Toursaver coupons-TAKE NOTE

[loanin]

I have been trying to book several items from the toursaver book 2-3 weeks out. Many of the things I have tried booking (Kenai Fjords National Park Tour, Talkeentna Air, Temsco Air, etc) all had availabilities UNTIL I said I had a toursaver coupon. Then there were none available. All the "toursaver" tours were all booked. It seems they only allow for very limited tours that you can use toursaver coupons on (assuming you can). Very disappointing:(. Be aware before you buy. The whole reason I bought it was for the flightseeing tours which have proven to be no good. I have still gotten my money back out of it but don't know all this was worth it when all is said and done

[frugaltravel]

Thanks for the warning but it has been repeatedly mentioned before. The Toursaver book has been available since last November, so many people have been booking for 7 months already. In the case of toursaver, the early bird gets the worm.

[mytime53]

I'm sorry you were disappointed. But can you imagine any company staying in business if that price wasn't capacity controlled? Most of their business would be 2-for-1, and prices would have to be doubled to account for it. Then the single traveler would really be up a creek!

[keysinc]

Loanin - I just got back two days ago Prince Coral/Alaska and had two Tour Books, did not book any Tours until I got to each Port and had no problem. I did however have to take the earlier times, which most start when Ship docks but, did not mind since I wanted to enjoy the rest of the day. One of my Tours was with Taquan Air and it was well worth the trip that early.

[ashok1982]

Most flights excursions take one coupon per flight. If someone with coupon already booked that flight before you, they won't honor another coupon for the flight.

[Tricia724]

As keysinc mentioned, check them out when you get there. Even when they won't give you an advance reservation, if there are seats available, some tour companies will take the coupons from walk-ins....very quietly and discretely.

 

Several years ago we weren't sure about taking the Talkeetna Air flight, but we decided to stop at the airport on the way in just to talk to them. It so happened it was a beautiful day, they had a plane sitting on the runway, and they were looking for bodies to fill the seats. They snapped up the coupon in a heartbeat....but they did ask us not to mention it to the other customers who came in after us. No problem. Although we had made a reservation with Kenai Fjords for their cruise, I saw another couple walk in and very quietly make arrangements to use their coupon.

 

Timing is everything, and you may be locked out, but it never hurts to ask. Just don't go in the office waving your Toursaver book and ask for the coupon rate if there are other customers standing around in hearing distance who would not be happy to learn that you are paying half of their fare.

[ro the teacher]

I spoke to someone last week from Taquin Air and they said that they had booked all the Toursaver tickets already & were holding seats open for cruise lines. They said to call when you get in port and see what is open then.

[PennyAgain]

This is not news. The tour companies agree to sell a certain number of Toursaver priced tickets and most won't sell any more.

 

The early bird gets the worm on this one.

[javajaws]

I booked most of my activities a few months ago, and still ran into a couple hiccups...time constraints, etc - mostly on the higher priced stuff that involved airplanes or boats. TAT if I recall wouldn't let me use my coupon on the day I wanted, but they did give me 20% off (with coupon)...

[loanin]

Thank for the suggestion on checking when we get there. Yes Talkeetna did offer a 20% discount. My fault for waiting I suppose. It took a while to get everything arranged since we are doing the land portion ourselves.

I did find another company Major Marine Cruises that does the same Kenai Fjord cruise and was happy to honor the kenai fjord coupon. The only problem there is I couldnt work it out with the rail schedule. Ended up booking the motorcoach/cruise/rail pkg which was cheaper than Kenai Fjord and that was with a Salmon/prime rib buffet.

[Budget Queen]

Thank for the suggestion on checking when we get there. Yes Talkeetna did offer a 20% discount. My fault for waiting I suppose. It took a while to get everything arranged since we are doing the land portion ourselves.

I did find another company Major Marine Cruises that does the same Kenai Fjord cruise and was happy to honor the kenai fjord coupon. The only problem there is I couldnt work it out with the rail schedule. Ended up booking the motorcoach/cruise/rail pkg which was cheaper than Kenai Fjord and that was with a Salmon/prime rib buffet.

 

Major Marines 11:30am boat was full too?? When/time are you going with them?

[pizzalady1]

A lot of CC members call and make reservations way ahead of time, telling the vendor that they will be using the TourSaver coupon, before buying the book. Some vendors will want you to call them back with the book number, but most seem ok with you just bringing the book with you when you show for the excursion. At least this way you would know if it is beneficial to purchase the book. As PennyAgain said, the early worm...

[loanin]

Major Marines 11:30am boat was full too?? When/time are you going with them?

No not full, it was a conflict with the time the rail was arriving and the time of the National Park Tour. The offered the shorter tour. Very helpful but I believe the tour we were trying to book was leaving within minutes of the rail arrival and would run a risk of not making the cruise.

[loanin]

A lot of CC members call and make reservations way ahead of time, telling the vendor that they will be using the TourSaver coupon, before buying the book. Some vendors will want you to call them back with the book number, but most seem ok with you just bringing the book with you when you show for the excursion. At least this way you would know if it is beneficial to purchase the book. As PennyAgain said, the early worm...

You are very correct. The few coupons I was able to use never asked for a book number or anything. Just said to bring the book. So it would have been beneficial to try booking before I got the book.

