I made a separate post as a teacher and tour director, and this post is as a parent, because all three of my daughters have traveled with Educational Travel Services. As a parent, it's a little scary to send your child off on a trip across the country. Even though I was actually present on these trips, it's still a strain because you're so far away from everything that's familiar, and the uncertainties of travel can bring their own level of stress. ETS makes all of this a non-issue. First of all, their attention to detail and concern for making sure that what our kids are going to be doing are fulfilling and engaging means that the trip is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience of growth and learning. Also, the concern for student safety that is expressed through their policies and practices goes a long ways towards calming any parental fears. As I've often told parents of student travelers, we have good kids, but we all were also fourteen once, and the idea of getting into shenanigans while 3,000 miles away from parental supervision can overcome even the best kid. So, to that end, ETS has policies like having on-site security at every hotel to make sure students cannot leave their rooms after bed checks. I've heard numerous nightmare stories about what happens on some student travel trips after lights out, but that has never been a concern on an ETS trip. Also, we stay in quality accommodations - Courtyard by Marriot is a typical hotel, and care is taken to make sure that rooms do not connect and that there is no balcony access, again for student safety. But probably the most important aspect of working with ETS is the personal touch. When I call the office, I know the names of everyone there, and they know who I am, and the details of my school and my students. I'm treated like a member of the family at ETS, because when you become a client of theirs that's what the experience is like. I plan to teach at least eight more years, and an ETS trip is the cornerstone of every one of those years, as it has been for the past twenty. read more

Educational Travel Services - Our group at the Statue of Liberty, June 2024. - Travel Services Near Me - Gladstone, Oregon

As a parent, Educational Travel Services provided a really nice experience for my student. We found the information to be helpful to prepare my daughter for her trip. She communicated that the tour guide was exceptional and hit all the best spots! One of the things my daughter appreciated was the convenience of the allotted food money. She also loved the prepaid nice restaurant dinner. This brought her some incredible memories and an opportunity to travel with school friends. read more

Truly amazing group who provided exceptional service and the trip of a lifetime. My stoic kid talks nonstop and with enthusiasm of all he learned and experienced during his epic East Coast trip. I was blown away by the value of the service and expertise of the ETS team. read more

I love this tour! I love supporting small businesses. This tour is highly recommended.

My son traveled with ETS in 2022 for the 8th grade East Coast Trip. I remember looking at the itinerary thinking no way can they do ALL of these things in that amount of time. Boy, was I wrong! That was hands down the best trip of his life and I would like to think he has been to some pretty neat places. ETS is so organized and every detail is fine tuned. Now 2025, my daughter will be embarking on the very same trip! I still look at the itinerary in disbelief but she is so excited! Also, ETS makes the payment process simple and doable with payment plan options. Thank you ETS for all that you do! read more

They plan with attention to every detail. The days were full, the food was kid friendly, the hotels were familiar names. Then to provide sleep for student and chaperones a security service was stationed in the hallways. I loved sending my kids. This is our third trip. I would recommend this tour company over any national company. Julie read more

I have sent 2 different kids on trips organized by ETS. The trips are well organized, safe, and fun and educational. They break the cost into a manageable monthly amount. Absolutely will be sending 3rd kid when she is in 8th grade too! read more

Excellent company!!! I have traveled multiple trips with ETSi and EVERY trip was professionally planned and run to perfection. There was a representative from ETSi in every city and every hotel we stayed. That put many of the parents at ease knowing that we had a company official on site everywhere we went. ETSi also has an excellent reputation with hotels, restaurants, bus and tour companies. When an establishment has a group that is traveling with ETSi, they know that things will be taken care of. The employees are friendly, knowledgable, and very easy to work with. I would recommend any school or group to use ETSi to plan their trip. I sent both my daughters on trips with them and they both had the experience of a lifetime!! read more

I think this a fantastic company. My tour was very well organized and great for kids! Highly recommend them. Sean C

COMPLETE RIP-OFF. I am in the military and most $130"0 because the trio was cancelled during COVID and I couldn't reschedule my child's because we moved across the country. We're beside ourselves. They wouldn't answer a single email, not one. read more

I went to Washington DC and Virginia last month with my special needs son. We had to share a room and most rooms have four people. They only charged double occupancy for one of us and absorbed the cost of the fourth person. When we got there we were only allowed to take small quantities of sunscreen and we burn so easily that it was not enough. Someone from ETSI bought us sunscreen and delivered to the hotel free of charge: They arranged the most fabulous service for our tour bus and made it the adventure of.a lifetime for both of us. If you make a late payment they do not charge a fee. They will work with you and are very polite. We saw museums, plantations, Arlington Cemetery, statues,!ghost towns, went to the top of Washington Monument and every moment was packed with adventure unless we were on the bus, eating, or sleeping. We came home exhausted and took a full day from our vacation, but I would not change a thing. Thank you for the trip of a lifetime! read more

