LMFAO at all these fake 5-Star reviews clearly written by EF Employees. No parent with a brain would send their kids on an EF trip. That's why now they have increased their recruitment of college students and single adults (EF College Study Tours and EF Go Ahead). EF Go Ahead Tours usually uses 3 Star hotels and above but K-12 and college students get ripped off. Right now I'm trying to advocate to my college campus to cancel our trip to London because the U.K. government has essentially banned all leisure travel. This greedy company won't even lower the cost of our trip as a courtesy for their previous bad behavior in the public eye. As long as London remains at Level 3 Travel Advisory they (EF Tours) can cancel at any time and yet the trip is still happening? Lastly, regardless of when you cancel your tour, you WILL lose between $750 to $3,000 per person in cancellation fees CLEARLY meant to ensure EF still cuts a hefty profit. I can already see 2021 trips being cancelled. They started cancelling 2021 trips months ago (these were re-scheduled from 2020). And guess what? Yep, this criminal enterprise will steal your money again and again with zero remorse. Dont people ever learn anything? This company will cancel your trip at the very last minute, try to convince you to "accept" a worthless travel voucher, then take nearly $1,000 in cancellation fees PER PERSON (after you demand your refund) despite noone going anywhere. But the most pressing concern is this: Why would you give this company any of your hard earned money after this? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy_PKuljk0s&t=702s https://eftourslitigation.mcgranepc.com https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/coronavirus-covid-19/education-first-class-action-says-tour-company-canceled-trips-over-coronavirus-refuses-refunds The truth is a hard thing to accept. Believe me, I know. read more

I regret not reading reviews prior to enrolling my son in your immersion language program. Initially, I was very excited about this opportunity, especially since the sales representative was kind, helpful, and reassuring throughout the process. My son was originally scheduled to stay on campus for three weeks, and I made all required payments, including the deposit and subsequent balances, based on my contract with the school. Six weeks before his departure, we are informed that his accommodation had been changed to a hotel room residence near the airport, approximately 30 minutes away by bus and over an hour walking distance from the school. This is a significant deviation from what was originally promised. Now, after I have already booked two international flights, I am being told that the originally confirmed accommodation is no longer available. This situation is extremely unsettling and has placed us in a difficult position. read more

A Disappointing Bait-and-Switch: Not the Parisian Experience We Paid For My experience with EF began with a very enthusiastic, bubbly, and responsive salesperson who painted a wonderful picture of the program. It's clear they have a large, polished sales operation--it feels very "pitchy," and we learned they have an entire floor of people dedicated to selling these programs. However, once the contract was signed, the reality was starkly different from what was promised, leading to a deeply disappointing two-month experience for my 21-year-old son from February to April 2025. 1. Misleading Location & Unresponsive Staff (The "Bait-and-Switch") The primary reason we chose EF was for an immersive experience in the heart of Paris, a fact I made explicitly clear as our family is originally from France but my son was raised in the U.S. . We were assured this would be the case. Instead, just a week before his departure, we discovered my son was placed with a host family a 40-minute train commute outside the city (Enghin les bains). This completely defeated the purpose of the program. When I raised this critical issue, the once-bubbly salesperson was suddenly unavailable. I was passed on to staff in Paris who were dismissive and offered no solutions. Their justification was that the fine print allows for a commute of 'up to one hour,' and I was essentially told I should be happy it was only 40 minutes. They made it clear that a move into the city was impossible and no refund would be considered. The communication and accountability vanished the moment there was a problem. 2. Subpar Host Family Experience The issues continued with the host family. Upon arrival, my son was informed of an unexpected 50 euro fee for laundry. More concerningly, the meals provided were so inadequate and unhealthy that my son lost a significant amount of weight during his stay. There were also unsettling instances where the host would eat certain foods while telling my son he was not allowed to have any. This is not the safe and nurturing environment you expect when you entrust your child to a program like this. 3. Ineffective Language Immersion and Academics From an educational standpoint, the program also fell short. The curriculum focused heavily on grammar, verb conjugation, and writing--skills that are not the most useful for developing day-to-day conversational fluency. Furthermore, the social environment did not foster language practice, as my son found that the majority of his new friends from other European countries spoke English together. The advertised daily activities were also a letdown, with very low attendance, suggesting they were not engaging for the students. 4. Questionable Review Integrity Perhaps most concerning is the integrity of EF's review system. When my son initially gave the program an honest 3 or 4-star rating at the end of his stay, he was brought into an office and spoken to by staff, after which he felt pressured to change his rating to a 5. This practice makes me seriously question the authenticity of the glowing reviews they feature and suggests a focus on maintaining a perfect online image over providing a genuinely quality experience. Conclusion: Overall, our two-month experience with EF was a lesson in over-promising and under-delivering. It felt like a classic bait-and-switch scheme, from the location to the quality of the homestay to the effectiveness of the program itself. I cannot recommend this program to parents seeking a genuine, supportive, and immersive experience for their children. I would urge others to exercise extreme caution, get every single detail (especially accommodation location) in writing before paying, and be very wary of the overly positive ratings. read more

