When departing to come home, our bus had an issue. We were told to take a taxi to the airport and would be reimbursed. I am getting no help from EF Tours for that reimbursement. Additionally, I had a claim for an issue with my baggage and they were no help. I spent 3 hours today making calls and made zero progress. No one wanted to help and no one has helped. read more

The teachers promoting the trip kept emphasizing "money back guarantee." They required a debit card payment at the Hoboken High School. I cancelled our trip five days later. The teacher coordinating the trip SHOULD have told me that I also needed to contact EF Tours. Instead, after four months, with no idea that they were still withdrawing funds from my account, I was unable to receive a refund. My bank associate told me that there are companies that require debit card payments, because it is much more difficult to get a refund with a debit card. The teachers receive complimentary trips when they book a certain number of students. This is a clear conflict of interest. I would give this company negative three stars, if I could. Check them out on the BBB website. read more

This trip is insanely rushed even under the Plus package which is supposed to be for "anyone that just values their me time, Plus combines an immersive itinerary with more space to unwind." We got trapped in London due to weather and the adjustments to travel and accommodation were unlivable and would have had me in a hospital the next day. I am a disabled person who travels often. It is against the law to not provide appropriate accommodations and options for the disabled as I mentioned to my tour guide and he only suggested to book my own accommodations and request a reimbursement - again, illegal to not offer me an option. EF refused to rebook our trains at different times even though it was totally possible and booked small cars for everyone to drive 6+ hours to Paris to try and make it in time for New Year's (they did not). Half of us bought our own train tickets and are now fighting for reimbursements. Again, I am disabled, so I could physically not travel via a long car ride. The accommodations for that extra night in London were an unsecure, dirty, and nonhandicapped accessible hostel when we all paid for hotel accommodations. Over half of us were forced to book our own accommodations as well because EF refused to separate us when we are all adults and could find our way to meeting point in the morning. The hostel had blood and hair in the sheets, trash in the hallways, it smelled like urine, co-ed shared bathrooms with naked strangers, homeless people scattering the bottom floor, no security so anyone can walk in and have access to our belongings, and had giant steps to enter which is a large challenge for a handicapped person (and everyone else who at this point were only running on two hours of sleep). PLUS: Those of us who did make it to the NYE party got stranded because Irakalis' (our tour guide's) bus never showed up and all the other guides just left us. We were left, intoxicated, and wandering the Paris metro we didn't know on our first night by ourselves because no cars/taxis/ubers would show up. EF DOES NOT have a 24/7 helpline that actually helps you at all in case of an emergency like this and our host was heartless and treated us like spoiled Americans who were actually now broke because we all spent way outside of our budget to be safe. You use these travel companies to save you time, stress and pay in advance. We all agreed we didn't save on any of these items and were definitely weighed down by stress and the financial position this company put us in when we were across the world by ourselves. Even before the unusual circumstances, this was not the trip I signed up for and was very stressful, rushed and did not match this description. Use 30under30experiences or Contiki instead. read more

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My family of 5 recently went to Costa Rica with EF Go Ahead Tours and it was the worst "vacation" we have ever had.  It started out ok but in 12 days, we had 6 (or 7?) bus issues, needing 4 different buses. On day 9, we experienced a severely traumatic issue when the bus's air compressor exploded - since my family was sitting in the last row, we felt and heard the loud bang, and were instantly surrounded by black smoke.  We ran off the bus, not knowing at the time what had exploded or what was happening.  Luckily, we were near a place to eat, rest and sit in shade while waiting for a new bus.  I tasted and felt chemicals in my lungs for 2 days afterward.  And we had to do some serious mental health work with the kids to help them calm down and be willing to get back on a bus.  They felt fearful even getting on the planes to come home as they thought there would be more explosions.  (2 weeks later, our youngest is still jumping at loud sounds!) This is in addition to the several other transportation issues that resulted in us losing hours at a time waiting for mechanical help or a new bus.  On the 2nd to last day, we all had to stand on the side of the road for over 2 hours in the heat with no bathrooms. Furthermore, the 3 day extension was a waste of time and money.  The beach was crowded and waters had too many riptides to feel comfortable swimming with kids.  We weren't allowed to bring plastic water bottles, so couldn't stay long anyway (one other traveler became severely dehydrated).  That last hotel was grungy and food was poor. As for the rest of the trip, the pace was too rushed to enjoy any of the hotel amenities and we didn't get to spend much time in the local towns. Almost all meals were mediocre buffets (at one hotel, my husband watched a food server put their fingers into the omelet ingredients while cooking).  To make it worse, EF Tours provided a laughable offer of a small voucher toward more travel as apology.  As if my family would ever travel with them again. read more

