I traveled with SOTC on their European Dreams tour. I have a mixed bag of reviews to give, starting with improvements to be done:
Not great experiences:
1.) I had done research and booked a different itinerary, according to my interests and preferences after paying advance. Less than 2 months to departure, the tour was not confirmed and was finally cancelled. I was given the option of shifting on this tour. It cost mee more and ended up with me missing Louvre museum (something I had planned in the earlier itinerary).
Why do you mention confirmed departures for all trips, when in reality they are not confirmed? Why do you have so many choices of itineraries, when they may not even operate? Why do you have so many departures in each month for so many months for each trip, whereas in reality, only a few dates get confirmed? Perhaps, you can take a leaf out of the new age travel companies, who even with only a few years experience, have curated itineraries with very limited departures. This will ensure no cancellation happens. Of course, you mix both SOTC and Thomas Cook bookings, which means you don't have clarity till the last minute.
2. ) You have a rule of providing Indian dinner which is nice, but should be flexible. Our Belgium city tour was extremely rushed because of this. We were told that because of dinner and the 12 hour bus rule in Europe, we have to finish seeing the Belgium city center in just 45 minutes?! It was easily possible to provide Indian lunch (at Black Forest) that day and later leave people free to roam Belgium.Incidentally, we were given too much time in Black Forest, with nothing to do. Also, in a city like Belgium where there is so much good food to eat, forcing people to leave for dinner seems atrocious. It seems very surprising to me, that you have not received this feedback from anyone earlier ( or haven't bothered to act on it).
It will be even better if a hotel in the city centre is booked, as people can roam and return to the hotel at their convenience, without needing the bus. Given that we pay so much, it's a shame if we cannot get time to properly see places. This flexibility is again something you should pick up from new age travel companies.
Good experiences :
1.) The visa process was very fast and smooth.
2. ) The idea of visiting 3 - 4 countries, is a good one and can be made better with the above feedback.
3.) The places for dinner served tasty food.
4. ) Information about the agenda for the next day was clearly given so that people followed it.
5. ) Even though the group had 40+ people, everyone followed the timelines given, ensuring smooth travel.