I’ve had several friends ask me to compare and contrast these two travel companies.
Full disclosure: I have only taken one Tauck tour, to India, in late October, 2025.
I have taken over 20 OAT tours, to every continent except Antarctica, with the most recent one being to Costa Rica. Obviously, I’m far more familiar with Overseas Adventure Travel.
Having said that, BOTH are excellent companies, and you won’t go wrong choosing to travel with either. It was either Socrates or Elvis ( maybe both) who said “Know thyself”. And that’s the most important factor in determining which travel company to select. It all boils down to what kind of experience will make you happiest.
Let’s start with what BOTH companies have in common.
Both offer small group options. OAT’s maximum is 16; Tauck’s is 25, however I have been on OAT trips with only 9 travelers. There were 17 on my only trip with Tauck.
Both offer large group options: OAT uses its sister company, Grand Circle, which maxes out around 44. Tauck’s big groups are similar sized.
Both have excellent trip leaders, whose job is to oversee all aspects of your experience. They choose the local guides, the restaurants, and add additional experiences that are not on the published itinerary. If an OAT trip leader doesn’t get high ratings on the customer survey, they are not rehired. Not sure whether the same applies to Tauck.
Both allow for free time and meals on your own, with the trip leader available to offer suggestions.
Both include cultural activities.
Both take care of tipping, except for trip leaders. Tauck also takes care of tips for hotel housekeeping; OAT does not. OAT tips the bus drivers, Tauck does not if you have the same bus driver for most of the trip.
Both will handle airfare, however both will allow you to make your own flight arrangements. OAT includes the cost of the flight in their quoted prices on their website, Tauck does not. If you choose not to use OAT for your flight, you simply deduct the airfare cost from the total price.
So what’s different? The biggest difference is the cost of the trip. Tauck is significantly more expensive. However if you only take one or two trips per year, and you want to have your every need taken care of, Tauck is an excellent option.
I’m not at that point yet. My preference, RIGHT NOW, is more trips, less luxury.
PRE-TRIP INFORMATION
I really like the booklet OAT mails out a couple of weeks before the trip starts. It includes helpful hints, the full itinerary, the hotel names and addresses, and a list of the group participants.
With Tauck, you won’t know how many are traveling with you until you get there. At our introductory meeting, our trip leader gave us a piece of paper with the names of our fellow travelers and would email (and print out) info about the following days. I strongly prefer having the booklet because all of the info is in one place, which makes it handy for taking notes.
Being slightly obsessive compulsive, I like being able to plan in advance for free time.
The trip leaders from both companies send travelers a welcome email, full of helpful information but OAT travelers who have taken more than 3 trips, also get a phone call from the trip leader who can then answer any questions one might have.
WEBSITE
Although both companies offer websites from which you can print out your itinerary, I find the OAT website far easier to use. I thought it was because I was more familiar with OAT’S website, but Joann, one of my favorite fellow travelers, said she felt the same way about Tauck’s website—that it wasn’t easy to find what you were looking for.
ARRIVAL
If you buy your airfare from OAT, you also get transfers to and from the airport included. If not, you can either pay OAT for transfers or arrange your own.
With Tauck, transfers are automatically included in the price of the trip. Because I made my own flight arrangements, I can’t comment on flight services Tauck provides, but I CAN say that they do everything possible to make sure your arrival goes smoothly.
HOTELS
Both companies select clean, safe, comfortable hotels, but with Tauck, replace the word “comfortable” with “ luxurious”, at least that was my experience in India.
OAT and Tauck, however, were using the same hotel during my stay in Halifax. For the Egypt trip, both used the exquisite Aswan’s Cataract Hotel.
On the whole, however, I believe Tauck tends to use the best hotel in the area, generally 5 star, while OAT usually choose hotels by location, normally within walking distance to restaurants and sights.
I think the best comparison I can come up with is Four Seasons (Tauck) versus Marriott or Hilton, except OAT tends to choose local, non chain lodgings. Because I have taken so many trips with OAT, I know that the hotels vary greatly from one country to another. In Morocco, for example, the riads were over the top gorgeous,
While in Costa Rica, they were more rustic.
FOOD
Based on my sole experience with Tauck, I would say that the food on their trip is truly outstanding. The buffet breakfasts offered an amazing array of choices,
while the OAT breakfasts tend to offer the basics, with little variety.
Tauck, like OAT, had some included meals at which we were all served the same.
Generally for OAT, there are lots of buffets.
For some of Tauck’s included meals, on the India trip, at least, we were offered a choice of restaurants, and were able to order whatever we wanted from the menu.
Although OAT’s included meals offered limited choices, the group always dines together at the same time and at the same restaurant. For solo travelers this could be a huge plus, particularly if the other travelers prefer to dine with their travel companion(s)
BEVERAGES
Both companies offer some included alcoholic drinks, but you are free to purchase whatever you want.
LOYALTY PROGRAM
This is an area in which OAT excels. People who have taken multiple trips with OAT are recognized with pins, gifts, and special perks (which vary by trip leader), plus a host of other financial incentives.
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES – OAT
All travelers get a percentage of the cost of the trip if they take another OAT trip within the following two years.
If you recommend OAT to someone who has never traveled with them before, you each get a $100 credit. The friend saves $100 immediately, and the “recommender” gets $100 toward a future trip.
After 10 OAT trips, if you take more than one trip in a given year, you save $350 per subsequent trip. Before your 10th trip, you save $250 per subsequent trip in a year, but I have forgotten if you need to take a minimum number of trips for that credit to kick in.
It all adds up. Especially for someone like me, who LOVES to travel.
OTHER TRAVELERS
The group on the sole Tauck trip I’ve taken was wonderful! That was also the case with most of my OAT trips. (As one would expect, occasionally you get one or two clunkers, when you take over 20 trips with the same company).
If I had only taken the Costa Rica trip, I would be exclaiming how outstanding OAT travelers are.
That’s all I can think of. Feel free to correct any misconceptions and add your experiences with either company in the comments section.
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