I have had great experiences traveling with this company - I have gone on 4 trips with them with student travelers. There have been minor issues but EF is excellent about addressing issues and they really listen to feedback. FYI to everyone complaining about flights being canceled, etc. That is an airline issue, tour companies have almost no control over canceled flights or rescheduling with the airline. read more

Where do I start with this company. The words HE!! NO comes to mind. Flights: 2 connections to leave the US, 3 days rebooking while stranded in a major city while attempting to leave the US. NO help from EF tours for our group. Getting out of the US, one of our groups had 3 connections to get to Rome. Then only had a few hours in Rome before going to a filthy hostel and leaving at 4 am to go to another airport. Hotels: NOT hotels but hostels with dirty accommodations hours by bus out of the major city our kids visited. These "hotels" were comparable to US homeless shelters. Food: Food was sub-par, extremely disappointing to our kids who wanted to try the local fare. Chicken on bone w white rice was served. No protein available at breakfast. A restauranteur "shushed" our group saying to be quiet this is a restaurant... who knew?! Tour guide: Knew absolutely nothing about Paris or Rome. Grossly exaggerated the role of your guide... she provided little. Our group missed 3 days on the trip because of a screw up with flights. I called EF Tours and their phones went to voicemail or were not answered. I cannot imagine how much they will offer as a consolation. Pennies, I'm sure. This place is a rip-off and very disappointing to the seniors who planned this trip. Finally, if anyone wants to look into filing a class action against them, please reach out. I'm sure we will have a common experience. read more

My child and I recently embarked on a journey with EF Tours, exploring Italy, France, and Spain. While the locations we visited left a lasting impression, I must express my dissatisfaction with the underwhelming food and accommodations provided by EF Tours. It is disheartening that the experiences fell short compared to my own travels at the age of 16, where the food was exemplary and the accommodations were stellar. Unfortunately, EF Tours failed to meet those standards. Let's start with Rome. The hotel's isolated location offered little to do or see nearby, and the dinners provided were an embarrassment to Italian cuisine. The first night's lasagna tasted like a frozen tray meal, and the shells with a simple red sauce the following night resembled a canned pasta dish. Moreover, there was a complete absence of protein during both meals. Additionally, it took us an unreasonably long 2 hours and 15 minutes to travel to Rome on one morning. However, I must mention that the grandeur of Ancient Rome and the Gladiator experience were impressive, and the staff at the school we visited were great. Florence didn't bring much improvement. Although the hotel was slightly better and there were a few bars and restaurants within walking distance, we were still over an hour away from the city we were supposed to be exploring. Due to limitations on the bus driver's hours, our sightseeing opportunities were limited, and there was no option to explore on our own in the evening. Next was Cannes, and unfortunately, the journey there didn't fare well either. We were disappointed to have our last meal in Italy at a gas station instead of experiencing the city of Genova. Arriving in Cannes, we were told we missed dinner by 15 minutes, leaving us with only 15 Euros each to find dinner in one of the most expensive cities in the world. With less than an hour to do so, it was an impossible task. It felt like EF Tours never intended for us to dine at an actual restaurant in Cannes. Once again, the hotel was located in a neighborhood with limited evening activities, but it was decent and offered an excellent breakfast. Unfortunately, we never got to experience "The French Riviera" as advertised, with no time for the beach or city touring, only a rushed dinner that we essentially had to pay for separately. In Avignon, we were taken to a Lebanese restaurant, which was unexpected considering our desire to experience French cuisine in France. The staff was friendly, but the deviation from French food was disappointing. Again, the hotel's remote location followed the pattern we experienced throughout the trip. Our next stop was Barcelona, although we found ourselves roughly an hour outside the city once again. The silver lining was the beachfront hostel/hotel, and the breakfast and dinner buffets were satisfactory with a decent variety. The Barcelona by bike tour was a highlight of the trip. In Madrid, we were closer to the city compared to previous locations, although still not centrally located. The Tapas dinner in Madrid was okay, but the "amazing Spanish dessert" turned out to be a Nestle ice cream cone, which was quite underwhelming. The other dinner included a small chicken wing/drum with very little meat, leaving some of us to make a quick stop at a fast food restaurant afterward. The Flamenco dancing show, however, was impressive. All in all, I cannot recommend EF Tours to anyone. While our tour guide was wonderful, she couldn't make up for the numerous shortcomings on EF's part. The locations we visited were great, but the accommodations should have been situated in the actual cities, as I experienced during my own trip to Europe as a high school student. It would have also been beneficial to have detailed explanations of the meals served each night, rather than being rushed through without any context, read more

