Surely, pretty much by definition, a tourist booking a flight/hotel package is … well, a foreigner.
Or when they say “foreigners”, do they mean “white people”?
You get this often in certain backward countries like Thailand (as official policy) and Philippines (as common-or-garden scamming), so it’s possible your agent is passing on fees that are being levied upon them. But I’ve never encountered it in Taiwan. Just book with a different company if they insist. Idiots.
There is a $4000 supplement they add for packages to Thailand for Taiwanese between a certain age because they are less likely to shop in the right places (ie places that kick back $ to the tour). They’re probably classing you in this same group.[/quote]
No, that’s not it. My wife is Taiwanese and the extra charge is for me because I’m a foreigner. The agents claim it’s standard practice throughout SE Asia. :fume:[/quote]
Just encountered this for the first time. Girlfriend’s looking for short hotel/flight packages to Japan, and was told I’d have to pay a “foreigner” surcharge, though they couldn’t / wouldn’t tell us how much, claiming they had to check with the Japanese end.
Since the package is around 20K, I think a 4K surcharge will find my inner consumer resistance, never far from the surface anyway.[/quote]
Curious. If it’s just a hotel/airfare package, and not a tour group, then the “because you won’t shop and get us kickbacks” (already rather pathetic!) excuse doesn’t apply. Do they give any justification at all?
I haven’t encountered this myself, yet, and I’m a bit worried about how I’d react if it does happen. The video cameras are everywhere…[/quote]
Just make a video yourself and tell them you’ll post it online when charged more than the locals. 
Sometimes I end up telling them how much I’m going to pay or I’ll move on.
[quote=“lostinasia”]Curious. If it’s just a hotel/airfare package, and not a tour group, then the “because you won’t shop and get us kickbacks” (already rather pathetic!) excuse doesn’t apply. Do they give any justification at all?
[/quote]
Well, all discussion was in Mandarin, which I don’t do, but the suppressed reaction to my muttered “Well, they can fuck right off” suggests some direct communication would have been a possibility.
Best guess/interpretation is its a group charter price, and I don’t plausibly fit in to the (Taiwanese?) group parameters. There may even be a tour, for all I know, but we’re not taking it.
This’d be the first “package” I’d ever taken (apart from some flight-only charters in the '80’s where you had to have a fake accomodation voucher to qualify for the ticket) and tends to confirm my antipathy, though I suppose that’s mostly just a daft form of snobbery.
I wouldn’t get too bent out of shape about it. They’re able to offer such prices on the basis that the average local will waddle around behind their guide contentedly, spending their money at fixed predetermined points, which they actually will. It’s a win-win situation–the locals get the cheapest price possible to visit a certain location, and the tour guides make their profit. Now if I had the desire to do the same thing, and was being charged for it, I would be upset. Personally, I don’t though. I’d probably pay NOT to do it in fact. There you go. Far be it from me to upset the balance of this finely tuned system.
It depends what the tour is, however. If it’s a guided tour, then yeah, it makes some sense (and like you I’d never join such a thing). But there are also lots of simple plane fare/hotel packages that you buy - where there’s no guide at all. You just get your plane tickets and your hotel voucher from the travel agent when you pay for everything, and then never deal with them again. All you’re getting is a “set” for the plane ticket and a hotel together.
Usually those kinds of packages are the best option for short trips to nearby cities like Tokyo or Singapore or whatever, because often the price is just a bit higher (or even lower) than what you’d pay for only a plane ticket. If they were trying to charge me extra for something like that, yeah, I’d be pissed off.
[quote=“lostinasia”]
Usually those kinds of packages are the best option for short trips to nearby cities like Tokyo or Singapore or whatever, because often the price is just a bit higher (or even lower) than what you’d pay for only a plane ticket. If they were trying to charge me extra for something like that, yeah, I’d be pissed off.[/quote]
I assumed a guided tour type package was meant. I’d be pissed about that too.
There is a $4000 supplement they add for packages to Thailand for Taiwanese between a certain age because they are less likely to shop in the right places (ie places that kick back $ to the tour). They’re probably classing you in this same group.[/quote]
No, that’s not it. My wife is Taiwanese and the extra charge is for me because I’m a foreigner. The agents claim it’s standard practice throughout SE Asia. :fume:[/quote]
Just encountered this for the first time. Girlfriend’s looking for short hotel/flight packages to Japan, and was told I’d have to pay a “foreigner” surcharge, though they couldn’t / wouldn’t tell us how much, claiming they had to check with the Japanese end.
Since the package is around 20K, I think a 4K surcharge will find my inner consumer resistance, never far from the surface anyway.[/quote]
Curious. If it’s just a hotel/airfare package, and not a tour group, then the “because you won’t shop and get us kickbacks” (already rather pathetic!) excuse doesn’t apply. Do they give any justification at all?
I haven’t encountered this myself, yet, and I’m a bit worried about how I’d react if it does happen. The video cameras are everywhere…[/quote]
I completely forgot about this thread. Just to clarify: this was a hotel/airfare package, not a tour.
The way most western tour operators on European tours work is following:
Hire freelance ‘tour directors’, sell them the tour for 20-40 US$ per passenger, (depends on length of the tour and cities visited). Tour directors try to sell as many extras as possible to recoup invested money, this can range from restaurant visits to other special events (boat tours etc.), commissions at high end stores. The more people join all the specials the more money they make, sometimes 5-8K US$ and more on a two week tour. Most of them like short tours (7-11 days) through at least 5 major cities. Add customary tipping (1-2 US$ per person, per day) and you can make good money as a tour director. It’s up to the tour director how much of his commission he shares with his driver, but hey, he doesn’t want to get stuck on a freeway parking somewhere in France.