USA Escorted Tour for Parents

A

AbhijithS

Adept
Hello All,

We're in the process of getting our parents to US for a vacation but before they visit us I'd like for them to go on an escorted tour of US.

I'm currently looking at Thomas Cook & Cox&Kings. Has anybody taken one of these escorted trips, how well did the company organise/handle the logistics?

Appreciate your feedback.
 
Because both my wife & I have covered all the tourist spots already. If we travel with my parents again it would be an added expense.

On top of that we stay in Midwest, which is not close to any of the tourist spots.
 
AbhijithS said:
Because both my wife & I have covered all the tourist spots already. If we travel with my parents again it would be an added expense.

On top of that we stay in Midwest, which is not close to any of the tourist spots.
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Do you want them to do like this..

1. Travel from India with the tour operator
2. Do the tour
3. Leave the tour in US and come to you and not back to India

Is this how you want to do it ?
If yes check Raj Tours, Kesari Tours etc.
I know Kesari people do ads in newspapers every weekend or so.
 
@rakrules - We're planning for my parents to visit us once the escorted tour is completed. A couple of tour operators have confirmed that my parents could get a delayed departure date from the US but we would have to pay slightly extra for that, which we're are fine with.

I'm only trying to find out if anybody has any first hand experience about these operators like ThomasCook, SOTC, Kesari etc.
 
My mom went with SOTC with a couple of her friends.
Tour went ahead well.

Couple of problems:

1. Some places food has to be managed by the tourists and not the tour operator. Confirm this.
2. They rush up everyday going from one place to another and expect you to get up by 6 to 7 am. Some places they will be exploring till 10 - 11 pm. Hectic.
3. You dont get the leisure of spending time at a location as per your choice. They tell you in advance, you have this much time at a spot and then you have to leave.
 
What's the point of "travelling" under someone else's guidelines . Oh wait. I forgot . Potential for so many Facebook photos :D
 
srkmish said:
What's the point of "travelling" under someone else's guidelines . Oh wait. I forgot . Potential for so many Facebook photos :D
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Looks like you are against escorted tours and to a certain extent i echo your emotions. I travelled to Thailand myself and did all plannings and booking from here itself.
Within USA, all trips i did was done myself only. No escorted tours, but then i was myself in US so it was easier for me to do everything i think.
I have also heard that these tours just want you to visit one after the other place just to complete their itenary. They will make you travel long hours, get up early and what not.
But tomorrow if i want to do a Europe /UK Tour, I am not sure if i can plan something big (probably 10-15 days) myself and moreover it will involve many countries and such things. In such cases probably i will take an escorted tour.
 
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