How to Choose an Indian Tour Operator in the USA

The short answer

Below, each question comes with why it matters and how Akshar Travels answers it. Akshar Travels is a travel company for everyone, whatever your background or nationality. We plan group tours, custom trips and luxury travel for every budget. Many of the families who travel with us are Indian American, and most of our group tours include Indian meals. Akshar Travels LLC is a US company with offices in Iselin, New Jersey and Decatur, Georgia. The company has been in travel since 1997, when it started in Ahmedabad, and opened in the USA in 2019.

The eight questions at a glance

1. How many Indian meals are included?

Ask for the number of Indian meals, day by day, because the count changes from one tour to the next. Most Akshar Travels group tours include Indian lunches or dinners, with vegetarian, Jain and Swaminarayan options.

How many depends on the route. On our Japan cherry blossom tour, every lunch and dinner is an Indian meal. On our 8 day Fascinating Europe tour of Paris and Switzerland, there are six Indian lunches and seven Indian dinners. You can see both on our Japan and Europe tour pages. Each tour page lists the meals day by day, so you can count them before you book.

If your family eats Jain or Swaminarayan food, tell us when you ask for a quote, so we can confirm it for your tour and your date.

2. Does a tour manager travel with the group?

Ask whether a tour manager travels with the group from the first day to the last, or whether local guides meet you city by city. On most Akshar Travels departures, a tour manager travels with the group for the whole tour.

On some European routes, a tour manager joins groups of 35 or more, and smaller groups are looked after by local guides. The tour page says which applies. On our Japan cherry blossom tour, an Akshar tour manager is with the group throughout, and local English speaking guides join at the main sights.

Ask about language too, especially if you are booking for parents. Our tours run in English, and some, like the Japan cherry blossom tour, also run in Gujarati.

3. How big is the group?

Group size varies by tour, so ask for the number on the departure you want. On some routes it also decides whether a tour manager comes along.

On some of our European routes, as above, the tour manager joins groups of 35 or more. If you would rather travel only with your own family, we also plan custom and private trips, see question 8.

4. What does the price include?

Ask for the list of what the price includes and what it does not, because two tours at a similar price can include very different things. On Akshar Travels group tours, the price includes the hotels, coach travel and sightseeing listed on the tour page, plus the meals listed day by day.

Prices are in US dollars per person, based on two people sharing a room. If someone in your family will travel alone, such as a parent who wants a room to themselves, ask us for the single supplement on that tour.

5. Are international flights included?

Ask whether the tour includes international flights or starts in the destination, because that decides which ticket you buy. Some Akshar Travels group tours include international flights and some start in the destination, and each tour page says which.

When flights are not included, we can add them from your home city, or you can book your own and meet the group at the destination. Either way, airport transfers run at set times on the first and last days, so book a flight that fits the transfer, or ask us before you buy.

We can book your flights from any US airport and price them alongside the tour. We hold unpublished business and first class fares to India, Europe and Dubai.

6. What are the deposit and cancellation terms?

Ask what you would lose if you cancel at each point before departure, and read the terms for your exact tour. On Akshar Travels group tours, a deposit holds your seat, and the balance is due before departure on the date shown when you book.

Prices can change until the booking is paid in full. Each tour page shows its own cancellation terms. As one example, these are the terms on our Japan cherry blossom tour and our Europe group tours:

Other tours can have different terms, so read the ones on your tour page before you pay the deposit.

7. Who handles the visa?

Ask whether the visa is your job or the operator's. On Akshar Travels tours, the visa is the traveler's responsibility, but our visa desk can file it for you as a separate service.

This matters most when one family travels on two kinds of passport. For a short trip to Europe, US passport holders need no visa, while Indian passport holders, including parents visiting from India, need a Schengen visa. Other passports have their own rules, so tell us which passports your group holds. US passport holders do not need a visa for Japan for stays of up to 90 days. Our visa desk files Schengen, Japan and Dubai visas, and OCI cards, for families across the US.

Check passports before you book as well. Some tours, our Japan cherry blossom tour among them, need a passport valid for at least six months after the tour ends.

8. Who runs the company, and where?

Ask for the company's legal name, its US offices and how long it has been in travel. Akshar Travels LLC is the US company, with offices in New Jersey and Georgia.

The company has been in travel since 1997. It started in Ahmedabad, opened in the USA in 2019, and since 1997 has planned more than 47,000 tours for 570,000 travelers. Travelers join our tours from any US state, and you can book by phone, email or WhatsApp. We are a travel company for everyone, whatever your background or nationality, and we plan for every budget:

• Group tours, most with a tour manager and Indian meals.
• Custom trips planned around your family, from a honeymoon to three generations traveling together.
• Akshar Luxe, our luxury travel: private and boutique trips around your dates and pace, with the hotels you choose and private guides or drivers where you want them.

More on our story is on the About Akshar Travels page.

If you are booking for your parents

If you are booking a tour for your parents, these questions matter even more: meals, language, rooms, visas and flights, and whether a group tour suits their pace at all.

• Meals: if they eat vegetarian, Jain or Swaminarayan food, ask for the meal count and whether it is available on their date.
• Language: ask what language the tour runs in. Our tours run in English, and some also in Gujarati.
• Rooms: prices are twin sharing, so a parent traveling alone pays a single supplement. Ask for the figure.
• Visas: if they travel on a passport that needs a visa for the destination, check it before you pick a date, and ask our visa desk to file it.
• Flights: if the tour does not include flights, we can book theirs from any US airport, timed to the group transfer.
• Pace: if a group tour does not suit them, we can plan a private trip around their dates and pace.