Warning: DO NOT book with #EF study abroad programm Before you commit to this program, do yourself a favor and search "EF horror stories" on Facebook. I wish we had. What happened to my daughter was an absolute nightmare. Once you pay the deposit, you're locked in--and that's when the hidden fees, broken promises, and unprofessional chaos begin. Nothing EF promised was honored. They placed my daughter with a host "family" just two days before her flight--someone clearly unvetted. This woman never even gave her a key to the house. Then she had the nerve to pressure my daughter into going on an overnight trip with her and her sketchy boyfriend. When my daughter declined (rightfully so!), they kicked her out. EF provided no support whatsoever. My daughter was stranded in a foreign country, alone, without a place to stay. We had to scramble to find her shelter ourselves. EF claims to be safe and educational, but in our case, it was reckless, unsafe, and irresponsible. They are putting kids in dangerous situations. Shame on them. Run. Don't walk. RUN from this company. read more

This company is a scam!! We had to cancel my daughters trip and they were supposed to give us a refund of a fraction of what we had paid and it has been 2 months and no refund. No one will return any calls or emails AND they have continued to charge my credit card two more times! AVOID this company at all costs! read more

I joined EF's program as a minor and had a terrible experience. On July 17, I unknowingly drank a sip of an alcoholic drink (offered by other EF students who later mocked me). Though I was completely sober, EF staff pressured me into a false confession, threatening expulsion if I didn't name others. They interrogated me multiple times without parental consent, forced me to sign unclear documents, and punished only me--while those who actually drank faced no consequences. EF claims "Education First," but their actions show zero respect for fairness or student well-being. I was manipulated, stressed, and treated unjustly. Do not trust this organization read more

I saw their advertisement for 50 plus adults to learn a language abroad. It seems to be a wonderful idea for a retired person. So I contacted them, got on a Zoom meeting to listen to their presentation. I also checked the reviews on the internet, which are mixed with positives and negatives. Most of the negatives are about the cost, which I think is ok. So I decided to sign up. As I was about to pay, I had one question. I reached out to the "advisor" assigned to me. I called, emailed, text to the "advisor" for several days, no response. I called the company, still nothing; only voicemail. My goodness! Very irresponsible people, bad sales, and customer service. I wanted to be their customer, but they did not even respond. I can't imagine what would happen if I sign up and get into some problems abroad. My advice to the company: save the advertisement money and just make sure you serve the current customers well. By the way, you lost me! read more

The customer service regarding the "Security". The woman who assist me and my driver while dropping off an order was highly disrespectful and belligerent. This woman (black) with a gray half zip jacket and black sweatpants with running sneakers (blue/black) was so rude and manipulative.She probably thought it was funny and sarcasm. How wrong. Another guy was there to deliver a package and she legit looked at him and said my driver "was going to beat her up". Like um, lady all we asked was "where is the reception" bc that's what the directions said to do. (leave at reception) Her response is, "Oh don't worry about that, yea don't worry about this, leave it here, I'm security, go on about your day" Like why are you talking like that. When I asked her about her attitude, not only did she calm all of that down, but had the audacity to get defensive. Where both here to provide a service and this is how you act? And she looked like she just woke up, she should be tested for drugs and complete another 4 hour training video. read more

EF Education First - The rudest person claiming to be "security" in the eastern hemisphere. Top Flight gone wrong. - Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

these people are thieves. I had to cancel my daughters trip and out off the 639 I paid already they took $580 9 months before the trip. Zero compassion. read more

Expensive hangout for kids in Paris. If you want to learn French or are looking into this program for someone else, know that the classes are legit, though there isn't any support system for learning outside of class. An embarrassing point is there is only 4 bathrooms for all the students and there is a line 20 people long. Though, if you are 5 minutes late for class you cannot enter. Seriously. Truly embarrassing for a "school." The building is closed before and after classes. You do group activities and the primary language spoken is English. There is no studying in the building as much as a fun balcony and a playstation to play games. You never see anyone doing anything but "chillin." The people are very nice but that is not why I came here. I wanted to study everyday and take my French to the next level. You will not learn in this "cool" hangout environment. Though, you will meet a lot of very nice people. read more

