See What Our Fans Say About Big League Tours

Posted by Doug Lawson on Thu, Apr 26, 2012 @ 01:40 PM
Join the Fun with Big League Tours The 2012 baseball season is in full swing, and the staff at Big League Tours is looking forward to hosting our first baseball vacation packages starting in May.  We really enjoy seeing our old friends and making new ones as we travel around the country visiting all the great cities and ballparks.  If you haven't traveled with us, but are still considering booking a Big League Tours baseball vacation, take a look at these "reviews" from some of our customers.  We think they tell the story best about why a Big League Tours trip is so special:

GREAT HOST! Great seats at each game. Everything was first class. Very well organized. Travel time and events, during the tour, flowed very well. We would definitely join the tour again and would highly recommend Big League Tours.  Tom and Judy K., Indiana

The accommodations and seats on our recent baseball trip were excellent. Glenn, our tour director, went out of his way to assure we were comfortable. The parks visited were excellent, as well as the baseball stadium tours. Trip to Hall of Fame was excellent with ample time to see all. Would we go with BLT again? Absolutely! John G., California

My son and I LOVED the entire Big League Tours experience, and look forward to going on another one very soon. The cost was worth every penny, considering the location of the seats, the 4-5 star hotel, and all of the other package perks! Big League Tours certainly lived up to their name, as this experience was BIG LEAGUE all the way!! Tom H., Texas

The hotels were all located within walking distance of the ballpark (15 minutes or less), and all our tickets were in the lower level. In one case, at Pittsburgh, the seats were right behind the visitors' dugout, and in Cincinnati, we were three rows from field level right by third base. On this tour, we had a sit-down visit with baseball great Dave Parker. This was a great experience for us. Parker was such a personable, down-to-earth person who acted as if he really enjoyed talking with us and answering our many questions. He was especially good with the two 10-year-old Little League boys on the trip. This, to us, was the exclamation point to the whole trip. We would recommend traveling with Big League Tours, and this is a non-paid endorsement from the heart. Bob W., Texas and George W. California

That's just a few of the many great comments we get from our guests.  If you would like to join us in 2012 just click below to go to our website and select your tour package.  We look forward to seeing you in the Big Leagues this season.

Big League Tours 2012 Packages


East Coast Tour Special Ends Friday

Save 10-20% on the Full East Coast Tour- Touch 'em All Out East. This special and bookings for the tour end on Friday.  Click below for all the details.

East Coast Tour Special  

Topics: baseball vacations, baseball road trips, baseball trips, baseball games, baseball travel, testimonials

Other Baseball Tours vs. Big League Tours

Posted by Glenn Dunlap on Fri, Jan 06, 2012 @ 04:30 PM

We received a short email today about our baseball trips from a prospective customer, who we'll call BP. BP's response to an email from us said,

"I think by looking at other tour groups, you guys are a bit too expensive."

It's great to get feedback like this. And if BP is thinking this, others might be thinking it as well. Here was the response I sent to BP:

Thanks for giving us your feedback. I'm curious to know why you feel that we're too expensive? It's true, our baseball tours do cost more than the other guys but the things Big League Tours guest with Bill "Spaceman" Leeincluded in our tours are quite different. For instance, consider the seats at the ballgames. We don't buy group tickets that place you four rows from the top out by the foul poles. Instead, on our tours you'll sit in lower level seats, most of the time between the bases.

Also consider the hotels. When we have a tour to New York, for instance, we stay in the heart of Manhattan. Other tour groups stay in New Jersey or Connecticut. The price difference is quite significant but so is the experience. You can walk to Times Square (and many other attractions) on our tour but you'll be listening to jets landing on their tours.

There are other differences, too, including special stadium access, our player meet and greets, and the care we take in developing our itineraries that allow you to experience the cities we visit. Click here to see some testimonials from our customers and customers from other tour providers.

We know that other tour operators are good at what they do. And if you aren't concerned about where you sit at the games, where you stay, or how much time you spend on a bus, then I'm sure you'll be happy traveling with them. However, we think there's an experience level that's much different on our tours that's worth the difference in price. And if it's an experience that you are looking for, we hope that you'll consider joining us!!

I hope my response helps and welcome your thoughts and questions.

Catch you later!

Glenn

I really hope that I answered BP's concerns and possibly some that you might have had as well.

Topics: tour operator, baseball tours, baseball stadiums, baseball vacation package, testimonials

First Time Tour

Posted by Big League Tours on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 @ 02:15 PM
June 23, 2011 - This was our first baseball tour of any kind. So, we really have nothing to compare it with. But, we were very pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. GREAT HOST! Great seats at each game. Everything was first class. Very well organized. All of our needs were efficiently met. Travel time and events, during the tour, flowed very well. We would definitely join the tour again and would highly recommend Big League Tours.

