This company is a rip off that advertises one way and does not come through with their promise. Do not trust them. I signed up for an Educational tour with my daughter to Greece and the Islands in March. They changed it to a trip to the Greece mainland and Italy in July. When I cancelled because they changed my whole trip they refused to refund my deposit. They are liars, do not come through and then penalize the customers, claiming they have the right to change the "itinerary.". Horrible company with a bait and switch mentality. read more

I have always wanted to do a study abroad program, specifically in South Korea as I've always wanted to learn the language and more about the culture. But a lot of programs require you to be gone for months to a year, and I didn't have that kind of time. So I was super stoked to use EF. Their programs are super flexible, you can go abroad for two weeks to a year or more, and you can leave on any Monday of the year. They set you up with a personal adviser who is supposed to check up on you, answer any questions, send you documents and make sure you're turning them in on time, and they set up your payment plan and invoice. If you want to speak with your adviser you can set a phone call appointment as soon as the next day, depending on their availability. HOWEVER. Here are a few red flags that I wish I had picked up on before I reached the crisis I am currently in: -While I was in a pre-departure webinar (a zoom meeting we attend a week before we leave abroad) a student mentioned that their adviser had NEVER CONTACTED THEM, and they were leaving for their trip in only a week. The lady hosting the webinar tried to save the situation by saying that they can just talk to her instead. -Right before I left for my trip, I happened upon an ad for EF on tiktok. A few comments were good, about how people had a great trip, but there was a lot of, "I had to sleep on the floor of the airport for three days and EF did nothing", "I had a horrible experience abroad", "Everything and anything went wrong", etc. -I then did a deeper dive on EF reviews and discovered mainly horrible reviews. Many people compare them to scammers. One girl's trip was canceled by EF due to covid, and she had to pull a lawsuit to get them to refund her. Another where a kid gave the money for their trip and then didn't hear from their adviser again after that. Some about how the trip went horribly, or how their host situation was not at all what they thought it'd be. Another review revealed that teachers hired by EF were underpaid and didn't have the resources or even enough communication between the teachers and the company to teach their students. But my plane tickets were nonrefundable, so I just had to hope I was the lucky adventurer. -Now I'm looking at the same EF ad I had found on tiktok (I saved it due to some bad reviews) and the bad reviews I saw initially seem to not be there anymore. But here is the situation I'm in currently. I booked flights outside of the company because it was cheaper that way. In order to travel into Korea, you must have a negative covid test and it must be taken 24 hours before your flight. I misunderstood and thought I was supposed to take it 48 hours in advance. So I took my flight my San Fransico to Vancouver, but when I was about to board my plane in Vancouver it was revealed that my covid test was expired and I could not board the flight. In order for me to get another flight to Korea, I would have had to pay an additional 2,000 dollars because there were no economy seats available, only business class. I called my adviser and said I wanted to cancel my trip and get a refund. She offered for me to return home first and settle down before making a decision. I thought this was reasonable so I did. But because I am getting married on August 6th (My trip was booked for June 20th-July 17th. I had planned my trip abroad before I got engaged.) I decided it's better for me to cancel the trip, get a refund, and use it for my wedding/honeymoon and to help cushion my fiance and I after we wed. Especially because there have been a lot of unexpected costs thrown at my parents and I wanted to help relieve some financial burden. I called my advisor and told her my final decision. She told me that she would, "talk to her manager so that they can get back to me with the right amount of money". I thought this was odd since it was easy math, just deduct the 500-dollar non-refundable downpayment from ~3,800 dollars and I get 3,300. She did not call me back for a week. I had to set an appointment to hear from her. After being THIRTY MINUTES LATE to our phone appointment, she then asked if the airport was going to refund me for the plane ticket for some reason, which has nothing to do with EF at all. I asked her how the refund was going on EF's end, and she asked if I had possibly received a "cancellation email". I had not, so she quickly said she'd send me one and kind of ended the call in a rush. It has been a week and I have yet to receive this email. I tried to call the EF EMERGENCY PHONE LINE to ask for my refund and no one answered. So I set one more appointment with my adviser, TODAY, and I wrote a note saying that I wanted whatever email/documentation/protocol to be ready so that we could take care of the refund while I was on the phone. The appointment was set for 10:15. It is now 11:52 and I have not received a call. My conclusion, don't risk it. read more

