Gate 1 Travel Reviews 444

I did a Gate 1 week-long tour to Slovenia and had a nice time. Our guide Marina was knowledgable, funny, and super smart. The hotel was nice and centrally located, our daily tours were always a lot of fun and even though our group had around 31 people, it didn't feel crowded. Everyone we spoke with on our tour had already been on 4, 10, or even 60 prior Gate 1 trips. That tells you all you need to know.

Traveled with them eight times to date. Great value for the price. Best parts of a Gate 1 trip are: great hotel locations, great tour managers, included meals, clean buses, well planned itineraries. Bad parts: other travelers with unfulfillable demands, travelers who do not read the Terms & Conditions and travelers who expect a champagne trip on a beer budget.

I have an upcoming trip scheduled with a friend to Italy and have spent weeks trying to update our seats. I understand there is a cost. First I was told the upgrade would be $3000-$4000 EACH. I told them I would get back to them. My original flight was to return by 6:59pm - it has now been changed to 11:59pm with a 6+ hour layover. I tried to change the flight with the airline who directed me to gate1. I was told to change the flight I had to cancel the trip and start over. I then contacted the airline to simply upgrade the seats. My travel companion could be upgraded but I could not due to the manner in which Gate1 "coded" my ticked. The airline stated I needed to contact Gate1 and have them recode. I reached out to Gate 1 NUMEROUS times and and they refuse to recode my ticket even after I told them what the airline said. I have reached out again but get no response. The trip is still planned but it would be nice if Gate 1 was a bit more responsive.
My first adventure with Gate 1 was fine, Ireland, but this time the customer service is simply subpar

I thought Gate 1 was a good company, but it’s not. Everything is substandard! On a recent tour with them there was a safety issue and they couldn’t care less.

We used gate 1 for the first time for our travels to Greece. We were very impressed with the ease of travel. We were picked up from the airport and met our guide Angela/Άντζελα. She was fantastic! Very knowledgeable and she went above and beyond to make the trip memorable. By far the best guide I've had on an international trip. Gate 1 handled all travel from city to city and we didn't have to worry about booking hotels or carrying luggage everywhere. Would definitely book another trip.

I booked a connecting flight with China Southern with gate 1. It was an 16 hours flight. Had really good experience with Gate 1. Is always seems scary to book when the reviews are bad, but this is mostly because of causes Gate 1 can't helped. So I decided to write a review. I had a good experience, so I booked my flight back home with Gate 1 as well. I already got my tickets within a few hours.

My experiences have been varied. Mostly great. One tour the guide was very knowledgeable but snarky, witchy disposition. Most recently, absolutely HORRID hotel!! Why idk. There were so many others in the area.
My first trip with Gate1 was stellar. The recent trip was good but that old, smelly hotel has left me feeling uneasy.

Tour guide provided local color constantly. She was our England Scotland guide and was wonderful. I loved the big hotel breakfasts and lots of activities and sites crammed into 8 days. Tiring but we experienced it all!

The people of Zanzibar are wonderful!! so I hate to complain about the country. However . . .
Unfortunately, Zanzibar island is extremely unsanitary and there currently is an outbreak of monkey pox in Stone Town. The President of Tanzania has a video in the airports warning about the outbreak with symptoms, etc. and telling people who have it to isolate - they don't. We saw people swimming, walking on the beach, working in stalls, and just walking around and they are covered in monkey pox. It is extreme frightening and disturbing to see. When I reported this to Gate 1 and said they should not send travelers there, this was their response . . .

"We understand your concerns about cleanliness, and while our experience and feedback from many other passengers have been positive, we acknowledge that individual impressions can vary. Zanzibar's Old Town, for instance, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and while its historic character may not appeal to everyone, it remains a point of pride for the region."

So looks like they're blaming me. I then checked their Better Business Bureau report and they are rated F so I guess we shouldn't be surprised.
See for yourself - ourbreak has now reached Zanzibar.

