My child enjoyed the places she visited. Overall, the trip was fun. However, there are two things that I had a problem with. There was no downtime built into the schedule. The schedule starts very early and they don't get back to the hotel until later in the evening. This made for very long days. I think with teens they could have built some downtime or had an early evening where they could swim at the hotel and relax. There were also 4 kids to a room so each kid didn't have their own bed. That was ridiculous given the price paid for the trip. The other issue was the food options. For kids that are picky, the food choices were very limited and they were rushed at meals. My child was concerned with the number of kids waiting in line to get food and was very stressed that she wouldn't have enough time to eat. When you have 150+kids to get food and eat, they should have built more time into the schedule for that. read more

I've been quoted a 12 week timeframe for receiving a refund. The only way to initiate the refund was to write an email asking for it. No website integration or account visibility regarding this refund. I paid for full trip insurance at the outset, pre-COVID. Giving a 12 week timeline for refund gives the consumer the impression that your money is being used to stem the bleeding or being tied up in investment schemes and that my money is not liquid. As a company, surely you have insurance. If you're self insured, then issue the refund. If I had to cancel for any other reason than COVID, I would still give a 1 star review based on this refund policy alone. Be advised, after receiving my refund, I will update my review accordingly. read more

We just returned from a DC/Philly trip and had a great time. Eileen was an amazing guide - she helped make our trip extra special! Meals were a breeze, the hotels (minus the fire alarm) were great, our bus driver was so patient with our kids and their snacks on the ground! Thanks for a positive experience for our 8th graders! read more

My younger child went on the DC/NY trip last week. As far as seeing sights, the itinerary is cramped but the kids had a great time seeing everything. The day they transferred to NY was a mess in terms of food. Lunch in Philly and then dinner at 10pm after theatre in NY. Deeply regret not sending more snacks in luggage. The biggest issue was that approx 30 kids in our group tested positive for Covid the morning after they got home. Many of them did not feel well before boarding plane for home but didn't say anything because they were afraid they'd have to stay behind in NY with three kids who tested positive the day before departure. A parent had to fly back to stay with them. It's a mess. My child is symptomatic and will miss a week of school. In hindsight, it was too soon to send kids on the trip. The bus and hotel rooms were petrie dishes. I'm hoping being sick doesn't overshadow the memory of the trip for the kids. read more

The trip that we booked with our child's high school was very expensive (over 1K.) The group had 70 students and two busses. One bus broke down twice and the other bus broke down once. Our students missed one of their very expensive performance outings due to the poorly maintained vehicles. On trip home our students arrived at the high school at 2:15 AM due to bus failure. They boarded the bus at 8AM and were traveling from NYC to SC. Our students had to miss a day of instruction due to WorldStrides booking a bus company that had broken down equipment because they arrived home at an unreasonable hour. We were timely with our payments and with our fundraising. They collected a large percentage of the money that we asked people to donate and then had shoddy equipment to transport our children. I would NOT recommend this travel company! Today they are not answering their phones!! read more

Complete waste of $$!! Booked our 4th grade trip, they never told us until we were standing in front of the capital that it was CLOSED! Which was the whole point of the trip. They took us to the oldest church, also closed! Then managed the time inappropriately as we were limited at the train museum, an hour early to the boat ride and given crap food to eat. This company is pure garbage. Don't waste your money! read more

June 2022 Washington DC trip was a great experience for my child. When the 5 day trip was extended to 7 days due to flight issues beyond their control, WorldStrides provided a nice hotel as well as additional excursions and meals. Thank you! read more

This was an amazing opportunity for our 13 year old daughter to go on. She had an amazing time that she hasn't stopped talking about. Not just about going with friends but the history she learned about. We felt totally comfortable with this group. They kept in perfect contact and let us know the plan the whole time. We are definitely sending her again next year. read more

It was a great experience, but I was very exhausted at the end of each day. I had a wonderful time seeing all the monuments and getting to know my peers better, but it was a little chaotic. read more

We just got back on Saturday evening. The trip was ok. I do not think you can enjoy it when everything is jam packed and at a fast pace. You certainly get your step count in. It was ridiculously hot and humid. Our first tour guide was not great IMO. He gave same info over and over for all the different sites. Unfortunately, the kids we went with were not respectful at all. If you are looking to just see the sites then this is for yoi. You do not get to do much exploring. The food choices were awful. Same food over and over. Not much in the way of vegetables. Our 2nd tour guide Kyle was great. He was very knowledgeable and you could understand him. New York is crazy and just trying to stay with your group is a challenge. We did like Ellen's Stardust Diner. The hotels were nice for the few hours you were in them. Comfortable shoes are a must. I would not recommend this trip. Saveoney and go with family. Too much money for very little time to explore. read more

