Gate 1 TravelReviews of gate1travel.com

Booked a trip to China with Yangtse River Cruise. Trip was great, hotels very good, travel times good schedules, our guide pretty good and very helpful when we missed our flight home because of problem in first airport. Our guide came back to airport and got us to a hotel for the night.Note much good to say about the cruise. Crumby ship, tiny ugly rooms, food not too good.Some was good but few choices, never even one solid meat dish at dinner, all chinese mixed up stuff, one dessert such as jello or pudding-nothing good. No ice cream ever. Food at land hotel meals was pretty good. For the price we made due and maybe use them again for Israel.. Booked about 4 yrs ago.

Gate1 VP claims check was sent on April 29. Check was not received.

Like the title says, we've used Gate1 many times to travel to europe and asia, to be honest I'm not really sure how many times, it's quite a few. We've travelled on tours enough times to expect at least a couple issues to arise but G1 always has guides that have secondary plans for almost all events and travel. Obviously the itineraries are are great but what makes a good company is the ability to handle the unforeseen. We've seen people miss flights in the middle of a tour, a broken arm, sickness, family emergencies back home, traffic accidents, major event closures as well as people deciding to extend their trip as long as they are on a holiday. Every single time, no exageration, G1 tour guides and the company have succeeded in getting people home or back on the trip with the rest of the group, made flight arrangements, reroute the group to another event/location etc. I would have no reservation to recommend G1 and we definitely be using them again (as soon as the economy gets rolling again after COVID).

So I used them ten times due to the pricing they provide on their land tours. You have to take the good with the bad concerning this company, unfortunately. Good is the pricing and the itinerary they have for their trips. If you like a fast pace and seeing tons of famous sights without having to plan how you get there, allowing the language barrier not to matter then use them. Their tour managers are always very knowledgeable beyond measure. That's why I use them. Where Gate 1 Travel falls short is service, it is a hit or miss on the local tour guides. Some are excellent if you've never traveled, and others are okay. You have to speak up if you don't like music constantly being played on the buses. Some of the guides tend to play while you go to one destination after the next. Single travelers, you will typically get the worst hotel rooms, sorry to say, and on many occasions. They don't help with visa's. You are on your own with that. I buy travel insurance, but buyer beware and read the fine print because it is not cancel for any reason. Make sure you can go on the trip since their cancellation policy is horrible, especially for airfare. Last leaving a country, they place you on crazy early flights where you depart from the hotel 1 AM to 4 AM to get to the airport. They do not inform you of later flights to avoid this horrible inconvenience since they look to save on bring most to the airport at the same time. In short, they pretend they care; however, if something terrible happens and the local tour manager cannot help you, you are on your own. Gate 1 travel as a company does not give a crap about you as a customer. Booking trips customer service is not that great. You can never get the same booking agent even though they tell you, you can call them for all your bookings. Airport pick-up if your flight is delayed or you arrive late at night you are on your own, and they'll give you a voucher to use on the next trip instead of giving you back your money. You have to tip all the local tour guides they have on the tour, and it can add up to a pretty sum by the time your finish. Buses you use the whole trip are typically clean thanks to some of the bus drivers and others not so much. They are good at supplying water in countries where you cannot drink it from the tap. On the coronavirus, they only supplied vouchers to use on a later trip zero refunds no matter what and they are not available by phone. They don't care what your financial situation is and even with the purchase of the best insurance, you have pages to read through just to say sorry what's happening is not covered.

We have taken 5 trips with Gate 1 Travel and we love this company! Some of our most memorable moments on the planet have been courtesy of Gate 1! Their slogan of more of the world for less is for real. Several people have complained on this site about problems with their insurance - not our experience at all. On one of our trips, Sandy suffered a debilitating injury which left her unable to walk. Arch, Gate 1's insurance company, must have spent 10K flying us back from Turkey first class from our hotel to our front door in Texas. They provided perfect guidance from seeking medical attention in Zadar, Croatia (that was a trip in itself) to taking care of all the arrangements. It's really bad when something like that happens in a foreign land, but Gate 1 was perfect. On another planned trip for 20 days to China, Hong Kong and Tokyo, which unfortunately we did not get to take because I was suddenly stricken with an immobilizing illness, it killed us but we had to cancel the trip (I could not walk) just a week or so before departure. Again, we were crushed, which was bad enough, but thankful that Gate 1 and Arch refunded all of our money. . . . The only quibble of all our travels with Gate 1 is that we were sold some crummy bulk TransAtlantic airlines tickets on one of our trips, that we could not upgrade, without our knowledge. Gate 1 finally straightened it out, but not without a lot of hassle. We were told on our last trip by fellow travelers that their flights purchased through Gate 1 did not now have this problem, so hopefully this issue has been rectified by the company. And finally, we just had to cancel our three weeks in GB planned for May due to Covid-19, and the company refunded our money no problem, unlike United Airlines, who suck. Bottom line: Give Gate 1 Travel a try, it will be the best decision you've made in a long time. [George Clooney, Up in the Air]