Was a student on a tour for my 8th grade field trip- "STEM in DC". The tour was excellent, with a packed schedule so we could cherish everything- things that weren't even on the itinerary. The tour was even more fun with the guide, Liz Stuckey. She was fun, kind, and pretty much Google for us. read more

I booked a tour in 2022 to Greece through Girl Scouts of America for 2024. Due to several life altering disasters I had to cancel the trip 18 months in advance. There are several hidden fees which totaled $1,300!!!! How on earth is this justifiable? Customer service is the WORST!! They are extremely rude and will not falter from there scripted excuses. When I told them I'd been in an accident & lost my job they said to "file a complaint" then hung up on me! When I told them that nowhere in their cancellation policy were the egregious fees stated they said "Well that's what they are now" After waiting OVER A MONTH I have yet to receive a refund for what little money they would return. Every time I call customer service I'm on hold for an hour and given a longer expected time for my refund. Their reasoning? "They have to look into every cancellation." 6-8 weeks is not a reasonable time to wait for a refund. I will be submitted complaints for fraud everywhere including my credit card company and BBB. If not resolved I will go through my lawyer. read more

Charged a 500 cancellation fee despite canceling months in advance. I hadn't signed the documents to agree to the booking terms and conditions yet. When I pointed this out, they threatened to not provide a refund at all. The last time, my daughter tested positive for Covid on the day of the trip and they charged me less for that cancellation than for this one. I will be petitioning the school board to stop doing business with this shady scam artist of a company. read more

I really wanted to love this but unfortunately my tour guide was rude, and she wasn't kind to me or the group. She was very pushy towards the kids. Then, on top of all of this our flight then got delayed to the point where we'd miss our connecting flight so she tried to rebook us. She said there was no other flights we could book but then turns out there was a flight directly to LAX. So now we had to spend a night in Phoenix thanks to her not looking for flights!!! Our tour guide unfortunately just had such a filthy attitude, and that made our experience worse. read more

EF Tours issued a voucher for my Sons trip which was cancelled due to COVID 19. My son was unable to travel because all tours were cancelled. EF Tours issued a voucher but my son was not able to use it because he already graduated from high school and not in the school district. We were not able to schedule another tour. EF Tours did not mention how else the voucher could be used. They took a $500 nonrefundable portion of my funds and said they are refunding the rest. If they are not allowing me to use the voucher, then all my money should be refunded. They claim they were in contact with me. This is not true. They NEVER reached out to me regarding the voucher. NOT EVER. When I asked them to email the proof, they could not do it. The agent said she was not sure what type of communication it was. She said I spoke to Cecelia yesterday. NOT TRUE. Today was the first time I spoke to anyone. I waited over an hour to speak to someone, by the way. I am quite disappointed, especially since nothing that occurred was in my control. I feel cheated and tricked. I will not be using this company again and don't encourage anyone else to use them either. It's deceitful, especially since I had no control over the pandemic or the school district. The school cannot be liable for students who are no longer part of the district. EF Tours should've just refunded my money at the time the trip was cancelled. It's a win-win for them and unfortunately, I lose out on a trip and $500. Shame on you! BAD BUSINESS PRACTICES. read more

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TRAVEL AGENCY AT ALL!! The tour guide my group received, ANDREA, was rude and had a filthy attitude. She stated at the start of the trip to tell her an activity we were interested in doing and later told us we're stupid for wanting to go shopping. She was also openly judgmental in letting us know we had "awful" food taste because we wanted chick-fil-a and starbucks, she said to us at least twice a day for a week. Later at the end of the trip she found out that our flight home (all the way on the other side of the country) had been cancelled and did not advise of this until one hour before the flight took off when she had known about it for hours. Mind you we are kids traveling alone without our parents. We thought it was extremely odd that she and our chaperones went off to god knows where and left six students unattended at the ENTRANCE of the airport. Us, the students, had to find out for ourselves that the flight had been cancelled because she did not want to tell us nor our parents. She told me not to tell my parents and update them THREE TIMES because it's not that big of a deal. When we tried helping to find flights home, they told us that we must fly through American airlines and that there was no other flights available......we found an American flight straight home that was not fully booked and could have fit my party of eight however they denied us. My group and I now have to spend the night in a complete other state that we did not even travel in. The best the company could do for us was pay for our dinner...PATHETIC. I am appalled that ANDREA and this COMPANY were of no help towards us and selfish. There is so much more that happened on this terrible experience that I can not even describe due to the fact that there was too many inconveniences to count. All I have to say and the others too, looking at the reviews, is that this company is horrible. read more

