An in-depth comparison between Topdeck and G Adventures based on price, destination, payment and deals.
Topdeck and G Adventures are renowned travel companies that offer top-notch tours throughout the world. Although both companies are similar in many ways, there are a few differences between them that may make one company more desirable than the other for travellers with different travel styles and preferences.
We researched the prices, itineraries, destinations and deals offered by both to create this informative guide to help you make the best choice.
Topdeck vs G Adventures
| Features | Topdeck | G Adventures | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where can I go? |
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| G Adventures offers a wider range of destinations. |
| International flights aren't included. | International flights aren't included. | Neither offers international airfares. | |
| Can I price match? | No | No | You can’t match prices with either company. |
| Are there payment plans? | A $255 deposit is required to confirm your booking. Full payment is due 42 days prior to departure. | A $250 deposit is required to confirm your booking. Full payment is due 60 days prior to the trip. You may reserve your place for 48 hours without deposit. | Both require a deposit. Topdeck gives you more time to make full payment. |
| Are there booking/charge fees? | No | No | Neither have a booking fee. |
| Is there online chat? | Yes | No | Only Topdeck offers live chat. |
| Is there a loyalty scheme? | 5% off for returning travellers. | 5% discount on your next trip. | Same loyalty discount on both companies. |
| What is the target age group? | Trips are designed for 18-39 year olds. You can request to join a trip if you're outside the age limit by a small margin. | For family tours, the minimum age requirement is 6 years. Independent travellers must be at least 18 years old. There is no upper age limit. Yolo tours are restricted to 18-39 year olds. | Topdeck offers youth-centric trips while G Adventures has trips for all. |
| Is there a single supplement? | Available for an additional cost. | Available for an additional cost on some tours. You may be offered a room with a traveller of the same sex at no additional cost. | Topdeck has options between single supplement, twin-sharing and tri/quad sharing. G Adventures offers single supplements on select tours as well as twin-share. |
| What are my payment options? |
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| Topdeck offers a wider range of payment options. |
Who offers the best price?
The tour price differences for both companies varies according to the region and travel style. However, we found that G Adventures’ tours typically cost more than Topdeck's. For instance, a 14-day tour from Sydney to Cairns starts from $2,870 on Topdeck while a 14-day tour with a comparable itinerary costs $4,199 on G Adventures.
The verdict: G Adventures tours are costlier than Topdeck but their groups are smaller.
Which offers a wider range of tours?
Topdeck offers 335 trips while tours by G Adventures are double that number.
The verdict: G Adventures clearly stands out in the range of tours as it caters to all age groups.
Any other differences worth noting?
Cancellation policy: G Adventures has a stricter cancellation policy than Topdeck.
The threshold for paying the full amount is within 42 days prior to the trip with Topdeck while G Adventures requires payment 60 days prior to departure.
If you cancel less than 30 days from departure, you can get a refund of at least 60% on Topdeck, but G Adventures offers no refunds
Percentage cancellation fee with Topdeck
| Days cancelled prior to departure | Cancellation fee based on your purchase price |
|---|---|
| 42+ days | Deposit only |
| 42-29 days | 40% |
| 28-14 days | 60% |
| 13-0 days | 100% |
Percentage cancellation fee with G Adventures
| Days cancelled prior to departure | Cancellation fee based on your purchase price |
|---|---|
| 60+ days | Deposit only |
| 59-31 days | 50% |
| 30-0 days | 100% |
Type of tours: Topdeck only provides group tours while G Adventures offers cruises, train trips and self-guided tours in addition to packaged group tours.
G Adventures’ tours have smaller group sizes of 10-15 travellers and Topdeck has relatively larger groups of 30-40 people. G Adventures offers more experiential voyages allowing travellers to explore a location’s culture in their own way. On the other hand, Topdeck offers a lot of inclusions like coach transport, ferry crossings, airport transfers and on-site chef, but these services are mostly pre-packaged.
What are the deals like?
Topdeck offers a range of deals including last-minute offers, early payment discounts, past-passenger discounts, discounts with friends, multi-trip discounts, festival discounts and more. These however are typically limited to tours across Europe and the Middle East.
On the other hand, G Adventures offers only last-minute deals and loyalty discounts.
Last-minute deals on both sites range from 10-30% and can be quite comparable, so do your research if you're price driven prior to booking.
For exampl, The Best of East Europe, a 15-day tour is available at 15% off on G Adventures while a similar 16-day Eastern Express tour is on sale at a 14% discount on Topdeck.
The verdict: Topdeck offers a varied range of discounts, unlike G Adventures but their last-minute deals are only available in Europe and the Middle East.
