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Thinking of booking a tour through Klook?
It’s always worth questioning whether third-party booking sites are legit, and in our experience, Klook is. We’ve used it at least 15 times (and counting!) on our travels. This has mostly been in Asia, but they have tours all over the world!
So if it’s your first time booking with Klook, stay tuned because we’ve written our honest review of the site, with a few handy tips and tricks for booking with them. Also, we will say that Klook isn’t our favorite third-party booking site out there, so we’ll share some alternatives, too.
So if you’re unsure whether to go ahead and book that tour through Klook, keep on reading because we’ve got all of the need-to-know info right here.
Is Klook legit?
First things first, yes, Klook is a legitimate company. In fact, they’re a huge company with a 4.4 score on TrustPilot – that’s considered excellent!
One thing that’s important to note is that Klook doesn’t operate the tours themselves. They’re a third-party booking site for tours and experiences – just like Booking.com is for hotels, or SkyScanner is for flights. What we like about using sites like Klook is that they not only allow us to browse lots of tours in one place, but they also allow us to compare prices and reviews easily.
We’ve used Klook at least 15 times in the past few years, so we can say with confidence that they won’t steal your money or scam you! We’ve also had good experiences with their customer service team.
Are tours more expensive on Klook?
No, Klook has a “best price guarantee”, so usually the price you’re looking at on Klook is the lowest one out there. However, if you can find a better price elsewhere (including by booking directly), then Klook will refund you the difference to make sure that you always get the best deal. This is why we like booking with sites like Klook, because we know we get the best price and the reassurance that comes with booking through a major company!
However, in our experience, Viator is better than Klook at following through on their lowest price guarantee. We tend to use them more often and have often claimed money back from them after spotting a last-minute deal – and we’ve always gotten it super quickly.
Klook vs Viator
Klook and Viator are both third-party tour sites and they operate in the exact same way. However, we do prefer Viator overall, and there are a few reasons for this.
First off, Viator is just a bigger company and they offer far more choices. Klook has almost 9,000 tours available while Viator has over 300,000, which is a huge difference! Viator is also owned by TripAdvisor, which adds an extra layer of trust.
I also personally find that Viator has a cleaner, more user-friendly interface. It just feels simpler and easier to use. Klook feels a bit more cluttered and overwhelming.
Having said that, Klook is very prominent in the Asian market. We have often used them in Japan and South Korea for experiences that we couldn’t find on Viator. So if you’re traveling in Asia, Klook may prove the better choice. However, overall Viator has a lot more choice so that’s our go-to. You can check out Viator here if you want to compare the two sites!
Related Read: Looking for more in-depth info on Viator? Our review of Viator has all the details!
What are the benefits of booking through Klook?
Free cancellation
A lot of tours on Klook offer free cancellation, which is something we always look for when booking activities. It’s very reassuring to know that we won’t lose money if our plans change. It also means that we feel confident reserving in-demand activities weeks or months in advance so that we don’t need to worry about missing out on a must-do experience or wasting money if the trip doesn’t work out as planned.
Same currency, so lower transaction fees
I really appreciate the fact that Klook allows me to book local experiences in my home currency so that I don’t waste money on transaction fees. A lot of banks charge around 3% of the total transaction cost, which can add up. We like that Klook allows us to pay in Australian, Canadian or US dollars, and it refunds us in the same currency when we have to cancel, so we don’t lose even more money if the exchange rates fluctuate in the meantime.
Fast refunds
When we have to cancel tours, we always appreciate being refunded promptly, and Klook is pretty good about this! We’ve never been left waiting for months or had to chase them to get our refund. It happens automatically, usually within a few days.
Recent reviews
We always look at recent reviews before booking a tour. If a tour has thousands of 5-star reviews from years ago but the recent ones are all bad, then that tells us there’s been a decline in quality and we look for another experience.
And vice versa: some tours get off to a shaky start, and then really improve their quality and service! So we like the fact that Klook clearly displays the date of all of the reviews and allows you to filter them according to how recent they are.
Communication directly with the tour operator via an online chat
Sometimes after booking a tour, we need to speak to the operator directly about things like pickup, dietary requirements, or special requests. Fortunately, Klook makes this easy as you’re able to communicate with the tour operator directly through their platform in an online chat. It’s much more efficient than having to use a middleman, and responses are usually prompt.
Lowest price guarantee
We love the fact that Klook has a lowest price guarantee as it reassures us that we’re not being ripped off just because we’re tourists! And if we spot a better deal elsewhere, we know that we’ll get some money back, although the prices on the site are usually the cheapest.
What are the negatives of booking through Klook?
Booking last minute can be hard
Sometimes, when booking a tour for the following day, we’ve been rejected. This is rare and has only happened once, but it’s annoying when it does occur. One thing we like about Klook though is that it indicates whether or not instant confirmation is available, so we always look out for this when making a last-minute booking.
You need to double-check pick-up locations with the provider
After booking a tour with Klook, check your emails and make sure that you know exactly where the meeting location is, or that the tour company has the right address for hotel pickup. We once had a mix-up up and our pickup location was wrong, and we ended up having to Uber to another hotel, which was a bit stressful! We totally missed this in the email, so we’d advise you to triple-check to make sure your tour gets off to a smooth start.
They will email you afterwards
After you book a tour with Klook, expect to get regular emails from them for the rest of your life … or at least until you opt-out. Maybe I’m just being grumpy, but I hate getting lots of emails urging me to book more tours well after I’ve gone back home! I’m really not a fan of this persistent email marketing but to be fair, it’s easy to opt out.
What is Klook customer service like?
It’s really good! Refunds are fast and easy, and we always get our money back in the same currency we paid in, which avoids annoying transaction fees and delays. The lowest price guarantee also works really well and we’ve found their customer service team to be fast and responsive. So really, we have no complaints here!
What has been our personal experience with Klook?
We like Klook! We’ve become more fond of them as we’ve traveled more in Asia particularly, as they’re a much bigger player over there than they are in other parts of the world. We’ve had good experiences with them and so our trust in their site has only grown.
However, Viator is still our first choice. Personally, I like the fact that their interface is way less cluttered, as it just feels less overwhelming and makes it easier to find all of the need-to-know info about a tour. Viator is also a bigger and more reputable company, with a lot more tours on offer.
However, no one site contains every tour we want to do, so we have often used Klook when we can’t find the exact tour we’re looking for on Viator, and we are always happy to book with them.
Related Read: If you need to rent a car while you’re away, our honest review on the website Discover Cars can give you tips on how to find the best deal!
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance!
If you’re looking to save money on travel insurance, we currently use and recommend SafetyWing. We’ve been using their coverage since 2018 and they’ve had our backs when we needed emergency flights and got sick overseas.
SafetyWing is one of the cheapest providers out there and covers everything from medical costs to lost luggage, travel delays, and emergency flights. A huge difference we’ve found between them and other companies is that they let you take out a policy AFTER leaving your home country. We’ve also found it handy that it’s a monthly payment rather than a lump sum, and you can get a refund for unused time.
SafetyWing has helped us out in some scary situations before and their affordable coverage has given us peace of mind. You can read our honest review of SafetyWing for all the pros and cons.
Thanks for reading!
Hopefully, our blog helped answer your questions about whether to book a tour with Klook. Yes, Klook is a legit site and it’s used by travelers all over the world – including us! While Viator is still our #1 choice, when we can’t find a tour we want on there, we’ve booked with Klook and been super happy with our experience.
Whever in the world you’re headed, we might be able to help you out! We’re currently traveling around the world, so check out our blog to see if we have tips for where you’re headed. And we have some travel advice blogs below that might be useful.
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