[Budget Queen]

No not full, it was a conflict with the time the rail was arriving and the time of the National Park Tour. The offered the shorter tour. Very helpful but I believe the tour we were trying to book was leaving within minutes of the rail arrival and would run a risk of not making the cruise.

 

For clarification this is not correct. They certainly DO take the coupon for their 11:30am boat tour- they will take Kenai Fjords' company coupon. AND this also connects up with the railroad. I personally just did this in the last couple weeks.

 

There is no conflict, the trains have a great many of the boat tour patrons every day.

[loanin]

That is good to know. The girl I spoke with said she did not recommend that tour or if I do take that tour does not recommend using the rail service for arrival because it cut too close and I run a risk of missing it. That was why I went ahead and booked outside of the coupon.

[Sprock&Karen]

We had no problems using our books, check out ebay books are available from $1 with just 2 coupons used.:)

[thefer]

Hi

 

It blows me out of my mind how tour companies put coupons in these books and then only take a limited number of coupons per day. I had the exact same thing happen with Kenai Fjords tours. They had spots open, but they couldn't take my coupon. I ended up contacting Major Marine and they were wonderful and accepted Kenai Fjords coupon for the exact same cruise. Amazing, Kenai Fjords won't accept their coupon but their competer accepts it without any problems.

 

Jennifer

[bmcc]

I will make a reservation first before purchasing the toursaver book

[Tricia724]

It blows me out of my mind how tour companies put coupons in these books and then only take a limited number of coupons per day. I had the exact same thing happen with Kenai Fjords tours. They had spots open, but they couldn't take my coupon. I ended up contacting Major Marine and they were wonderful and accepted Kenai Fjords coupon for the exact same cruise. Amazing, Kenai Fjords won't accept their coupon but their competer accepts it without any problems.

 

I agree that it is disappointing to have spent the money for the coupon book, only to find that you can't use the coupon. But....if you can put yourself in the position of the tour operator, they really can't accept unlimited 2-for-1 coupons and make a decent living.

 

Alaska has such a small tourist season compared to other places. Basically it's a May-September window of opportunity, with June, July, and August being the peak season. Many of the tour operators have a limited number of seats/spaces available, and they need to make enough money for themselves.....as well as for the upkeep of their planes or boats or vehicles.

 

The coupons are just a way of stimulating interest in their tour offerings. You will notice that many of the coupons state that it is "subject to availability." If you are using a coupon for the Sea Life Center or a museum or something like that, it matters little how many people are coming or going. However, if you are trying to book a flight which may take anywhere from 4-10 passengers or a boat trip with limited seating, a 2-for-1 ticket has a huge impact on the revenue of the tour operator.

 

Remember, if you are trying to book a tour 3-6 months out, the tour operator has no way of knowing at that time just how much demand there will be for the tour. So.....if they have already accepted several coupons, it stands to reason that they will not be willing to accept a discounted fare when they may be able to sell the tour at full price. Chances are that if you walk in to the office an hour before departure and there are a number of seats available, they will accept your coupon because something is better than nothing.

 

The coupon books are not a guarantee that you will save money. They are an opportunity to save money, but you have to book early and plan wisely.

[DD]

That is good to know. The girl I spoke with said she did not recommend that tour or if I do take that tour does not recommend using the rail service for arrival because it cut too close and I run a risk of missing it. That was why I went ahead and booked outside of the coupon.

 

 

I also just did it -- no problem with timing! The AKRR actually kind of laughed that I was concerned about cutting it that close. They assured me that many, many people do it ALL the time!

[thefer]

Hi

 

I actually tried to use the coupon with about less than 2 weeks notice. I live in Anchorage, but made the decision at the last minute to surpise my dad with a day cruise since he is coming up. The lady said that there is alot of room left on the boat. I would think that they would take the coupon versus losing a sale to a competer. The lady even told me that I should have booked back in October for a July cruise if I wanted to use a coupon. I wish I could have planned that far in advance.

 

Our peak season is short. By the time it starts, it ends and snow arrives and stays around for several months.

 

I was lucky in the sense that I did not buy the book. Another person on a different message board, was wonderful in sending me a coupon. It does seem unfair for those who pay for the book to not being able to use it. Waste of money. As someone mentioned, it makes sense to book tours, mentioned that you have a coupon, and then buy the book if they accept the coupon.

[skierT]

Hi

 

It blows me out of my mind how tour companies put coupons in these books and then only take a limited number of coupons per day. I had the exact same thing happen with Kenai Fjords tours. They had spots open, but they couldn't take my coupon. I ended up contacting Major Marine and they were wonderful and accepted Kenai Fjords coupon for the exact same cruise. Amazing, Kenai Fjords won't accept their coupon but their competer accepts it without any problems.

 

Jennifer

 

that's outrageous! Can someone return the book if they could not use any coupon from the book?

[loanin]

Over all, I will have to admit, it did pay for itself and then some. I took one person's advice and approached one of the vendors on the doc and discretely asked them if they would take it since they were already offering a discounted price trying to fill slot..and they did!! I used the coupon for the Inlet Towers Hotel as well as the princess rail and Talkeetna and the princess rail and Denali, the prince william sound tour as well so it more than paid for itself but it was frustrating since I planned alot of it around being able to use the coupons so I ended up more out of pocket than anticipated.

[FurryPetMom]

When do the toursaver books come out for the following year? We are going back to Alaska in August of 2011 and I would love to save some money on our trips.