Being Scottish my ears pricked up when a press release entitled, "UK Travellers Receive New Free Perks in Italy" arrived in my inbox. On closer inspection the free perks offered by Italian Connection walking and cooking tours specialist, called "Smooth Arrival®", comprises of free airport transfers and a free pre-tour stay at a 4 star hotel during th month of October. When I examined the small print of the offer, I discovered that the complimentary service is limited to four travelers per tour, on a first-come first-served basis. Now as the cost of the Piedmont Vineyards and Lakes is £2285 GBP excluding flights and doesn't even include all meals, I'm not exactly bowled over by the "free" perks.
© alessandro pucci
Now perhaps for a luxury small tour it's still good value but I think that a tour company should be promoting itself by the quality of its tour itinerary, the standard of accommodation and knowledge of the guides, instead of headline grabbing "free" extras. Now if you did phone to book the tour, enticed by the free perks, how would you react if your were told that you were not eligible because the perk was only available to the first four participants who made a booking?
August 15th, 2008 on 10:16 am
In this economy – and being an American who loves to travel to Europe (even with the weak dollar) – I don’t mind being offered perks with certain stipulations. It’s nice to have them offered at all … because so many of the European tour companies and upscale cruise companies aren’t offering anything at all. It’s like they don’t even care about American travelers anymore. I think the Italian Connection is OK to offer limits on the perks … at least they are offering something when no one else in their ultra-lux class is at the moment. And at least they come out on the web site and tell you the limits. Look at Silverseas or other lux travel operators … you never know until the last minute.
August 18th, 2008 on 2:48 pm
Rowan, thanks for your comment. Looks like your reckon I’m being too hard on the Italian Connection.