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who sadly posted a miserably rating based on your experience. I just Caboshed the trip with my kid after reading these. It seems like they charge way more than needed and skimp with everything to make tons of money on their end. Not allowing a credit card for payment is the first major clue, no protection to dispute the charges. Lesson learned for many, but thanks to this review board, you really helped others. read more

They are a fraud, evasive and apply the rules at their convenience. The host families do not comply with the curfew times for teenagers and after they are given permission to go to a party at 3:30 in the morning, they hope that minors do not consume alcohol, when they are being weak to implement the rules. They did not comply with the meals that were included in the program, my daughter never received breakfast. They forced her to leave the house for many hours on the weekend because the woman had to work (So no breakfast and no lunch) In addition to putting her at risk, having to spend more than 8 hours on the street waiting to be able to return home. I applied for one roommate and my daughter had to share the room with 3 other girls, without air conditioning or a fan. They did not let her bathe every day to save water. In conclusion, do not send your children to this program, you are going to throw away your money. This company should not be allowed to operate anymore or profit from our children. Total disaster. This program jeopardizes the integrity and safety of our children. The deficiencies and ambiguous or unclear messages confuse our teenagers, putting them in a vulnerable and dangerous situation, and it is this institution, as the responsible and licensed entity, that has serious control and operational policies. read more

EFT took close to $500 in fees from my daughter..I bought travels insurance..but they canceled due to the pandemic...they rescheduled and canceled again...so they offered a voucher for full price to use In 2yrs..Im sorry but 2yrs is a long time to hold on to a voucher..so we went ahead and took the refund..and of course that came with fees..and they told me my travelers insurance did not apply for me to get all my money back..unless you are ok with them ripping off your kids...I would not go with them...I will make sure our community and district know what these people do to our students. 500$ is allot for our students to work for and for them just to take it...not fair. read more

SCAM. Sold us on no risk tour, yet after they cancelled our trip told us that unless we booked again - on their terms - we would be charged $350 per person - which was never disclosed. Seem to train their people in scripting on how to respond to the objection as to why they are stealing money from their travelers. Should be training company leaders and executives on integrity and looking after those customers that made a commitment on them. Many families that signed up for this tour and live paycheck to paycheck are now out thousands of dollars, sitting now in the bank of this corrupt business. When complaints were made they showed callous indifference. Do not work with them. In the middle of a pandemic when people are suffering most or all they only care about your dollar, not their customer. read more

I'd give them zero if allowed. Glad we pulled our child from one of their tours. Remember buyer beware-this company is that. Very dishonest practices that we didn't feel good about. Takes no ownership for business practices. Not sure why schools work with them. Thankfully I'm not out too much. Do your research ahead of time. read more

My daughter was scheduled for a tour in June 2020 and it was cancelled due to COVID-19. I paid the trip about $3,2K. Our school decided to not do any more travels overseas with EF , so I didn't accpet the voucher because my daughter is too young to travel alone and she is not compfortable to do it . So they will refund me only the standard cancelation 1,100$ and event if the trip was cancelled 4 months before . For my refund I have to wait 8 weeks to get it. Ther are doing money with our fund by geting interests from a thousand people enrolled with them. They don't care about the well being of our kids who worked hard to gain the money and pay their trip. The managers will not answered to the emails and we got anly automatic reply to call the client services , where the simple agent have to deals with frustration while managers are hidden . read more

