Gate 1 Travel

Horiabel can not reach the company.

I’ve taken many trips over the years with Gate 1 prior to Covid. All were exquisitely memorable and wonderful experiences! However I booked one trip where they paid for my travel because it was included. I learned from that one experience to always book my own travel. Fortunately I chose to book different return flights from China. My travel partner was stuck 3 days in the airport while I had the best experiences getting to my destination even though my flight cancelled due to a flat tire, the airline placed us in two hotels with meals and arrived in less than two days. I also learned never book travel insurance through Gate1 the hard way. Note that even if you use outside insurance they give you a hard time providing documentation. Post Covid our flights cancelled to Fiji due to a cyclone. Our travel insurance company paid us in full after 30 days. Do your homework. Protect yourself while traveling.

We planned two trips with Gate1, but never left our house neither time. It is a chaotic experience.

Our first mishap was a trip planned to Portugal with a non-stop flight from Newark, New Jersey to Portugal. The airlines pulled the plug on the direct flight and Gate1 found another flight with stopover in Germany before traveling on to Portugal. I avoid any stops when traveling overseas. It increases the chance of being stuck in a country where you change planes, so I refused the offer of a trip around the world before reaching Portugal. Gate1 did not find another direct flight for me and told me my money was NON-REFUNDABLE. To avoid losing my money I booked a trip to Ecuador instead.

Gate1 charged me an additional $100 to book the trip to Ecuador because it was to a different destination. After booking to Ecuador, 2 days before departure, an earthquake shook Ecuador. Gate1 did not send out any information to let us know what the status of the trip was, total silence on their part. The earthquake occurred on a Saturday and the departure date is on a Monday.

We were leaving our house on Sunday to fly to Miami a day before our flight to Ecuador. I received no communications from them on what the status of the trip was in light of the earthquake. W didn't now whether to proceed or stay home.

We called Gate1and found lines busy multiple times with high call volume. In the absence of any communication from Gate1 we cancelled our flights to Miami. We paid for airfare from North Carolina and booked a hotel in Miami.

We lost money on the hotel reservation and had to pay for the stay anyway. I finally got Gate1 on the phone Sunday noon only to find out that the trip was still on as far as they were concerned. They could/should have communicated that to us without our having to call them to find out. We had cancelled the flight to Miami and the hotel by now. My husband and I discussed the safety concerns and decided to cancel.

Gate 1 suggested I rebook our flight to Miami on the same day of travel. There was no way we could make it to Charlotte, NC. (2.5-hour drive from our house) and get to the airport in time to catch the last flight to Miami. Gate1 then tried to convince me to book a flight from Asheville to Miami with a 2.5-hour layover in Atlanta arriving in Miami at 1 AM in the morning. I do not have any faith in making connecting flights on time with airlines anymore. A million things can go wrong and prevent a connection. Not to mention that the airfare would have cost us over $1,200.00 to book at the last minute. We had already spent $897.00 for airfare.

The agent then told me if I could find and book a flight by 5:30 she would hold our trip. I called back at 5:07 pm and Gate1 was closed. I decided the situation could not be salvaged and cancelled the trip. You may get your money back if Gate1 cancels the trip. You get nothing if you cancel the trip close to the departure date.

Gate1 told me that my money for the trip is non-refundable because I cancelled the trip. Ok. I get that. However, Gate1 was very lax in communicating with customers in an emergency where a natural disaster has occurred in a country, they planned to take customers to. Had they sent out an email regarding the status of the trip, we could have made a more informed decision, but we were left in the dark to speculate the worst and made our decision based on lack of information from Gate1

After Gate1’s failure to communicate promptly about the situation in Ecuador, they put all the responsibility and stress on me to rectify the problem. They waited until the last minute to say whether the trip was a go and left us hanging on wondering what was happening, and what to do.

I am done with Gate1. I will never use their service or recommend them to anyone. If things go well, you can probably have a good experience, but when things go wrong, their systems are designed to protect them, not you. They need to do a better job of communicating with customers at every juncture of the trip, especially when natural disasters occur in the area where they will be traveling to. Gate1 told me they had people on the ground in Ecuador who were keeping them informed of the situation. It would be nice if Gate1 can do the same for their customers

Very poor customer service of 4 trips with Gate 1, two resulted in canceled return flights, stranded in Ecuador and again in africa. While travel agencies have no control over airline cancelations, they should at least help to get another flight. Both times i was stranded, no one from Gate 1 would assist. I had to find my own last minute flight home, pay for transportation to airport, etc. All my original flights were booked thru and by Gate 1. They have ZERO customer service and do not care if you cannot get home. Burned twice by Gate 1.

