Better communication

[zy1054]

Might be better not to email on the monday asking if i need pre/post tour accomodation and give the impression that everything is fine if you are going to cancel the whole thing by the friday. I now have very little time to organise alternatives.

[Zuleika]

cripes - what happened????????

[sinecure]

zy1054,
Is for a trip that is happening soon? Is there anything else GAP Adventures can do to help transition you to another tour? Unfortunately, trips do get canceled and while they try to give as much notice as possible sometimes it isn't always possible.

Please send me a PM if there is anything we can do to assist.

[Zuleika]

cripes - doesn't inspire confidence! I just booked 2 tours and booked and paid for flights! Fingers crossed I get to go!

[sinecure]

Zuleika,

As per the terms and conditions we don't recommend non refundable/changeable airfare until your trip is guaranteed. I know this is difficult and sometimes not always possible.

From the FAQ:

Will you let me know if my tour is guaranteed sooner than the 60-day mark?

Yes, an email will automatically be sent to you advising to go ahead and book your international airfare as your tour is now guaranteed to depart.

[IncaTrail50]

If people planning an uprising gave notice it would TOTALLY ruin the element of surprise. Or if Mother Nature booked her disasters ahead would they really be disasters?

Unfortunately, GAP-lovers, if we wanted guarantees in life we'd probably be booking all-inclusives to some lame beach. We thrive on adventure, and sadly sometimes that means our coveted plans change last-minute. Talk to all the people who piled up at Machu Picchu when the terrible landslides hit the Inca Trail and the trains out were canceled due to the disappearance of the tracks. Or the people booked for Phuket beach who found the beach and half the town gone after the tsunami. Get cancellation insurance and have a plan B. If GAP could predict the future they might not be in the travel business, they might have bought lottery tickets and be relaxing somewhere obscure in the world.

[Zuleika]

But 1 week before?? = surely it would be guaranteed by then.
zy 1054 doesnt say why it was cancelled - naturally I understand if there is a disaster or all out war breaking out this would be expected.

[DanielBMe]

From looking at his other posts it looks like (s)he was on the Cairo to Istanbul trip which goes through Syria. It looks like things on the ground became unsafe.

Right now these trips appear very iffy to me. Things can change quite quickly on the ground even within a week's time. However, things in Syria have been quite bad for the last 2 months so seems odd that this trip wasn't cancelled way ahead of time. I mean it's not news that Syria is unsafe...

[TravelFun]

This is so unlike Gap Adventures! The last update on Safety & Destinations is the following:

http://www.gapadventures.com/safety-upd ... s-in-syria

I am surprised there's no further updates post 11th May 2011 !!!

[mattr]

My girlfriend and I were on Instalbul to Cairo in May right when Syria blew up. Our trip was heavily modified to avoid going into Syria 3 or so days before we left. We decided to cancel the trip with GAP because it no longer fit our timelines as we were planning more travel once the tour ended.

GAP refunded the full trip amount and the deposit for us and 3 days later we landed in Istanbul and planned the entire trip down to Cairo booking flights, hotels ect... from my BlackBerry.

It was a fun experience and we made the best out of an uncontrollable situation.

GAP was very supportive and we would 100% travel with them again (as we have in the past!)

If you're wondering, our route was:

Istanbul -> Cappadocia -> Ephesus -> Flight to Tel Aviv -> Jerusalem (dead sea, masada, jericho) -> Amman -> Petra -> Wadi Rum -> Aqaba Ferry to Egypt -> Dahab -> Eharm El Sheikh -> Flight to Luxor -> Cairo -> White Desert -> Alexandria -> Cairo -> Home