Y'all ready for the update! After pulling together additional funds the trip was even more unacceptable as expected. The flights that were booked were the cheapest flights available with numerous unnecessary layovers. It was even more disturbing when you are sitting in the airport looking at direct flights via the same airline. For example my flights were Barcelona to JFK to ATL to Louisiana. Let's not forget that I spoke with Delta and they could have easily put me on a flight straight back to Texas, however EF refused to call and make the accommodations. Absolutely absurd when we were sitting next to a flight that goes directly from Barcelona to ATL. Cuts hours of traveling time!! With the unnecessary layovers this caused us to land in the US, go through customs, get all of our luggage, and have to recheck-in for more flights. Many of us had terribly long layovers or sheer minutes to make our connecting flights. Some had 6+hour layovers to catch a flight that was barely an hour. We all sat in the airport looking at better flights via the same airline. Really EF I thought you all work so hard...lies! Always in the last boarding group and always in the very back of the plane! The hotels were cheap and crammed with at least 4-6 people to a room. Not only were they crammed, during the entire stay in Barcelona we were in a hotel that DID NOT have power AND hot water! The entire four day stay was hot and miserable. We did not receive anything we paid for (i.e. breakfast, hot water or air condition) during Barcelona. That is basic essentials that were not provided to any of the travelers. We were not able to transfer to another hotel or given any compensation. If we wanted to go to another hotel it was to be done at our own additional expense.When I inquired about compensation their response "when don't do that, it was not our fault". EF you are the middle man, it's your job the find better accommodations and run me my money since proper services were NOT provided. The excursions that were provided were way over priced and cheaper to book on your own. Not only were they over priced all but one of ours was cancelled. To make matters worse some were not even aware that their excursion was cancelled (Oxford) before we even left for the trip! Which again is so rude and unaccommodating. They could have been refunded their money, which could have been used as extra spending money, or they could have found another excursion to do on their own. BUT HERE IS THE KICKER... they only refund by check via mail!! If you can take my payments via debit/credit you can put it back the same way! Totally unacceptable. I should be compensated a portion of my funds especially due to not being provided basic living essentials. All travelers spent thousands for a trip that was poor quality. Considering each traveler in a group of 26 paid on average $2,600 that is roughly $67,000 in total. Where was the quality? You use a traveling agency to take away the stressing and in return your supposed to be given BETTER quality...NOT with EF. No wonder they recently changed their name. Check the BBB website full of the same kind of horror stories. Do yourself a favor and stay away. Save stress and money booking on your own or elsewhere. read more

They have a piece of the Berlin Wall - how cool is that? A 4-ton section complete with 1980s graffiti of a kid wearing a Fila top. You don't even have to go inside and brave the Lingo crowd to see it - it's standing outside the EF building just near the MoS and the new park that's getting finished. I never thought I'd see this in Boston and it literally stopped me in my tracks (I was jogging). There's something powerful about seeing a piece of that wall - and you can touch it too. So I'm heaping the praise on EF now. It's a great piece of world history that kind of represents what EF stand for (in a way). Hmmm.. am I going overboard on this? Maybe, but that's the power of touching a bit of that wall after growing up with family who lived only 1 mile from East Germany and never could cross over. read more

This is a highly unethical company that continually defrauds its customers. The Massachusetts Attorney General has already investigated and forced them to settle with former students for refusing to issue refunds or credits over trips canceled due to COVID. I will be filing a complaint with the BBB. Do not trust. read more

their organization sucks I'm at the WRONG airport. they se my me an email that my flight was at jfk and that they will take me there. other organizational issues happened to my brother! I will sadly have to take another program because EF has a monopoly on this market read more

I'm glad I didn't read the other reviews before the trip, as they'd have made me extremely nervous. But my school's trip to China went very well. The guides were good, the hotels were OK, if somewhat dated in a few locales. They advertise 4-star lodging, but having stayed in China before, I had a good idea of what to expect, and our rooms met those expectations. I know some reviews complain about the expense, but parents need to understand that the school chaperone(s) leading the trip are going for free, which means the price the kids are paying is underwriting those costs, and you'll need to decide if that extra cost is worth having that adult along to supervise your child. The lone complaint I had was the tour guide in Yangshuo offered an "optional" afternoon tour of a local farm for 150 kuai per person. This was the first I had heard of such a tour, and if the kids were going to be expected to cough up the equivalent of nearly $24 in cash for an extra tour, they should've had some warning. I partly wanted to object on principle, but the lead chaperone was leaning on everyone to fork over some cash, and I didn't want to be difficult. The tour itself was OK, but it wasn't worth the added cost, and the kids felt it was a bit of a rip-off. So, while EF themselves aren't directly at fault, they should ask "Helen" in Yangshuo where that 2550 kuai went. Personally, I hope the farmer we visited got a big chunk, as his house was depressingly poor. read more

My wife was suppose to be a chaperone for my nieces EF Tour to China next month. With only 30 days before they leave, the trip has been cancelled. First, there are no flights available. Second, who would want their child going there during this pandemic. We were informed that EF Tours would refund are money. Then they told us they would keep $500 from each persons payment because of the cancellation. I can't believe they have the guts to keep some money due to the circumstances. I would not recommend them for any trip. read more

