Really bad experience, with unsatisfactory resolution for claim. Customer service does not returning calls when required. Unsafe condition during transportation. Tour guide that does not make feel comfortable our students, teachers. Customer is not appreciated by this company. Very expensive tour. Please do not use this service they will scam money, customer service is terrible, they don't care if you rise a claim. Do not travel with this company read more

Purchased a school sponsored trip and full insurance for my daughter and I for 6/10/20 to DC/NYC. As I work for the school district our school shut down on 3/13, and remains closed for the rest of the school year due to COVID-19. Knowing we would be in a financial situation I requested a cancellation of both trips on 3/18, I received confirmation on 3/21 which stated a refund would be issued, minus the insurance. Per Worldstride's refund policy it could take up to 8 weeks. Called today on refund status and was informed that our refund would not be issued until up to 8-weeks AFTER what our trip date would have been and due to the overwhelming requests for cancellations they changed their policy to be "fair" for everyone. Mind you, at the time of our cancellation Worldstrides refund policy was up to 8 weeks from cancellation, NOT from the date of our trip. They did not change the policy until end of March (per WS cs supervisor Shaye). So what, my cancellation confirmation on 3/21 just sat there, why hadn't it started processing immediately?! In addition, I received NO communication what-so-ever from Worldstrides indicating their refund policy had been updated amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Maybe because I cancelled prior to the change???? So bottom line is, we paid $500 insurance to be able to cancel our trip if need be and receive a full refund on the cost of the trip. Cancelled almost (3) months prior to the trip, before any information on COVID-19 was posted to the Worldstride's website. However, I'm being put into the new refund policy and not what was in the policy upon my cancellation. I feel very strongly about companies that are so quick to take your money, but when they owe you a refund they process them when it's convenient for them... 8 weeks from the date of your cancellation is already ridiculous, but 5 months is UNACCEPTABLE. Also, customers are expected to abide by their policies, they should have to as well. From here it's filing complaints and seeking legal advice. Note to Jeff W. from Worldstrides; save your generic response. I've reached out to CS and CS-Supervisor and it was ridiculous. read more

My son recently took a trip to Washington DC and he had a wonderful time! He liked the tour guides, most of the time :) but what I appreciated was their timeliness and the great communication to parents on a monthly basis. read more

My daughter just came back from her trip to New York and Washington D.C. She came back with some good pictures but an overall bad experience. I highly suggest that if you are sending your child please try to go with them or make sure the teacher attending stands by their word. We were told they were paying $35 for a carry on and then they charged the kids $10 extra on the trip with no notification to the parents and that amount was discounted from the money they received to eat daily! The teacher hosting the event also told us parents the children were going to get $15 for each meal when they were out but it was brought to my attention that they only got $10 and every meal was usually $12-$15. If a child did not take extra cash they weren't able to eat much until they got the next $10 to afford the food. The teacher also told us to send CASH with our children for any expenses and most of the places they went to only accepted card. My child confessed that many times they didn't eat till 8pm because when they were out at places they didn't accept cash or applepay only card. My child was also being bullied in her own room that we paid for. Her roommates made her sleep on a couch and did not allow her to sleep on the bed! I was told everyone was going to be monitored and taken care of and my child came back super upset. On top of everything they were always running late to everything getting back to their hotel room close to midnight and having to wake up at 6am. Please try to go with your child or research the host! WorldStrides is not to blame but the host that was chosen or that volunteered was not the best option. read more

Son had a great time on the trip but the flight times for both the way to DC and return trip had him leaving at 3 am and returning at midnight. Then he had school the next day. read more

My daughter just returned from the 8th grade class trip to DC/Philly and said she wasn't ready to come back and wanted the trip to last longer. My son took the same trip 3 years ago and also had an amazing time. I highly recommend WorldStrides for your student's class trips. They won't be disappointed, even with Covid restrictions. read more

My daughter just got back from a World Strides trip to Washington DC and Philadelphia and absolutely loved it. It was well-organized, thoughtfully planned and executed. Overall my child had an amazing time with her friends and teachers. A unique, educational trip that she won't forget! read more

Teachers and parents Beware March 30 2020, Watch the Claim" Insurance to cancel any time any reason." I understand This is unprecedented covid-19. I bought the insurance, $250 additional. I got an Email that said " Its obvious the trip is canceled" I asked Who canceled, terms are different if i cancel or if they cancel. NO REPLY from World strides. Finally my Principal said I would get refund minus $600-$800. Cant get in touch with World strides. Emails get bounce back. I would hope a company of this size would stand up. (they sold me insurance but don't insure their own trips) This is the start to my information crusade. I have nothing but time right now. I wish everyone to stay safe and healthy. read more

