Bad Travel Experience for a Good Trip with Overseas Adventure Travel
Jun 26, 2017, 1:48 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Reston, Virginia, USA
Posts: 653
Bad Travel Experience for a Good Trip with Overseas Adventure Travel
Since this is the first time I've had a bad time from Grand Circle/ OAT, I ran this essay by their customer service. Their non-answer is at the end.
In the past my reviews of Grand Circle/Overseas Adventure Travel has begun, “Nothing goes wrong on an OAT trip.” Not so this time.
On the day of departure from the US there came email from South African Airlines that our flight was cancelled. We were rescheduled for zero dark thirty the next morning. Well, no problem. Our OAT Final Document Booklet says, “Then call us toll-free at 1-800-866-2034 to advise us of your new flight arrangements.” Okey-doakey. OAT must have handled thousands of cancelled flights. Just call the toll-free number.
After 2 ˝ hours on hold – yes that’s HOURS, not minutes – the cheerful voice of OAT told us to first call the airline. Oh joy!
After an hour on hold at South African Airways we learned that we were indeed confirmed on the 6:30 AM flight the next morning, just as their email stated. Still, we had to check bags and get boarding passes the day of the cancelled flight between 1:00PM and 5:00PM. Good thing we started calling early, or the hold time would have put us past the 1:00-5:00 window.
During the second, “your call is very important…” episode with OAT I called Grand Circle’s reservation number. Answered immediately. The speaker became pretty surly when he understood I’d called to complain rather than to spend thousands of dollars. He promised to “pass on” my complaint.
In desperation I tried OAT’s international emergency number: 1-617-346-6090. “Bee Boo Beep, this is not a working number.” ... OAT? Why is the emergency number in your travel instructions a dead number? I was within an ace of invoking my travel insurance when we finally got through to OAT the second time.
We use DAN for trip insurance. TripMate through OAT specifically excludes botched travel plans. DAN pays.
So another 2 1/2 hours on hold at OAT’s help (less) number confirmed that we would join our Ultimate Africa trip in the Johannesburg airport.
SAA lived down to its reputation on FlyerTalk:
Once there, OAT’s Ultimate Africa trip exceeded our expectation. It was just great! But the shabby treatment we received when our flight was cancelled will color decisions for future travel. OAT must deal with thousands of cancelled flights. Why were we on hold so long the batteries on our land-line phones ran out? Twice. Twice!
I pointed out to the OAT customer service rep that had this occurred while we were in a foreign airport our mobile phones would have had insufficient battery for 2 1/2 hours on hold. Her non-answer follows:
In the past my reviews of Grand Circle/Overseas Adventure Travel has begun, “Nothing goes wrong on an OAT trip.” Not so this time.
On the day of departure from the US there came email from South African Airlines that our flight was cancelled. We were rescheduled for zero dark thirty the next morning. Well, no problem. Our OAT Final Document Booklet says, “Then call us toll-free at 1-800-866-2034 to advise us of your new flight arrangements.” Okey-doakey. OAT must have handled thousands of cancelled flights. Just call the toll-free number.
After 2 ˝ hours on hold – yes that’s HOURS, not minutes – the cheerful voice of OAT told us to first call the airline. Oh joy!
After an hour on hold at South African Airways we learned that we were indeed confirmed on the 6:30 AM flight the next morning, just as their email stated. Still, we had to check bags and get boarding passes the day of the cancelled flight between 1:00PM and 5:00PM. Good thing we started calling early, or the hold time would have put us past the 1:00-5:00 window.
During the second, “your call is very important…” episode with OAT I called Grand Circle’s reservation number. Answered immediately. The speaker became pretty surly when he understood I’d called to complain rather than to spend thousands of dollars. He promised to “pass on” my complaint.
In desperation I tried OAT’s international emergency number: 1-617-346-6090. “Bee Boo Beep, this is not a working number.” ... OAT? Why is the emergency number in your travel instructions a dead number? I was within an ace of invoking my travel insurance when we finally got through to OAT the second time.
We use DAN for trip insurance. TripMate through OAT specifically excludes botched travel plans. DAN pays.
So another 2 1/2 hours on hold at OAT’s help (less) number confirmed that we would join our Ultimate Africa trip in the Johannesburg airport.
SAA lived down to its reputation on FlyerTalk:
Late departure – check. 6:30 flight left at 9:30.
Crammed flight – check.
Screaming babies – check, check and check.
We arrived in Johannesburg expecting to miss our connection to Botswana. But there was an OAT clipboard waiting for us. Then well-oiled OAT machinery took over. South African OAT reps hustled us through. Caught our flight to Botswana with minutes to spare.Crammed flight – check.
Screaming babies – check, check and check.
Once there, OAT’s Ultimate Africa trip exceeded our expectation. It was just great! But the shabby treatment we received when our flight was cancelled will color decisions for future travel. OAT must deal with thousands of cancelled flights. Why were we on hold so long the batteries on our land-line phones ran out? Twice. Twice!
I pointed out to the OAT customer service rep that had this occurred while we were in a foreign airport our mobile phones would have had insufficient battery for 2 1/2 hours on hold. Her non-answer follows:
"I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to follow up from our conversation last week. I've reached out to my IS department to find out why you weren't able to get through to our emergency phone number and they weren't able to find anything wrong. I personally called the numbers as well and were able to get through. I appreciate you raising this issue to us and again, I apologize for the inconvenience. There shouldn't be any issues going forward. Please let me know if you have any further questions, otherwise I will close this log as being resolved.
Warm Regards,
Angela Miller
Traveler Relations
Overseas Adventure Travel "
Warm Regards,
Angela Miller
Traveler Relations
Overseas Adventure Travel "
Jun 27, 2017, 12:56 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 4
I've traveled with OAT and Grand Circle so many times that I've forgotten you can actually have a less-than-optimal experience with them...that is, until I took their Backroads of Iberia trip a few years ago. The trip leader wasn't even in the league of their usual trip leaders and her judgment wasn't so hot, either (t-shirt with "I'm only in this for the money" spelled out in rhinestones...really?). Luckily, as with your experience, the joy of traveling in the country was enough to blunt any annoyance with the trip leader (who I'm sure did not survive at the company much longer).
Jun 29, 2017, 8:51 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
thanks! odd reply from OAT. so trip ended up fine? did insurance cover something?
ive not found insurance where i felt it would cover nonrefundable overnights when not arriving in time for those overnights
ive not found insurance where i felt it would cover nonrefundable overnights when not arriving in time for those overnights