Gate 1 Travel Reviews 

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.

Gate 1 9 day Enchanting Ireland Tour. This was excellent. It was so nice not to have to make any reservations because they take care of everything. Our tour guide and coach drivers were amazing!! The hotels were wonderful and very clean! We talked to other people on this tour that have used Gate 1 for many other tours and said they were excellent. We will definitely book all our other trips with Gate 1.

We purchased a Canadian Rockies trip with Victoria & Vancouver & saw very little of the Rockies. (A morning at Sulpher Mt., 1 hr at Lake Louise & 1.5 hr at Emerald Lake.) We knew in advance that Jasper & Icefield Parkway were closed due to wild fires, understandably so, but were unprepared for the poor quality of the replacement activities. Example: visiting a honey farm where they showed us a 10 min. slide presentation & then ushered us into their store or the wildlife preserve where we saw 3 animals. Also, too much “filler” & long periods of time in small towns of little interest. Activities & stops should have been vetted better. We had used Gate 1 several times before & always had a good experience, but this time we felt defrauded & the value was poor, considering all the time that was devoted to uninteresting activities. No more Gate 1!

We recently finished the Gate 1 tour of Ireland. It advertises as 10 days, but it is not actually 10 days, and I'd like to be sure that people who are considering the tour understand that. Day 1 is for leaving to arrive in Ireland. Day 2 is for arriving in Ireland. Day 10 is for leaving Ireland to go home. That effectively leaves 7 days for a tour. I wrote to Gate 1 because the tour actually was only 6 days. On Day 9 there was no longer a tour bus driver. Gate 1 sent him home. Instead, they hired a local driver to take people on an "optional tour" to the Irish EPIC museum, which was actually within a reasonable walking distance of our hotel. If you didn't pay to go to this museum, you were finished with the tour on Day 8 and left to pay for your own transportation and planned excursion on Day 9. I told Gate 1 that they could have taken the entire group to a place like the National Botanic Gardens on Day 9 (our last day) instead of the museum. It was quite expansive and lovely, and it's free to enter. We had to pay for the transportation to get there. Ireland was enjoyable to visit, but Gate 1 needs to advertise its tours properly. "The tour actually lasts for 6 days unless you go on an optional tour on your last day in Ireland."

Just did England and Scotland, it was the best experience ever, 2nd time traveling with Gate 1, just booked another one, highly recommend!!

I just finished the Scotland/Ireland 16 day excursion with a Tour guide named Ian and our coach driver named Robbie. They were both FANTASTICO! The 42 travelers were also wonderful. The sites in Scotland and Ireland were magical. The hotels were all very nice with breakfast and half our dinners included. The food was good. I would highly recommend Gate1 and plan to take another tour. Gate1 also needs to give those two wonderful men raises! They certainly made the trip amazing! Humor, history, intelligence, and much fun to entertain such a large group for 16 days! Great job Men!

