Tour Newsletter

Below is a copy of our current tour newsletter. To subscribe to our weekly newsletter, absolutely free of charge, please click here. To email this newsletter to friends or family, click here. Please note that the FastDeals are subject to availability and sell out quickly.

Dear Vacations To Go Customer,

Vacations To Go is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month. Read on for a bit of the company's history, or scroll down for this week's best tour deals and more.

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Forty years ago this week, we strung a hand-painted "Grand Opening" banner above the door in a small shopping center in Houston and Vacations To Go was born.

My business partner (Bob Carney) and I opened our two-room travel agency on a Sunday because the travel editor of the Houston Chronicle, Mary Lu Abbott, ran a story about us that day. With my meager life savings on the line, I wanted to be in the office just in case the phone rang, and it did.

We were a new breed of travel agency with a unique mission: to convince cruise lines, airlines, tour operators and hotels that they should deeply discount the price of unsold cabins, seats and rooms near departure date, that making anything on the inventory was better than making nothing.

If we could do that, we would have a viable business and open up the world to people who could not have afforded international travel otherwise.

I set out to convince major travel companies to give us deals they did not offer to other travel agencies. This was not made easier by the fact that we had no customers.

Finding customers, on the other hand, was not aided by the fact that we had no deals.

Eventually, a dozen airlines, cruise lines and tour operators agreed to test our concept. Riding what turned into a huge wave of publicity due to our record-low prices, we were off and running on that day in May 1984.

In 1986, we took the company public, and in 1987, we launched our publishing division with the first of our three magazines, Vacations, which was later joined by Travel 50 & Beyond and Where to Retire. I coaxed Mary Lu away from the Houston Chronicle and she became the founding editor of Where to Retire, where she called the shots until her own retirement in 2012.

We grew out of that shopping center space and opened an airline-style reservation center, and added travel and retirement books to our list of publications. After several years as a public company, we bought out the outside shareholders and took the company private.

In 1999, we launched our cruise website and within a few years, we launched sites for river cruises, guided tours, air & hotel packages, safaris and more.

We bought our own office building, translated our cruise site into Spanish and Portuguese and French, launched group cruise and hosted singles departments and the industry's first department dedicated solely to cruise passengers with special needs.

Somewhere along the way, we became the world's largest seller of cruises and river cruises.

So many people have contributed to the growth and success of Vacations To Go that it would be impossible to name them all. Three who stand out are Emerson Hankamer, our CEO; Troy Bringle, our President; and Dane Fish, our CFO.

Today, we represent every significant cruise line, river cruise company, tour operator and hotel chain in the world. True to our roots, we are still the very best at finding last-minute discounts for our customers. Our 90-Day Ticker is the standard by which all last-minute cruise lists are measured.

Every week, we sell hundreds of cruise cabins at the last minute, at rates that other travel agencies never even hear about. And we offer deep early bird discounts and shipboard credits for people who prefer to make plans in advance.

When I look back at what has been accomplished in the last 40 years, I am most proud of the group we have built here, the more than 1,000 men and women of Vacations To Go. They are the kind of people you want to go to work with every day, dedicated to being the best and providing the best service and advice in the travel industry.

I am grateful to be on the same team.

In our four decades, the travel industry has survived more epidemics, hurricanes, wars and recessions than I can remember. The instant, global dissemination of bad news sometimes makes it seem like the world is a dangerous place, but I don't believe there are any new threats in the world, just new strains of old threats.

International travel today is safer than it has ever been, and there are more amazing trips to more fascinating places than ever before.

And Vacations To Go? We are bigger and better than ever.

What new adventures await travelers in the next 40 years? I can hardly wait to find out!

You can be sure that Vacations To Go will be here to bring you the very best the world has to offer -- at a discount, of course.

Sincerely,

Alan Fox
Executive Chairman
Vacations To Go

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Below I've rounded up the best tour discounts and deals available to Vacations To Go customers from the world's top tour companies. Most of these deals expire soon, so call right away if you see something you like. Just click the links for itineraries, departure dates and rates.

Collette: Save up to $800 per couple. Book by May 15.

