Tinggly Review: Gifting Experiences to Make Unforgettable Memories
As an avid traveler who comes from a family of adventurers , I grew up valuing experiences over things. At the time, I didn’t exactly know those were the values that were being instilled in me, but as an adult I can confidently say that being gifted tickets to Disneyland was certainly more memorable than that time I got a waffle maker (although I do still use it to this day haha!).
Now, I always look for unique gifts for my loved ones, like celebrating my mom’s 60th birthday by bringing her to Rochester for the total solar eclipse, or visiting Universal Orlando with my husband for his birthday.
One of my favorite ways to do this is with Tinggly, a company who shares these values and allows you to gift experiences! That means you don’t have to worry about picking out the perfect physical gift. Instead, you can turn travel into a gift! In this Tinggly review, I’ll share how it works, what to expect from your experience, and why they make fabulous gifts.
What is Tinggly?
Tinggly is hailed as an experience gifting company where they sell experiences as gifts. But what does that mean?
Basically, they are a company that gathers all kinds of experience providers around the world and places it all in one place to select from. They group thousands of exciting activities into different gift boxes to choose from. When you need a gift, they will ship it as a physical gift box if you want something to unwrap or send you an e-Voucher for those last minute moments.
They’re big on the festivities, too, making sure that the gift is still fun to receive. That means you don’t have to try to make a gift card look cool because Tinggly does it for you! Hello, sustainability, goodbye one-time use tissue paper and gift bag.
How to gift an experience with Tinggly?
It’s super easy! The general flow is that you purchase a gift box, which is either a digital box or a physical one, that contains a voucher (aka a redemption code…like an eGift Card). Using the redemption code, you simply redeem it on the site and it becomes yours to use.The recipient uses that voucher to book an experience from Tinggly’s extensive library. Alternatively, you can use the voucher to gift and book something specific for the recipient.
To get started, on their site, you can search for one of their gift boxes that are often themed for the celebration like for Mother’s Day, there’s a Superwoman box, for Father’s Day, there’s a Thank You, Dad box, or for a wedding, a Just Married gift box.
These gift boxes come in a range of budgets, which makes it great for lots of occasions both big and small. For example, you can choose a box that is equal to a $50 gift or a $200 one. These are just examples though and the value range is even wider than that!
From there, the box can get sent to the recipient or to you, depending on who you want to be able to book the actual travel experience. If you want the gift receiver to be able to decide, you can send them the box and let them choose. Or if you want to surprise them with something specific, you can have the box sent to you so you can redeem the voucher for a specific activity.
This is what I did for my mom, so she didn’t have to worry about the details, which was half the fun for her! She’s a fellow hyper-planner. And the person who’s always making the plans rarely has things planned for them, so I know it was extra special to take that load off.
If you’re not sure which to choose, I highly recommend contacting customer service to chat with them about your options and what makes the most sense for what you’re looking to do.
What types of experiences can I gift?
The greatest part of Tinggly in my opinion is the flexibility. They have SO many experiences from food tours, once in a lifetime activities like hot air balloon rides, to guided day trips, to full on getaway vacations.
And the gift receiver gets their pick! That’s less pressure on you and more options for them to do exactly what they want. I especially love this because even if you don’t know what travel plans the recipient has or what types of travel experiences they prefer, you don’t need to know. You can gift and let them handle the details for themselves.
Now my mom and I LOVE food tours. We’ve done them together in Chattanooga and New York (so far), so naturally we chose a food tour to do together. We went with a brunch tapas food tour in Barcelona, so I’ll share more on that in a bit!
Who can participate?
Each gift box can be done by up to 5 people! That means one gift invites family and friends to share in the experiences. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
What if the box I gift doesn’t cover the experience they want?
If you gift an experience for a value of, let’s say, $50, but the experience they want is $100, they simply pay the difference.
What if the tour they want has no availability?
Tinggly has exceptional customer service and full refunds and exchanges. This actually happened to me so I can 100% vouch!
If you get a voucher for a specific activity and there is no availability for your travel dates, you can simply choose to exchange the voucher for it’s value. A credit of that amount will appear in your Tinggly account to be used on a different experience.
Alternatively, if you pay for an experience out of pocket and there’s no availability, simply contact customer care and they’ll issue a refund!
Unfortunately, my biggest gripe is that you can’t see the availability before booking, so you may need to utilize their fantastic customer service (maybe even more than once) to ensure you get a booking within your availability.
Tinggly Experience Review
For Mother’s Day, I gifted my mom a Superwoman box! To make it a seamless process for her, I redeemed the voucher for a brunch tapas tour in Barcelona, which we did together.
Hooray for making travel memories together!
The tour itself was easy to book once I found one with availability. Our reservation had the tour operator name and contact information, so that if we had any trouble we could contact them directly.
Plus, while shopping for the perfect food tour, I could filter the options by city (Barcelona) then category (Food and Drink). Then, I could further sort the selection by rating so I was sure we were booking a good one!
And I’ll just say that our brunch tapas tour was fantastic!
It was a three hour tour around Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, one of the most historic and touristy areas of the city. We had spent a little time in the area but it was quite easy to get lost and daunting trying to find authentic shops and restaurants. Because it’s such a mix of tourist traps and places that have been there for over 100 years, I was so glad to have this guided tour with a local!
We tried so many fantastic foods including horchata made from tiger nuts, variations of marzipan, red wine chocolate balls (the most unique flavors I’ve ever had!), churros con chocolat, pintxos (bar finger foods), Iberico ham, olives, and cheeses.
Not to mention, our tour guide shared information about the Gothic Quarter and took us to one of the more underrated markets that most travelers skip in lieu of Mercat de la Boqueria. During our time in Barcelona, we visited both, and can easily say that this market was MUCH better than the touristy one.
We wouldn’t have found these gems without the tour!
The best part of course was making travel memories with my mom. While we’ve traveled the world together since I was a kid, there’s something special about making these memories as adults. It’s more like two friends traveling together, which is so uniquely special.
So if you’re looking for a way to gift experiences to make unforgettable memories with your loved ones, browse the selection on Tinggly. I know you’ll love it!
Thank you to Tinggly for sponsoring this blog post and inviting me to gift and participate in an experience. Use code PERIODIC20 for a 20% off discount on your Tinggly booking! Try it out here.
Check out these other great travel ideas:
My Travel Essentials
- Travel Insurance – Going on an international trip? Don’t forget travel and medical insurance with SafetyWing.
- Travel Card – If you’re new to travel hacking, fear not! My favorite card for beginners gives you $750 in rewards when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months, plus lounge access, 10x points on hotel bookings, and free TSA pre-check!
- Get Your Guide – Check out Get Your Guide for a one-stop-shop for booking travel activities.
- Booking.com – This is my favorite hotel search aggregator, specifically for reading reviews. On Booking.com, the reviews can be searched for keywords like WiFi, breakfast, pool, amenities, etc.! So helpful!
- Anti-pickpocket bag – Worried about having your valuables swiped? PacSafe makes the best travel bags with zippers and straps that lock and with mesh steel enforced fabric.
- Give the Gift of Travel – This is the perfect gift for travelers in your life! Tinggly allows you to gift experiences around the world, perfect for birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries.
- Staycation Idea – Check out Resort Pass, which gives you day passes to resorts so you can use their pool, spa, and fitness center, a great staycation idea!
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