Our hotel was a joke. No hot water gave our rooms to other people while we were in them. There was no security as promised. Booked dinners was horribly cooked. Their company card to pay for activities was declined. Our tour guide paid for us out of his own pocket because he felt so bad and hopefully they will reimburse him. They deserve negative stars. This was a New York City trip. I keep going on about everything else they messed up on. JUST STAY AWAY from EF tours. read more

I can rave enough EF tours. As a parent, the experience my oldest son received was priceless. He wanted to go to culinary arts school. While in Italy, he was able to make his own pasta, pasta sauce and tart. Like many we were impacted by Covid-19. EVERYONE was impacted, even companies. Families lost their deposit. In a time when everyone needed money, losing your deposit was probably a difficult pill to swallow. We were given options. Many people I know took the voucher so that they would not lose their deposit. I see the negative reviews because of Covid. The travel industry was hit quite hard. Airlines, hotels, tour operators were all impacted. Clearly in the terms and conditions, it states the $500 is nonrefundable. Everyone wants others to be considerate but no one wants to return that consideration. From experience alone, this company is top-notch! I have traveled on many EF trips! I have never been let down! read more

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ABSOLUTE SCAM! I signed up for a tour through a school, then the school cancelled the trip. Now this place is holding on to over $500 and won't refund it even though there is NO TRIP NOW. NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE THIS PLACE MONEY! You get NO TRIP and NO REFUND. read more

Every single part of this tour needs to be improved to bring it up to tolerable. The food was horrible, we would eat off of one menu and the rest of the tourists/diners would have a completely different meal. They had real pizza we had a tortilla pizza with tomato sauce and nothing else. Absolutely disgusting. The meals we purchased were fine so we knew real food existed, we just didn't get any from the prepaid EF Tours mealplan. The first day the tour guide dropped us off and said she couldn't answer any questions because she was from Spain and we needed a local guide from Italy, which EF tours did NOT provide. So after an exhausting plane ride we were forced to wander a city we knew nothing about for four hours! First hotel was next to a building under construction away from anyplace to visit or eat. it was tacky and isolated. The bus driver let us out two blocks away and we walked. 5 hour layovers crazy. The fact that we paid as a family of three and were not seated together. Calling EF tours was not help, neither was the tour guide. So I was forced to do that work and ask people to move around. I feel like this was the biggest bait and switch game in history, it was so obvious EF gave little thought to our comfort, safety and overall well being. I will tell everyone I possibly can to stay away and try to help the school find another tour company. read more

EF Educational Tours - Pizza provided by EF tours - Historical Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

POS EF, places and guides ok, the hotels , food and especially the flights arrangement are dog shit. They don't allow you to pay for upgrades on flights , charge adults more for the same services when traveling with students and give you worse accommodations. Been on 3 trips and flights back provide the absolute worst experience in all my travels. Terrible arrangements, they will cancel excursions on a moments notice if it benefits them. read more

BEST TRIP EVER! Our school group just got back from a 10 day tour in Europe: Germany (Frankfurt, Rothenberg, Rodenberg, Dachau, Munich and Heidelberg; Innsbruck, Austria; Venice and Verona Italy; Lucerne, Switzerland; and Colmar, France. It was a trip of a lifetime! We had the best tour guide, "Silke" from East Berlin. She was amazing! She had every detail of our trip organized. From bathroom breaks to tour itinerary times. She made us feel safe throughout the whole trip. She gave us a history lesson for every sight, plus her personal experience which was very informative. Also as great, was our bus driver, Michal. He was the best driver ever. We felt very safe and he was accommodating to everyone. The bus, by the way was a luxury bus, and very comfortable! Silke and Michal became part of our "family" for the entire 10 day tour. It was sad to leave them! Our hotels were basic but very clean and safe (in a safe area also) and had a charm of their own that matched the region we stayed in. The food that was included in the trip was also good. We had a very pleasant experience. I feel so blessed to go on this trip that I got to share with my daughter and school group. I would highly recommend EF Tours! I can't imagine going on a trip like this without them. I would have no clue where to go. Don't hesitate to book with EF Tours! read more