EF is very clearly running a bait-and-switch operation and they use high-pressure sales tactics as well. I am currently booked to study in Barcelona this winter with EF and they feel more and more like a scam everyday. They were extremely responsive, helpful and accommodating while I was looking into taking a language course. The salesperson was constantly in contact with me and pressuring me to book as soon as possible. I even asked if I could think things over and discuss the course with my family before booking and I was told "no, the course may fill up. We need to pay the registration deposit immediately." As soon as they had my credit card information, they became very unresponsive and negligent -- providing little to no information about the upcoming language course I had booked in Spain. For several months, I tried to get more information so that I could apply for my VISA and they failed to provide that information until just a few weeks before my course. Unfortunately, by this time, there were no VISA appointments at the Spain consulate until several months after my course in Spain begins. They told me I could study in Spain for a few months then transfer to Costa Rica. I told them that I simply want to study in Spain for a few months and wanted a refund for the remainder of the course. They said that they'd get back to me within a day with information on my refund -- this was over a week ago and I have still heard nothing. Likewise, over 6 months ago, we finalized my start/end dates in Barcelona and they STILL have not updated them in their system so my host family and the Spain language school still believes that I am staying an additional 3 weeks. I am also certain that EF is charging me for these weeks as well, even though I will not even be in the country and we did not agree on those dates. I have spent weeks emailing and calling EF and am only able to get ahold of them about once every two weeks, and then they will tell me they will look into my case, and get back to me. They never do. Do not waste your time or money on this company. read more

In my opinion, we had a terrible experience with the Tokyo school. My daughter was lost in Tokyo upon arrival and we called the school and spoke to staff. In my opinion, no one cared. Also in my opinion, very expensive and very disorganized. In my opinion, the classes were sub par. I paid $600 for an airport transfer that was never used and totally got the run around regarding a refund. I was told to schedule a virtual meeting to discuss and the representative did not show or ever offer an explanation or get back to me. (I had sent several emails explaining this simple issue and no idea why a meeting was even necessary.) In my opinion, once this company has your money they don't care about much else. read more

Fue la mejor experiencia de mi vida. Conoci a gente nueva de paises completamente distintos, mejore mi ingles y simplemente disfrute. Recomendado 100% read more

This company is a SCAM. AVOID! We traveled across the world for a cruise trip in Greece, took a bus to the port, waited for hours and then we're told our tour was cancelled. They offered no refund and we just wanted out. Customer service was awful. They offered an expiring voucher and changed our itinerary to something far inferior that cost them super cheap, and then continued to not offer us any repayment for the extra amounts we all had paid. So basically the took a trip they had already profited on and then profited even more by giving us a worse itinerary and not offering a refund to those effected who wanted out. read more

EF Education First - Email cancelling trip. Expiring voucher offered but we just wanted the option to leave for a refund. - Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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If I could give this company a negative star, I would. Their communication is terrible, and they show no genuine care for students, employees, or host families. I worked for EF and hosted students for three years, but in the fourth year, they deeply hurt me and my family. I will never speak positively about this company again. Also, the nepotism is glaring--yes, Dawn, I'm talking about you. read more

Please do not book with this company! I booked maybe 4-5 months ago and now had a change of heart suddenly because I felt that something was not right. I have tried to cancel this trip multiple times via phone and email. There has been either no response or some excuse about sending me the cancelation information, but they never do. Or they try to talk me into booking another trip with them. I am disappointed because I am young and I desperately wanted to go abroad to Spain since I didn't get a chance to study abroad during COVID. I thought they were a credible company, but they are not treating me with any type of respect by ignoring my calls and emails. On top of that, I am losing some of my hard-earned money. I am even willing to abide by their company cancelation policy (which I feel like they need to add a policy on their response time that states they need to respond within a certain time frame and if they don't people who want to cancel will get a full refund). All I want to do is cancel the trip and abide by their rules....but they are giving me a hard time. So just please consider all of the reviews before booking with this company! Learn from my negative experience and also the other reviews on here that are saying don't do it! read more

I wish there is less than one star to give this company. It is a scam don't even waste your time and money. Read the reviews carefully and you will realize that you are actually paying for these people salary and getting zero benefit. if you enrolled and tried to cancel then good luck read more

I have never had a worse experience in my life. All of their offices are incredibly disorganized and don't know how to communicate with each other. The host families are awful and they all do it only for the money; the host family I stayed with would only let us use one roll of toilet paper per week to split among three girls. My host mom yelled at me, clapped in my face, threw my bags on the floor, and threw my phone on the floor because she couldn't communicate with me because I didn't know the language (obviously because the whole reason I did the program was to learn the language. Absolutely ridiculous). When I left the host family, I contacted EF immediately about my situation and they were so rude and dismissive, they had zero empathy and their only solution was to make me pay another 4,500 euros to stay somewhere else, and they refused to help me pay for any part of it. The staff members (except for the teachers) are so condescending and unsympathetic, and all they care about is making money. One of my friend's host families knew she was vegetarian and would hide meat in her food. When she notified EF, they told her she had to pay an extra 400 euros per month for a vegetarian option. I have never been treated so disrespectfully in my life; I hope everyone can know just how terrible and irresponsible the EF program is. Don't waste your time or money, I promise you will regret it. I wish I could leave negative stars. read more