My son had a great trip to DC and NYC. Their days were packed with a full itinerary. There was a nice mix of educational and fun activities. I fondly remember my trip to DC and now my son will too! Great job WorldStrides! read more

Terrible company. Price changes and impossible customer service. For the price, take your whole family on a cruise instead. 2 thumbs down

pros: Excellent trip. My daughter enjoyed quite a bit With her friends. Her school chaperones were good. Cons: the flights organized by Worldstrides required kids to show up at ridiculous time to the airport. There were flight delays with connecting flights on outbound, and cancellations in inbound. Could have been easily avoided by booking direct flights. the kids would not be wasting an entire day in flying and starting the trip exhausted and on adrenaline Only. Taking off one star. Food: great food for the most part. Most places Worldstrides has a limited pre fixed menu from the restaurant. There were various cuisines. The person designing the menu was not inclusive of dietary restrictions. Gstreet Cafe was the worst. The menu was pasta and meatballs and this is not even on their menu. The owner refused to substitute from their actual menu. Most kids hated the place as they had pasta for lunch at an Italian restaurant and were served the same lame food at dinner. read more

My daughter's school decided to cancel her 8th grade trip to Washington DC about a week after I paid for the trip in full. I bought the insurance thinking there was the possibility that something would happen with the pandemic. I called WorldStrides the day I found out they were cancelling to request a refund. I didn't think it was fair that they got to keep what I'd paid for insurance because of a decision beyond my control. I called for an update today because I was told it would take 10 days to process a refund. I was told the request for the refund was placed a week ago (8/17) and I would be refunded in 12 WEEKS (11/3)! This is crazy! My payment was processed within a day or two and I can't get that back for 12 WEEKS?! I should've read the reviews before I decided to book through them. I will definitely avoid this company in the future. read more

Thank you to all parents for making sure that nobody else has to waist their money, endanger their kids or have a horrible experience. Our school recently put out a proposition to take 8th graders to DC and New York trip next spring break 2020. My son was exited and even though it is $2749 for 5 days we decided to do it. (extremely pricey!!!) I started filling out their form online and came to Term and Conditions. Since it has to do with my child I was reading EVERY WORD! Apparently this company is not responsible for ANYTHING! Your child can get hurt, get sick, die and they are not responsible (or the companies they work with). If they tell children they can explore on their own no one is responsible that your child gets lost. It specifically says that bus and tour guide won't wait for your child or even try to find him. Your child will be responsible to find his own way back and pay for it. Also, if war breaks out or any other "will of God" happens they won't refund your money. There is vague phrase that the price can change and there are "other fees" with no specification what so ever. You have 24 hours!!! ONLY to cancel and get full refund (except non-refundable deposit $49). After that there is a maze of options which basically mean no refund. I decided to check out what other people say and I'm so happy I did! Thank you everyone again for warning me and helping me to avoid this SCAM company. read more

