Budget Travel Tour & Trip Reviews

It has been about 7.5 years since I traveled with Gate 1 Travel. In the past, customer service was exceptionally great! Now I am appauded with the unprofessional and uncaring “attitude” demonstrated by Supervisors. What I surmised by the comments expressed is that it is my problem so do not bother me. Sure, I acknowledge that life is imperfect. However, where does empathy and compassion come into the professional world? When a customer states a concern and requests assistance, it soothes the complexion of the customer’s experience by possibly using statements such as “ I know you are stressed about the matter. Sorry that you are having to deal with this matter 8 days before departure. I will try to contact another person who can better help you.” These Supervisors present to be bothered by having to listen to my complaint and concern. They do not care if I am unable to go on my trip. Despite being advised that someone will call me today, I doubt that I will hear from someone. I was informed to contact them via Contact Us email. Well, I have tried that before but I only get a response 50% of the time. Then there are the representatives in the Philippines who do not know what they are doing. I end up calling back Gate 1 Travel and request to talk with a Supervisor. When I ask for the name of a person in management in order to write a letter about how Gate 1 Travel personnel has diminished the quality of service, not one Gate 1 employee will disclose the name of a professional in upper management. I find that odd.

I already wrote a couple of bad reviews during my last trip to Mexico with Gate 1 Discovery Tours—my aunt and her husband from Texas is currently doing the very same 13 Day Mexico Mayan and Aztec Illumination Tour two weeks after we did ours, and it was just confirmed based on the same Xochimilco tour that they took on their first day that alcoholic beverages and Mariachi Band was included in Gate 1 Budget during the boat tour but our tour manager and guide, MANUEL JURADO, decided it would be better for him to pocket the money that was supposed to be spent on our group to make our discovery tour with Gate 1 experience more enjoyable and memorable! This was based on the photographs provided by my aunt and uncle! Furthermore, I was just informed that water, coffee and tea were provided during lunch and dinner aside from one alcoholic beverages or juices.

The very bad experience we had on our most recent trip to Mexico was because of the third party tour company and tour manager that Gate 1 employed—for a big company like Gate 1, offering travels all over the world, this Mexico trip being our 9th with them, I expected more! The tour manager’s actions is a reflection of how bad Gate 1 was with regards to their travel quality control. They should check each hotels, restaurants, foods, and activities before going to any third party tour companies!

Christopher Musyoka was an outstanding tour guide, who went the extra mile for us. We saw all the animals we wanted to see. He was always concerned for our safety and comfort. The accommodations were outstanding! I only wish he would have been accessible during our stay the Ark! Thank you again, Gate 1, for a wonderful experience!

Just finished an amazing safari in Kenya with Gate 1.This tour was so special due to our Tour Director Christopher Musyoka .He was professional, knowledgeable and very organized with a great sense of humor. He went above and beyond as a Tour guide ( Gate 1 is so lucky to have him). Diane S

Our first trips with Gate 1 were great. The tour guides really took care of us and we didn't spend excessive time on the bus. Our latest tour to Greece was awful. The tour director did not communicate well. Telling us we would have a free lunch - when she meant to say we would be free for lunch on our own. We found out after we had to pay for the meal. Our hotel in Mykonos had a large pool of water in the bathroom. It was coming from the room above and there was black mold on the ceiling. It was reported (twice) and the solution was to give us more towels to place on the floor. Nobody seemed to care about the mold. One hotel didn't have hot water for the showers. This was reported to the front desk and the tour director. Writing to Gate 1 did no good. They send their generic "thank you for your input" email and nothing gets done - even when you ask them to call you. I assume they have changed management since our first trips and no longer care about the travelers as long as they get their money. Finally got a response from Gate1. The hotel with cold showers said it was never reported. The hotel with the mold and wet floor said they offered to move us to a different room. That never happened - they gave us lots of towels to soak up the water. Gate1 offered us $100 off of our next trip.

Gate 1 replied with another "customer service will contact you" message. To date that has not happened. Horrible company and horrible customer service!!

There is a huge, huge misrepresentations by Gate 1 Travel on their 13 days Mexico’s Mayan and Aztec Illumination Tour—first and foremost, there is nothing worthy, whether of our time and of our money, on discovery tours that should have been included.

Food was so mediocre that you’ll have upset stomach almost everyday that lunch was included. You will be left hungry after a very long drive because dinner was never included on most days.

Also, after 9 tours with Gate 1, mostly Discovery Tour because Gate 1 advertised “First Class Accommodations & Discovery Tours”, this is the very first Discovery Tour we had that never included water with lunch or dinner, and coffees and teas after lunch or dinner. When we asked our guide, Manuel Jurado, he said, we can have water and coffees and teas, just don’t tell the other guests because it is not on his budget.

