"We booked the 3 day San Francisco"

We booked the 3 day San Francisco, Napa, Redwoods, Crater Lake tour with TakeTours, when the bus arrived it was Lassen Tours so we'd been "handed off" without our knowledge. We had one MAJOR ISSUE-the website says there are bathrooms on the bus (we've taken many tours and they've all had them) but there wasn't one and we have young children. One time they didn't stop for 3 hours right after breakfast-even the adults were in trouble by that time! Although the tour guide was cordial he did not give any information about the areas we traveled through, and only gave directions such as when to report back at the bus which made the drive between locations seemed to take forever. Lassen seems to cater to Chinese tourists so everything was repeated in Chinese and English, that was a little annoying.

"AVOID AT ALL COSTS!"

Review of 2 day Grand Canyon & Antelope Canyon Tour

• Customer Service is totally unhelpful. We tried to enquire in advance about food options and stops due to allergies, however they couldn’t tell us this or give us contact details for the tour guide.

• The tour guide was Chinese and spoke broken basic English. Chinese instructions were spoken first, then an English interpretation that was not very informative.

• Majority of customers are from China/Asia. We were the only Western customers on the bus.

• Very old bus. We had to ask for the air conditioning to be turned on…and were told it was not possible as the engine was still heating up!

• DANGEROUS driving - the bus driver was attempting ridiculous crazy manoeuvres at one stage to overtake long queues of traffic stuck behind slow moving trucks as they needed to drop paying ‘optional’ helicopter tour customers at the airport on time. This was happening on roads with blind spots or hills where you could not see what was coming the other way. Other vehicles had to brake to let the bus back-in to avoid head on collisions. We were seriously concerned for our safety and alerted the guide to stop the drivers behaviour…which caused an argument between driver and guide. He attempted to justify the action saying they were within the speed limit for the road!

• Both lunch stops and dinner stop were at Chinese Buffet restaurants. No alternatives offered and reason offered was majority of customers like that kind of food (Chinese customers)! You had to make do with whatever was nearby which was normally Burger King. For dinner there was nothing else nearby except a Mexican takeaway…therefore we had to wait around while others had their dinner before they would take us to the hotel (where there were multiple options around) which meant we ate very late. I don’t understand why they couldn’t just drop people at the hotel first rather than force another Chinese Buffet.

• Compulsory service fee must be paid oi cash on the bus of $10 per person per day. This is regardless of whether you receive good service.

• Entrance fees for key attractions not included in tour price. We had to pay an additional $65 per person to visit Antelope Canyon, which was higher than the fee available directly. We were also promised by Take Tours guaranteed prime time entry, which is around 11:30 tour time. We didn’t get to go in until 12:45pm as that was the slot they had booked which is a cheaper ticket and not prime time as by the time you reach the Canyon entrance it is 1pm.

• Tour was supposed to have ability to do an optional Lake Powell cruise. However the guide failed to mention this and when questioned did everything to come up with reasons why we couldn’t do this, so not as advertised.

"7 night CA tour"

I choose this tour as it visited main cities/ areas that we wanted to visit. Upon arrival at LAX there was no one to pick us up so I used my intiative and called the Hotel stated on my printed Itinerary it was a best western LAX , the hotel shuttle came for us but when we got there it wasn’t the correct hotel ( turns out there are 4) after 2 more journeys Taketours asked us to return to LAX so they can get us ( remember this is after a long haul flight from UK) a Chinese guy shows up with my name on his phone he was driving his own car as he said the transfer bus was finished by then ( charged us $5 each no apology for our inconvenience. The next week was very long as we spent most of the time sitting on a bus ( that had no toilet) the hotels were mixed only 1 very good Marriott but we only had use of the room from 6pm till 6am no breakfast included , the others were 2-3 star faculties. We stayed in Las Vegas for 3 nights at the stratosphere hotel, on day 2 we noticed that housekeeping wasn’t doing our room, when we spoke to the cleaners they told us that our tour booking did not include cleaning as taketours hadn’t paid for it?. How cheap is this company! They block book large numbers of rooms years ahead for a pitience. The additional tours they try and hard sell to passengers is done whilst we’re all captive on the bus, ( as a seasoned traveller I knew that I could book what I needed once I arrived) however the majority of pax were Asian and seemed to be sucked in by the rep. Because we chose not to take any of the Grand Canyon tours whilst in Las Vegas the rep charged us $30 each to opt out!!!! The reason we didn’t take the tour was because you had to get up at 5am travel 5 hrs( stay 1 hr) then travel 5 hrs back ; this just wasn’t worth it in our opinion. The other thing that happened on the return journey from Las Vegas to LA was they stopped 3 times within the first 3 hrs of the journey ( only 1 was stated in our itininary) the other 2 where shopping malls that I believe they have business deals with so they are paid to bring tourists there. This made a 4 1/2 hr journey last almost 8 hrs. When I queried the tour guide about this I got no where, basically we were taking so long because it suited there plans for switched bus pax in LA union st . I can see now why this trip was cheap and I certainly won’t be using them again or recommending them.