Name: Tom & Judy King
City: Muncie
State: Indiana
Country: US
Your Trip: New York, Cooperstown, Boston

Topics: Red Sox, Boston, New York, Yankees, testimonials, Yankee Stadium, hall of fame, Cooperstown, Baseball

Our Dream Trip

Posted by Big League Tours on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 @ 02:00 PM
June 23, 2011 - The accommodations and seats on our recent baseball trip were excellent. Glenn, our tour director, went out of his way to assure we were comfortable. The parks visited were excellent, as well as the baseball stadium tours. The variety of transportation was very good, although the subway travel was a bit tiring. Trip to Hall of Fame was excellent with ample time to see all. Bus selection was excellent. Train trip from Washington to New York was interesting. Glenn did an excellent job in guiding us. The player interface was interesting. Would we go with BLT again? Absolutely!

Name: John H. Gulick
City: Anaheim
State: CA
Country: USA
Your Trip: East Coast-Touch Em All

Topics: stadium tours, New York, baseball trips, baseball stadiums, big league tours, testimonials, hall of fame

Cubs at Fenway Baseball Tour Review

Posted by Big League Tours on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 @ 10:30 AM
June 1, 2011 - I wanted to share an email I received from Tom H. Tom and his son joined us on our Cubs at Fenway Tour a few weeks ago. His recount of this historic MLB tour really captures the Big League Tours experience. He sent along a few pictures, too, so I have included them as well. Enjoy their story from the second of our nine baseball vacation packages this season.

My 13 yr old and I just completed our first trip with Big League Tours, and it was amazing. At first blush, the package price seems a little high compared to what I could do on my own, but after experiencing this event, the cost of the trip was MORE than worth it. Not only were the seats fantastic, but the behind the park tour, and the stories told by Bill "Spaceman" Lee were incredible.
Tom and son at Fenway
Friday Seats











My son is a huge Red Sox fan, and I've been a lifelong Cubs fan. Neither of us had been to Fenway, but we have been to Wrigley Field and a half dozen other major league parks. Fenway is an experience every true baseball fan should enjoy at least once in their life. It was amazing (although I'm still partial to Wrigley Field and the surrounding area!)

Boston itself was a beautiful city, much different than I expected. My only regret is that we scheduled an early morning flight back on Sunday, so we did not get to see very much of the city. If I did this over again, I would plan more time for site -seeing throughout the town.
Park PlazaFirst Pitch Babe Ruth's Daughter











We arrived on Friday afternoon to find our hotel was one of the oldest and nicest in Boston, and we had rooms on the concierge floor with all the amenities we could ask for. Our tour guide Mike was awesome, and met us downstairs a little before the appointed time. Mike took care of us the entire trip, going above and beyond the call of duty even though it meant backtracking for him at the end of the night to go pick his car back up and head for home! You're great Mike, and if you get back "home" to Texas look me up and we'll do Ranger's Stadium!!)

We departed on the subway (an experience for those of us in car-only states) and within 3 exits were at Fenway Park. Even 3 hours before the game, the area was going wild with activity. We walked around taking in the sites outside, then went in to our seats. For the first game, our seats were behind homeplate, about 20-30 rows up. Even though these were incredible seats, I was disappointed at first with the fact that the net came the entire length of the lower deck, making it impossible to catch a foul ball (or so I thought!) Boy was I wrong. About the 5th or 6th inning, a foul ball rolled all the way  up the net, and found a hole in the net! The next thing I know a ball is coming down about three stories toward us. My right hand was full of bags from the Fenway gift shops, but with the speed of light I stuck out my left hand across my body and snagged the foul ball one handed for my Fenway Jewel! The park photographer was there within seconds to capture that moment forever, and even caught my grinning son next to me to make the memory perfect!
 
After the game, our guide gave us the option of taking the subway back to the hotel, which would have been very crowded and very slow, or walking back to the hotel. When he gave me that choice, thinking of Chicago or New York, or even Texas, I looked puzzled and asked if the walk would be safe?? We were about a mile and a half away!! He said yes, so we took out walking. I was amazed how many groups of people were out walking around Boston at midnight, many of these groups of young college age women. I felt completely safe, and enjoyed the beautiful sites of 200 yr old apartments and churches on the way back to the hotel.
 