First know that I have waited close to a year before writing this review to make sure it is written with a clear mind and not just out of emotion. We had only travelled outside the country one other time to adopt and everything was handled by the agency so we did not know what it entailed and I relied on Gate One Travel for assistance. BIG MISTAKE! It was early June when I first contacted them to make arrangements potentially for a trip later in August. My major concern was getting things prepared and getting visas on time. The lady I first spoke to put me on hold to check if this was possible. She came back on the phone and informed me it only takes a few weeks for a visa, recommended they like to use Gen Visa, and we would be fine. She then asked If I would like to purchase additional insurance just in case something happened and we were notable to make the flight. I agreed to the insurance, paid the $600 cost to start and informed I could pay the rest to help keep things moving along. I paid the additional money and then everything fell apart. When months later I spoke with another person I was told that they don't have anyone at the company they could checks visa times with so the first lady flat out put me on hold and then lied to me. I also later found out after losing over $4000 that the insurance I was given was a third party insurance that covers illness. Believe me, the day the plane left without us I was very sick to my stomach and dealing with dangerously high blood pressure from being out all that money. I later found out that they have a different insurance through their company which they quote as a Travel Protection Plan-Cancel For any Reason for only $69.00. Also found out too late that you get a discount if you take the time to mail them a check rather than paying immediately by credit card. Once you pay in full you are locked in and CANNOT cancel or make any changes. I do not know why the visa place they recommended (Gen Visa) as having no problems with the timeframe took nine weeks to process visas when I hear it is usually significantly shorter. We were notified the day after the flight departed that the visas were ready. My complaint with Gate One Travel is 1) Why did a service representative put me on hold then lie to me when they have no way to check on visa times. I could have easily scheduled the trip at any time later as necessary if not lied to. 2) Why knowing my only concern, was I offered a worthless more expensive third party insurance when their Travel Protection Plan-Cancel For Any Reason was cheaper and covers what was my original main concern? 3) Why was I not informed that since I have such concerns I should NOT pay in full thus locking out any potential ability to change? I could better handle having to absorbed a $600 starting cost, changed dates and still letting my adopted daughter see where she came from and learn about her culture. On advice from a Gate One representative I am now out over $4000 and it will probably be another decade before saving enough money to attempt this trip again for my daughter. All this because Gate One seems to only be concerned about getting the money, lying and not actually caring for the customers. I also did not appreciate when they contacted me to say since I missed the flight they were giving up the rest of the trip reservations and was their anything else they could help me book for any other travel destinations. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Cancelled a trip to Vietnam in late January 2020 due to the Corona Virus and our senior age. Front line Customer Service stated that they would charge $200 pp to cancel and we had 3 weeks to re-book. I requested to speak with a Manager and after discussing with him the right / wrong business model, he waive the charges but the only trip available in 2021 was double the cost. I have tried to re-book a trip that we would like to take but no re-bookings allowed until airlines start flying to different countries. We have enjoyed multiple trips with Gate 1 in the past but are hesitant to book any future travel with them due to their cancellation policies.

I have traveled with Gate1 before and have always been pleased. My friends and I booked a Tulip Time cruise departing April 25th. It was cancelled of course and we were told if we rebooked we would get a 100% credit which we have on our account. The problem is they will not allow us to rebook for next year yet, while new bookings are allowed not rebooks. Gate 1 has a special right now that saves $800. a person but expires April 30th. I'm afraid the special will be over when we get to book. When the trip was cancelled we lost the credit promotions from last year. I feel we are being treated unfairly and should have been given priority in booking.