This company is a Scam with a capital "S"!!!! Unfortunately, we were lured in by the promise of the vacation of a lifetime for our teenage son. In 12/2016 (over 1 year before departure) we paid them $3800 for a 10 day Italy & Greece spring break trip. 10 months later we were informed that several students dropped out so they would have to increase the cost by $95 per person - which we reluctantly paid. Now, less than a month before departure, they've sent another bill for $105 more. Our school's EF rep used the "students dropping out" excuse again. But THIS IS THE LAST INCREASE, they've promised. The really weird part is that on their website they've changed every one of these charges so that they all read 12/2016, as if the trip cost this amount from the start. It got more convoluted when I called customer service to ask about the most recent increase. I was actually told that it WASN'T due to students dropping out, instead it was an "upgrade" to the hotel and tour bus so that our group would have better accommodations and also not have to share a bus with other schools/groups. So obviously we were being lied to by someone. When our school's teacher/leader contacted them later that same day to have the "upgrade" removed, EF reverted back to their "students dropping out" excuse and said the latest charges would remain. I also asked customer service about why this new charge occurring in 2/2018 was altered on their website to show 12/2016. The rep couldn't give me an answer. My theory is that they do this so that when you try to cancel with your credit card company they can say that all charges were disclosed from the beginning. Furthermore, EF has protected their scam with a ridiculous cancellation policy. It's literally impossible to get a full refund no matter the reason. I've seen numerous other reviews that attest to this. Bottom line - save yourself the headache and stress and never, ever, ever do business with EF. read more

Don't do it There is a lot that could be said about EF but ultimately it was a big letdown for me AND its very misleading. I signed up for the intensive 25+ courses for four weeks. Well for four weeks i was surrounded by teens and very young adults. Obviously their goal and my goals to learn Spanish are not the same. They are there to party and have a great time (No judgement to them) but when you are an adult and you fought hard to get time off to go study abroad AND you have to pay your own money, you are determined. Well for four weeks... it wasn't intensive, part of the issue is that the teachers have to redirect and get the teens to focus, a lot of wasted time there. At the end of my experience, I expressed my let down and how I was misguided about the 25+ adults, the response was "I'm sorry, I should have emphasized that you may be in class with teenagers." It felt like EF didnt care... So if you are an adult and you want take a Spanish immersion program and really learn... EF is not the program for you. EF is not for those who want to take an intensive course and with other like minded folks who are eager to learn. It is not worth the money at all. Save your money and look elsewhere! 2/5 stars because the teachers and staff in Barcelona were great and they helped me get books and suggested things to do outside of the classroom to improve my Spanish. When i expressed my disappointment about the program, they mentioned that this wasn't their first time hearing it! read more