Guide skipped the Nacional Palace so there’s no Murals by Diego Rivera. Hotel in Veracruz was so filthy that you would not be able to shower comfortably, nor sleep on the bed without getting an itch. La Venta Park was infested with mosquitoes that the short visit that they included made it very very uncomfortable. Museum in Palenque is closed for renovations—

There is nothing in the itineraries that explains all day drives to each places mentioned—arriving late that there’s really no other point in including the places because all you’ll do is have dinner and go to sleep for the next day’s long drive again.

Thereza, our tour guide on Gate One's trip from Mainz, Germany to Venice, Austria November 2023 was extremely accommodating. She was punctual while caring for specific needs of some 40 people for 10 days. She was very knowledgeable of the 5 countries that we toured and surprised us continually with gifts; nice hotels; meals and even music that we all sang along with as we traveled. She was fun and we'd recommend her highly for a trip with Gate One travels in your future!!!

We have taken six tours with Gate 1 and have never been disappointed! Unfortunately, I think people tend to come onto review sites when they are frustrated. However, having read some of the reviews, people blame Gate 1 for their own mistakes--eg. Not taking out insurance and then expecting the company to reimburse them. We have always been very happy with the hotels, tour guides and the excursions! Heading away with them in a couple more months again!

My wife and I are supposed to leave to Fiji in Australia on Thanksgiving 2023 but the Australian government has not granted my visa yet. And gate one will not give me a credit they just keep telling me to get a hold of the Australian home affairs which I have and they just said I have to wait even if it takes longer than when I have to go on my trip. And gate one just told me since the trip's already paid for there's nothing they can do. So basically since they already have my money I'm screwed! And I did not buy their insurance because I've never had to buy insurance before. That's my fault but for them not to even to offer me a credit that I can prove that I do not have a Visa is ridiculous and they also said since I don't got a visa for Australia and Fiji is part of the trip that I cannot even go to Fiji which is BS. I paid for fiji and it doesn't require a visa I think this is totally wrong just giving you fair warning right now gate one's customer service sucks. Well as of 11/14 this is an update about my review with gate 1 .I was working with a customer service supervisor named Dennis and we've been waiting and waiting to see if Australia would get back to me and my visa they haven't My wife is in healthcare so she just can't leave her patients, so we officially had to cancel today and that's what he helped me do he helped me cancel he said the internet division will reach out to me and my response to get a credit if they do anything at all, But yet no one has reached out to me to offer me a credit I will keep everybody updated on gate 1's customer service and what you can expect. And mind you my wife has gone to Africa we've gone to Costa Rica she's gone to Ecuador and she has gone to Vietnam and not sure quite how many other places. So it isn't like we're not repeat customers but are we going to continue to be a repeat customer I guess it will all depend on how they treat us when we actually need them?

Gate 1 Mayan and Aztec Civilization Tour—for a Discovery Tour Category, what was paid for is not worth it! Food is mediocre! Hotels chosen are filthy, especially the one at Veracruz! There’s nothing worthy about the experiences mentioned on the itinerary!

Donna was an exceptional tour leader on our recent New England in the Fall tour. She went over and above the call of duty to make us all feel welcome and comfortable.

Well organised and fun tour.

It was the Paris to Normandy then to Marseille 14 day cruise. The whole cruise was terrible, ports were bypassed, crew was very inexperienced, the restaurant was unorganized, wrong meals, dropped meals, not just once but numerous time for everybody, the drinking water in the room was terrible it smelled and tasted bad, our little coffee room at the end of our floor, the coffee and drink machines were broken all 14 days, we tried to use the bikes twice and both times they had to leave early from the city we were in. The weather was perfect so no excuses, none of the crew informed us of any changes.

This is my 5th Gate 1 Tour and they NEVER disappoint!

Most recent tour was to Turkey and just can't say enough. Have been to Peru, China, Budapest, Prague and Paris.

Do not hesitate you are in good hands and can't beat the value!

Gate 1 Travel is an amazing company.
For starters, booking our trip to Ireland was easy, complete and priced reasonably.
Next, our bus driver, Mark, a very kind gentleman, navigated all the twisty-turny roads like a master.
And most important, our tour guide, Jill, was incredible! Her knowledge of all the towns, roads, pubs, Irish traditions, and folklore, was nonstop. Her sense of humor and the details of everything made a wonderful trip more memorable than we had expected.
My only criticism is that not one of our rooms (in any of the hotels) had a view other than back parking lots, roofs of buildings, or high walls.
Other than that, we highly recommend Gate 1 Travel.

My wife and I just completed our 2nd Gate1 trip, this one the Heritage trip to Philly, Williamsburg, Gettysburg, Charleston, and DC. When asked what was our favorite stop, our answer: Valley Forge, Independence Hall, Museum of American Revolution, Historic Philadelphia, Gettysburg Battlefield, Monticello, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Arlington, Lincoln Memorial, Mall of America, Ford Theatre, the Smithsonian, Mt . Vernon and the Korean and Viet Nam tribute exhibits. There was more and it was wonderful and hard to believe we did this all in 8 days. Our tour guide was wonderful, everything was well-planned. Thank you, Joan Schultz and Gate1!