Travel Ban & What You Can Do
Updated: Mar 28, 2020
It's by now quite clear that travel will be close to impossible over the next month or so. This is going to impact the travel industry terribly. The actual consequences are hard to even imagine at this point.
That's why I would like to remind those who sadly have to cancel their eminent trips, to consider rescheduling instead of cancelling altogether. This would help several companies to stay afloat. And, of course, this applies to all destinations around the globe.
Concerning your booking with Grape Tours
DIRECT BOOKINGS
Grape Tours offers guests who have booked directly on our website a full refund for all bookings until the end of May '20 (this has since changed - see further details here.) As most tour companies, we utilize a booking system, connected with an online money institution such as Paypal or Stripe. Funny enough(!), these days these two major companies seem to have had enough of refunds, and have changed their policy which used to be free of charge (only for cancellations, obviously) and now they charge something equal to 4%!
INDIRECT BOOKINGS
Many day trip operators feel forced to offer their experiences also on big reselling platforms such as Tripadvisor/Viator/Airbnb/Getyourguide, etc. Firstly, be aware that when you book on any of these platforms, you're paying to that platform (the operator does not receive its slice of the cake until after the experience has taken place). In fact, the fee retained by the provider varies from 20-30%! So if you need to cancel, you need to contact the platform to request cancellation there (cancellation policies may differ from the providers').
OUR RECOMMENDATION
You are usually best off booking directly with the operator. You're bound to get a better price, and you ensure their wellbeing - the money can be spent on better service, better vehicles, better staff, better lunches, etc. So BOOK DIRECT!
This time during lockdown we will spend as thoughtfully as possible. We are resting our bodies and our spirits somewhat involuntarily, but hopefully, as soon as the emergency is over, people will burst with the desire to travel. And we will be ready with the most fabulous wine tours ever!
See our guides' greetings from their respective homes: