Travel tips

Booking excursions: hotel desk, street office or online

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Anorya Team · 31 déc. 2024 · 1 min read

The same trip can vary by 60% in price depending on where you buy it, and by more in quality.

The same boat, on the same day, with the same guide, is routinely sold at three different prices. The hotel desk is the most expensive because it carries the hotel's commission; a street office is the cheapest and the most variable; booking direct with an operator sits in between and is usually the best balance.

Booking excursions: hotel desk, street office or online

Price is not the main thing to compare, though. The questions that actually matter are: what is included, is hotel pickup part of it, what is the group size, and what happens if the trip is cancelled for weather. A trip that looks €10 cheaper and then charges for lunch, entrance fees and the return transfer is not cheaper.

On hotel guides: some will tell you that outside operators are uninsured or unsafe. That is a sales technique. Any licensed operator carries passenger liability, and your own travel insurance is valid throughout the country.

Booking excursions: hotel desk, street office or onlineBooking excursions: hotel desk, street office or online

The questions that actually matter are: what is included, is hotel pickup part of it, what is the group size, and what happens if the trip is cancelled for weather.

What to check before paying: a licence number, a written confirmation with the total price and what it covers, and a phone number that a person answers. Pay a deposit rather than the full amount in cash up front where you can, and keep the confirmation on your phone.

Booking excursions: hotel desk, street office or online
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Good to know

Frequently asked questions

We really have some of the lowest prices that can be offered while keeping the quality of service high. We are an online booking company working directly with large organizers in Egypt, so we can offer very favorable prices thanks to the large flow of tourists. Buying from us, you get quality service and don't overpay intermediaries.
The organizers' fleet has plenty of vehicles - cars, minivans and large comfortable buses. Vehicles for short, medium and long distances are equipped with air conditioning and safety systems, and buses with toilets are provided on long routes. All vehicles are regularly serviced and sanitized, hold the necessary tourist permits, and drivers are inspected before every trip.
We work without prepayment. Group excursions are paid on the bus or during the trip. The exceptions are individual excursions where plane tickets or documents are involved. The organizer comes to you - there is no need to look for anyone to pay. You can pay in cash in dollars or euros, and an alternative payment method can be arranged.
Egypt is heavily regulated when it comes to tourism. For a car or yacht to run a tour, daily permission from the police and military is required, and organizers without a license don't get permits. That is why on some tours we may ask for voucher and passport details (this applies to marine excursions, individual tours and some group tours that leave the city). For other excursions only the number of people is needed.
Some hotel guides wrongly claim insurance does not apply to third-party excursion organizers. That is not true. Your travel insurance is valid throughout Egypt, and once you are on the organizer's ship, bus or transport they carry full insurance responsibility for passengers - otherwise they could not obtain a tour permit at all.
Please check your belongings when you leave the bus or boat at the end of the tour. If something is lost it is hard to recover, as vehicles leave immediately to be cleaned. We will always help you look, but we cannot guarantee a 100% return - so please be careful!
We have a large daily flow of bookings, so most excursions run every day (or on set weekdays per the program's schedule). After booking we send the exact hotel pickup time. Many trips are shared with small hotel groups who bought the same tour from operators - the only difference is that our price is 40–60% lower.
Tour photographers are independent and do not work for the company, so any arrangement with them is your responsibility. We do not recommend paying in advance unless you are sure the photos will be delivered. If you do not want photos, tell the photographers early to avoid any pushiness.