Company focussed on taking the money from all people without delivering the services. With COVID-19 they still want to proceed with their program, and charge you a huge a mount of money (more than 25% of the program costs) when you do cancel it. EF doesn't care about your son or daughter: as long as they receive the money, their job is done. A repulsive organisation which only stands for "Robbery". Don't you ever let your son or daughter travel with this company. read more

Same issue as everyone else. My daughter had a trip scheduled to Italy in March 2020, it was rescheduled to May 2020 and now scheduled for March 2021. I called to get a refund per their cancelation policy and thought they would only keep $395, nope, they said they were going to keep $1000. Due to COVID I need that money to pay bills, they don't care they're trying to take care of themselves. I filed a complaint with the TX Attorney General's Office and with the Better Business Bureau. I encourage everyone to do the same! read more

This company is the worst. My daughter went on a trip to costa Rica and everything was fine. We then signed her up for a school trip in 2020 to spain. I called to cancel the trip and get our money back because we are moving out of state and can not afford it anymore because of the move. The lady said that they will be taking the 95 dollars and 165 dollars because we paid for the insurance and a cancellation fee of 300 dollars. We were not told this from anyone at the school about these fees. We then get told that moving out of state is not a reason for the insurance to cover it and reimburse the money we paid in already. So because I am military and have to move they want to charge me for canceling the trip. I would NOT recommend this company to anyone ever. Not even schools. read more

I have used EF for about 17 years and have taken almost 1,000 students on tour throughout the world, and I can say without reservation that EF is the best student travel company out there. I would encourage any teacher or parent to ignore the reviews which mention unchaperoned tours or lost money due to cancellation policy. First, if the tour has an unchaperoned feel or takes a blind eye toward student drinking, that has more to do with the tour's Group Leader than EF, for EF does not endorse a party tour atmosphere. Of course, even the most seasoned teacher can have a group of students go South on him or her, but EF supports those teachers at every turn. As for this idea that people have lost money because they didn't wish to go on tour, well that is what happens if you pull out of a tour. If your school doesn't have enough for a private tour or enough to run a specific Itinerary, EF will offer a similar itinerary or consolidate your small group with others. Sorry, but the excuse that, "we don't know those people" or "We want one of EF's more obscure tour itineraries and nothing else," is simple the excuse of the amateur. Why EF will even offer you a voucher for future tours that you can use on one of your school's upcoming tours. No, whenever there has been a mixup on one of my tours, EF has made things right. When two other groups canceled out on my first tour to Kenya and we didn't really have enough to justify a tour, EF let our small group go on a private tour. When I failed to understand that EF had changed the itinerary so that the tour of the Sydney Opera House was an optional instead part of the standard tour itinerary, EF comped the whole optional excursion for not only my school, but the two schools traveling with us as well. When I didn't really have enough to create a customized stay-ahead trip before the standard part of the tour our Italy tour, EF once again made things happen. When one of my student's needed to leave the tour early for dance competition, EF made that happen too. And when some of my students wanted to see the dream cast of Rent during London's Gay Pride week, EF got us tickets 5th row center for about $40 (try that in NYC and see how far you get) Finally, when Air France stranded my group at Charles de Gaulle Airport for 12hrs, EF once again came to the rescue with a spur of the moment day trip. Since it wasn't their fault, EF didn't have to do this, but EF is a company that cares about its group leaders and students and always strives to make things right. EF has change the lives of so many of my students that I would never consider using another agency. Are they perfect? No, but I dare you to find an student travel organization that does it better. read more

They stole my money...literally. They took over 3K in payments for a 4K cost trip and then the COVID matter caused a cancellation. They would not return but 2K and kept 1K, siting costs to date - the trip was still over two months out and I'm sure airlines and other vendors would understand, given the environment of the global crisis. Highly disapprove and I sincerely hope they go out of business, so others are not fleeced. read more

This company is completely unethical. During the globally health crisis when all airlines and hotels are offering free cancellation this crooked company will not give full refunds. The are offering only a voucher for a future school trip that we will not be able to use as our daughter is a senior. The other option is to cancel and they keep $1,000 of what we paid. For my daughter's school alone they are profiting over 50k from the families that suffered to save to give their children an opportunity. Shame on you EF Tours! read more

