Twelve questions, answered in writing · map not to scale
At a glance
- Questions
- Twelve, grouped into company, trip and money
- Best for
- Anyone comparing two or three operators for a 10–21 day trip
- Budget
- From 140 USD per person per day at 4★ (2 travellers), confirmed in your private quote
- Deposit
- Ours: 30%, balance 45 days before arrival; ask every operator for theirs
- Flights
- Domestic flights quoted separately
The short answer
Before paying a deposit, ask a tour operator twelve plain questions: licence number, who runs the ground arrangements, every hotel by name, room types, meals per day, guide and driver days, domestic flights, what is excluded, the payment schedule, cancellation terms, who to call on the road, and what happens if plans change. The answers should come back in writing.
When someone tells me they are comparing three operators for a long trip, my advice is always the same: send each of them the same list of questions and compare the written answers. It is the fairest test I know, and it works whether the companies are large or small, local or abroad. Here are the twelve I would ask, including to my own company.
Questions to ask a tour operator before booking: the checklist
I group them into three parts: the company, the trip itself and the money. Copy the table, send it, and ask for answers in writing rather than on a call.
| # | Question | What a good answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What is your licence number, and where can I check it? | A number you can search; in Vietnam, on quanlyluhanh.vn |
| 2 | Who runs the arrangements on the ground? | The company itself, or a named local partner |
| 3 | Which hotel, every night? | A name for each night, no “or similar” |
| 4 | Which room type? | The category, and whether rooms connect for families |
| 5 | Which meals are included each day? | B, L or D marked against each day |
| 6 | Which days have a private guide and driver? | Touring days listed; rest days explained |
| 7 | How are domestic flights priced? | Shown as a separate line with routes and times (on our trips they are never in the per-day rate) |
| 8 | What is excluded? | A written list: insurance, early check-in, extras |
| 9 | What is the payment schedule? | Deposit, any fees, balance date |
| 10 | What are the cancellation terms? | In writing, before you pay |
| 11 | Who do I call during the trip? | A name and a number, in the destination |
| 12 | What happens if a flight moves or we need a slower day? | A plain explanation of how changes are handled |
Questions about the company (one and two)
The licence is the quickest check. In Vietnam, companies selling tours to international visitors hold an international tour operator licence, and the national tourism authority publishes a register at quanlyluhanh.vn. Ours is 01-1167/2023/CDLQGVN-GP LHQT. A company that hesitates to give a number is telling you something.
Who runs the ground matters because the company you pay is not always the company that meets you at the airport. That is not wrong in itself, but you should know the name of the team responsible on the road. I explain the difference between a local DMC and an agent at home in how to choose a DMC for a long Asia trip.
Questions about the trip (three to eight)
These six questions turn a brochure into a plan. Hotels by name come first, because on a long trip the hotel decides how far you walk to dinner and how well you sleep. Room types matter for families: some hotels have connecting rooms, some ships have family suites, and a quote should say which you are getting.
Meals are easy to compare once they are marked day by day. Guide and driver days show whether you have help on the days you need it; on a beach stay, for example, a car on call without a guide is normal. Domestic flights are the line people forget: on a north-to-south route there are usually two or three. We quote them separately because fares depend on the day you fly. Exclusions should be written, not implied.
Questions about money and changes (nine to twelve)
For the payment schedule, ours is a 30% deposit with the balance 45 days before arrival, and a non-refundable 100 USD per traveller holding fee (kept even if you cancel early), separate from the 30% deposit; your quote shows how it is applied to the final invoice. Card payments carry a 3.5% fee. I would expect any operator to give you its schedule in this level of detail.
Cancellation terms should be in writing before you pay anything. Who to call should be a person, not a general inbox. And how changes are handled tells you more about a company than any photo. On our trips, our guides adjust the order of a day when it rains or when a traveller needs rest, and our operations team rebooks transfers if a flight moves.
