face obstacles on a daily basis and did not think an independent tour would be another one. My dream is to continue to travel (and I have to several countries since then). I will do that with or without you. I will be slow to sing praises of Gate 1 anymore

An Unforgettable Peruvian Adventure with Top-Notch Guides! June 21, 2026 We recently returned from a wonderful trip to Peru with Gate 1 Travel, traveling with my husband and our three teen and tween granddaughters. This was our second Gate 1 tour, and once again, they exceeded our expectations! Gate 1 definitely keeps you on your toes with an active schedule and very little downtime, but there was still plenty of time for three teenage girls to do some shopping. Our Tour Manager, Frank, was truly incredible. His deep knowledge, local perspective, native language fluency, personal stories, patience, and ability to keep our group moving seamlessly were unmatched. He even threw in a few spontaneous surprises along the way that were a total bonus for everyone. What made the trip extra special was how wonderfully Frank treated my granddaughters. They absolutely loved him! He constantly engaged them, asked for their opinions on what they were seeing, encouraged their curiosity, and applauded them whenever they asked a great question. Where Frank and our phenomenal guide, Alberto, truly went above and beyond was during an unexpected medical emergency. Toward the end of the tour, an intestinal virus hit our family right before we were scheduled to fly home. At 1:00 AM, I texted Frank in a panic. He immediately arranged for a doctor to visit our hotel room to assess our granddaughter. The doctor recommended IV fluids to help her make the flight, and we were brought to a private clinic. The level of care we received there was outstanding—honestly better than what we typically experience back home in the USA! To get us back on track for our flight, Frank and Alberto pulled off a masterclass in planning and execution. Alberto picked us up with our luggage in tow and escorted us by taxi, masterfully bypassing Cusco’s standstill morning traffic. Once at the airport, Frank met us and seamlessly guided us through security to reunite with the rest of our family just in time to board. We never could have made that flight without Frank and Alberto’s expertise, fast thinking, and pure dedication. Gate 1, you have chosen your guides exceptionally well and trained them to perfection. We are so grateful for this incredible journey and can’t wait to start planning our third Gate 1 tour! P Vecchiarelli

I've taken 5 European trips with Gate 1. Each trip had excellent itineraries and trip leaders. Prices are reasonable especially considering that accomodations have always been in desired locations and top of the line. On my most recent trip to Portugal, the trip leader asked if it was ok to tell the others it was my birthday. I was flattered and said yes. As a result, the group sang happy birthday to me on our tour bus, the trip leader gave me a lovely surprise gift and meaningful card, plus had restaurant patrons at dinner sing happy birthday to me in Portuguese. I have recommended Gate 1 to friends and will continue to do so. BTW, during covid, Gate 1 fully refunded my trip fee as well as my flight fee without any hassles. Their customer service staff is easy to reach and helpful.

My husband and I just finished our first vacation with Gate 1 to Kenya, Tanzania with Serengeti. It was a fabulous trip. We saw so many animals in their natural environment and in action. Just incredible; I have soooo many fabulous pictures… elephant and kangaroo nursing, hippo’s doing you know what, lions eating a kill and lions and cubs hanging out together, leopard walking around. I could go on and on. We were very well taken care of by our driver, Karuga. He was extremely knowledgeable and answered all our questions. He spoke so well and took great care of us too. He was always smiling and friendly. Our manager, Joel, was also very attentive and made the trip extra special too. Looking forward to our next trip!!!

I would not travel with Gate 1 again. My biggest concern is not that the company has policies. Every tour company does. My concern is how rigidly those policies are enforced and how little room there appears to be for individual circumstances, particularly when medical issues or reasonable accommodation requests are involved. Before and during my tour, I repeatedly raised concerns about seating because of a legitimate medical concern. Although both the guide and the company were aware of this from the beginning, I was only voluntarily given a front-row seat once, on the second-to-last day of the trip. That demonstrated that flexibility was possible, but it came only after I had spent nearly the entire tour feeling anxious about where I would be seated each day. A simple adjustment on the first day could have provided reassurance that my concerns had been heard and allowed me to enjoy the tour rather than continually worrying about the issue. What disappointed me most was not the seating itself, but the response. Rather than acknowledging my concerns or discussing whether any reasonable flexibility was possible, I repeatedly received explanations of the policy. When I contacted customer service after the trip, the response was more of the same: references to the policy and the terms and conditions I had signed. I understood the policy. My feedback was about how that policy was implemented and how it affected my experience. Repeating the policy is not the same as listening to customer feedback. Even my conversation with a supervisor reinforced this impression. As I was trying to explain my concerns, I was interrupted and told, “Can you let me speak now?” Rather than feeling like the company wanted to understand my experience, I felt the goal was to explain why Gate 1 believed its actions were appropriate. Another disappointment was traveling during my birthday. I understand that no company is obligated to celebrate birthdays, but many tour companies recognize special occasions with a simple acknowledgment. There was no recognition at all, which further reinforced my impression that Gate 1 prioritizes treating every traveler exactly the same over creating memorable, individualized experiences. Consistency appears to be valued more than flexibility, personalization, or thoughtful customer care. While the itinerary included many worthwhile destinations, the hotels were generally good, and the logistics of the trip were well organized, those positives were overshadowed by an experience that left me feeling unheard. Good customer service is not about saying yes to every request. It is about making customers feel heard, considering reasonable accommodations when appropriate, and treating feedback as an opportunity to improve rather than something to defend against. If you are looking for a company that follows policies consistently, Gate 1 may meet your expectations. However, if you value flexibility, empathy, individualized attention, and a willingness to consider unique circumstances, my experience suggests you may want to consider other tour companies.

We had great experience during our Indonesia, Java, Bali and Singapore trip from May 17-30, 2026 as our Tour manager Atik was very organized, calm, caring and provided personalized care almost to every one. She was always ahead of the curve in providing details about every visit, event, dinners etc. She took special care when we reached hotel earlier than checkin time as well as when our luggage did not reach Jakarta. Even under stress she is clear in her plan, thoughtful and stays focused on group well being. All our outings were on time and she always made sure older adults with limitations are well informed and well taken care of. We were fortunate to have her as our tour manager. Thanks you Atik, Thank you Gate 1 for having wonderful and conscious hard working tour managers. Shashi Bhatia.