My daughter's 8th grade trip was cancelled due to COVID. ETSI has failed to provide correct refunds per their own policies keeping close to half of the 3500 trip costs claiming they had incurred 1700 in "non refundable tickets purchased for the traveler". When asked for a simple breakdown of what these costs included, ETSI refused to provide ANY type of accounting. They did tell me via email and on the phone that they do include their agency overhead (electricity and staff costs) in the non refundable tickets calculation. This is a completely disingenuous interpretation of the policy and no reasonable person would categorize the company's electric bill as a "non refundable ticket purchased for the traveler". If they wanted to include overhead in this calculation, they should have put that in their policy. ETSI has been horrible to work with. I would never recommend ETSI and hope no schools are unfortunate enough to plan a trip with them in the future. Don't believe a word of any response to these complaints from ETSI- there are many many families who have had the same experience and would back up all of the negative reviews. read more

I would NOT recommend this company at all!!! Due to COVID they have cancelled my daughters trip and are trying to keep 41% of the total cost (which mind you the total cost is around $3600!) claiming that the nonrefundable costs include deposits and payments along with their operating costs over the last year. They will not provide any proof of these nonrefundable costs and are claiming they are not profiting from this. Which, excuse me - operating costs? Wouldn't this mean that their company is receiving part of this money? When asked to provide an itemized list/receipt to see where our money has been distributed and which companies are not providing refunds they responded with, "It has never been our policy to provide an itemized list of costs for our tours." I did ask to see proof of this also and am currently waiting on a response. This company is not up front and/ or transparent with their customers. Again, I DO NOT RECOMMEND ETSI!!! read more

BEWARE if you ever need to cancel. They do not disclose the details of how their cancellation process works in advance. They only list a non-refundable amount, in our case $300*, the asterisk meaning "the cost of any non-refundable tickets and fees purchased for the participant." I cancelled my son's travel. (The entire trip ended up being cancelled because of the pandemic, so I was understanding to a point at their slow attention to our refund.) At this point we have been charged about $600 in non-refundable fees. On top of fundraising moneys they have kept. Their lack of ability to answer specifics as to why we owed so much after cancelling is appalling. Jan told me verbally over the phone that no airline tickets had been purchased so I luckily wouldn't be charged the $100 airline fee. Another mom with a child booked for the same trip got a different story from Jan. And low and behold, now we've been charged that fee. After 2 months of ZERO communication I disputed the charge with our visa company. They've now ADDED a charge to our fees for this. Their business practices are ambiguous and secretive. They refuse to tell you what tickets or fees they have attached to your traveler. They are hard to get answers from. Once I received a callback prefaced with "I only called you back because you've been calling and emailing so much." Will NEVER book travel with a company that operates this shadily again. Their trips may end up fantastic when they work out. However if you ever need to cancel - you've been WARNED. read more

I am unable to attest to the quality of their tours. My review is based solely upon my experience with the company as a parent who submitted a prompt, early cancelation. The cancellation was when the trip was nearly a year out and at the 30 day mark of our reservation. I called to cancel due to a scheduling conflict and was told my child would be refunded the deposit given the proximity to the reservation. However, it was summer and their staff is mostly absent the office due to travels. By time someone returned my contact, I was given differing responses. A partial refund was sent back to my child; when I called to ask for a full refund, I was denied by email; calls were NEVER returned. After attempting further contact to follow up on my child's outstanding monies, I found that the company is run by the married owners and their two daughters, leaving no option to elevate the call. I've explained several times how I was first told my child would receive a full refund and that was never fulfilled. I explained how much fund raising time we put into my 12 year old earning the $ that was outstanding and no response was provided. Then, my child asked if the outstanding $ could at least be applied to a good friend's account and a response still has not been provided. The last returned communication from Judy was absolutely curt and rude, having no consideration that a 12 yr old's $ was being kept after we were told otherwise back in July. The downside to this company is that they you pay them directly, yet they have NO customer service promise to you. Rather, they need to only please the school representative who schedules their services. I could not be more displeased with the staff/owners. read more

ETSI provided a jam-packed trip, but the trip didn't meet expectations of everything that was promised. ETSI's idea of "quality" differs from the dictionary definition...vastly at times..especially when it comes to lodging. ETSI espouses that the trip is all-inclusive; however this is not quite true. Yes, admission is included to all activities that the tour group has scheduled; however, the admission did not always include the full experience and a couple of upgrades were required. And although the brochure indicates that all gratuities are included, even for drivers, everyone was approached on the last day for gratuity for the driver, being told that in actuality, it was not included. Had there been full disclosure in advance (i.e. a list of all of the activities, hotels, etc.), I would have thoroughly researched each location and would not have sent my teenager. (I searched for info about ETSI but could not find any feedback [positive or negative] except what was posted on their website.) Additionally, beware that the brochure distributed by ETSI has a prominent and glowing review of the benefits of student travel by Cecil Krebs, a retired principal...He happens to be an employee of ETSI. And, while considering whether the travel opportunity is right for your family, don't rely on what the teacher/chaperone has to say as their trip is free... read more