Seeing the other reviews, I am having the exact same experience with their insurance Seven Corners. I booked Go Ahead Tours and paid $1200 for insurance (to cover my $1200 deposit and possible airline fares lost). My wife got sick and we had to cancel. They're denying our claim because she cancelled prior to her doctors appointment rather than waiting until after. That's all they got. They really don't want to live up to their responsibility. Do NOT buy the insurance unless you think you may have to cancel immediately before your trip. And even then it seems like they'll deny you. If you don't believe me, look at the reviews for Seven Corners in Carmel, Indiana read more

During the start of the global Pandemic this company screwed my family and all others that had paid (with payment plans over the course of 1.5 years) for an 8th grade tour. It was especially troublesome for our family as we had two daughters signed up, they're twins. So while we (many members of this tour plan) were reaching out saying do you feel this tour will be cancelled? No, all looks good the company said we went thru this with H1N1, etc. now we can't blame EF Tours for a global pandemic ~ yet in the same breath they shouldn't blame us. So! Then the moment the time period reached beyond refundable. They cancelled and we all agreed as the coronavirus was in full swing around the world. They wanted to charge us all via deducting from total amount paid for our requested refunds $900 each saying it was to cover their costs for the monies they're out due to the need to cancel for CoVid. Like! What the hell! This was a worldwide pandemic and many companies and business were hurt so they felt they'd cover their losses by holding back our hard earned money. This wasn't us canceling, and it wasn't because our kids had stubbed toes. This was a national halt of travel and an unknown virus that was killing people around the world. Be cautious! I would never ever trust this company. Wouldn't ever do business with them again they boast 55 years in business yet! They do something petty like that. There was someone discussing a class action suit but? We just bit the bullet. We lost hefty deposits x2! They would reply to our upset emails with a blanket form email saying due to CoVid this and due to CoVid that. Bottom line untrustworthy. I'd give negative stars is could. read more

My daughter went on two tours: Japan, and England/France. She made great memories with her friends & teachers, was fully immersed in the languages she was studying, and gained first-hand experiences in the daily lives of other cultures. The tours are jam-packed with activities from 7a-9p, but that's what makes it fun. She learned more in the 10 days of each tour than I learned in a semester of college covering that country's history. It was well worth the cost, budget for about $100 per day for extra food & souvenirs. I highly recommend EFTours. read more

My 17 year old daughter arrived in Costa Rica today, 6-24-18, at 1:30pm. She was driven to her dorm, walked to her room and then left alone for 6 hours. No one has spoken to her or given her any instructions. She can not find anyone else on the campus. All the offices are closed. She is not fluent in Spanish and is afraid and crying in her room. No welcome packet with information. No instructions about when to start class. Nothing! She does not know where to get food, as it is not provided by EF. Very poor introduction to EF! read more

This company set up a payment plan with my son who is a minor, without my consent or knowledge that ended up costing me over $300 in fees because I was unaware of this contract until it was too late and fees added up because payments were not made monthly. I paid for the entire trip on a credit card and they did not return any of "the late fees" because my son signed a contract. Check out their BBB rating. My son's school is no longer using this company for their future trips because of so many incidents they have had with this company. Shame on them for being so unethical. Their excuse was my son checked a box stating that he was over 18, but they could not and would not supply me with any proof. And my son being a minor forfeits any legal contract. read more

As a seasoned traveler, going with a "Tour" company isn't my idea of fun. But, my daughter's school has a junior year trip each year. I signed up for it for both of us to go being assured if we needed to cancel there would be a nominal fee. I just called and spoke with "Emily" who stated there is a $300 per person cancel fee (this is seven months before the trip) + $165 each insurance cancel fee. That is $930, about 1/3 of the cost of the trip for one of us. Not cool. $930 is not a nominal fee. I cannot recommend this company based on this alone. The company is supposed to be the "Safe" company to travel with yet on this past years trip the students and chaperones were almost trampled with injuries because they changed the date to see the Sistine Chapel to Easter Sunday? Not a smart move, not a save choice. read more

I have taken students on 3 study abroad trips (Peru, Costa Rica, and Ecuador) and traveled as a group leader to Spain with EF. EF is hands down the easiest company I've ever had the pleasure of working with. (I'm not even just talking about student travel!) Their staff are so helpful and supportive. They understand how much parents and teachers need to be able o trust them, and they ensure that we can. I've never worked with a company so willing to bend over backwards to accommodate their customers. As an educator and lifelong learner, I can say that their tours are one of the most valuable things I've done during my career. I cannot say enough good things about this company and their staff! read more