Just returned from an EF Tour to Italy. So the good, all of our flights made it with no issues! Even the flight from London back to Nashville that had only an 1.5 hour layover - thanks to a 30 min. airline delay. We had a good driver but he did somehow manage to park the furthest from every stop/meeting location (ugh) but he got us around safely. We saw a ton of Italy during our trip even if it meant minimal time at each location (sometimes we drove over an hour to a cool site but then only had enough time at the site to eat). We were given a tour director, Alexandros who handled our day to day. So the not so good, I didn't realize that for 9 days (really 7 in country) we were paying for a low budget trip as over $4000 per adult and almost $3000 for a child does not seem low budget. So let's start with hotels. We were told we were staying at 3-4 star hotels. Well only the first would of made it to a 3 star with excellent food (breakfast and dinner) and accommodations at Antony Hotel in Venice - really it was 45 min outside the city in Mestre. So remember you need to add in the extra travel time for how far we were from everything! Then we moved to Florence or should I say Montecatini Terme for our next two day to Piccadilly hotel. This is where meals and accommodations started to move downward. Our hotel dinner was so bad people started sneaking out early and went to local restaurants to eat. My niece and I along with two other mom/daughters did this. Thank God for Cibus restaurant, which was in walking distance- otherwise we would of starved. Our final hotel in Rome was the Black hotel - first a hotel decorated in all black had a dingy feel to it and made me feel off balance. Note the hallways are even black with lighting only on the room numbers. This hotel was 25 min away. It is located in a neighborhood with no food options nearby - which made for a horrible 3 days as their food was inedible! We did walk the 4 min but real 20 min walk to McDonald's the first night but decided against it again because you have to walk on the side of the interstate for a bit. (Note our first night was the last day of a taxi strike so no taxis or Ubers. We did uberEats our remaining time along with a number of families). Another issue with this hotel were the number of construction workers staying there who stared at the students. (See my review of this hotel) I should note that our accommodations were better than what we were originally given - a hostel! Seriously why do we pay so much if they go the cheapest route for hotels. Online our hotels ranged from $35-70/night and included breakfast. It was nice having a "local" tour director (he's actually from Greece) but he was hot and cold a lot of the times and you never knew what mood you were going to get. For example, one day I spoke to him about how the meals were inedible and they weren't honoring my dairy-free request. He told me that we were eating authentic Italian food and I hadn't been to Italy before. I explained the food we ate on our own was completely different and fresher. He said he heard that issue before. Then the next day when the hotel tried to serve me an entirely dairy filled meal (pasta with white sauce, spinach and cheese pastries, and tiramisu) - he stormed off and complained that I was not willing to allow him to accommodate me with the dairy filled meal. He and the hotel manager both claimed none of the dishes had dairy - ummm see meal above! I finally sent him a WhatsApp apology to get him to speak to us again. On other occasions, he would randomly snap at us, tell us we were late to the meeting point (he would say meet at 9:50 but really meant we are leaving at 9:50 so come 5-10 min early.) He rarely engaged with the students and spent his meals eating at a private table with our group leader and his family. Be mindful that EF nickels and dimes you for everything. For example a $500 adult supplement, $250 for single (this is normal though), $350 to allow your child to stay in your room. Plus, people in our group signed up for an excursion but when they changed their minds about attending, we're told they couldn't pass the excision on to another group member. On the trip, we were told we needed to pay 75 euros (~$81.50) extra to add three more stops but then had to rush through them and spent more time getting there then we did actually enjoying the additional sites. Honestly this is my first and last tour with EF. Perhaps it is good for those who don't mind staying budget and eating inedible food but for the $7000 plus we spent, I could of done this trip on my own and stayed and ate at better restaurants. Note: You sign a COVID contract that if you test positive within 5 days of returning you have to notify them. When I did, the woman said we aren't actually tracking this. So the COVID contract is pointless! This makes me very concerned if I actually got sick on the trip would they have helped! read more

I'd like to warn people about this company. My college decided to offer a study abroad for the honors program philosophy classes. We were heading to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France to visit Dachau Concentration Camp, the Seat of the EU, and a list of other cool places. I paid $5459 in total for the trip from December 2020 to April 2022. We were supposed to go May 19-31, 2022, but my college canceled the trip due to COVID and Putin invading Ukraine. They were being super safe and didn't want us in harm's way. Fine, I get it. What I do not get is that we had a global protection plan, which cost $165, and that amount was taken by EF College Study Tours before issuing us a travel voucher. Mine was in the amount of $5294. Again, fine. I was told they "don't do refunds" when I asked for one. I was not happy about it, but okay, I'll plan something later with a "Go Ahead Tour." Now, I'm really not happy about it because now I'm looking at having to drop out of college to pay for chemotherapy and radiation for my dog with metastatic mast cell cancer. Tests today showed she has a large tumor in the right lobe of her liver and it's displacing her gallbladder and the major vessels surrounding it. She has numerous tumors that have appeared just in the past few weeks, and I'm waiting on the results of needle aspirates performed on the sentinel lymph node and one granulated tumor. The average cost of cancer treatment for dogs, according to Care Credit, is $4137, but she's grade III, the worst type, so I'm bracing myself for a higher cost. When contacting the company with this information, I was flatly offered $3027 if I would like to void the voucher. That's almost half of what I paid for the trip I never got to take. The other option was for me to try and sell it to another student, but I'm an online student. I don't know any other students, and I haven't even met the professor who was to be our group leader. When instructed by EF to contact the group leader, I told them I had because I had. I've contacted him many times and he doesn't respond to emails. So, I don't know how I'm even supposed to know other trips my college might have planned, and even if I did, it could take months and months to sell the voucher, and I'm sure another student would want to make payments over time to me. No one has $5294. We're students. I reached out to my success coach and the honors department, and I've been told the school is working toward a resolution. EF suggested I have the school pay for it. Anything for them to NOT have to reimburse fairly. It's frustrating and I feel extremely helpless because I have over $5000 sitting in a worthless travel voucher when my dog needs medical treatment NOW. I am unmarried, and I do not have children. My dog is my family - she's my baby, and veterinary oncologists have said that mast cell cancer, even if it has metastasized, is a very treatable cancer. The founder of Education First, EF, EF College Study Tours, is a Swedish billionaire named Bertil Hult. I sent him an email last night at bertil.hult@ef.com, asking for some help with my situation, and he opened the email but didn't reply. This company makes a fortune for a man who doesn't care anything about students or whether they'll have to stop their education to care for their family. $5459, the total cost of my trip, is nothing to a man like that, and everything to people like me because I can't get approved for a loan, a credit card, or Care Credit to pay for my dog because I had to declare Chapter 7 Bankruptcy at the end of 2019 after an abusive relationship. I've had to start over, and it hasn't been fun, and this company makes people's lives worse. I had to buy a used car because I didn't have a car, and I need to get to work so I can pay my bills and go to community college. I have just sat here and read story after story like mine from students who encountered hardships and lost the only real money they had in hopes of seeing the bigger world, but this company is a scam. The founder is a terrible person who doesn't understand what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck, just trying to survive and get by. It's predatory, it's wrong, it's unethical, and I cannot say enough bad things about this company. Understand that the amount they're offering to give me doesn't even cover the AVERAGE cost of cancer treatment for a dog. So, even if I requested a void on the voucher and took $3027 from them, I'd STILL have to drop out of school and take another job to pay for the remainder of the treatment. You can't just put medical treatments on a payment plan when you can't get approved for one. So, the only option I'm left with is to try to find someone else to buy the voucher, which may never happen. This doesn't help me when my dog needs cancer therapy now. They truly do not care about you. They only want your money. read more

