Our Vantage trip to Lima, Peru and then a week on the Amazon River was a trip of a lifetime. The amount of birds and animals we saw was fantastic. Then the staff of the Zafiro were so friendly and efficient. The highlight of the trip though was a visit to a village where we had a chance to meet the children and their families.
we love VDWT, hopefully we are doing our 11th trip with them in Sept. Top notch accommodations, everthing runs smoothly...no worries.
My wife and I booked for a European River cruise for September of 2020 (Majestic Rivers of Europe) and paid in 2019. In the meantime my wife had serious medical reasons that prevented us from travel even if Covid was not there and submitted claim with Tripmate in June 2020. Tripmate says that they have handed over everything to Vantage. What is the use of costly insurance if they would not honor a valid claim? Is the insurance company in bed with Vantage to refuse payment? It is going to be two years very soon since we made the payment. We made several attempts to get our refund. Other than a promise that it will be refunded eventually, there is no time frame given. Getting someone to speak is extremely tough. Vantage was highly recommended by couple of my friends as we just started our retirement. Never thought that it will end up being such a disappointment.
Check some of the other reviews here as well as the BBB and consumer affairs reviews. Same story here. My mother purchased a Vantage trip and trip insurance. The trip was cancelled due to COVID. They cannot be reached via phone. They are refusing to return any funds including travel insurance. As the trip is cancelled what benefit is the trip insurance providing? This isn't even legal. I found out that they encourage seniors to pay for trips via direct debit/withdrawal. Sounds more like a scam than a so-called "Deluxe Travel Company". Shame on you Vantage.
Service: Group tours
my experience was TERRIBLE. I called in about a trip and Mark pretty much coerced me into making a deposit and if I cancelled within 24 hours I would not be charged. HAHA! I am trying to.get my deposit back and I cannot get anyone to answer my calls and I have emailed with no success!! How can people have good comments about this company when they treat me and other people like this. and by the way I cancelled within 12 hours. I had heard good things about this company but I certainly don't believe this now. one time I did get to talk to Nickki and she said that Nick Williams would be calling me within a day. Wrong! she said all refund would be made immediately. Wrong again!! Help me get my money back!!
Vantage Deluxe World Travel cancelled a trip several times and has refused to refund over $4,000. It is outrageous that this company is taking advantage of longstanding customers by refusing to issue a refund of funds that were paid to them in good faith. Do NOT book a trip with this disreputable company.
We booked a Tulip Tour in January 2020 and paid an electronic check for $16,782 in February. Vantage notified us of cancellation in March due to the pandemic and offered the choice of a future travel voucher or a full refund. We chose the refund, which has not occurred more than a year later.
It is particularly annoying because we purchased the most expensive travel insurance ($899) through Vantage and have no way to access that insurance without their cooperation.
We have made repeated calls and sent letters to no avail.
Carol and Bob B.
Service: Group tours
Along with two friend couples, my wife and I had a Spain & Portugal Trip booked for a departure date almost two years ago, now. The trip was canceled and re-scheduled twice because of the pandemic. No fault on Vantage for that.
Most recently, the tour was scheduled for departure on the 9/13/21. Twelve days before, I found I'd been exposed to COVID. Following Vantage's online guidance, I called to report on same. After waiting on hold for precisely 3 hours, my call was disconnected. I called again, this time waiting on hold for 4 hours and 14 minutes (7 hours 14 minutes total wait time).
Finally, a nice woman named Latoya answered. I reported my exposure. She responded by stating that Vantage would be canceling my wife and I from the tour. She further explained that we'd forfeit our prox $11K tour fee.
I insisted that, since it was Vantage itself that was canceling against our will, it was wrong to claim continued possession of our tour fee. I said, in lieu of forfeiting our tour fee, we'd love to simply be re-booked on a future tour. This was refused. I offered to compromise, with Vantage keeping only such portion of the fee as it had expended in purchasing our airline tickets. This was also refused.
Finally, I pointed Latoya toward the online guidance provided by Vantage (over the signature of its Founder and Chairman, Henry R. Lewis), which reads in parts as follows:
"Travelers who ve tested positive or who ve been exposed to COVID-19 [within 14 days of] an upcoming journey should call Vantage to discuss their options."
I pointed that this was an implicit promise from the Founder and Chairman, to the effect that options would be offered -- and in fact that promise was being violated because my wife and me were being offered no options. Instead, Vantage was simply denying us what we paid for, while simultaneously keeping our money.
Latoya again consulted with superiors, and again came back with the same answer. Yes indeed, Vantage was determined to deny what we'd paid our $11K to purchase, while simultaneously keeping our $11K
Now you must ask yourself, when a company shows such egregious lack of principle and such thorough disrespect for its customers, is it a company you want to book your tour with?
My 90 year old mother booked and paid in full a Tulip trip to Holland for spring 2020. Vantage cancelled the trip due to Covid. My mother chose the refund option which she is not waiting patiently for-- she is 90. Honestly she is very upset. She and I have contacted Vantage countless times for the refund with no satisfaction. They told her they refund in order of payment. She paid for her trip in 2019 so it has to be a lie unless they've not refunded anyone. It's clear they spend peoples deposits and use new deposits to pay their bills instead of keeping the deposits in an escrow account. Just plain CROOKED and dishonest. A shame.
Now I get solicitation mail from them. That's a laugh
When my trip was cancelled due to Covid 19 in 2020, I indicated a potential interest in booking that trip or another when travel restrictions were lifted. I was offered the option of receiving my deposit back but opted to leave it in place for future use. Then, in June, I received an email indicating I had arbitrarily been booked on a trip for 2022 accompanied by an invoice to be paid. I tried calling and, as directed opted to email instead since my trip wasn't due to depart within 60 days. I sent 2-3 emails and 3 messages through My Portfolio on their website to "Customer Service" with no response although they continue to say that responses will be received within 48 hours. Also, the Chat option was not available on their website although that was the recommended path. I have since been informed that the Chat icon does not appear on the webpage if there are no Chat agents available. I have, however, received several marketing emails from them during since I started trying to contact them and they continue to recommend Chat. I guess you have to keep their web page open and continue to refresh it and hope to catch someone who is available!?! So, today I sat on hold for 2+ hours to speak with a representative. I requested that they cancel my reservation now, and due to concerns about lack of customer service and hesitation to book a trip with this company, I would like my deposit returned and was told that deposits are non-refundable whereas I was told that it was refundable since the cancellation was due to Covid. Now having been lied to and with the lack of customer service, I hesitate to travel with Vantage and cannot recommend them to others. I'll have to decide if I have to reluctantly and with serious trepidation book a trip with them or eat $2300+.
vantagetravel.com