EF Educational Tours - Grace Christian School with our EF Tour leader, Silke! - Historical Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

I've traveled with EF for many years but this may be my last. After the flight strike in Germany we had to find new flights. EF got them arranged. We had to split our group into two groups to get home. First group got to France and they were not even listed on the plane manifest. Delta didn't accept the reservations but no one told us. I couldn't get ANYONE from "24/7" emergency line to help me or anyone else. The trip itself was good. The philosophy of saving money but not meeting the needs of travelers will run this company into the ground I would try a different tour company. read more

One of the worst and most unprofessional experiences I have ever had. My daughter goes to school in Boca Raton, and a few months before her trip to Japan, EF Tours offered a trip to Iceland. At the time we applied, my daughter was eligible, as we had received an offer. However, after she returned from the Japan trip, she was no longer eligible. I had already paid $350 towards the Iceland excursion, which my daughter could no longer attend. I called EF Tours customer service and kindly asked for my $350 back. They told me that I could not get a refund but could put the money towards another excursion, which I was willing to do. However, when I inquired about not wanting to send my daughter on any excursion, they said they would take the $350 as a cancellation fee and waive any other cancellation fees in advance. I was extremely disappointed that she was eligible earlier and now was not, and I could not get my money back. Instead, they charged me the money as a cancellation fee for something we couldn't use. It felt shady, unprofessional, and greedy. After I tried to resolve the issue, they blamed the school and said it was the school's fault. They advised me to reach out to the school chaperone to discuss my refund. I hesitated before sending my daughter on the excursion due to the bad reviews about the company. While my daughter had a great time, the incident and the company's unwillingness to help mean I will never use EF Tours service. read more

The entire experience was negative. If I could have added my sons mother on the website and change it where my son and his mother had a room to them self from the beginning like it was told to us my son would still be set up. For your specialist I would say the problem is EF tours. We where not told if you cancel automatic payment that you can't get a refund. We was told we had a 14 day period to cancel and get full refund. We wasn't told that you can only get refund if you call and when you call your on hold for 45 min or whatever it was and the sound keep changing and even going long periods of time with no sound at all. Then when EF decides to do a refund it was never explained that you have to wait at least 6 weeks for refunds to be released back to your bank then 10 business days for your bank to return your money. So will I be letting everyone know to stay clear of EF tours depends on if my refund is returned asap or if I post on every site I can find until I get my refund of what poor service you will expect from EF Tours. read more

Horrible experience overall. Had several emergencies along the duration of our trip & the EF "emergency" line was absolutely useless, and we were pretty much stranded. I had to be on hold and go through a ridiculous phone tree to actually reach a person. This took over 2 hours. Very stressful when you are responsible for 15 youth This is no way to run a business read more

Our son's backpack is still standing in the corner, gathering dust. Like many people here, we were introduced to EF tours through our son's school, which gave them an air of credibility in our eyes. However, we will do the best we can to advise our school to never work with them again. We were not told an exact date, but a timeframe for travel in the months ahead. In fact, they gladly took our money (more than $3,000) without feeling the need to communicate with us before our planned departure date. Because EF Tours is expensive, kids of only three families sought to participate. Within the week of departure we were told to pack and meet at the airport at a certain time on Saturday evening. Only, on Saturday, mere hours before we were going to drop off our son at the airport, the trip was called off. It took days before our chaperone told us the reason why: she had her passport stolen and could not travel. This is an extenuating circumstance for the company, I understand, but also is no fault of the families. For nearly a month we heard little from the company itself other than they'd offer vouchers and refused to reimburse the families who could not go at other times during the summer. Nearly a month later, we were offered a replacement trip of the exact length, places, and program of the original trip. This was planned to head out on July 7. We really were hoping our son got to go after all. However, EF Tours now asked for $800 more - not $80, but close to a third of the amount we already paid them and had not received anything for yet (not even the common courtesy that they would communicate with their paying customers). Only a month later, the same trip cost nearly 1/3 of the original price more, vouchers or no. How much more would we pay, even if we were still willing to send our son with them the following year? There was no guarantee. In fact, when we reached out to EF Tours, they insisted on keeping our money in exchange for vouchers (for those who had other plans and could not travel at the later date) as well as the additional $800. They actually provided us with their law offices address. We communicated our experience to the State's Attorney General office, the BBB, as well as the FTC and received note from the former two that they have taken up the case. I would recommend to anyone considering traveling with EF Tours to either go with a different company or plan a trip for yourselves. Just like with people, the true character of a company shows when things do not go as planned. EF Tours is of a scam character to say the least. read more