"Family of 4 with young children"

I am from Singapore, a mother with 2 young children (10/14). We have a family tour for 7 Days to Eastern America last year, departure from New York (美东全新豪华自选7日游-深度徒步/购物/玩乐/探索/自由行随心搭配, 纽约出发). This was the 1st time we book from Taketours. Honestly, it is above our expectation with such a low cost, really good experience and there is no "SHOPPING HOUR" during the whole trip. The tour guide is quite knowledgeable and friendly, he can speak both English and Chinese. We got what we want honestly. Except that the hotel is a bit too faraway from New York in the first 2 days, because the hotel was arranged in New Jersey, so we got to gather at lobby on 7am and took a 1.5-2hrs journey to their office in NY Chinatown. Breakfast was not provided, but there was a HK style breakfast shop near that place so not a big deal. Then at about 9am when everybody arrived, we started our NY tour. And we spent another 2-3 hours going back to the hotel every night from NY to New Jersey (if got traffic jam, the journey could be longer). This was only the 1st 2 days, after that, everything was smooth and good. I know a lot of people complaining about this tour, mostly because of the bad experience during the 1st 2 days. So if you don't mind to spend additional 50 bucks, you can get a hotel near Manhattan, which will definitely give you a better experience. Trust me, this tour is fantastic and REALLY REALLY WORTH EVERY PENNY.

One important thing you need to know is, this company is a China company, so their costumers are mainly from China. During my tour, there are more than 80% from China, the rest are from India, Europe, Philippine, Indonesia. Tour guide spoke both Chinese and English during the whole trip, so if you don't mind to travel with Chinese people, language is not a issue. During my tour, all the Chinese tourists are quite nice people.

For the entrance tickets to every attraction places, it was not compulsory to buy if you don't go. It's true that some people just don't like to go to some of the attractions, or maybe they felt the price is too high, then they have to get off the bus and wait for 1-2 hours to get to next stop. I bought every ticket for every attraction during this tour, I really felt it worth going. I mean, why not ? This is why you go for the trip.

"STAY AWAY FROM TAKE TOURS!!!"

I wish I could give Take Tours 0 stars! WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!!

4 reasons the tour was ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE:
1. They lied about the use of bathrooms on board
2. They forced us to buy optional activities on the tour which cost us an additional $800+
3. They dropped us off at a different location than they said they would.
4. The tour guide Roger was indifferent, rude, unprofessional, and abusive.

Details:
We recently took a 3-day DC-NY. The bus (C104) picked us up 45 minutes late. We had a big group with 3 seniors on board. Before making the reservation, we had double-checked with the Take Tours company about using the restrooms on the bus since we had 3 seniors over 80 years old and one of them was diabetic, so the bathroom was a frequent need. They confirmed with us both times, telling us that there was a bathroom on the bus for emergencies and that if one of our seniors needed to use it, it was perfectly fine. After waiting for the bus for so long, one of our seniors needed to use the restroom desperately. When he tried to use the restroom, the tour guide (Roger) said that the restrooms on board were not for our use and that they were locked. When we confronted him about his company previously confirming that the restrooms were for our use, he said that no one could use the restroom. Later, he lied and told us that he did not have the keys to the restroom so the bathroom would be locked for the next 3 days. It was an emergency and Roger said that our passenger would have to hold until we got to the next stop. When we called the Take Tours company and explained our situation to them, they said that we would have to deal it and hung up on us twice.