I've traveled several tours with Gate 1 before Covid. All were excellent value which made me return to book a tour to Morocco in Sept '24. This was my last tour I will ever go on with thus company. The itinerary was awful! In Marrakesh we saw nothing more than snother old market, but the casbah was cancelled. Of course they took us to some old structure that no one really cared about, and didn't add anything to to experience the flavor of the city. Hotel Mamounian, which is world famous wasn't even mentioned, and definitely not offered as a private tour. Just freaking awful itinerary! Didn't visit Tangiers, Agadir, St Laurent museum, just a lot of uninteresting places in the Atlas mountains. Mostly just more old market places. Never again! Prices were higher and the value decreased. Mediocre hotels and any dinners/ lunches/were OK. Just another mass pack'em in travel tour company.
Bye bye Gate 1

Response to Gate 1 response Another Lie, no one called or emailed me. I will never use of recommend your services again. You've really went downhill as a company

Agnieszka Socha and Krzysztof were our tour manager and bus driver at Gate One’s trip from Mainz, Germany to Vienna, Austria in November 2024. They both were warm and accommodating, punctual and caring. Agnieszka was fantastic: all our group bonded with her and Krzysztov, like a big Family. And Agnieszka was very informative, helpful, and friendly. She possesses top-notch communication skills, a good sense of humor, skilled in calming stressed tourists with a beautiful smile.  Genuinely kind, beautiful mind and character. Gate 1 is blessed to have Agnieszka.  Everything was well organized. We are planning another trip with Gate1 with Agnieszka as our tour manager. We loved everything about this wonderful trip:  our tour manager and bus driver, we enjoyed being in a clean comfortable, cozy hotels, liked very much our itinerary! Thank you for our wonderful time together! 

I just had 17 days tour of Thailand , Cambodia and Vietnam from San Francisco ,California. We were put in just average hotels, last one in Hanoi was the worse .. wifi of our phone problems and no one spoke English .
However, I had friends from other hotels took tour from other tour companies , had a better .experience and staff spoke English .. food was in a worse restaurants and farewell restaurant was
In a bad area while we were all dressed up thinking it will be sophisticated restaurant
So over all they need lot of improvements . Yuk and Tran guides were the best.
I will think twice before take this tour agency . Positive part was they are well organized on papers .

We took a Portland-San Francisco land tour and were mostly disappointed. The guide was sarcastic and left way too much time traveling with NO commentary. Occasionally, when a question was asked, she ridiculed the questioner....so very rude, and many times had no idea of the answer.
This is our 4th or 5th trip w G1...may not do another.

**Very Disappointing Experience with This Organization**

My experience with this organization is, without a doubt, the worst I have ever had. After receiving an order confirmation, my flight was canceled without any explanation or valid reason. Since most of my trip was already booked, this resulted in me having to pay hundreds of euros extra to arrange an alternative flight.

Despite repeated contact with customer service (Bianca and Pascal), I clearly explained my situation. Unfortunately, I was repeatedly dismissed with a brief, standard reference to the general terms and conditions, which state that the organization reserves the right to cancel flights at their discretion. When I pointed out that this might be legally questionable, I received the same response again, without further explanation or willingness to provide a solution. After that, they completely ignored me, and no appropriate resolution was offered.

In my opinion, this organization demonstrates a lack of professionalism, customer-friendliness, and responsibility. The staff appears to lack the necessary knowledge and shows no understanding of the customer's situation.

I strongly advise against doing business with this organization. They operate in an unprofessional, unreliable, and customer-unfriendly manner, leaving their customers stranded without any assistance.

I have traveled to India twice with Gate One/ northern India and southern spiritual India. Both were excellent. I just returned from their new heart of southern India tour starting from Bangalore, and must say I was quite disappointed. It was skimpy and needs much tweaking. Not recommended.