My wife, her two sisters and I took a 14 day tour of France with Gate 1 on May 8, 2024. Our guide, Jordane, started the tour with a speech about health and safety and how sick people must wear masks and sit in the back of the bus. Anyone who tested positive for covid would have to leave the tour. Two people in our group, Judy and Katy started the tour visibly sick. Jordane did nothing despite what he said in his speech. Within a few days most people were sick. I caught a cold around day 8. On day 9, Jordan asked me to wear a mask. I wore a mask. On day 10, Jordane asked me to move to the back of the bus. I moved to the back of the bus. On day 11, Jordan called my room and told me that I was off the tour due to my cold and that I would have to find my own way home. Several passengers were obviously sick but Jordane did not remove them. He never asked me to get a covid test. He just kicked me off the bus somewhere in France with no help to get home. I immediately called the Gate 1 24 hour emergency assistance line. The line was answered with a recording, “We’re sorry, we are closed right now please call back during business hours.” Before you book with Gate 1, call this number on a weekend night and you’ll get the recording. Now if you are persistent or just desperate and wait on the line, eventually you will hear options. Wait through 8 options and the 9th is for help. I was transferred to a nice man in India who listened to my problem and then told me there was nothing he could do to help. I was dumped on the side of the road in France with no help. Who does this to someone? Gate 1 is the only one I know who would do this. I found Jordane and told him that I should be given the chance to take a covid test. Fortunately, a local Gate 1 guide joined our conversation. She thought this was a good idea and gave me directions to the nearest pharmacy and told me what to do to get tested. I tested negative for covid. I had a common cold, sniffles and cough. I showed the results of my test to everyone on the bus and Jordane. Jordane reluctantly allowed me back on the bus.
That wasn’t the only issue we had with our guide. On our second night, my wife tripped and fell while crossing the street. My wife was unconscious and bleeding in the street. While my wife’s sister and I tended to my wife, her other sister called Jordane. He said he was busy and we should do whatever we wanted to. That was the last we heard from him. He never checked back to see how we were doing. The next time we saw him was in the morning when he asked if we would continue the tour. He never showed any concern. We were fortunate that two nurses saw the fall and helped us get my wife off the street and call the local version of 911. It was the help of strangers, not Gate 1 that took care of us.
Gate 1 claims that Jordane called us several times to check on my wife. This is not true. Gate 1 claims that many people on the tour were tested for covid. Again, this is not true.
We expected there would be support and help on our Gate 1 tour. We got nothing. We definitely didn’t expect to be dumped on the side of the road with no way home.

Just came back last week from a River Cruise Danube. It was fabulous. I do not have one complaint at all. The food, staff, rooms were top notch. We traveled on the Queen Monarch to Hungary, Vienna and Germany. I cannot wait to go again

My husband and I have taken many trips with Gate 1 but something with the company has changed and I do not recommend travelling with them now. We travelled on their Japan, Then and Now Discovery trip in March and there were so many problems–some with the itinerary and some with the Tour Manager.

Many of the activities were unnecessary or badly timed. I never got to see the “NOW” in Tokyo or any other city. Plenty of “Then” as we constantly travelled outside the cities to see gardens that weren’t blooming or another shrine that was never explained why it was important. The food on the trip was terrible, whether it was a group dinner or a food court in a train station. Some of the hotel rooms were so small there was no room to open a suitcase. It was a Discovery trip but nothing was special about it. It was a lot of money for what we got and we will not with travel with Gate 1 again.

We've had our guide yell at us and other guests for little things like beings 4 minutes late one time over several days of being on time as expected, sitting somewhere other than the "assigned seating" even when there were vacant spaces, and for "just standing there" when out on a group outing (I guess we were supposed to interact more when he was watching us?). Our guide appears to be a tired and lonely old man that may need this position to support himself, as he wears the same outfit for the entire week so far & has no luggage. He rambles endlessly the entire duration of the ride in the tour bus about politics and religion with occasional spurts of local scenery, too late to get a photo of the attraction.
I'd consider another Gate 1 travel but only after being able to review the ambassador of the trip. As for this trip, Serge was an absolute failure!

This company has absolutely the most rude customer service. I'm a travel agent, asking basic clarifying questions regarding airfare and prices, and I was yelled out and treated very rudely two days in a row. They must hate their jobs. Unbelievable. Do not use this company! So many other professional travel companies to use!

Hawai'i 9-day tour 02/14/2024 thru 02/21/204 was busy and organized perfectly. Tours were organized and efficient. The preset hotels Queen Kapiolani and King Kamehameha were clean and well maintained. Due to the Lahaina devastation, which was hard to view, our hotel upgrade was amazing and impressive on Maui. Charles "Kaleo" Degala, the singing tour guide, made the trip. His love of his home, knowledge of the islands and respect for the culture of Aloha made you feel as if you were family not just a guest. Guides like him are a rare gift for a traveler.