Missed our connection flight because the connection time wasn't enough and plane left IAH LATE. If EF tours cared they would be smart enough to see that the flight from Iah to pAris has an average of 30 minute delay! That cuts the connection time by a lot because AIR FRANCE will stop boarding 15 minutes before take off and won't let anyone on the plane l. So he's I will partially blame EF for this. We missed a whole day and a half of this tour because of that! Food was only good once or twice but never consistent. Who comes abroad for a hamburger? If you're serving a hamburger remember you're serving it to Americans! At least four times the menu on the app had a menu written down but when you got to the hotel the food was something else! Ridiculous! The food that was already on the menu was not sounding so great and when you get to the restaurant you get what looks like vomit! Sad! I heard someone said this is something happening since 2018 and that EF has been trying to correct it since then by talking to the restaurants but they keep using the same ones. So this is now EF's fault. Stop blaming the restaurants! By now you should have changed this. You are to be blamed EF. Hotels are ok nothing fancy but way too far from the city. You can't even get on a train to go off on your own if you want to and you will sleep in sketchy neighborhoods! We spent too much time on buses. 8 hours from Prague to Krakow and 7 from Krakow to Budapest. You do know they have trains. I spent more time in a bus than I actually did touring any of these city cause hotels are too far and we spent too much time on buses. I will def not travel EF again and I will pass on the word as well. read more

I meant to give no stars. My money was withdrawn electronically. Now that I want a refund, somehow they are not able to. They sent one check. It got lost in the mail. The next was mailed out. I didn't receive it. They put a stop payment on that one also. I have been requesting my money back since February. It was easy for them to take it. Make it easy to give it back. NEXT STEP IS AN ATTORNEY!!!!!! read more

We were supposed to be in Rome three days ago. We are currently stranded in the Netherlands. On the bright side, Amsterdam is far better than the Atlanta airport - we would certainly know, having spent over fourteen hours there yesterday because EF apparently neglected to confirm any of our ticket re-bookings when they promised to mitigate an initial flight cancellation. But hey, I'll give them some credit. Now that we've wasted three days of what was supposed to be a relatively lengthy trip, we should be (allegedly) arriving in Rome tomorrow morning - at 1am! For now, we're making the best of our admittedly bizarre circumstances and trying to pick up some Dutch in the process. You can decide for yourself whether booking with this particular agency is worth it. I know we certainly have. read more

EF Educational Tours - not rome - Historical Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Less than 1 star. Scammers & false advertising. Paid a great deal of money for what we thought would be a bucket list trip of a lifetime...a food & wine tour! Nope, they left out that your flights would be assigned 60 days or so prior & I called as soon as we got our flight assignments. They could care less, if we wanted to change, we'd have to pay more! So flights took us to 4, yes 4, airports, before even getting to Italy. They also forgot to mention the extensive walking. We would have never gone on this tour had that been disclosed. My spouse is 100% disabled veteran. We left the tour early as my spouse could not endure the extensive walking. Insurance claims filed & denied. Apparently, only death would have been covered. Glad we paid for that insurance! Don't ever use this company. Look at BBB and all the lawsuits before handing over any money. read more

Absolutely DO NOT trust this company with your child's well being. They only care about their bottom line and not your child's safety, health, or well being. They only respond when pressured (through BBB (check their ratings)) and customer service will refuse to help you. Be warned. Be wary. Look elsewhere for a company you can trust to take care of your most important asset. read more

EF Educational Tours - Do NOT trust. - Historical Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

