SPB Tours now charging deposit for ALL of their tours?

I am hoping that someone can help me. I just booked tours with SPB for our baltic cruise based on the recommendation of our friends who toured with them last year. Our friends booked their group tours and said that they paid in saint petersburg and that no deposit was required so I booked our tours with SPB. I got the confirmation back and it states that ALL tours require a 20% deposit. Is this right? I have emailed SPB to ask but wondering what others have experienced.

I usually stay away from companies that require deposits so if SPB now wants a deposit on all of their group tours, I will cancel and book with one of the competitors who do not require a deposit, I see that Alla Tours and TJ travel do not ask for a deposit on their group tours - are there any more out there that don't ask for deposits that anyone has experience with?

Thanks!

I am hoping that someone can help me. I just booked tours with SPB for our baltic cruise based on the recommendation of our friends who toured with them last year. Our friends booked their group tours and said that they paid in saint petersburg and that no deposit was required so I booked our tours with SPB. I got the confirmation back and it states that ALL tours require a 20% deposit. Is this right? I have emailed SPB to ask but wondering what others have experienced.

I usually stay away from companies that require deposits so if SPB now wants a deposit on all of their group tours, I will cancel and book with one of the competitors who do not require a deposit, I see that Alla Tours and TJ travel do not ask for a deposit on their group tours - are there any more out there that don't ask for deposits that anyone has experience with?

Thanks!

I have booked with TJ tours and confirm no deposit required

I confirm that Alla Tours does not require a deposit on her group tours. This must be something new for SPB because I am quite sure that they did not ask for a deposit in the past.

I found that some agencies do ask for a deposit and I decided not to book with them. For smaller companies, White Nights Travel and Best Guides do not.

We had to put a deposit down with SPB tours as we are doing the tour that goes to Moscow and they have to buy train tickets for us to get to Moscow. That’s what we were told the reason for the deposit.

We are booked with TJ for two days in St Petersburg and no deposit was required, although that would have not been an issue. I was surprised no deposit was requested. They come highly recommended and have been in regular communication.

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We had to put a deposit down with SPB tours as we are doing the tour that goes to Moscow and they have to buy train tickets for us to get to Moscow. That’s what we were told the reason for the deposit.

The deposit is now required on all of their tours, not just Moscow. I wonder why this change was made - seems quite drastic to me since none of the other big 3 are asking for a deposit. On the SPB website, it states the following:

In the following situations deposits are required:

• We require a 20% deposit for all booked services (private or flat-rate) unless it is one of the exceptions below.
  
• Tours to Moscow involving the SAPSAN Train require $200 USD per person deposit.
  
• Airport transfers in Scandinavia require a 100% deposit.
  
• If you are not booked with us in St. Petersburg, your package requires a 100% deposit​.
  

Just booked a Helsinki tour with SBT. Had to pay the 100% deposit at the time of booking. They do have good refund policy and are a professional group, so no big problem in paying up front.....not such a huge credit card bill all at once if you pay for everything at the time of the cruise.