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Flights with Tauck
I am having trouble getting flights through Tauck. Made our Africa reservations 3 weeks ago and was told a Tauck rep would contact us right away to set up flights. I am a CPA and this is my busy season so I wanted to get this out of the way before I was working 15 hour days. AFTER 2 phone calls and 2 emails I STILL have not heard from Tauck. Now I am concerned that this does not bode well for our trip. My pet peeve is someone who does not return phone calls or emails. I do not call unless I really need so something. Has anyone else had the same experience?
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I would advise this rather than traveling with BA via Nairobi , which is not a nice airport at all! plus I believe it involves a nighttime overlay there. You do not want to be there, it's crazy busy roads and not safe to be wondering around on your own. But of course there is no avoiding that airport on the way back.
See what deals you can find and decide whether it is worth waiting to find out Tauck's prices.
this was the only time we did not fly in early before a Tauck tour, we were nervous our first time to Africa. Now I would get in early and rest a couple of days before the tour begins to get over the jet lag and the early safari days
Seriously, though, in my "Flight Arrangements" thread on this page LLVicky, a Tauck traveler, reports she had a fine flight (business) experience with ET. ET has their share of horror stories to be sure (check out Skytraxx), but so do many of the airlines serving Africa- people are more inclined to complain than share praise. A vast majority of the complaints appear to be a result of dealings with ground personnel or experiences in coach. ndvb, another Tauck traveler, will be flying ET, but I don't know when. We need more data points.
Ethiopian AL has the most modern aircraft- they have been taking deliveries of new Boeing 787 Dreamliners and new 777-300ER's, and are scheduled to get more. They are the highest rated African Airline and provide training and maintenance to the others.
The routing we are considering leaves from Dulles and flies direct to Addis Abbaba's modern Bole airport, we will have a short layover before taking a quick flight on ET to Arusha. The return routing leaves at 6 PM from Nairobi (earlier than most of the other flights), flies to Addis Abbaba for another short layover, then the main long haul return flight makes a brief, 1 hour stop for fuel, in Rome before the same plane continues on to Dulles. So, for both long haul segments you have the same plane and avoid stops/plane changes in places like Schiphol, Charles DeGaulle, Heathrow, Frankfort, etc. like all of the other airlines- and so have the shortest enroute times.
The best part, business class on Ethiopian is $3000 cheaper per passenger than what the Delta website lists for Delta/KLM business class (from Atlanta). We live between ATL and IAD but have family in the DC area and can drive up a few days early. I don't know what Tauck charges for business class routing, but ndvb said it was more than ET. For you, it is still almost $3000 cheaper per traveler to take a Delta flight to Dulles and fly ET than if you were to fly business on Delta/KLM from St. Louis. Plus according to Delta's website to get the fare that is only $3000 more than ET 's routing you would need to get transport from LaGuardia to JFK, or pay thousands more per ticket for a more direct routing via Detroit or Atlanta.
I would not consider flying Ethiopian in coach, however.
I share the same safety concern with ET, but have been assured by several people on here who have flown with ET that their experience was good. I have never used Tauck for flights because I have always had enough miles to make the trips. I am actually coming to Tanzania from Venice after a Disney cruise with one of my daughters and her family. I am flying to Europe from Newark to Barcelona. My trips aren't until the middle of June to the middle of July. If I am going before you, I'll be sure to stop in and let you know how the ET flights were. I am expecting the best.