I attended a tour as a parent chaperone with my son and daughter in touring Italy for 7 days with one day of travel on each end. Cost was around $4,000. They don't usually cover lunch. For my flights they chose indirect flights even thought there are numerous direct flights. They also scheduled connecting flights too close to each other to walk through the terminal, customs and gate security even with zero lines. Even our bags which were checked through (unusual) from Frankfurt to Milan didn't make our scheduled flight. The contracted bus service is very good. Good heat and air conditioning, comfortable seats and proper safety equipment. Most have a bathroom onboard, but generally they aren't used as the driver doesn't want to clean. They take a reasonable number of stops as public bathrooms are in short supply in Italy, especially in major cities. There many restrictions and fees for buses which could be offset by staying closer. The accommodations are generally located far from tourist sites visited expending 2-3 hours per day in commuting to sites of interest since it appears they are attempting to minimize cost. The rooms are rudimentary (~50€) usually being tiny with numerous unrepaired, unmaintained, damaged, & sometimes unsafe issues with plumbing, electrical, insects and other issues. On this trip I experienced electrical outlets with excessive voltage, exposed electrical outlets, clogged drains, ants, broken hair dryers, burnt out bulbs, broken locks, etc. Travelers that need hairdryers should bring their own that run on both 110 & 220VAC. All hotels we stayed at had Italian Type L sockets that support both 2 & 3 prong plugs and had a European Type F socket for power that operated more consistently, but didn't make sense. Pillows were generally few and not thick enough for side sleepers, forcing me to double fold pillows in half. Lunch was generally not provided. Most dinners were pasta with red or white sauce rarely with meat, rarely with vegetables and sometimes with dessert. Breakfasts were a limited amount of scrambled eggs, breads, pastries, juice, lunch meat, other meat, coffee and tea, usually without fruit. EF Tours made a big deal about being able to handle food allergies, but they really didn't do very much to handle mine. I was often presented with food with contaminants only to have them remove them and return with something less appealing. Eventually they offered me fruit. It would have been easier to order take-out from anyone of tens of local restaurants that handle gluten free properly or even numerous pre-prepared options. Overall this trip didn't seem worth what I paid. read more

Russia is at war with Ukraine. UK prioritizing Ukraine people over my Tourist VISA. EF tours do not want to speak to me to accommodate my child's travel to join the EU trip after taking $6000 from me "Russia is at war with Ukraine, the UK is prioritizing Ukraine visas over every other VISA on humanitarian grounds. I wanted to see if EF tours can show some sense of respect to the student travelers after they take our money. I simply asked to speak to the manager to be able to feel valued and they did not give me that opportunity. How can we trust such a company with life's our teenagers? THINK about it. They gave me a manager email, you know how that works. It said the that tour operator is already in contact with you. We could not secure VISA to the UK in time to travel on the trip and I was ready to expedite with 1000's dollars but the UK suspended all of that to take care of the Ukraine people. I was willing to spend $1000s of dollars from my pocket to travel to EU and join the EF tours. The lady on the phone Elizbeth said it's not possible. When I asked to speak to a manager, she refused as if it's a sin to speak to us.... As a note, they reminded us about packing things and getting corona vaccines but never sent any communication about getting VISA's. As a group tour, I was thinking they will guide us every step of the way. But I was wrong. There is no single communication about getting a VISA. By the time I realized I need to get a VISA, It was about 40 days before the departure date. Maybe it was my mistake assuming it. But don't you think they have to have skin in the game and advise me to get a VISA in time. May they would have if I did not pre-pay them. You tell me what kind of review I should give to this kind of company I want them to treat us with dignity and have the courtesy to extend the leadership sympathy. We need to get the feeling as we are working together." It's not late, if the EF tours leadership can speak to me and make an alternate arrangement, we can fix this broader disappointment and can celebrate this as a success story. They know my contact number and my emails. They can still reach out to me to help me. Keep looking for more updates...to see how good EF tours is in terms of recovering from a disappointment. "12 March 2022 Important update about Super Priority & Priority Visa Services offered by UKVI UKVI is currently prioritizing applications made under the Ukraine Family Scheme, As a result, UKVI has temporarily suspended priority and super-priority services for all non-visit routes. Please click here for more information" read more

We had an exceptional experience with EF Tours for our group of young adults. The team was helpful, proactive and constantly collaborative. Well worth every dollar spent! read more

Total scam. They don't belong in the public school system dangling brochures in front of kids and parents just to later add ridiculous charges that if you don't pay your child will be excluded. I canceled after realizing the cost was closer to 4500 not 3000. And then discoving all the horrible reviews. I canceled in about a month of enrollment on a trip that was 385 days away It cost me 420.00 to cancel. read more

