Tinggly: Giving stories, not stuff since 2014

Tinggly isn’t a place. It’s not somewhere to put on your bucket list. It’s not a must-see attraction. It facilitates travel experiences. And does it so well that I feel compelled to spread the news.

A couple of years back, we receive a Tinggly gift certificate that was promptly filed in my travel folder until the madness abated and travel resumed. I didn’t pay it much attention at the time other than check the expiration date (None!) and think, Hey! That’s cool.

I’m meeting himself in Bratislava this weekend. He’s travelling by train from there. I’m flying over from here.* We were to do this a few weeks back but life got in the way.

I figured this was as good a time as any to cash in that experience.

Their site is clearly laid out.

• Experience gifts are for him, for her, for couples, for people who travel, for adrenaline junkies.
• Getaway gifts feature one- and two-night stays in the USA and Europe and multi-country staycation boxes.
• Occasion gifts are for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, Mother’s Day, whatever.

You can also choose by location, or give a gift card.

I wasn’t all that sure how to search for what was available in specific areas and was reluctant to enter my code in case it committed me to cashing in when I wasn’t quite ready.

So I emailed them.

The response was quick and friendly and not in the least condescending They may have been rolling their eyes to heaven at my inability to figure out the obvious, but not so much as an eyelash fell on their email. [I discovered later that it was all clearly explained in the email announcing the gift but as I say, not an eyelash, not an eyelash…]

I booked the tour and received an email promptly confirming receipt of my booking telling me they’d get back to me in a couple of days once they’d confirmed with the provider.

In the meantime, I had to cancel the trip and go home instead. I wrote to them. Explained the situation. And got a lovely email back assuring me that I could book again, whenever suited, for this experience or any other. M voucher was still valid.

A couple of weeks later, I did just that. And got the same prompt, friendly, professional replies confirming that the provider would be able to give the tour but that the guide was a trainee. We’d be their first guests. They were passing on the provider’s 50% discount and giving me a gift card to use for the balance.

They connected me with the provider and we’ve fixed a time and a meeting place and we’re all set for Saturday. I will, of course, report back.

It mightn’t sound like much but in an era when customer service is negligible at best, the people I interacted with at Tinggly were a breath of fresh air.

And given that Brexit and everything else has opened up a world of hurt when it comes to mailing packages outside the EU, what could be easier than gifting a travel experience.

Let’s make it simple. It’s cousin Gary’s birthday and you want to give him a gift. But here’s the thing, Gary already has everything he needs. Or, at least he thinks he does. You go to the Tinggly website where you find the ‘Perfect For Him’ gift box. You investigate a little further where you find that the box is filled with a massive 1000+ amazing experiences selected from over 100 countries right around the world. James Bond island sightseeing in Thailand, an adrenalin-pumping ride down Bolivia’s most dangerous road, bungee jumping in the UK, or paragliding in Armenia, surfing lessons in Gran Canaria, the list goes on and on.

And, they do good, too.

For every gift purchased from 2018 to 2021 Tinggly removed 33lbs (15kg) of polluting plastics. They’ve installed trash traps in the rivers of Bali to stop plastics from entering our oceans. And their partnership with Plastic Bank creates new economic opportunities for some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities in Haiti, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Now, when they sell a gift, they plant a tree.

Consider giving the gift of stories rather than stuff. Am well impressed with the service. They’ve a 4.9 rating on TrustPilot from 607 reviews.

www.tinggly.com

*Travel tip: For those of you faced with horrendously expensive flights on the Budapest-Dublin route right now (I’d have gotten to New York cheaper), consider flying into either Bratislava or Vienna and catching the train from there. Flight times are more convenient and prices are substantially cheaper.