Qu: Why is there ‘No Pricing’ on the website?

There are many reasons we do not include pricing on our sample itineraries and featured products.

Primarily, your style of travel affects the price of a given itinerary. This could be the the level of your choice of accommodation (ie. are you choosing the overwater bungalow or the garden suite), or the level of your tours and activities (ie. do you have a private guide, or are you partaking in a small group tour).

Additionally, there are too many factors affecting the price such as seasonal rates - low and high season rates can greatly differ; currency conversions - many itineraries are based on foreign currencies and the conversion to USD can fluctuate; and special promotions that may only be offered for a limited travel period.

Our suggested itineraries are designed to give you some ideas and are but a sample, a taste, of our services. They may highlight some of our favorite places, and while we believe they’re great as they are, you may want yours a little different. And that’s perfectly OK with us, because our customized itineraries are curated for you.

In some instances we have tried to give a guideline by using the intuitive ‘$’ symbol - as a very rough guide here are the ‘$’ bands we have used.

$ = up to 2K per person

$$ up to 4K per person

$$$ up to 6K per person

$$$$ up to 8K per person

$$$$ over 8K per person

Qu: What Are Your Fees?

Partnerships within the travel industry are the norm and Travel Agents and Tour Operators are largely compensated for providing your travel services through commissions paid to us by our suppliers and partners. We do, however, charge an engagement fee to initiate an agreement to work together and to help compensate our initial time investment to research a starting itinerary. This fee ranges from $250-$500 depending on the complexity of the itinerary and group dynamics involved.

Qu: Why Should I Use a Travel Professional?

Perhaps you’ve started researching your own trip because you thought it would be less expensive. Now you find yourself in a state of information overload. Every website for every product is touting the same credentials.  How do you differentiate and know what is best and even what is truth? It can not only be confusing, but time consuming.

Leave the research, planning and booking of your travel itineraries to us, the travel professional. It’s what we do for a living. It’s our job. We’re specialists in the travel industry and you can be assured of knowing you are working with a US based company that is knowledgeable, experienced and well connected globally.

Q: Isn’t it better to work with a local company in the country I am travelling to?

Great Expeditions solves the challenges of accessibility due to time zones, broad destination knowledge, an understanding of the needs of our travelers, and partnership with local experts. Travel professionals like Great Expeditions have the unique advantage of experiencing the breadth of product options within a destination on what are called “familiarizations.” This gives us the opportunity to place a product or service into the context of the destination’s greater travel offerings. Many local tourism businesses only know their own product or region of the country, and they’re busy focusing on the guest experience with no interest in or capacity to organize a larger trip. Local tour operators may know the variety of product, but cultural differences make it challenging to anticipate expectations for travel style. We serve as a conduit for communicating our clients’ travel style and interests and pairing the unique blend of parameters into the context of the tourism offerings in partnership with local companies. It’s how you get the convenience and security of on-the-ground assistance with the deeper understanding and accessibility of a US-based consultant.

Qu: How Do I Know What My Budget Should Be, and Can You Work With My Budget?

These are common questions. You have an idea for where you’d like to go and what you’d to do, but you don’t have an idea of what that will cost. Alternatively, you have a budget and need ideas of where that budget will take you.

Some factors that effect the cost of a trip can include: airfare costs, the time of year you are traveling, how long you are traveling for, how many people you are traveling with, the level of luxury you need, what tours and activities are included in your itinerary, is your itinerary inclusive of meals and drinks, how exclusive or remote is your itinerary and are there logistical costs to get there.

Part of our customized itinerary planning services is to work with your budget needs and we always strive to find the perfect balance to offer exceptionally well valued itineraries offering the best experience that will exceed your expectations, for that budget. We know how to factor in special offers and how to plan travel dates to avoid high season pricing. We can help budgets by mix n matching levels of accommodation - knowing where you need to splurge and where you can save for getting the best experience. We are especially knowledgeable with how to include the hidden gems into your itinerary – a lesser known destination, or area within a destination or a boutique hotel.

While we cannot be miracle workers and send you on an African safari for $1000 per person, and we do not work with the budget / backpacker market, we can work within a broad range of budgets for most destinations. We will always be upfront at the beginning of the planning process to advise good estimations on costs and set realistic expectations.

Qu. Do I really need travel insurance?

The answer is a resounding YES! And we highly recommend travel insurance for all our clients. What it all comes down to is peace of mind, and the value of that should far outweigh any doubts you might have.

Tip. Here are our top five reasons to insure yourself and your vacation:

1  Trip Cancellation or Interruption - your trip may be non-refundable, and travel insurance can cover you in the event that you have to cancel your trip due to unforeseen circumstances. This includes illness or death of a traveling companion or close family member.