There are not enough superlatives to give. Our 10 day Turkey trip this November was exceptional. Everything was pulled off without a hitch. But the best part of the tour was our guide Sayat. He made ancient history come alive. Our driver was a pro - and navigated narrow streets and traffic with calm confidence.

They constantly change prices and availability within minutes! You try to book and all of a sudden your flight no longer exists! 15 minutes later it exists but the upcharge per passenger is doubled ! You can't win with this place! You call and ask why and have no answer! You then try to go ahead and just fly ftom one of their other airports that are along your original flight path and it us even more plus you pay for your own flight to get there! Makes no sense! Why is it more to fly from NY to Dublin than from Chicago to NY then to Dublin?? Please make it make sense!!

Worthless. I am waiting for a refund for a flight for over 2 years now that was promised to me by Gate1. They told me they send the necesarry information to the airline and that the airline would refund me.

After recent contact with the airline I found out that Gate1 has never taken any action whatsoever to send the necesarry information to get my ticket refunded.

After writing customer service of gate1 over and over they just don't reply to me anymore and don't want to help me resolve this issue.

Worthless company, worthless customer service. Would not recommand this company to anyone. Please stay far far away from it.

Purchased optional tour “Belgrade Food Walking Tour” Experience with the Belgrade Food Walking Tour have fallen short of my expectations
* Unimpressive food offerings: The street unwashed berries (strawberries, blueberries and raspberries are no surprise and fruit market is full of flies and bees.). I would not eat unwashed berries which bears most micro bacteria). The tour guide then brought us to a restaurant for big heavy meats (pork, chicken and turkey) lunch which offered the same food we had in the previous night dinner. Lack of variety in the restaurant meals were disappointing, especially considering the price US$65. In addition, we were not offered any drinks for the lunch. All of us had to drink water period. Never heard of without drinks offered. It is not worth of that much.
* Misleading description: The tour description promised "deserts" (plural), but we only received one type of walnut cookie. Someone is banking on us (travellers).
* Limited vegetarian options: The lack of vegetarian alternatives for the vegetarian couple was a significant oversight.
* Final stop at wine store and taste 3 types of wine is ok.

I will NOT RECOMMEND to purchase this optional tour and Gate 1 should dismiss this tour unless Gate 1 Travel considers the following changes.
* Re-evaluate the tour description: Ensure that the description accurately reflects the experience, including specific food offerings.
* Consider a more diverse food selection: Explore options for a wider variety of foods, including street food, local specialties, and vegetarian options.
* Partner with more suitable restaurants: Collaborate with restaurants that offer a broader range of dishes and can accommodate dietary restrictions.
* Offer a more comprehensive food experience: Include stops at multiple vendors or restaurants to provide a more varied and immersive experience. For example, select a vendor famous for appetizers or soups, a vendor’s specialty dishes and select a cafe which offer nice and unique deserts and ice creams. This will be a truly food tasting walking tour.

I had a flight showing for $590 - only 7 left(!), clicked book, filled in all my details clicked continue, refused all their add-ons, clicked continue…and my flight was “no longer available.”

Search for new (same) flight, now $596, still 7 left. Book, continue, refuse add-ons, continue - no longer available.

New flight $633, 7 left, book, continue, …continue, not available.

New flight $655, book, continue, …continue, not available.

New flight $664, book, continue, …continue, not available.

New flight $666, book, continue, …continue, not available.

Now it’s $865. It’s cheaper on other sites. I just wasted 35 minutes of my time. Don’t bother with Gate1.

Edited to reply to the “reply”: while I appreciate the opportunity Gate1 offered to “try to make this right,” I actually started the process over after a refresh only to find the exact same problem (though the initial price somehow started lower ($530), there were *still* “only seven tickets remaining” and I abandoned the effort after three iterations of price increases, which had already escalated above $700. I ended up booking my flight with another company for less than the highest “not available” price I had been offered from Gate1.

I reiterate: don’t waste your time trying to book with Gate1.