Egypt tour - what documents should we expect from our tour company?
 

We have booked a private guided tour with Lady Egypt. We make our final payment soon and would like to hear what others received from LE or other tour companies such as hotel vouchers and cruise confirmation. We typically travel independently and not sure what is reasonable documentation regarding our trip arrangements. Thank you very much,

Lady Egypt should be organized enough to advise you what they will give you..... aren't they? I'm sure they are. I may be wrong, but I think they will give these vouchers to you upon arrival, so it would be good to have a list of what they say they will give you and then be able to compare that to what the agent does give you. And have a list of the things you think you need so your agent can answer questions about anything he does not give you and put your mind at ease if there is no voucher needed for this or that.

My experience is that with a guided tour you should receive a complete, detailed itinerary, including hotel names, accommodation, all inclusions, and so on. You will not necessarily get vouchers as your guide will take care of the check in and out formalities. (Too many tourists tend to lose vouchers so having the guide carry them is often the best.)

I traveled with LE in 2007 and I received instructions in the mail. I don't remember all I received but it was very detailed. A guide met me at the airport before I went thru customs. I stood in line for passport control while he got my Egyptian visa and this sped up the process quite a bit. Which brings me to another point, you will get solicitations from visa companies telling you that you must get your visa in advance. They might even say they that LE wants you to get your visa in advance. Please know that this is a lie!! It will be much cheaper and less hassle to get your visa at the airport.

If you have any questions about LE I will be happy to answer if I can, or you may click my name and read my report. I think you will be happy with your tour.

Thank you all very much! This information is very helpful on what we should expect. P_M I read your trip report and enyoyed it, especially your meeting Dr. Hawass. We've watched several PBS documentaries on Egypt with him in them. We are excited about our trip!

I travelled with Lady Egypt to Jordan & Egypt for 3 weeks in late 2010. I loved it and found them very professional. Before the trip and during the planning stage I was emailed a travel itinerary that had listed what sights we would see that day, what hotels we'd stay at and what meals were included. It also said if there was airfares or any different mode of travel apart from private car/guide. I just remembered.. it also had a big note about my request for no smoking rooms!

For some reason I had trouble making the final payment of approx $5000 due to bank issues in Australia. Lady Egypt were not concerned and said to just pay them the balance when I arrived. They did not ask for the money on the first day, they said they'd bring their mobile eftpos/credit card machien the next day and do it. When we finally got around to making the payment, there were problems and the transaction wouldn't go through. Lady Egypt did not pressure us or panic, they just said they'd try again the next day. It took about 3 days of trying before it worked.

When we arrived in Egypt our Rep and Guide met us and when we got in the car they handed us a bottle of cold water and an envelope. The envelope had more information about the sights we would see, our itinerary, the kind of room we were having (deluxe, room, suite etc), helpful Arabic words, and even a few dollars to hand out in tips until we could change our money in to Egyptian Pounds.

Our rep/guide checked us in to the hotels for us so we were not given any hotel vouchers.

I loved Lady Egypt. I wish I was going with them again.

I was so pleased that Lady Egypt was not 'money hungry'. I have dealt with some businesses in Australia and it was all about money. I found them very professional before I arrived in Egypt and after my experiences with our non payment of money, and their understanding, loved them even more

Thanks so much Miss Green. I'd be very appreciative to hear about tipping for guides and drivers (LE). I've read a lot on Internet but a good bit is older and not specific to a private tour for two. We are a couple traveling on a private tour. For our guides and drivers I'm not clear on ballpark amounts per day. Also, did you tip your guides at the end of each segment/city or by day? Thanks so much for everyone's advise.

Drivers need tips more than most as they take the least in commissions for your shopping, etc.
Be sure to ask your guide daily if you will be seeing the driver again tomorrow. If you are going to have the SAME driver in each city, I would recommend waiting until the end of each segment to pay a tip. What you don't want to do is set some sort of precedent about how much you are going to give and find out that after the first day the drivers attitude or driving skills change significantly. The tip you give should reflect your overall satisfaction with what you got.
That is my advice anyway. I would say that goes for your guide as well.