2  Travel Delays or Missed Connections - covers expenses such as accommodations, meals, transportation expenses, and unused arrangements.

3  Medical Expenses - you should check with your medical insurance provider about level of coverage while traveling. Even if your plan covers you, travel insurance can act as your secondary insurance and pay any additional costs.

4  Emergency Assistance and Evacuation - can you think of a better reason? You don't want to risk the possibility of needing this coverage and not having it, or having limitations on the dollar value. Many remote locations require that you have this coverage to be there.

5  Protect your Belongings - from loss, theft or damage, or the need for emergency purchase of necessary personal effects if your baggage is delayed for more than 24 hours during your covered trip.

We strongly recommend all travelers purchase insurance at the time they place their initial deposit on a trip. While this is an optional additional cost to your trip, for some itineraries, a minimum of emergency medical evacuation coverage is not only recommended, it is required. See more here.

Great Expeditions works with Travel Guard, a subsidiary of AIG, as well as DAN, DiveAssure, and Medjet, and can provide a quote at the time of booking for comprehensive coverage or emergency evacuation coverage, or you can explore policy options directly through the links below. Great Expeditions is, however, not qualified to answer technical questions about the benefits, exclusions, and conditions of travel insurance plans. We also cannot evaluate the adequacy of the prospective insured's existing insurance coverage. If you have any detailed questions about your travel protection you need address those directly with the provider.

Qu: Can You Book Airline Tickets?

Yes. We are an ARC approved and bonded agency. Airline ticketing, if needed, is included as part of our service when planning and booking your customized travel itinerary. However, with rare exception, we do not offer air only ticketing services without charging a service fee.

Qu: Can I Use Airline Miles?

Using frequent flier miles is a great way to travel internationally and can help with your overall budget if you do not have to factor in the cost of flights. The inventory for these seats is not available to us and we can neither book, nor even see the availability. These reservations need to be reserved directly with the frequent flier department of the airline. It can be a time consuming process and while we can facilitate booking these flights, we would need to charge a minimum fee of $100 per ticket.

If it is your intent to use miles, we encourage you to determine the ability to do so at the beginning stage of your trip planning. The airlines only allot a few seats per flight for frequent flier purchase, and even fewer if you plan to book business or first class. This is especially true for long haul destinations, where these seats are in high demand and do sell out quickly. Ideally, reservations are secured when the inventory first becomes available. Generally speaking, most airlines open their seating 331 days prior.

Qu: Do You Book Cruises?

While we do not book, nor recommend mass tourism, large cruise ships, we have a selection of small ships, barges, sailing vessels and expedition style cruise products to offer. There are some destinations where a cruise is the only option (Antarctica for example); while for other destinations a cruise can enable a more in-depth exploration (the Galapagos Islands for example); and sometimes a cruise is just an enjoyable way to travel whether for your entire itinerary, or just a part of it.

Qu. What is ‘Sustainable Tourism’ / ‘Responsible Travel’?

We believe travel can change lives. It can change the traveler whose perspectives may change with each new experience and connection, and certainly the lives of the communities to which travel contributes. We also believe travel can change the trajectory of future lives through redistribution of wealth to local economies and communities, conservation, and sustainable development. 

When travel and tourism meet these goals it is often referred to as ‘Responsible or Sustainable’ and is a powerful force for conservation, economic and social development.

When global events bring international travel to a grinding halt, the social and environmental impacts from the lack of tourism are made abundantly clear with increased poaching, environmental degradation and unprecedented economic catastrophe on an industry that provides one in every ten jobs on the planet. There is clear evidence that responsible travel, and not staying at home, is one of the most important resources for protecting the environment, wildlife and allowing local economies to flourish.

Great Expeditions strives to support tourism that contributes to inclusive and sustainable economic growth; tourism that creates wealth that remains in the local economy and empowers those communities. We further strive to support climate-resilient tourism and mitigate tourism’s impact on climate change.

As a business, Great Expeditions Travel runs on solar power with zero emissions for our commute to work.  We understand that there are many schools of thought as to how best to achieve the broad goals we aspire to.  As such we do not inflate our itinerary costs to cover carbon offsetting and other arbitrary initiatives. This allows you, the individual traveler the option to invest if or how you see fit.  To name a few our travelers have invested in donating to tree planting programs in the countries they visit, programmes focused on making an education accessible to girls, supporting marine conservation efforts, as well as offsetting their flights.  If you would like some ideas, we would be happy to offer suggestions based on your destination.