WorldStrides - Ellen's Stardust Diner - Travel Services Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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I'm not clear who was responsible for what parts of the school trip that I chaperoned. My hunch is that the itinerary was determined by the school. Therefore, the review will be about the hotel and restaurants. The hotel was ok and very basic which for a bunch of 8th graders, is fine. There were however, some issues that could have been avoided. Two rooms had blood stains on their carpets. Small stains but blood all the same. The ice machines on the floors weren't working and the vending machines on the floors weren't fully stocked. This was only an issue because we were traveling with 140 first world kids. If we had known in advance that this was an issue, we could have prepped them and helped them prepare for whatever they needed for their overnights. Breakfast at the hotel was extensive but not good. Again, it was basic but with the effort put into making a basic and cold breakfast, a simple and tasty breakfast could have been offered. Our kids didn't complain but they wasted a lot of food: they expected it to taste better than it did. And lastly, the restaurants World Strides took us to were all in Virginia (with the exception of the first and last one) which meant leave DC, drive to VA and then return to DC. I considered this a waste of time and fossil fuel. Also, the food at the restaurants wasn't so great. There wasn't always a non-meat option offered in advance and when asked for at the time of the meal, it delayed the food coming out and caused the restaurant staff to scramble unnecessarily. Feeding our kids tacos before a 7 hour bus ride home, was also not the smartest move. Our guide, Lauren, was AMAZING! She engaged the kids beautifully, tolerated their 13 yr old-ness and was overall, a pleasure for the time we spent with her. Thanks so much to her !!! read more

Strides allowed the trip leader (without appropriate training by World Strides nor guidance) to make catastrophic decisions. This resulted in my daughter having an emotionally and physically devastating trip. World Strides did not contact me while this was happening nor did they take the time to review what was happening. I will never do another trip through World Strides. read more

My daughters trip was cancelled due to Covid and are not refunding my money. NEVER BOOK THROUGH THIS COMPANY!

I didn't plan on leaving a review but kept getting pestered by World Strides so you get what you ask for. My daughter just did the DC trip. She had a good time because she chose to have a good time, but I would have rated this at the most 3 stars. They were paired with a group from another state which missed their plane, were consistently late. Because of this my daughter arrived late or not at all to many of the scheduled places. When they did get there, they were rushed through so they could get on schedule. That may not directly be World Strides fault, BUT the constant bus problems were! She mentioned at least 3. These buses should not be breaking down. They shouldn't need to wait for a driver to be switched out. As for communication with WS, dismal. Getting through to them is horrible. Getting details for the trip were very slow in coming. read more

My 8th grader, who was hesitant to go, loved every minute of the trip! Thanks for making such an important experience so we'll organized, fun and inclusive. read more

The idea of the educational trip to DC and Williamsburg was great. The execution, not so much. There was too much packed into 4 days, the kids didn't remember much of what they saw or where they saw it. They were rushed from place to place and exhausted everyday. My daughter has a healthy diet but there weren't many healthy options where they were taken to eat. Three girls had to ask if there was salad available. The logistics also didn't seem to make much sense. Fly in to DC, drive to Williamsburg, the next day drive to DC. There are airports near Williamsburg. I'm sure there is some reason why that wasn't an option. I have no idea. Overall, I wouldn't do it again. My daughter only positive thing to say was the bus was fun and the hotel room but they were there and awake for a very short time. Disappointing overall. read more

Class trip to Sacramento - I thought the trip was OK. Our tour guide clearly was not a fan of kids. LOL! Which is probably not a good idea to work with 4th graders. A few of the other parents would hear the other tour guides in the other groups and be like "wow they are learning a lot!" Ours was busy yelling at our kids or trying to figure out where to go. Also I think they exhaust you (early flights, early wake ups, late check ins) so you are too tired to complain. But fine, my biggest issue is that after paying thousands of dollars, there were a few times where we didnt get the "vouchers" to eat in time so we spent our own money. When the vouchers finally showed up we had to leave. No mention of giving us a refund or anything, she gave them to a homeless man. Great that he got to eat that day but it wasnt made right for us. I really hope my daughter's 8th grade trip isnt run through this company, but unfortunately I think it will be! So I will have to have her set her expectations really low. read more

