Gate 1 Travel

Unfortunately a great company has changed. I have been on many of their tours and recommended gate 1 to many people, but I will not anymore, unfortunately their customer service is very bad, they hung up on me several times after an hour plus hold. Once you put your deposit down or pay your money they won't talk to you at all. very very frustrating. I needed to change plans since my partner was having an operation. I could still go and I needed the cost of me dropping him and me still going and I never could get an answer. I know they must be having trouble because of covid-19 but they should not be booking so many tours if they don't have anyone to help you. So I lost $400 deposit and was not able to get anyone to book my tour.

Gate 1 has gone from questionable in their practices to downright dishonorable. And they don't care.

After a package was booked, they actually increased the price and were inflexible in discussing this and said there was no way to escalate it.

Not to mention this treatment requires spending hours on hold.

We all know that travel in the past two years has been risky. And blaming a travel company for canceled flights, cars, etc. seems unfair.
I have traveled with Gate 1 Travel around the world and have recommended them to many friends. We ALL agree that Gate 1 Travel is not only a great value but high quality organization. From the minute they meet us at the airport to the day we leave, we never touch a suitcase again. They are passionate about providing spectacular tour guides, quality hotels in good locations, comfortable transportation, good meals provided and good recommendations on days off. Their tour plans are interesting and informative. They are sensitive to all travelers...especially those with some physical limitations but still providing the best experience for all. If you are considering a trip anywhere in the world and you want the experience and dedication of a travel agency that wants to provide the best experience possible, then choose Gate 1 Travel. I don't write reviews very often but I am moved to support this great organization.

Terrible customer service and basically a scam. Changed flights without telling me or getting confirmation. Paid an extortionate fee for a checked in bag and they only booked it on my return flight. Do not give these scam artists any of your money or business.

I am 5 months since my flight was cancelled by Gate 1 and still waiting for the promised refund. Every time I chase I just get fobbed off with the standard response saying they are waiting for the airline to refund. Today I have heard from Virgin Atlantic who confirm that the refund is made 14 days after the refund request from the Travel Company. How can these businesses keep doing this to customers. If they made the request back in Sept 21 they would have had the money refunded to them by mid October!!! Gate 1 also want to charge me £50 for giving me my money back!!! I am appalled and urge any one thinking of using them to think again. The customer service is appalling. If you raise a complaint they take 30 days to respond and nothing happens. Phone calls don't get answered. We are 2 years into Covid, businesses should have got there act together by now and got back to pre-covid service levels. Hiding behind Covid is not acceptable any longe.

I have traveled with them on multiple occasions. Always excellent service and support. Looks like most of the negative reviews on this site are because people didn't read the T&C's and don't seem to understand that when you book a trip like this airfare and hotels are booked and sometimes can't be refunded by the airlines and hotels.

We purchased a Gate 1 travel trip to Turkey but cancelled it due to COVID. In writing, it was clear that the trip was supposed to be "free cancellation". We contacted Gate 1 Travel four times to request our refund/travel voucher. We were told the refund was "in the works". We are a month later since our request and have yet to receive a refund or anything in writing from Gate 1 Travel on this request.

We booked a vacation in Nov 2021 to Fiji including air fare and lodging. About 2 weeks ago we canceled our trip due to concerns about Covid and the unreliability of flights due to covid and short staffing. Our original call to Gate 1 (after being on hold for 2+ hours) went well with the agent telling us the money would be refunded to our credit card. Several days past the refund date that we had been given, I called Gate 1 again and was told we would not be getting any money back (we had placed about a $2400.00 down payment) - in fact we still owed them about $200. We had the cancel for any reason insurance...but we were told that covid was not an acceptable reason. The airfare came with the Gate 1 package but Fiji air (who Gate 1 referred me to) does not give refunds...only credits. Gate 1 also told me that Fiji Air charged us $600.00 for canceling the flight. When I spoke to Fiji Air, I was told that they do not penalize for cancellations that the $600.00 cancellation fee for the flight was actually charged by Gate 1. So at the end of it all - our deposit has been eaten up by Gate 1 penalties and they would not do anything about the airline credit. We will need to book another flight on Fiji Air by 6/30/22 or we will lose the airline credit. So about $2400.00 down the tubes to Gate 1 with nothing but a big headache to show for it. We are repeat customers of Gate 1 and really did not have any bad things to say about it. I would warn anyone looking at Gate 1 for travel plans to serious rethink and choose other companies. You may want to take a look at Smart Tours. About the same travel options but more customer friendly.