Saturday we slept in longer than I had hoped, but did have time to take a bus tour around the town. Saturday afternoon we had an incredible tour behind the scenes at Fenway Park, and got to meet one of the most colorful Boston players ever, Bill "Spaceman" Lee. Bill and his lovely wife stayed with us the entire tour, telling stories about the park and his career. Every Boston fan seemed to remember Bill, and wanted their picture taken with him. He seemed to LOVE being out with the people and making everyone happy! Thanks Big League Tours for letting us meet the Spaceman, and THANK YOU BILL for being so great. My son is still telling your stories, and has hardly put down the bat you gave us!
Seats on Saturday
 Tom, son and Spaceman











Saturday's game was even better than Friday ( partially because the CUBS won!!). Our seats were EVEN BETTER than Friday, about 8-10 rows from the field, right behind home plate. Amazing!!
 
Boston was a gorgeous city, and getting around was very easy. My son and I LOVED the entire Big League Tours experience, and look forward to going on another one very soon. The cost was worth every penny, considering the location of the seats, the 4-5 star hotel, and all of the other package perks! Big League Tours certainly lived up to their name, as this experience was BIG LEAGUE all the way!!
 
Tom H.

Thanks, Tom, for sending this to me and for letting me post it on the blog. We are looking forward to having you join us on one of our baseball road trips with Big League Tours again soon!

Topics: Red Sox, Rangers, baseball road trips, baseball vacation package, Fenway Park, big league tours, MLB tours, testimonials, Cubs

Testimonial from One of Our Small Group Tours

Posted by Big League Tours on Sun, Nov 20, 2011 @ 10:30 PM
December 4, 2008 - Here's a letter that we received from one of our customers, Bob Ward of Texas. As you'll see, Bob traveled on one of our small group tours through the Midwest in August of '08. Here's what he had to say:

"I traveled with a relative and his 10-year-old grandson, who was awestruck most of the Dave Parker joins one of our group travel tours in Cincinnatitime. The Midwest 2 Tour was our first with Big League Tours and was by far the best of the four I have taken, the first three with another company.  George had taken two other tours with another company.

The price of all the tours (we've taken) was comparable, but the services provided by Big League Tours was far superior, in our opinion.

"The primary things that set Big League Tours trip apart from the others, in our opinion, was two-fold: 1) location and quality of the hotels and 2) location of the game ticket seats.

"On this tour, we visited four cities and ballparks (Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati). The hotels were all located within walking distance of the ballpark (15 minutes or less), and all our tickets were in the lower level. In one case, at Pittsburgh, the seats were right behind the visitors' dugout, and in Cincinnati, we were three rows from field level right by third base. Great seats at all parks, but the two mentioned specifically were special.

"Another added touch that we liked was the idea of staying downtown in the cities visited, which made it easier to become more familiar with the cities (Detroit has a fabulous river walk).

"On this tour, we had a sit-down visit with baseball great Dave Parker, a two-time major league batting champ, who had a long and illustrious major league career. This was a great experience for us. Parker was such a personable, down-to-earth person who acted as if he really enjoyed talking with with us and answering our many questions. He was especially good with the two 10-year-old Little League boys on the trip. This, to us, was the exclamation point to the whole trip.

"We would recommend traveling with Big League Tours, and this is a non-paid endorsement from the heart."

Bob Ward (Texas) and George Wood (California)

Thanks to Bob and George for the kind words about the group travel tours that we offer. We hope that you'll join us this year so that you can experience the difference of a Big League Tour!

Topics: group travel, Pittsburgh, big league tours, group tours, testimonials, Cincinnati

Sports Vacations Offer Great Times for Families

Posted by Big League Tours on Sun, Nov 20, 2011 @ 11:00 AM
Family Makes East Coast Baseball Tour Together
October 23, 2008 - Here's a note that I received from one of our travelers. This is from Michael H. who traveled with his son and grandson on our East Coast 3 baseball tour which included games at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, a full day at Cooperstown, and a private stadium tour of Fenway Park. Michael's letter reads:
I'm sending this note to let you know how great the tour that Jarrett, Nolan and I went on was to me. It's been almost two months and I still think of it everyday. I will always have the best of memories about this baseball trip.
You handled everything so well and made it even more enjoyable. It was a pleasure to meet you and your daughter and your dad.
Thanks again for a great time!!!" 
We very much enjoyed you traveling with us, too, Michael. We love it when our guests have such a great time on the baseball road trips, especially when three generations get to experience them together!