Change this to 5 star. Booked a trip 6 months in advance. Three months later they changed our flights and added $2,296. They did the right thing and gave us our deposit back. They really did try. Impressed after all.

Just now finishing a Gate 1 tour with a group of 24. They have been great all along the way from the booking agent to the travel director. Our Bulgarian guide (Violeta) was the best. She was both funny and knowledgeable. She had an uncanny ability to herd us along without being pushy. The hotels we had were a step up from other tour companies I’ve used. And the price was very affordable. All my travelers were very happy, as well.

Just returned from the 10 trip to Spain. It was amazing! Carmen and Javier were at the top of their game as well as the local guides who provided excellent knowledge of the various, towns, churches, castles, etc. Could not have asked for a better time with our fist trip with Gate1.

I have taken several trips with them in the past but they are awful now. Have tried several times to use a credit from a cancellation during Covid but their customer service managers put you on never-ending hold and then either book the wrong flights or come back to tell you that they can’t do it. Originally told I could book by December 31, 2023 in order to use credit and now told I have to finish vacation by then. They are highly unreliable and terrible to use now.

Dramatisch slecht! Niet bereikbaar (zowel telefonisch en via de mail) en de verzekeraar waarmee ze werken (Europe Assistance) ook niet. Verzekeraar lijkt niet te bestaan en de kosten die ik terug zou moeten krijgen heb ik nooit gekregen. Echt schandalig!

My 18th trip with gate one.
Flew Alaska Portland to San Francisco ( booked this 90 min flight on my own) had 5 hours between connection but flight landed 10 minutes before Fiji departure… which I missed. Gate one would not do one single thing, not even token phone call to Fiji air, to ask can you honor this paid airfare pkg for a new flight.( at least try to help, just ask airline, they bought the ticket, not me) I then learn Fiji air cancelled my return flight… no help from gate one at all.I was trying to get there, as my travel buddy was alone, but now would have no return flight!!
So lesson learned, Gate one is a packager, they are not a travel agent meaning zero help to you. Loyalty to them, means zero.

I've taken one group tour and five independent trips thru Gate 1. Never had a problem. But i've heard part of my luck has to do with getting the name of the agent and,get their extension - so you're always dealing with the same person.And fyi - can't beat their prices!

We bought a river cruise and took the Travel Insurance through Gate 1 Travel. Then she asked if we wanted the Cancel For Any Reason extra policy and we added that as well. Now we need to cancel and find out it is going to cost thousands of dollars and a partial Future Cruise Credit, not a refund. Be careful if you book with GATE 1 Travel!

They used to be a great company, not any more. Had a trip planned for 2/26/23. One 2/22/23, they called and cancelled the trip! No offer to help with another trip, no assistance and was told I would be refunded. I feel like they canceled the trip because they weren't making money on it. This is not the first time it's happened. They did this to me last year. There is no customer service and I'm still waiting for a manager to call me. My money should have been refunded IMMEDIATELY. I called my bank, only $400 is in there. Now I can't even book another trip since my money is not back. PLEASE...Use trafalgar, GO Ahead tours or GA Adventures.

Deceiving Prices offered . They do not take responsability of errors , even after receiving confirmation of booking . Worst customer service even if you are a long time customer. Be careful when you book with Gate 1 . Book your tour with trust worthy company .

No dice!
Plan for a year this trip for our honeymoon after we got married. And big part of if was ruined by gate1. 3 weeks before our departed date they change our flights, we paid extra to have direct flight to our destination. Now we had terrible layovers in LAX, and they cut day short by one day so we missed the activities of the last day. Our guide was very nice and kind and we even had a corporate member or gate1 on our trip but. They told us to call the customer support number. And we called three times each time being told we had to pay extra for any changes, but that we had to accept the changes they had done without our approval. Very upset and don’t see us doing a trip again with them. Ended up going online and doing my own tickets. Back home. All I can say is they stressed my out and really frustrated me on my honeymoon, did not need this. The tour guide are very nice but the customer support, and and reservations. Leave a lot to be desired.