EF Education First - Options given to me by EF College Study Tours. They kept $165 for the global protection plan and want another $2267 to void the voucher. - Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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NEVER PURCAHSE ANYTHING FROM THESE SCAM ARTISTS. I bought the fully refunded cancelation policy and they refuse to honor it after they Changed the requirements of the tour... After I purchased it. I have already filed a complaint with the BBB and I want my 500 back ASAP read more

EF Tours offers Global Travel Protection Plans. DO NOT BUY INTO THIS SCAM!!! My daughters tour destination has been designated as. Travel 3 advisory meaning :advise not to travel because of COVID, protesting and terrorism. I want to cancel for a full refund because of this reason. With the travel insurance and EF Tours policy we should get a full refund. But, I was informed today the insurance offered by EF Tours has decided not to cover anything COVID related and EF tours won't refund although the travel destination is classified as Travel Advisory 3!!!! Clearly, EF Tours only cares about their bottom line NOT about the safety of the students they claim to care about. read more

Traveled to Europe with my daughter with EF Tours in summer of 2023. We would never travel with EF Tours again. - The schedule was intense and hurried constantly. We spent a LOT of time in the busses. it felt as though we were missing out on experiencing the local culture. Next to no time to explore and eat local food. - Hotels were always booked by EF over an hour from the city center where we were spending time each day. This added a solid 2+ hours of bus travel every day, along with earlier mornings, just to get in the area. - Food- such a lost opportunity. The group dinners included were very poor quality. We tasted 3 "local" dinners. All other dinners were chicken fingers, fries or pizza- all preplanned, no options upon arriving. - Poor communication much of the time, no heads up on where we would eat/sleep unless specifically asked. -The EF tour guides (we had two due to size of our group) One was fantastic, provided plenty of first-hand stories, knowledge etc and was engaging on those who rode on that bus. The other guide had consistent communication issues, friction between them and bus drivers and very little history/interesting info shared with us students/parents on the long hours on the bus, even after asking questions to try to learn more about things we passed by. As our half of the group was with this tour guide 90% of the time, it took away from our experience quite a bit. - Cost: When comparing the costs after our return to what we would have paid to plan it on our own, we did NOT find a significant savings traveling with the EF group- in fact it was much less had we planned it ourselves and had centrally located, better hotels. L In my experience, as well as many other reviewers I have read, EF's philosophy is to check the boxes rather than provide an outstanding experience. IF you are considering using EF tours, here's what I'd recommend. - Book your own flight. Based on the research I did, there was not a savings with EF booking it, and you lose all control. You can't choose your seats, (even though they tell you that you can) you can't control where you're seated (aisle/window) or who you are seated with (Yes, EF may book your 11 year old child to sit by strangers on an 8 hour overnight flight). Worst, if there is a delay or cancellation, you have no power to call the airlines and make your own arrangements because they were booked by a tour company. EF will not give you a flight credit at any point if you choose to change your travel plans while on the trip, even for good reasons. They tell you you can leave the trip, but will have to book your own flight home. However, If (way beforehand) you tell them you're going to be traveling on from the tour location rather than coming home, they will allow you to book your own flights, for a reduced overall trip price. I highly recommend doing this. Note: this has to be done way far in advance of the trip dates. -Read reviews of EF Tours on Google and Trustpilot, which is where they officially solicit their reviews. Make sure that you could deal with the negative circumstances people talk about happening to you. Yes, there are many positive reviews as well, but the things that you read most definitely could happen to you due to EF's poor customer service and way of booking everything as cheaply as possible. -Go into the trip knowing that you will most certainly not have cultural dining experiences. Make sure you are OK with that. Again, details can be found in the reviews I mentioned. (read through several pages to get a good sense of the ups and downs.) -If you are a person who needs some downtime to decompress, pay the extra for your own room, or for a room with just you and your child. The schedule is so packed that there is little to none natural downtime and having some space in your own room at least could help. Also be prepared for several days of low sleep. -Look at other tour companies if you really have your heart set on group travel. See if there is a better option in your price range. Don't feel like EF Tours is the only option for you and your child.. One of our trip's attendees had gone on Group Tours with Collette Tours several times, and been very happy and had none of these issues. She was extremely shocked and disappointed with the EF Tours experience. Good luck! read more

