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Tour Companies with Free Spots

Posted by (Buffalo, NY) on

Hello, all!

I hope I’m posting this question in the right place. My question is two-fold.

Does anyone know of any international tour companies that offer free places for travelers based on how many people you recruit? With that being said, what are some tour companies that enable you to be a group/tour leader?

I have been using Explorica for my group tours (primarily adults), but I am getting tired of them. We’ve had many issues with them as of late, (miscommunication, messed up rooming, no breakfast at one hotel, etc.)

What I like about Explorica is that they allow you to be a group leader to recruit people you want to travel with & they also offer free spots to travelers for every 5 people you recruit on a trip.

Are there any other tour companies out there that do something similar? If so, please list them for me as I want to start branching out.

Thanks so much!

Posted by
735 posts

Well, let’s start with a basic misunderstanding of the way this works. No you’re not getting a free spot. You’re recruiting people who are paying enough to cover your cost.

I’ve used companies like this once or twice in my life when I do Girl Scout tours, and I would always take the price of the tour and redo the math. so that I paid my share

EF Tours does it too. I wouldn’t recommend them, but I wouldn’t recommend most of these companies because I know I can do a better job on my own.

Posted by
7987 posts

We went on an African Safari (although they go throughout Europe and the rest of the world, too) with Overseas Adventure Travel. The trip organizer was trying to get 13 participants, in order to get her trip “free,” and she was going to divide the savings among all the participants, and give everybody a rebate.

EDIT: That sounds similar to what Carol did for her Girl Scout trips, although she likely just lowered everybody’s price. OAT typically gets 16 people on a trip, but apparently 13 was their minimum target number.

This was in 2022, and unfortunately we only had twelve, as Number 13 didn’t wind up signing up, and we couldn’t find replacement last person to meet the goal. The trip was still amazing and well-run, and the price was good, even if it wasn’t as much of a bargain as we’d hoped. If they were doing it 1 1/2 years ago, maybe they’d make you the same offer for leading a trip.

Posted by
735 posts

Cyn

Yeah, that’s basically what I did. I took the number of people times the total cost that we have to turn into EF tours and divided it out. So if the trip is going to cost $3000 a person for 10 people and I as the 11th was free, then they only had to pay about $2700. And I paid $2700

Posted by
7987 posts

Carol, that’s what Good Girl Scouts would do! You set a great example, and honor the organization.

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