Top Topdeck and G Adventures deals
| Up to 30% off riverboat adventures |
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Valid for travel from 6 May - 30 September 2018. Destinations are Vietnam, Peru, Paris and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 20% off sailing adventures |
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Valid on select tours from 9 June - August 2018. Destinations include Croatia, Bali, Norway, Greece and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to $700 Europe flight credit with tours | Valid for travel on select dates. Destinations include Mykonos, Greece, Dubrovnik and Plitvice Lakes, Croatia, Russia and Scandinavia, Morocco, Amsterdam and more. Flight credit amount varies based on length of package booked. T&C's apply. |
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| Up to 15% off Japan and Korea tours |
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Valid for travel from 13 July - 29 August 2018. Destinations include Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Seoul and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 20% off Australia tours |
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Valid for travel on select dates from 9 June - 20 August 2018. Destinations include Cairns, Melbourne, Darwin, Port Campbell, Sydney, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Brisbane and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 20% off New Zealand tours |
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Valid for travel from 1 June - 27 August 2018. Destinations include Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 20% off Jamaica tours |
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Valid for travel from 9-23 July 2018. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 10% off Cuba sailing |
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Valid for travel from 29 June - 6 August 2018. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off Africa tours |
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Valid for travel on select dates from 24 June - 7 September 2018. Destinations include Nairobi, Johannesburg, Durban, Victoria Falls, Windhoek, Cape Town, Maun, Zanzibar, Moshi, Kampala and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off China and Tibet tours |
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Valid for travel from 19 June - 6 September 2018. Destinations include Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off Morocco tours |
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Valid for travel from 20 May - 12 June 2018. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 10% off Mexico and Central America tours |
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Valid for travel from 18 June - 8 August 2018. Destinations include San Jose, Belize City, Costa Rica and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off Europe tours |
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Valid for travel from 28 June - 3 September 2018. Destinations include Switzerland, Italy, Iceland, Greece and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 25% off Southeast Asia tours |
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Valid for travel from 21 May - 7 September 2018. Destinations include Myanmar, Chiang Mai, Bangkok and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 20% off Borneo tours |
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Valid on select dates until 1 August 2018. Destinations include Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 20% off North America tours |
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Valid for travel from 15 June - 3 September 2018. Destinations include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Toronto, New York, Boston and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off Maldives Dhoni cruising |
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Valid for cruise from 11-25 August 2018. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off India and Sri Lanka tours |
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Valid for travel from 13 June - 11 September 2018. Destinations include Delhi, Kathmandu and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off select Norway departures |
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Valid on select dates until 1 June 2018. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 10% off Israel tours |
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Valid for travel from 9-11 August 2018. Destinations include Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 40% off Ganges riverboat adventure |
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Valid for travel on select dates from 11 July - 24 August 2018. Destinations include Farakka, Jangipur, Kolkata, Delhi, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off South America tours |
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Valid for travel on select dates from 25 June - 29 September 2018. Destinations include Peru, Ecuador, Amazon, Lima, Bolivia, Machu Picchu, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, La Paz and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 10% off Galapagos tours |
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Valid for travel on select dates from 3 August - 26 September 2018. T&Cs apply. |
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| 3-day Transylvania Halloween party tour from $389 | Valid for travel on 31 October 2018. Includes guided tour of Bran castle, Halloween tent party on the castle grounds and return transportation. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off Antarctica and Artcic expedition cruises |
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Valid on select cruises until 30 May 2019. Destinatoins include the Arctic (from Norway) and the Antarctic (from Argentina). |
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| Up to 20% off 13-day Baltic adventure | Valid for travel on select dates from May-August 2018. Destinations include Tallinn, Helsinki and more. T&Cs apply. |
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| Up to 15% off trips | Valid for use on select deals. Just book and combine any two of Topdeck's awesome discounts to give you a total of up to 15% off. T&C's apply. |
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| Extra 10% off festival trips | Valid for use on select deals. Just book any subsequent festival trips with Topdeck to redeem offer. T&C's apply. |
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| Extra 5% off multi-trips | Valid for use on select deals. Minimum booking of two trips to redeem offer. T&C's apply. |
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| Extra 10% off booking for two | Valid for use on select deals. Minimum booking of two persons to redeem offer. T&C's apply. |
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| Extra 5% off for past passengers | Valid for use on select deals, must be a repeat customer to redeem offer just click 'repeat' upon check out. T&C's apply. |
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| 10% off North America trips | Valid for travel on select dates. Destinations include Miami, Canada, Manhattan, Alaska, Hawaii and more. T&C's apply. |
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| Up to 7.5% off Europe tours | Valid for travel on select dates. Destinations include Mykonos, Greece, Dubrovnik and Plitvice Lakes, Croatia, Russia and Scandinavia, Morocco, Amsterdam and more. T&C's apply. |
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| Up to 20% off Sydney and New South Wales tours | Valid for travel on select dates. Experiences include sandboarding, wine tasting, surfing and hiking. T&C's apply. |
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| Up to 30% off last-minute deals | Valid on select last-minute departures. Destinations vary, but include China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Bali. T&C's apply. |
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Feature image: G Adventures