This company is a joke. They communicate a ton until you accept the program and submit payment. Once they have your payment you never hear from them again. The only reason we booked the trip is because we had a voucher that needed to be used (his high school trip was canceled). The day before my sons trip and I have no idea who I picking him up at the airport or who is host family is. I called and texted in vain for over 24 hours only to be told they have not received my messages. F this company. read more

This business has gone down hill big time since Covid. I just returned from my seventh EF trip. Hotels were subpar and more than an hour away from the city, two if there was traffic. Our director seemed to not know what he was doing. He complained about his job nonstop. He ignored suggestions and requests or he'd huff and puff. We saw many sites from our bus window or speed walking by (heaven forbid we stop for a picture), but we experienced little to nothing. What we paid extra for, Windsor and Versailles, we're cancelled and/or rushed. To be fair, I gave EF three days to call me and work through these issues and they did not. Everything was so rushed. I did not enjoy most of this trip. read more

Ug.... they hosed thousands of people. Even those who bought insurance. Even those who didn't even have one part of their trip booked yet. Kids who babysat and pulled weeds to go. If you book with EF, you are literally asking for it. Just stop. They'll keep so much of your money and not care if THEY cancel. Other tour companies offered full refunds, if only just loss of deposit. They have profited so much... making a killing off everyone! Just don't, ok? Note: search FB book "EF Tours Class Action" and you'll get all the info you need. read more

Our family has hosted 3 exchange students (and billeted 5 junior hockey players) over the last decade or so...all of whom we continue to have very close relationships with. We decided to host a 4th exchange student this past school year. We chose EF...BIG mistake. We selected a girl from Sweden. She was here for the wrong reasons (partying, vaping, sleeping around, staying out all night (sometimes overnights) without any communication, spreading false rumors around the school about our family after we decided to have her removed from our home, etc.). We had NUMEROUS conversations with EF about this...all the way up to the top. And apparently we weren't the only ones. I discovered parents of other students reported her as well. Still, nothing was done. When EF moved her to a different home, they kept her in the school district. Her new host mom had the same issues with her, and yet they still allowed her to stay until graduation. If you are looking to host an exchange student, I highly recommend doing your research and avoid EF at all costs. This experience was so awful we will never host again. read more

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! Terrible Service, awful company...they took full payment for my son to go on the trip with his class this summer and then when they did not have room for him to join his classmates made no effort to notify us nor refund the cost of the trip. NOTHING! We made plans for him to go, bought all of the equipment needed and then noticed at the last school meeting that his name was not on the list. We called EF and only then were told he wasn't permitted to go because they didn't have room on one of the excursions. 6 weeks after they accepted the full payment. No notification....had we not called we would have shown up at the airport to find there is no ticket. Horrible... and worse than that my son is crushed. Now even more concerned that nearly $5000 has not been returned. Terrible. And customer service and management will do nothing to make it right. read more

I can't vouch for their tours, since my son didn't end up going on one. My complaints are about how the entire process works. Once you have paid for the trip, you are entirely at the mercy of the company and the original sponsor. They can make almost any changes and you will get sent the bill! Long before COVID hit and my son's trip was postponed, I felt like I'd given my credit card to somebody I couldn't trust. Of course you can cancel at any time, but they keep $500 of your money (even after my son's trip got rerouted from China, which he was very excited about, to Peru, and then finally? to Greece)! Like I said, you don't really have a choice. You're forced to go along on the rescheduled trip or lose your $500. I don't want to call them a scam, but I will say that I will never get myself involved with EF Tours again! read more

I have been traveling with EF both domestically and abroad with students since 2007. I can't say enough about the wonderful customer service I have received over the years. They have helped with bumps in the road and celebrations; always with a smile and real caring. I had to cancel my 2020 trip and all my travelers were taken care of with travel vouchers and transfers to other trips. I have had to postpone my 2021 trip to 2022 and a representative has helped me every step of the way without additional costs. I have traveled 8 times with this to notch company and am looking forward to trips number 9 and 10. read more