Later on, during the bus ride to our first stop, the tour guide told us that we had to choose 5 attractions and pay for them in cash on board. The Take Tours website specifically said that there was only 1 mandatory attraction; however, when we told that to our tour guide, he said that we had to choose 5 attractions and dismissed the entire online confirmation that was sent to us. Because of this, we had to pay $800 extra in cash since we were 10 people.

Our tour guide Roger was incredibly rude to us and threatened to leave us at every stop if we were even a minute later than the return time he had decided on. He didn't care about the fact that we had a senior who had to use the restroom, he didn't care to explain anything he was saying more than once, and when people on the bus asked him to repeat what he said, he got angry and said that he wouldn't repeat what he said again afterwards.

Another problem was trash. We had specifically asked our tour guide Roger if there were any trash cans we could use, and he refused us, telling us that there were no trash cans on board. However, there were clearly 2 trash cans on board that he didn't let us use.

At the end of our tour, we were supposed to be dropped of at the location sent to us in our confirmation email. However, they dropped us off at a totally different location, due to which, we had to pay $60 extra just to get to where we should have been.

I do not recommend Take Tours to anyone. Please don't be fooled by their prices; its not worth the pain.

"The tour from hell which ruined my vacation"

I have been travelling 3 to 4 times each year. I just did a 6-Day USA East Coast & Canada Deluxe Tour from New York with this company. This is the worst tour I have ever experienced. They have wasted my money and my time over those 6 days.

The punishing schedule started from 6am-7am each day and we didn’t get back to the hotel until 8pm-8.30pm. For 8-10 hours on the bus most days, the sight seeing break was typically between 30 min-1 hour with a note "ladies, make sure you queue up 10’-15’ in advance because there are two more buses going with us”.

The meal stops/packages were mediocre and poorly timed. On Day 1 in Washington DC we were dropped off at 1.30pm for 1 hr 45 minutes of sight seeing and “truck food lunch“ when it would have been better to have a proper meal before sightseeing. On the last day in Boston, after a 13 hour day, instead of a nice meal to finish off an already terrible tour, we were dropped off at a KFC outlet to “buy some food-to-go to eat at the hotel”. There were mornings when we were told “don’t drink water or coffee because we will drive for 2.5 hours before our first break“.

On the few occasions of “special French” meals in Montreal and Quebec City, the venues were filled up with 3 bus load of mass tourists from this company arriving around the same time. No wonder we weren’t treated the courteous French way by the service staff.

We didn't know but 90% of the people on the bus was from China. The tour seems to cater for this market, where it is more important to do a quick and rush job to tick off all the landmarks visited, rather than any quality time to appreciate it of them.

And lastly, don’t be fooled by the advertised cheap prices. In addition to the ticket prices, one would need to pay for every meal, every excursion and also the compulsory guide and driver “service fees”.

"I had 3 day Niagara Falls tour"

I had 3 day Niagara Falls tour, I wasn’t picked up @ airport was stood up no customer service help phone puts you on hold forever nobody ever answers ( try it yourself1888 428-7255)
It’s a joke unheard of !
I made it to hotel on my own they handed me a little brown bag with water, juice, green banana !! and a little muffin as my breakfast for the day after!!!!!
The tour in Niagara Falls was only 2 hours not enough considering people fly a long way to just see that
Buffet Lunch was at a very simple chines restaurant not even worth 6.99 they charged me five times that I wish I knew!
And I’m not even getting a ride back to the airport even though it’s included their excuse I’m not leaving the same day the tour ending extended my tour and that apparently is e inconvenience for them
I don’t recommend this tour to anybody save yourselves and your money
The worst experience that I had

"total scam"

total scam. i booked 2 days to Yosemite and the Castle. After reading the appalling reviews i decided to cancel. They have hidden clauses and different cancellation policies for every tour. see below.
TakeTours Cancellation and Refund Policy
Changes to Reservations Policy:
Any changes made to a reservation will be subject to a further 6% service fee.