Bought a trip for my daughter to go to NYC and Washington DC in spring of 2021. In January 2021, I received notification that my billing schedule had changed. The bills pushed out into 2022. When I called to ask about the situation, the company said that the trip for 2021 had been cancelled and pushed out another year. It would have been nice to know this before they started charging me again. When I asked to cancel the 2022 trip that I never agreed to go on, they said they would do that but would not refund me fully. I had purchased insurance costing $299 to cover my family in the event my daughter could not go. Since we did not cancel the trip and were willing to go in 2021, I indicated that my trip insurance should be refunded as well. If the company is going to cancel the trip, why should I have to pay for the cost of cancellation? read more

My son's school used this company for a trip to Virginia and DC. The tour guide this company used was awful. Totally inappropriate for 7th graders. He actually asked the kids "would you rather be a field slave or a house slave". What in the entire F!? read more

Buyer beware!! I enrolled for a very costly trip for my son and it was pushed to 2022 without any consultation with the parents. By 2022 my son will no longer be part of the group going on the trip. Customer service is keeping my $300 deposit and $245 trip insurance therefore I'm out $545 for a decision I had no part in. Completely unacceptable!! World Strides acts like they will do everything to support you up front when enrolling and making payment but I can assure you this is not the case!! I should not be out any money for a decision that was not mine. read more

The DC trip itinerary was completely ridiculous. They had the kids going at a non stop pace scheduled from 6am to 10pm everyday and the first day started at 4am at the airport. Everyone was exhausted and miserable the entire time. Some of the students broke down crying. Would discourage anyone from making the mistake of signing up for this nightmare. read more

We had a dire family emergency come up that prevented my son from attending his trip. Company would not transfer funds in my account to other child that we intended to travel next year. Cancelling upcoming trip and will never recommend this company again. read more

I had a trip planned for 2020 for my twin daughters. The trip came into works in 2019, at the end of their 7th grade year. They were scheduled for the trip in 2020, at the end of their 8th grade year. As we all know, the Covid19 pandemic struk in early 2020. With that being said, their trip was postponed to 2021. Now, the trip is again postponed to 2022. I was understanding of the first postponement. The second one, I wasn't quite as understanding and I decided to seek out a refund. We all know the ins and outs of Worldstrides; the cost, the fine print and so on. I'm not oblivious to that. I'm also understanding that if a cancelation is requested, there would be fees. I get it. But, we are in a pandemic and we are being punished for not being able to go on the trip with almost $600 in cancelation fees. Poor customer appreciation and poor customer understanding. My word of advice: If you're going through Worldstrides, make sure you purchase the Refund policy. If you don't and you're in a situation like this, Worldstrides is not understanding nor are they cooperative. They will gouge you and rack up those fees. I will use Word of Mouth advertising and encourage everyone here, in my small town to be extremely cautious of this program and advise against it. My review rating for this company? 1/2 of a star out of 5 stars. read more

We paid a deposit on grandsons trip, he changed schools due to death in family. Didn't get to go on trip nor would they refund our money.

They supposedly were bought out and now have canceled and re-instated our trip. Due to the insurrection at the White House and COVID we decided to cancel our daughter's trip today. Their agent told me it will take up to TWELVE WEEKS for a refund of the $1045 we've already paid them, not to mention that now our refund is only $846. I show their insurance is $219, they say now it's $199 - who knows. Their representative didn't even know what an asterisk was on the phone. Don't give them your financial information WHATSOEVER. read more

Cliff notes version: - SLEEP DEPRIVATION: the itinerary had the kids getting back in close to 10PM each night (ie not sleeping til midnight after showering/unwinding for the day) and up at dawn the next morning. Most kids (and adult chaperones) ended up sleeping through the "educational" portions of each segment. - Hotel location was an hour outside DC, so an average of 2 hours a day was spent on additional commuting - DRY/BORING ITINERARY: it was wall-to-wall museums and memorials, which has the effect of alienating and shutting down the kids. Compared to other schools' DC experiences, where they're interspersed with a few fun activities (Potomac cruise, a baseball game, etc.) - BAD FLIGHT PLANNING: too much to get into here, but it was not a direct flight and there was ZERO communication re the flight delays and missed connections. It got so bad a parent had to intervene and call the airport to hold a flight so the kids could make their 10 minute connection. read more