EF Education First - Washington DC 2019 - Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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EF is by far the best company for student travel! They are supportive, flexible, transparent and communicative! Their policies are right up front, and if you don't read them for yourselves, and your group leader doesn't explain them to you, that is not the company's fault! I have been working with EF for over a decade and there has never been a problem that was in their control that wasn't fixed. When a sudden airline strike almost left us stranded in Paris, EF was there with a guide, a bus and alternate plans to tour the city and get a hotel. They even worked like crazy to recover lost luggage because of the airline disaster. Their guides have only improved over the years, as have their consultants. I don't know how people are saying they can go cheaper with private travel. The only way I ever went cheaper was backpacking and staying is hostels with a jar a peanut butter for most meals! Airfare alone is so much more to go solo. Our tour has been guaranteed a refund by a CERTAIN DATE. You still have to follow the directions! The company represented in some of these negative reviews is not the company I have dealt with, and none of my parents have ever had anything negative to say. If your group leader wasn't up front with you about the policy, the tips (come on people, if you EVER travel you know the industry runs on TIPS!!!) etc, blame them. Everything from EF comes in pretty clear black and white. read more

Don't use this company. I have twin daughters who were going on different trips. One was going on a tour handled by Brightspark. The other EF Tours. Brightspark refunded 100% of our money within 8 weeks. EF Tours threatened to keep $1000. Working with our Attorney General we got them down to $565, the price of our non-refundable deposit, insurance fee, and $200 cancellation fee. Still too much!! read more

Worst tour company on the planet. These people are crooks. I booked a European tour for my son's high school trip. Due to CV-19, the tour was cancelled. EF Tours told us that there would be a $1000 cancellation fee per student - even though they cancelled the trip. After the teacher-sponsor got involved, EF reduced cancellation fee to $500 (WTF?). If the tour company cancels, why should I pay a penalty? I know that the airlines & hotels gave EF tours a FULL refund. However, the $500 cancellation fee is for EF's administrative cost (WTF?) Please note, I had also booked a family trip to Hawaii (through Expedia) that was cancelled to due the CV-19. Both Marriott & Alaska Airlines gave me a 100% refund - no questions asked! read more

Considering this is a GLOBAL crisis beyond everyone's control, EF Tours should definitely consider full refunds without ANY PENALTIES/ADDITIONAL FEES in addition to voucher options and travelat a later date. It will definitely be a positive look for the company versus forcing us to take a voucher considering this worldwide pandemic. Furthermore, my child is a senior graduating this year, the alternative July date is not an option due to college obligations not to mention considering she is a senior, we will never use this company again, thus the voucher is wasted money in this case. Is TAKING OUR HARD EARNED MONEY during a time of global crisis worth risking and tarnishing your reputation as a money hungry, heartless company taking advantage of a global epidemic, furthering financial strife of people/families who actually can no longer work due to governmental demands of shutting things down? Do the right thing and offer a FULL REFUND WITHOUT ANY PENALTIES AND ADDITIONAL FEES as an option in addition to vouchers and travel at a later date. read more

Scammers. Keeping our hard working money after the trip got cancelled due to COVID19 I paid $3,100 they are keeping $1,000 for admin expenses even though we BOUGHT INSURANCE!!! The $1000 were never disclosed when the trip was purchased. Please do not deal with this company. read more

I requested the information for a quote, They began calling, and every day and email I have an email. I have unsubscribed several times and still each day a new email. I asked to be removed from the list and was informed they don't spam....but they do. I would not recommend it. read more

My son was scheduled for a tour in Spring 2020 and it was cancelled due to COVID-19. The tour was about $3,300 and we were offered a voucher (not a good option for a high school senior about to graduate) or a refund of all but $1000. That means, even though no tour happened, no use of airlines, busing, trains, hotels, food, staff, etc, nearly a third of our cost was kept. For our school alone, that means EF Tours is keeping $48,000 for using the online scheduling and making reservations. I could accept a $200 fee, but $1,000? This is a hardship for some families - especially since we can't recreate this experience for our kids. Really disappointing. Next time, we travel on our own. read more

EF has no problem taking your money but has a huge problem returning it during a global pandemic. They rescheduled trips in the Spring/Summer of 2020 to 2021 instead of cancelling so they wouldn't have to refund you in full then they want to keep $500-$1,000 when you do cancel if you don't want to take their bogus travel voucher that the claim you can sell off to another unsuspecting consumer. They make you pay almost $200 for insurance that conveniently doesn't cover travel bans or global pandemics. They coach the teachers that chaperone the trips and get to travel for free so they are very inclined to push you to go with whatever BS EF tries to feed you. There is a class action lawsuit going around, I hope EF is taken to the cleaners for the way they handled travel during COVID-19. read more