Topics: stadium tours, sports travel and tours, Fenway Park, sports vacation, testimonials, Yankee Stadium, hall of fame, Cooperstown

Father and Son Take Midwest Baseball Trip

Posted by Big League Tours on Sun, Nov 20, 2011 @ 07:00 AM
Baseball Vacation Makes Lifelong Memories
August 27, 2008 - Many people have a love or bond for baseball, but there is nothing better than sharing that bond with your dad. Kris D. and his son, Chase, joined Big League Tours on the Midwest 1 trip in Chicago and Milwaukee. The trip caught Kris' eye since it wasn't a very long journey from their home in Aurora, Indiana, a town near Cincinnati.Family Tours Chase on Big Screen at U.S. Cellular Field

This trip was a gift from Kris to his son. Kris felt the gift was perfect because they both share a love for baseball and would someday like to see all the baseball stadiums together. Chase, age 9, was thrilled to get the trip and couldn't wait to take it. His grandfather even got him jerseys for each team that they were going to see on the trip. This only added to the anticipation and excitement that both Kris and Chase were already experiencing. 

They enjoyed all aspects of the trip but especially enjoyed the meet and greet with Ron Kittle at U.S. Cellular, where they were able to hear stories from Kittle's career and able to interact with him. Later that evening, Chase appeared on the big screen at U.S. Cellular where he hit a home run in the fan zone area! That's him swinging away in the picture. He was given an array of things including a shirt, hat, and tickets to the walking dinosaur exhibit in Chicago. Kris says, "My son and I were already close, but this has made memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you."

Topics: baseball trips, baseball stadiums, baseball vacation package, testimonials, Chicago, U.S. Cellular Field

What are you looking for in your baseball vacation packages?

Posted by Glenn Dunlap on Sat, Nov 19, 2011 @ 09:30 AM
Want Great Seats? Stadium Tours? Meet a Player? Great Hotels? Time to Explore?
I started this business a few years ago because I didn't like how other tour companies were offering their baseball trips. Many of them offer 10 - 14 day trips that require you to ride on a bus for hundreds, if not thousands, of miles. They stay in hotels that are outside of the cities so that you don't really get to explore them while you're there. And, unfortunately, the seat locations aren't great.

Here are a couple of blog entries from their customers:
  1. "We then headed up to our seats (in Yankee Stadium) which were just a few feet from the moon. Like at Shea we were 4 rows from the top but this time we were in right field. We could not see most of the right field fence so we hoped all activity would be in left field...It sounds like our seats are pretty horrible tomorrow night too so hopefully we can scope some better seats."
  2. "2800 miles of riding in a bus with almost no sleep and too many hot dogs but what an adventure it was." I bet. Not my kind of adventure...
  3. "Tickets were in the upper deck and I made a vow in 1991 never to sit up there again. We left the group to suffer from fear of falling out of their seats..."
If the sound of these comments leaves you concerned about booking other group travel tours, check out our tours and rest assured that you'll never have an experience like they've described.

Topics: stadium tours, sports travel and tours, baseball trips, baseball vacation package, testimonials

Big Apple Tour, Wrapup

Posted by Big League Tours on Thu, Nov 17, 2011 @ 11:00 PM
May 10, 2008 - Despite finishing the MLB tour with a rained out game, the trip as a whole was a great time. We saw a game at Yankee Stadium, toured Yankee Stadium (and even got in the clubhouse!), received autographs from several of the players, took in the sites at Shea Stadium (although they were damp), and had our Big League Player Experience with Miracle Mets team member Art Shamsky.

Here are some things that our guests had to say about our baseball road trip:

           "Dana & I wanted to thank you so very much for the great time we had in New York.  We appreciated your thoughtful, caring attitude toward creating a truly once in a lifetime major league experience for both of us.  You have successfully fulfilled your mission of creating a first class big league tour." Dana G. and Darrel M.Darrel and Dana behind Yankees dugout, Grand Junction, CO

           "Christine and I wanted to thank you for the wonderful time in NYC. We really had a blast and the baseball experience was outstanding. As I stood on the warning track in center field at Yankee Stadium and heard the voice of the "Mick" , I have returned to the fold as a Yankee fan. The seats were wonderful for both games and Christine was especially pleased to get so close to the field and to the Mets. I am sure we will meet again!" John and Christine L., Athens, GA

            "We really hated leaving New York - love it there and loved the trip. You did a fantastic job putting together what fans want to do and see!"  Sonia and Patrick D., Bakersfield, CA

             "Tami and I just wanted to tell you what a great time we had in New York. It was a fantastic experience. We're already talking about taking another trip with Big League Tours!"  Joe and Tami M., Ball Ground, GA
         
            "We had a wonderful time on the baseball trip - you took great care of all of the details and it made for a wonderful vacation. We had never been to NYC before and this was such a fun way to see the city for the first time. The seats at the stadiums were great too - we would never have been able to get those ourselves. Finally, meeting Art Shamsky was a highlight. We had no idea what to expect, but we were really glad that we had the opportunity to do that. We have already talked about traveling with Big League Tours again."  Bridget and Jeff M., Rochester Hills, MI

Topics: baseball road trips, big league tours, MLB tours, testimonials, Yankee Stadium