Brief report on OAT tour cancellation (Egypt)

Thank you so much for posting this, Mardee. I have been contemplating booking a tour with OAT (one of their Egypt tours, in fact) and this gives me much more confidence. Although, I am saddened to hear that you are cancelling your trip … I was looking forward to your trip report!

I am curious as to why you wouldn’t book your flight through OAT again. Did they do something that changed your mind?

Mardee, I, too am sorry you had to cancel but very happy you got your $500 back. I'd have thought you might not as well!

I am curious as to why you wouldn’t book your flight through OAT again. Did they do something that changed your mind?

Amy, it was mostly comments from people here on the forum, who said that generally it's better to book your flight yourself. Partly because you can oftentimes find lower prices, but also because you can get rewards as well. So it wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me, but something to consider. And with regards to the insurance, even if I decided I wanted it, that was dumb of me to pay for it right away. I should have waited until I paid the full payment in October. Oh well, lesson learned! :-)

Also, if you are interested in the OAT Egypt tour, Lane, who frequently posts here, took the Egypt tour with OAT in 2023, and blogged about it here. https://laneisgoingplaces.com/real-journeys/middle-east-2023/

Pam, yes, I was sure that I wouldn't get it back! So very much a pleasant surprise!

I just want to know what you get for $1000 for just insurance

That’s an incredibly high number.

Carol, it was high, but it was "cancel for any reason" insurance, so hence the higher price. And the price of the tour plus add-ons was over $10,000.

so glad you posted this Mardee.

Like you I saw all those posts about OAT a couple of years ago and had built a picture in my mind.

I am another who thought your $500 had blown out the window and fluttered down the street.

Your post here does a lot to level the playing field.

Thanks.

Nigel, thank you. That's the main reason I decided to post this. Plus I didn't want anyone to think that I had cancelled my trip because of OAT. It was just "circumstances." :-)

Thanks Mardee! Sharing your experience is very helpful, especially since I too had been looking into Egypt and OAT.

I took the OAT Egypt tour in 2007 and was happy with it. They cx my original tour dates and I had to scramble to get flights changed, etc. Which was a real pain as I was still working. I learned not to use their flight arrangements from a terrible flight schedule on their tour to Thailand that I took a year prior. I believe I told Marnee about being careful using their flight option.
There have been numerous complaints to the BBB about OAT and sister co, Grand Circle. I wonder if that had anything to do to do with the prompt refunds?

Check out Gate 1 Travel, they offer great tours for amazing low prices. We have done 4 (one was Egypt) and have another booked.

Glad to hear you had a good experience. My wife and are eyeing Egypt and it’s good to hear your recommendation — at least to quality of their refunds and responsiveness. Given that others on this forum have reported less generous outcomes on refunds in the past, do you think they have changed policies or even that they possibly know that you are a social media influencer which garnered above average treatment? It may just be that during Covid all/many travel companies struggled with an especially difficult time.

In any case your recommendation means something positive to us so we will definitely give them a look when the time comes. Thanks again!

Happy travels!

Given that others on this forum have reported less generous outcomes on refunds in the past, do you think they have changed policies or even that they possibly know that you are a social media influencer which garnered above average treatment?

David, I think that COVID was the big instigator for the bad policy on refunds before, and that threw a lot of companies off. Obviously some handled it better than others. Having said that, I don't know if it was a change in policy or if maybe they are reading some of their bad press—or a combination of both. Either way, it sounds like things have changed. I doubt that they knew anything about me and that I post here, so I don't think that was it.

We had our tour of Israel and Jordan with Gate 1 cancelled and didn't loose a penny.

OAT is revising their cancellation policies for tours booked 1/1/25 or after. Most notably, this was the prior 90+ day policy:

"90 days prior to your departure, you will receive a refund equal to your Trip Price, less any Travel Protection Plan if purchased."

The 2025 cancellation charge for land tours is:

"90 days prior to departure or more: $500 per person"

The Travel Protection Plan (and various other things) are also not refunded.

Full details:
https://www.oattravel.com/marketing/policy-updates-2025

Thanks, CW! Good to know. I guess maybe I received my full deposit back because it was more than 90 days (by about 3 days) and my total deposit came to $500. I was very lucky to receive the $1000 refund for the the Travel Protection Plan and that was only because they switched providers.

I think that 90 days is the deadline for making a full payment, so I guess timing matters. I'm glad it's in writing, though. I scoured that website looking for details of their policy on cancellations, so I'm glad they have made it much easier to find.

Their phone reps are probably highly incented to sell the Travel Protection Plan, which would create a financial barrier to non insured cancellations. Perhaps that wasn't working as well as hoped so now they've got the non-refundable $500, in addition to the insurance, if someone buys it.

We have travelled several times with OAT - the tours have always been fantastic, with great guides, etc. We have always had the impression, and still do, that the home office is a bit...discombobulated at times. So this is good to hear! We have booked airfare through them, as the pricing is usually competitive, but this has also been an area where you get a different answer depending on the agent. Our advice is to do some homework beforehand, so you have an idea of pricing and routes. We also never take their insurance, as there have been way too many tales of woe (although maybe that is why they are switching carriers). We have been eyeing one of their Egypt tours, they look great - hope you get to reschedule soon!

Rebecca, I decided to test the waters of a tour with a 12-day Gate 1 tour of Romania. I'm so worried I won't like a tour that I don't want to spend a ton of money on my first one, so I found the above tour when Gate 1 was having a sale that waived the single supplement, making the total right around $2,000 (not including the flight). If I like touring, then I won't mind spending more money on an OAT tour (or something similar).