On 31 December booked a tour. Booking stated 6 nights hotel accomodation on request. Sent online form asking for confirmation. After the holidays, on 6 December received an email it would take 3-4 days to confirm. No further communication from gate1. Hotels still on request one day before final payment due. Have filled in on line form with no response. Have sent email to gate1 executives with no response
Have sent request to "amend booking" asking for accomodation to be confirmed with no response. Assume it would be idiotic to pay final balance without knowing we have hotel rooms on the tour.

I have seen some negative reviews about Gate 1, and I noticed they were mostly related to flights. I never purchased flights from Gate 1 and have had excellent experience with company.

So, I booked a flight this morning (Western European time). I was provided a trip ID number and informed I will receive my ticket on 26th january, 2022 (My flight is 24th February 2022).

Then at 07:00 PM I received an email saying that the return flight has to be another day, and I must respond by 11pm to day to move forward with the reservation. I agreed and sent the email at 07:25pm to them. Then I received an email with a form which I filled at 07:40pm.

Now, I received an email saying that the flights are not available any more, hence, they will return my money.

In hindsight alarm bells should have started to ring when I did not receive my tickets within 30mins. This was a weird experience and I hopefully can get my refund back so that I can re-book my flight at the earliest.

This is the biggest scam running in online aviation space.

We have traveled extensively with Gate1 and will continue to do so in the future. We were scheduled to go to Chile and Argentina in February 2022, but the trip was cancelled. We were given the option of a full refund, including our deposit, trip insurance costs, and the cost of the land portion (we booked our own airline tickets);or to receive a credit that would be good until December 2023. We decided on the refund. We have never had a bad experience on Gate 1 and found them responsive to our requests. Gate 1 is a company that you can trust and believe in.

I love Gate One and think it has the best price to value out there. My husband and I have been traveling with Gate One since 2015 with eight trips taken(all fabulous) and four in the works. We did have two cancelled because of COVID but were reimbursed fully. Just recently a back to back trip was canceled because there were not enough people signed up. A wonderful woman in Customerservice worked very hard to get us booked on the same two trips just two two weeks later. We were offered a full refund but we chose to be flexible and move our dates knowing that COVID may still rear it’s ugly head. We are not worried because we know the money can just be moved over to future trips.
Every tour has had outstanding guides, great hotel selections, and excellent itineraries. Our luggage is taken care of and we received help with COVID testing while in Sicily and Malta. We have loved the Discovery Small Group tours but the two Classic tours were also great. We have met so many great travelers that we still keep up with.
All insurance has limits which are spelled out upon purchase. I don’t always get mine through Gate One because we are older and want more medical coverage but these policies also have restrictions and limits to what you can recover. Just read the policy.
So no complaints from us. We met a couple in Sicily that had been on 17 Gate One trips and still booking. Now that is a testimony.
Jacque Bell
Greenville, SC

I've happily traveled with Gate 1 many times in the past. NO MORE.
I booked a March trip to Japan advertised as "cancel for any reason." To be extra safe, I added $800+ extra to purchase "cancel for any reason" travel insurance through Gate 1.
Today, January 3, Japan is not allowing foreign visitors in. I worry that Covid will soon hit there and likely peak about the time we're scheduled to be there.
Gate 1's advertisement of "cancel for any reason" is deceptive and appears to have fraudulent intent. They give NO REFUNDS of either deposit or total trip and insurance payments, with or without rational cause; just a credit toward future travel taken with them in the next two years.
Traveler Beware of ever paying money to Gate1. You will never get it back no matter what was implied by advertised "Cancel for any reason."

Gate1- 'Fly and Drive' a real disappointment. Hotel, flight, and auto rental - Milan, Italy October 2021.
Returned home to find a $444.00 auto credit card charge . Several calls to Gate1 seeking help to reverse the charge. Gate1 will not stand up for you. Calls are transferred to their 'accounting office' for review. Calls are transferred there in the hope that you'll just give up in frustration..