Loved our group leader, Ms. Angie, she was very knowledgeable and patient, we covered so much in the 4 days we were in DC, we were impressed with the structure to keep 50 people together, and there's no worries about being fed, all 3 meals daily, very impressed with that too..the bus driver was phenomenal too, very friendly, and patient too, so even on the bus ride Ms Angie would point out certain buildings and landmarks....WORTH EVERY PENNY!! read more

ungodly hours for flights. horrendous meals that left teenagers starving as we had to order them additional food once we arrived at our hotel. itinerary was the big joke as we had two days of drvinf on the bus endlessly because of poor planning . two states and one district in a day? who plans these trips? $6000 for myself as a chaperone and my daughter is disgraceful. traveling 2 hours to get to the airport when there was an airport on 15 minutes away. save your money and plan a trip with other families . im expecting reimbursement for food. read more

It is important for students to travel so they can obtain first hand knowledge to enhance their studies. The trip to DC was a life changing experience my students will never forget. Thanks to WorldStrides, they made friends from a different part of the country and created memories that will last for a lifetime. When an 8th grader asks the question "When is the NEXT trip?" You don't want to disappoint them, you make it happen! Learning can and will happen outside of the classroom, we just have to provide the opportunity. Our Hall monitor, Tammy, was vigilant; our Hotel contact, Paul, was attentive; and our tour guide, Tim was engaging and very good with student management. I am wholeheartedly looking forward to planning and chaperoning our next trip. This was my first time traveling with WorldStrides but it will not be the last. We will travel work with WorldStrides again! read more

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The trip was canceled due to covid and I just called to get my refund of 700 dollars (still owned 400 bc trip was over 1000 to DC) they told there is an insurance fee for $125 I didn't know about so I just lost money on a trip they will never take due to covid and it will take 12 weeks to get my refund! I will never book a trip w them again only did it bc that's where the school went thought read more

The kids saw things they hadn't seen before which was great. The timing of the schedule wasn't good. we could have seen a lot more if we didn't get places and then wait at least 20 minutes to do anything and that doesn't count waiting in lines. I went with a different group and company last year and the guide was a lot more time efficient and we saw a lot more. Instead of eating at the mall, we at at the sight we were visiting so we didn't waste travel time. things like that. wouldn't go with Worldstride again. read more

Our experience with WorldStrides was terrible. My son traveled to New York City with them. The trip was drastically overpriced at about $600/day/student, without including food or activities. They provided no information to parents and the trip was chaotic. read more

One of the WORST experiences as a chaperone and for my child. This company allowed 13 year olds to be sleep deprived, waking them up at 6am and not returning them to the hotel till almost midnight every night. No down time, no rest, no socializing allowed with each other as friends. That was just cruelty, that was not educational. A full day of exploration would be from 9am to 6pm at the latest, not 6am till midnight. It was borderline abusive and filled with threats to the children about sending them home and lecturing them multiple times a day. Imagine walking 25,000 steps after not sleeping all night from a 12 hour one stop red-eye the first day. The kids were not even allowed to check in at the hotel to shower before hauling them out all day after not sleeping all night. They were not allowed to shower for over 24 hours. The food was also absolutely horrible. The girls were not allowed to return to the hotel to rest or have any downtime and Worldstrides left the itinerary up to a mom (not a teacher or anybody with any educational experience) to jam pack the day with as many stops as possible rather than allowing the girls time at each museum/exhibit to explore and enjoy. It was all about quantity rather than quality. It was all about cramming as much as possible and making the students walk for 16 hours a day rather than truly taking their time to learn and explore while rested. Shame on this company, would never recommend it to anyone, not to mention how expensive it was and making me pay full fare as a chaperone for absolutely very little value. I am sure there are better companies out there for reasonable educational trips, save your money and never go through Worldstrides. read more

Trip organizers, stay away! I planned a trip for my students. WorldStrides was supposed to 'just' make the reservations. Instead, they downgraded all activities and replaced key local activities with cheap franchised visits. Hotels were replaced with filthy hotels in poor locations. Everytime I asked to stick to our proposal (approved by my school), WorldStrides responded that I had to stick to the budget... The budget was definitely not mine, but theirs. All in all, our trip was increased by over 25%. All reserved excursions were not refundable. read more