Insight: Save up to $3,800 per couple. Book by May 17.

Trafalgar: Save up to $3,000 per couple. Book by May 17.

Costsaver: Save up to $1,600 per couple. Book by May 17.

Brendan: Save up to 15%. Book by May 17.

Luxury Gold: Save $200 per couple. Book by May 17.

CIE Tours: Save up to 15%. Also, enjoy all special excursions and activities at no additional cost. Book by May 31.

Gate 1 Travel: Save $700 per couple. Book by May 31.

Rocky Mountaineer: Save up to $1,000 per couple. Book by May 31.

G Adventures: Save up to 25%. Book by May 31.

Globus: Save $700 per couple.

Cosmos: Save $300 per couple.

Intrepid: Save up to 35%.

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In case you missed any of our recent tour newsletters, I've provided links below for the last 10 topics we've covered. Click any link to read more.

Collette Tours & Specialty Travel -- Get a few ideas that may help you plan your next vacation.

Gate 1 Travel -- Read about the company's exciting itineraries in South America and Central America.

Italy's Incredible Attractions -- Explore the history, art and cuisine of one of the most popular tour destinations.

Avalon Waterways -- Take advantage of flexible excursion options to customize your river cruise experience.

Guided Vacations from The Travel Corporation -- Learn about tour brands like Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Costsaver and more.

10 Enticing Mediterranean Tours -- Browse attractive trips to countries like Greece, Spain, France and others.

Guided Tours from Globus -- See offerings from one of the world's most experienced tour operators.

Brand-New Guided Tours -- Check out 24 new tours debuting this year.

AmaWaterways -- Receive special access to offers and browse new river sailings.

Canada's Amazing Sights -- See the country's beautiful landscapes and cosmopolitan cities.

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Here are this week's Top 10 Tours. All prices are per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability.

1) Tuscany & the Italian Riviera, 9 days with Collette. Begins in Turin and ends in Florence. Save $400 per couple. Starting at $2,349. Departures from June 7, 2024 through May 23, 2025.

2) Highlights of Taiwan, 8 days with SITA World Tours. Begins and ends in Taipei. Save $150 per couple. Starting at $1,645. Departures from May 25, 2024 through December 21, 2024.

3) Irish Spirit, 8 or 9 days with CIE Tours. Begins and ends in Dublin. Save up to 15%. Plus, all excursions are included at no extra cost. Starting at $1,745. Departures from May 23, 2024 through October 24, 2024.

4) Scenic Slovenia & Croatia, 8 days with Cosmos. Begins and ends in Ljubljana. Save $300 per couple. Starting at $1,799. Departs September 18, 2024 and October 2 & 9, 2024.

5) London Explorer, 8 days with Trafalgar. Begins and ends in London. Save up to 18%. Starting at $2,613. Departures from May 26, 2024 through October 27, 2024.

6) Gems of Northern Iceland, 6 days with Globus. Begins and ends in Reykjavik. Save $700 per couple. Starting at $2,799. Departures from October 27, 2024 through December 1, 2024.

7) Easy Pace Budapest, Vienna & Prague, 10 days with Insight Vacations. Begins in Budapest and ends in Prague. Save up to 18%. Starting at $2,873. Departures from May 24, 2024 through October 25, 2024.

8) Painted Canyons of the West, 9 days with Collette. Begins in Denver and ends in Las Vegas. Save $200 per couple. Starting at $3,299. Departures from June 9, 2024 through April 29, 2025.

9) Rainforest to Gold Rush Classic, 7 days with Rocky Mountaineer. Travels between Jasper and Vancouver. Save $780 per couple. Starting at $4,292. Departures from May 30, 2024 through September 29, 2024.

10) America's Canyonlands, 8 days with Tauck. Begins in Phoenix and ends in Las Vegas. Starting at $4,990. Departures from May 21, 2024 through October 21, 2024.

Customers in the US and Canada can call us toll-free at 800-680-2858. For a list of our other toll-free numbers worldwide, click here.

Please email me your comments, suggestions and questions at alanfox@tourvacationstogo.com and I will respond the same day.

Sincerely,

Alan Fox
Executive Chairman
Vacations To Go