What it costs: the numbers to compare
When you compare answers to question nine, it helps to know our starting levels. Private trips start from 140 USD per person per day, confirmed in your private quote, for two travellers sharing 4★ hotels with a private guide and driver in Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos. Combined with Thailand and Bali, from 180; with China, Japan, Korea or Singapore, from 250. The top tier of 5★ resorts and ships starts from 350 and is quoted individually. Groups of four pay 5% less (133 per day at the 140 level) and groups of six 8% less (128.8, about 129). Domestic flights are quoted separately.
For a 14-day trip at 140, that is from 1,960 USD per person. The arithmetic for other lengths is in how I price 10, 14 and 21 days.
Where to stay: what a named-hotel answer looks like
To make question three concrete, here is the kind of answer I would want to see, using hotels our team books:
- Hanoi: Fairmont Hanoi, a short walk from Hoan Kiem Lake, open since February 2026.
- Lan Ha Bay: Capella Cruise, 30 suites, each with a balcony or terrace, and two family suites that sleep five.
- Hoi An: NHAAN Resort & Spa Hoi An in Cam Thanh village, with nineteen pairs of connecting rooms for families.
- Elsewhere (Hue, Ho Chi Minh City): we choose a central 4–5★ hotel and name it in your quote.
Metta Voyage’s 14-day family tour shows how those stops fit together, with the current from-price.
Mistakes I see most often
- Asking on the phone and not in writing. A call is friendly, but only a written answer can be compared.
- Skipping question seven. Domestic flights change the total more than most other lines.
- Paying before reading the cancellation terms. Read them first, every time.
- Treating the holding fee as part of the deposit. With us it is a separate, non-refundable 100 USD per traveller; ask any operator how its fees are applied.
- Not asking question twelve. In our experience, how a company handles one change is the best predictor of how the whole trip will feel.
Questions to ask a tour operator before booking: comparing the answers
Put the replies side by side. If one operator answered every question clearly and another sent a long brochure, you already know a lot. We recommend reading the warning signs in the red flags I look for in a quote before choosing, and then going through the chosen quote with the lines I would check first.
Sample itinerary, price from and a quote
If you want to see this advice turned into a bookable plan, start with a private Vietnam tour: Private Vietnam Tours: How I Plan Long, Luxury Trips (10 to 21 Days). It has a day-by-day sample itinerary, the hotels I would use and the price logic.
As a guide, a private trip of 14 days starts from 1,960 USD per person (14 days × 140 USD, 2 travellers sharing, 4★ hotels, private guide and driver), about 1,862 USD per person for a group of four and 1,803 USD for a group of six, confirmed in your written quote. Domestic flights are not included and are quoted separately; 5★ and luxury stays are quoted individually.
Request a quote for this route
Sources
Licence register: Vietnam National Authority of Tourism – travel business register (quanlyluhanh.vn). Travel insurance: Vietnam National Authority of Tourism – Health and safety. Hotel and ship details: Metta Voyage luxury collection pages linked above and the hotel announcements they cite. Prices and payment terms: Metta Voyage private tour pricing as of November 2026.
Questions we are often asked
What should I ask a tour operator before booking?
Ask for the licence number, who runs the ground arrangements, every hotel by name, meals and guide days, how domestic flights are priced, the exclusions, the payment schedule, cancellation terms and who to call on the road.
Should I get the answers in writing?
Yes. Written answers can be compared across operators and become part of what you agreed to.
Are domestic flights usually included?
Not with us: domestic flights are quoted separately because fares depend on the date and how early they are booked. Ask every operator the same question.
What is Metta Voyage's payment schedule?
A 30% deposit, with the balance 45 days before arrival, and a non-refundable 100 USD per traveller holding fee, separate from the deposit. Card payments carry a 3.5% fee.
How do I check a tour operator's licence in Vietnam?
Search the company name on quanlyluhanh.vn, the register kept by Vietnam's national tourism authority, and compare it with the licence number the operator gives you.
David — for The Metta Voyage team. Checked against our itineraries and the sources above on 11 November 2026.