I am writing this on the last day of my tour. I was roped into being a chaperone on this tour because my sister is a student and my mother is a teacher, and we decided this could be a fun and cheap way to visit New York. EF tours are the opposite of fun and cheap. We spent six days here, and only had 2 or three events scheduled each day. We should have had plenty of free time to shop and walk around the city between those events - but boy was I wrong. Our events were scheduled in the worst way possible, with back to back appointments with only an hour or two of actual free time. And since they make you walk and don't let you use the bus, you spend most of your time walking in the hot sun. My 70 year old grandmother was with us and we walked six miles one day with no shade, and ended up realizing that our tour guide was leading us in circles at an extremely fast pace for no reason. She was constantly getting turned around, and would constantly disappear on us. She claimed that she was trying to leave more time for the 'educational' stuff, but when we arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (and educational institution that I and many others were looking forward to) she gave us ONE HOUR to look around before forcing us to the next badly scheduled thing. Based solely on her own opinion of 'not liking the place'. On top of all of this, she didn't seem to put much effort into being a guide. She was literally reading facts about New York (that she claimed was her home) off of her phone to tell us - and they were commonly known facts. Whenever we would have questions about where to go, like where the bathrooms or famous sights were, she would wave us away and tell us to ask someone else. Waste of money. If you actually want to enjoy your experience in a new place, I recommend planning the trip yourself so that you can enjoy it at your own pace. We didn't enjoy the food that they had arranged for us or the building tours that she had set up..just do this stuff on your own. It isn't worth the money, I found cheaper options online. read more

There were many issues I had with this company about my daughter's trip. Looking at these reviews I didn't think I'd get a resolution. But I spoke with Maxwell from Boston who is with the company and he was excellent! He was attentive and made sure he contacted me (after over a week of phone tag) . He was so very sweet and accommodating! read more

I was in New York City this past Saturday (June 16, 2018) when I was waiting to get my photo taken by the Alice in Wonderland statue inside Central Park at approximately 12PM. At this time, there was a VERY rude old man who was the tour guide of an EF College Break tour yelling at people to step away from the statue so HIS group of kids can take a photo. He started screaming at an older lady and her child and I stepped up and told him there is no reason to yell and why is he being rude. He proceeded to tell me to mind by business and stand in front of the White Rabbit of the statue to tell his group a story of the statue while others politely asked him if he can step aside so others can take photos. He started yelling at everyone telling them this is how he operates his tour groups. Please FIRE this old man. He had white hair, looked to be in his early 60's and was leading the NYC tour around 12PM on Saturday June 16, 2018. read more

People need to read reviews before agreeing to anything, ALL bad reviews are right on!! Don't do it.

Do not waste your money on the insurance. Make sure you read all 42 pages of small print. We paid for 2 years for my son to go to Italy. Over $4,000 and we even purchased the trip insurance. About a month before he was to go he started having panic attacks, and became unable to go on trip. I called company and cancelled, got a doctors note excusing him from the trip and they still refuse to give me any sort of refund. By their policy he should been hospitalized! Really?! What's the point of having the insurance. Moral of this story, don't waste the money of having the insurance, you won't get your money back if something g happens and you can't go, unless you die. And it's still questionable then! Mental health is so not black and white. Their policy is trying to make it that way. read more

Wish I read these reviews before sending my daughter to Malaga Spain for two weeks this summer. As part of the junior program, she learned barely any Spanish - we were told she'd be placed in leveled classes based on a verbal text upon arrival (never happened). She's had two years of high school Spanish yet was in class with non-speakers. There were many miscommunications along the way in signing her up and getting her over there, but the worst was her host family situation. She and a friend were placed in an apartment with a single (early 30s) woman who seemed nice upon arrival, but quickly showed herself to be not interested in any sort of bonding, conversing or caring for these 14 year old girls. The girls were left unchaperoned overnight on Night 2, due to an "emergency". EF never followed up with the girls after this incident. If they had, they would have found out that the host mother was never in the apartment other than to sleep on other nights. She would leave the girls' dinner out for them, and take herself to the beach until 11pm. My daughter and another roommate were sick one evening, and the third roommate tried to call the host mom to ask for help, yet she didn't answer. Be very wary of sending your young kids, unless you are ok with them being virtually unchaperoned/unsupported for their stay. read more