We flew out at 8:00 am on a Tuesday arrived at airport was greeted and the loaded onto the bus to head to eat and meet our Tour Leader for the duration of the time we was there. We ate at a food court then headed to Mount Vernon for our first stop. The supper our first night at Primo's Restaurant felt very rushed we had a plate with salad to split between 5 adults, a plate of pasta with very little sauce on top, a basket with fries and 9 chicken nuggets to split between 5 adults, then they came around with cheese pizza and pepperoni pizza that had very little pepperoni on it, and also a plate of 5 chocolate chip cookies. We also were given a pitcher of coke to share between 5 adults. When we asked for a refill they seemed to get upset. The kids barely touched the salad or the pasta so by the time we got to the hotel that night they were starving and wanting snacks. The Wednesday it rained most of the day luckily we had a visit at the Capitol that lasted most of the day we had lunch in Capitol cafe which was pretty good supper that night was at We The Pizza and we got to pick two slices we wanted they were huge slices and you got salad and chocolate chip cookies. Thursday was Arlington Cemetery which was packed because of the weather the two days before kept people from being able to go. Our tour leader kept telling our bus driver where to go and our bus driver knew he wasn't supposed to go that way and ended up having cars honking and mad cause the bus driver had to go straight after being in a turning lane. Supper Thursday night was great at Nando's Peri Peri Chicken. That night when we were touring the Korean War Memorial our tour leader told the bus driver to pick us up in a certain spot and the bus driver told him he couldn't park there and told him for us to meet him where he could and the tour leader told him no to meet us where he said when we got to the bus there was a cop hollering and fussing our bus driver about where he was. So our tour leader decided after that he was done for the night and left to go home and we headed to the hotel. Friday we had to be up earlier and bring our luggage with us on the bus cause we flew out at 6:30 that night. We did Ford's theater and the Holocaust Museum then went to do the American History museum in a 2 hr time slot that we were supposed to split the time with the Natural History Museum we spent two hours in the American History and wished we had more time because we didn't get to see everything. I think the kids would have rather those two museums instead of the Holocaust. Because none of the kids had learned anything about the Holocaust yet. I understand why they got the hotel where they did to save money on rooms but to get to our destination each day we was on the bus for over an hour in the morning then another hour to get back to the hotel that night. Breakfast at the hotel was great the host at the hotel that greeted us was great also. The rooms were nice and beds were comfy. We enjoyed our time but always felt like we were rushed and we were going in circles. I feel the itinerary could have been planned a little better so we weren't going back and forth different days to areas we had been the day before to do one or two things. We paid $2000 stayed at a hotel that costed $122 a night for 4 people, ate food for lunch and dinner that costed less than $10 for each. Was constantly rushed and our tour leader spoke to our teacher very rudely and changed our schedule without consulting with her. Tour leader even fussed at one of our children cause they sat her with kids she didn't know so she got up to move to sit with her friends and he told her she needed to listen to him and sit where he said. read more

My daughter travelled to Washington DC last week. I'm very disappointed with the itinerary. The trip was booked way in advance and yet, it was not a direct flight. it literally took the entire day for the kids to reach DC from California. The seating planning was not good, why would you have other people sit next to them. Shouldn't they all sit together considering they are all teenagers? read more

good trip however the airport bus never showed up and kids were stranded at the airport for hours in the middle of the night until parents went to the airport to pick them up. read more

Incredibly over priced for what we received. Our tour guide wasn't knowledgeable and at one point called some of the students dumb. The hotel was gross and an hour outside DC. The food was cheap cafeteria food and the breakfast was provided by the hotel and barely edible. I've never use this company again or recommend them. read more

Worldstrides is unethical company that will not return your money during a pandemic. We will never do business with them again and I hope they go bankrupt. How are they not going to return your money to a trip that they cannot honor due to the borders being closed? If you're thinking of booking this for a school trip, DON'T. If you're in the same situation leave a review in BBB website. read more

This poor excuse for a company continues to tape and pillage Americans by penalizing them fir cancelling trips in the midst of a worldwide pandemic disaster. It is unsafe for our children to travel and even if things improve it is doubtful that other countries will even allow Americans in for quite some time. It is not your customers fault that they cannot travel and HAVE to cancel school trips. To continue to try to charge cancellation fees (hefty ones at that) is disgusting,unethical and UnAmerican!! I would discourage anyone or any school from supporting this slimy company. This company should be ashamed of themselves. Stealing money from hard working Americans during a global disaster. read more