Cancellation and Refund Policy:
TakeTours makes every effort to serve our customers better. We also advise all customers to purchase traveler’s insurance in case of interruption, accidents, illness, or anything else that may come up. If a reservation has to be cancelled, customers will be charged a fee depending on how far from the departure date the cancellation takes place.

30 or more days prior to departure – 10% of total purchase amount
7-29 days prior to departure – 25% of total purchase amount
4-6 days prior to departure – 50% of total purchase amount
Within 3 days prior to departure – 100% of total purchase amount
Day of departure or no-show – 100% of total purchase amount
Notification day and departure day are NOT counted. Unused features are non-refundable. In addition, there is 6% handling fee added on to the above penalties.

The above cancellation policy is TakeTours standard policy. Some tours may have their own cancellation policy listed on the tour page, in that case the tour page cancellation policy will take precedence.

"Very poor services"

Very poor services really! I booked a 7 days/6 nights tour of Israel 3 weeks before the departure and, despite my emails, the booking was always with the status "in process". I sent several messages to Take Tours and the only answer I got was "please be patient". The cancellation arrived just on the supposed day of the departure of the tour with the odd justification that the local travel agency did not answer to their contacts. I lost that night reshaping in a hurry all my stay in the country. I rate them with 2 stars and not 1 because they did not charge my card.

"Read this review and assure you are getting right information about your trip before booking about vehicle and number of people"

WoTakeTours
new-york-ny/2-day-new-york-to-washington-dc-shenandoah-cavern-tour-655-151.html
Took tour on Jun 30 2018
I will never recommend this particular tour anymore. Even this travel agency.
They should rename it to Cheatingtours.
This tour have a very tight itinerary and it suits only for small group. But as people are booking these guys arranged a Bus which does not suit this itinerary. As Bus cannot stop at all places, they will drop you at far away and will ask us to return in 30mins which is impossible to cover. At the same time, before 50 persons get down we will end up with only 23 mins. Worse planning.
If they cancel the tour they have to pay 120%, so they arranged the tour without even checking Bus condition. It was not at all not at all not at all cleaned. And The MOST IMPORTANT ITEM IS AIR CONDITION IS not WORKING. Many people had vomiting and sun strokes in the bus with 700 miles travelling without AC. When we complained they said its hot outside so AC is not sufficient is the answer. I was wondered with their answer. They kept buckets full of ice cubes to make us survive in the bus that too on the second day before end of tour.
This is utterly worst tour I ever experienced in my life with paying hefty amounts.
There are lot of looting in this tour. As an example, Luray caverns is free for 6 and under, but these guys say only under3 is free. Unless you ask they will not say anything.
Princeton university ticket is overly priced. These guys create their own tickets and collect the money. $5 is more than enough for Princeton university tour.
On top of this every visit, like luray caverns, university, cruise all have group discounts – this is a huge profit for them. Luray caverns is $28 per person, in group its $18. This is the profit these operators get. I won’t complain on this matter, because it’s their business here.
Rachel the tour guide said, we will stop the bus for dinner in Chinese restaurant and you will not have any option to eat so you must pay for dinner else you may have trouble for dinner. Kind of scary answer. This even made few folks to buy food wherever they find a burger zone and brought upfront. There are mcD and other small restaurants. They loot $18 for this lunch which is again operated by their friends. Even on second day they will take us to only Chinese restaurant. Don’t take their lunch menu unless you love Chinese. You will have mcD/subway/chipotle at all these places.
They stopped at service area for lunch – 30mins is the time limit. But at Chinese restaurant for dinner its 1 hour 5minutes. They will lock out the bus even if you don't like to have in their restaurant.

No proper planning – tour guide will ask us to get down from bus – before everybody gets down she would be block away with other folks in the bus. No planning and responsibility. I missed her many times in the tour. The reason for this is tooooo many people in the bus. It’s like a running race for last benchers in the bus.
They gave us Accommodation in a low profile hotel, where official cost of hotel room is 65$. I will never book a hotel for my family there.
MY WORST EXPERIENCE EVER. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS TOUR – NO AC AND WINDOWS CLOSED BUS, NO PLANNING, HUGE CROWD WITH THIS ITINERARY IS FOOLISH.