I had a horrible experience with this company. I suggest NO ONE book anything with them. They took $1500 of our hard earned money and refused a refund due to Covid. They are a corrupt organization that preys on schools, parents and students. Below is an email I sent to parents. All  I am advising you of my findings so you are aware of the horrible experience I have had with EF Tours and our 2021 European trip options due to Covid 19. First off, I inquired about the trip as there is a pandemic going on and there seems to be no end in sight. I was advised that the 2020 group traveling to the same location has been given the following options and nothing more.  I have called them multiple times questioning their Covid-19 refund policy and they have stated one of the three options are available. Receive a voucher for the funds paid, transfer the amount paid to another person to use for future travel or receive a refund minus a $500 fee per person. EF Tours will not provide you with a full refund of any funds paid for any reason.  I have emailed the board of EF Tours (their emails are listed below) and advised them of my issue with the "options" and how we should receive a full refund and not be penalized due to a worldwide pandemic. I have received one phone call from a very rude individual who stated she was the president of the company and those were the only options whether we liked them or not. I was also advised the Peace of Mind policy that we were forced to purchase does not cover Covid-19 and still would not provide a full refund. Again this is FYI for you all as parents, feel free to do with it what you may. read more

We are extremely disappointed how EF tours has responded to this pandemic. We were scheduled to go to China this summer. And like many others venting here, we also feel taken advantage of. You would expect they would have done what many companies did and refund the deposits. But instead, they chose to make a quick and easy buck. All of my family and friends are in the educational system and we will all do are fair share of spreading the word about this company's true interest. It's so disappointing. We were actually looking forward to finally start taking family trips around the world once a year with EF Tours. They clearly do not see the big picture. I hope they learn a big lesson after this is all over. read more

EF Educational Tours - Historical Tours Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Beware. If you argue with the EF Rep regarding your tour and how you were given wrong information from the very beginning, they will tell you it was in the terms and conditions. (I signed on to this trip because I was given information directly from one of EF reps and figured they know all about the T&C and what a better way to find out then accidentally miss something.) That turned out to be very wrong. If you ask repeatedly to speak with a supervisor, they will tell you you can't because "they are qualified to help you" and refuse to get a supervisor. If you tell that EF rep you asked specifically about your issue before you signed on, they will tell you they can't find record of your inquiry and basically imply that you are a liar. If you do those things you will get hung up on by the EF rep. I wish I came here first before booking this trip. Never again. read more

The good thing about this experience is that the tickets to events and ferries etc were pre booked and readily available. That's the only thing I liked. The hotels and restaurants were a 1 out of 10. Food eaten as a group nightly was pathetic. Hotels were basically hostels. Breakfast was very early and rushed and subpar. We had to get up at the crack of dawn daily many times to ride a bus for hours. Then we had to WALK miles and miles to destinations in the heat. If u do this don't go in the summer unless u like sweating and almost passing out from dehydration even after having to carry water around with u all day but still being dehydrated when you finally get back to the room at night. Our flight was delayed so we missed our connecting flight to Italy. We stayed in the airport all night and following day since it was hard to rebook a group of 35 together on another flight. EF did nothing to help telling our group leader it was her responsibility. Didn't get us a hotel either. 18 hrs in the airport then had to catch a train and pay more trying to get there. Restaurant staff was rude and seemed they didn't want our large group there, prepared an awful meal cheapest way to serve everyone at once. I paid $10k and was asked to give $130 more per person to tip the tour guides. I could have booked myself much better accommodations. I would not recommend. read more

Terrible company. Do not travel with them. One of the hotels had bedbugs, roaches and mold. They tried to book way too cheap for the price we paid for the trip. There was a mixup with the airline where a middle name was entered wrong. My guide left me and my son at the gate in France and left with the rest of the group. I had to pay my own way to get us back with the group, after missing a half day in Rome waiting to catch the next flight. They claim the airline messed up, and tell me to contact them for a refund, but wont give me any communication with the airline. I cant prove who messed up and they wont help me. The descriptions are misleading, they say you 'visit' sites, but seeing them from a bus window, really is disappointing. The trip is not cheap, and it doesn't live up to the billing. read more

This company has extremely shady business practices. They forced a mandate after our original contract and then refused to refund our money. This company has been extremely difficult to deal with and has walked away with almost $70,000 of our money for doing absolutely nothing. What are the "costs" that you had to cover with that kind of money?? I would have no problem forfeiting my $95 registration fee, but $350 is insane. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/local-parents-lose-thousands-of-dollars-after-canceling-annual-school-field-trip-due-to-vaccine-mandate read more

Not a good value. You are paying for the chaperone and anyone else they bring. Students are sleeping up to four in a mediocre room. You get pressured when attending the initial meeting with a discount to sign up immediately. The company will not refund the initial deposit if you do additional research and decide to not participate. read more