My daughter decided she wanted to participate in her Sr class trip with her high school..I was extra skeptical because I had not heard of this group before however I decided due to her teacher past experiences that everything would be ok. I even signed up and paid a $99 deposit, the insurance fee of $165 to protect me if the trip had to be canceled. I made my monthly payments on time every month with no problem. I started paying on this trip for Paris back in Oct 2019. Covid unexpectedly hit, which is beyond my control or anyone else's. Regardless of the matter I continued to pay on the trip in hopes that we over come Covid. Its December 29th 2020 and Covid out breaks are worse then when it first hit. The kids in our district/county has not stepped foot into a classroom since March. They cannot even go to school. I called to cancel my trip and get my full refund. I was told I could do 1 of the following: 1. Save my voucher and use it on another trip between now and 2023 2. Take her sr class trip the following school year after she graduates 3. Sell my voucher for a full refund 4. Get my money back minus $500 cancelation fee!!! This is absolutely insane. The trip is not set for another 6 months. We have a freaking travel ban. I am utterly disgusted, disappointed, and feel like I have been scammed, bamboozled and trick. Not to mention they changed the cancelation policy from the date we originally signed up. I DO NOT recommend this company. During a world wide pandemic they only care about the money they can make. The lady was rude and hung up on me, I requested a phone call from a manager however I only received a email response. Research other organizations. Stay Away From EF Tours read more

After purchasing the $160 travel insurance, company refuses to refund any money even with our Italy trip being completely shut down and airlines refusing to fly there, they are at a level 4 risk and they are holding our money hostage. Read latest update on their Facebook page. We will never use them again. read more

I have to say, I have had nothing but positive experiences with EF. I have led over 10 European student tours through them and each one has been well organized, educational, and a ton of fun for the kids. Itineraries are full of interesting and fun excursions. However, I think you have to prepare yourself and adult chaperones for a student tour. Hotels can be a bit outside the city center but they are clean and safe for students. Breakfast are European style and dinner is a two course fixed menu, but EF is clear about this up front. All of our guides have been top notch and their knowledge of the area and culture is impressive. Plus they are always great with kids. I think you have to keep your expectations in check, but for an all-inclusive, student centered, educational tour, EF is pretty good. read more

The company response and refund policy due to COVID has been horrible. I would not recommend them or their "piece of mind" insurance to a soul. read more

Horrible company. I went to Ireland through my college. They had students from different states together and had us double up and sleep in one bed together, with strangers, mind you. It was three different colleges staying in rooms together and sleeping in assigned beds together. The tour guide was wonderful, the bus drivers were decent, and Ireland was amazing, but this tour company was the worst. The hotels were not great and the one in Dublin wouldn't even talk to me when I wanted to speak to a manager about my stollen items. When I contacted EF, they said there was nothing they could do. All in all, avoid this company at all costs. read more

This company is a scam. Basically coerced my school into signing what they call a Peace of Mind clause, which was really just a way for them to avoid reimbursing us after cancelling our trip to Italy due to a Level 3 WHO rating in Italy (Coronavirus). Now we have been given vouchers to use which expire in just one year! Not only is there no guarantee that the same trip will be available, but as a graduating senior, I have no use for a voucher! This trip cost 5,000$ and all we got back was a 95$ deposit. Even the additional 165$ travel insurance my mom was given was determined to not cover this issue. If you are a prospective high school, middle school, or college level traveler or the benefactor of such a student; or you are a prospective school district or town: DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. You are risking losing an entire investment to an unethical, irresponsible and unforgiving company of deception. We never even knew we'd agreed to the clause until after the trip was cancelled. There are parents and students alike crying having not only lost a significant amount of money, but also now having been forced to come up with a new plan (food, entertainment, shelter, etc) for the traveling student for the period of our would be-10 day trip. I am disgusted and ashamed, and will never let anyone I know use this company again. read more

I would give them zero if I could. Do no do business with this company. We booked a trip for our 7th graders which got postponed due to the Pandemic (totally understandable). The trip has now been cancelled, we are being charged $500 dollars because they cancelled the trip. We bought insurance that would cover any issues or cancellations and are being informed that the insurance doesn't cover COVID related claims. We are not getting an explanation that justifies as $500 charge for something we didn't control. This company offers poor customer support and has no sympathy for hard working parents. Stay away from them. read more