My son and I joined the school recent Washington DC trip (May 2019) for 1 week. Traveled from Hawaii to DC. My son and I enjoyed the trip and it was very educational for both of us. Before i signed up with World stride, I did read the Yelp reviews and it was a mixture of both satisfied and dissatisfied customers. Our trip was a success. Here's a snap shot of my recent experience with World strides: PROS Booking: Everything was taken cared of by World stride. All you have to do is pay via their website. You can pay full or monthly... your choice. Yes it was pricey, i did my own research - so cost wise, it is close to the cost if you are to travelling on your own esp coming from Hawaii. Food: Voucher are given for lunch meal; hotel that they booked us prepared buffet style breakfast meal. Airline meal of course not included. Air: Booked us via United. I've flown United many times. One of my issues. See below with CONS. Land transport: We are very lucky to have Layne from Memory Layne bus tours as a bus driver. He is nice, personable, courteous, smart (knows his way around DC), always ON-TIME and a very safe driver. His bus is always clean and he does have some bus cleanliness rules (which i love and it kept the bus clean. We did leave our belongings in the bus and it was SAFE!!! Tour Guide: We are so fortunate to have Dale F and Janet as a tour guide from World stride. They are so knowledgeable, smart, courteous, and works well with our tour coordinator (school representative). They were flexible on the schedule and adjust the itinerary as needed depending on the time. There were times that there's horrendous traffic (e.g. like H1 if you live in Hawaii) that is beyond ANYONE's control so the tour guide/bus driver and tour coordinator worked daily adjusting the time so we can arrive to our destination on time. Itinerary: Yes it was packed and can be hectic but it you want value to the fees you paid - I rather have it hectic to maximize the trip. CONS: Air: The booking/reservation was done almost a year ahead of time. My main issue was our seats are ALL OVER. Some of the kids are seated by themselves. Yes we are all at the same flight and was planned a year ahead - why didn't the World Stride rep ensure that we are all seated together as a group or at least close together. The kids ages are 10 to 16. So what we did before the flight was re-arrange the seats in such a way that the student is seated either with a parent or another student. Hotel: We were booked at the Hilton. It was clean and the hotel was decent. They have night supervisor sitting along the hallway. They cannot roam around the hallway after 10 pm. There's an on call physician if needed medical care. My concern - we are staying at Virginia. It's a 45 to 1 hr or ++ depending on the morning traffic. Because of the location, we have to wake up really early daily, although it was a wonderful experience, we are all tired and jet lagged. I thought we are staying at a DC hotel. OVERALL, this is my personal take based on my own personal experience... 1. It was a successful trip. Organized and very educational. As a parent, I did learn much more on this trip. 2. I recommend World Strides for future trips. It is costly, but aside from saving $$ ahead of time, we (with the school) did some fundraising to help with the cost. 3. I've read all the YELP reviews before i booked this trip and because of the mixed reviews - I made sure that I join the trip as a parent chaperone. So in case there's any MAJOR problem, I, as parent, is present and I can decided what I can do for my son and not worry. 4. For those YELP reviewers who commented this as a scam, personally, it is NOT a scam. I joined this trip. Of course, terms and conditions are all legal stuff. Because our world right now is so litigious (go figure!). Of course before signing up with ANY tour company, directly ask the tour coordinator re: medical care, contingency plan etc.... there's an on call MD (that was we can call for any medical problems plus the best hospitals are in DC and Virginia - so why worry! 5. Our school rep/ tour coordinator was very organized the whole time this is being planned. She was on the trip and made sure that she communicate ANY issues with World Strides. D/t the seating problems we initially had, World strides made sure that our return trip home was better (we were seated as a group). 6. Lastly, as a parent, if you're not comfortable sending your child alone on such trip - there's 3 options: a) go with your child as parent chaperone, b) don't send your child esp if $$ is an issue or c) work with another parent chaperone who is going on the trip. I don't think they would mind keeping an eye on your child. On this trip, the parent chaperones worked on a system to make sure there's a parent keeping an eye on every child. I hope this review can give you an overview from a parent's perspective. read more

Just don't do it. How can you possible steal from families? We booked our trip which THEY cancelled. Then they did not reimburse us our full amount. Customer service is awful. They are crooks. read more

We had not one, but two buses break down and a group of chaperones had to take an Uber to the first of the tours. We were off schedule for every part of the day due to the breakdowns and had barely any time at each of the stops. We had a tour guide and bus driver who clearly lacked experience with children and resorted to yelling and even bullying (by the bus driver) throughout the day. I chaperoned the trip and watched the bus driver yell at and shame my child (for no reason--she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye and blamed my child for something he didn't do when I was sitting right there) before a bus full of his classmates and peers. For what we paid for this trip, these things simply should not have happened. I will not be sending my other child on this trip next year if this is the tour group that runs it. read more

WorldStrides is charging me $15 every time I make a payment. This is for making a payment from my checking account OR on my visa. What a big chunk of money when I am already paying close to $8000 for the trip. I doubt that $15 for each payment goes towards their NON-profit. What do you think about that WorldStrides? I wish you would answer me when I call. read more

Think twice before signing up with WorldStrides. Their customer service is horrible from Jessica and everyone else. They still owe me money for a trip I had to cancel. I purchased the trip insurance for that very reason, but I had to ask them several times to please cancel and refund my trip (in writing), and they repeatedly ignored me. When they finally processed my return (after a large delay) they shorted me 120.00. They still owe me that money and refuse to pay. I am turning it over to my Visa card to dispute it with them. Such a waste of time! I'd say PASS on any offers from WorldStrides! read more

Can I give it a zero? We raised quality issues about our hotel prior to the trip and were told it was visited and vetted. Wrong! Horrible mess! Took 200k+ from our group, Kerri Nicholich the director has been unresponsive to group concerns and complaints, but she did take better seats on the bus and for the World Cup game than we got. read more

Horrible, horrible, horrible customer service. I've been trying to make a payment for my daughters trip to DC. The online payment doesn't work and it tells you to call in to make a payment. I've called in three times over a few week period and sat on hold for at least 30 to 40 minutes each. Finally you get the option to leave a message. I've left multiple messages and never receive a call back. The kicker is, then I get a late notice bill with late fee charges and a threat to cancel my trip!! I will be letting my school know that this company is horrible and that they should find another one! read more

I wish I could give them no stars. My daughter was scheduled to go on a trip to DC in May with her 8th grade class. We paid almost $2000 for the trip. I paid an extra $200 for the "FULL REFUND PROGRAM" just in case anything were to happen and my daughter was unable to attend. Unfortunately for my daughter , she is unable to attend as our family is being transferred out of state for employment. Unfortunately for me, World Strides takes forever to process a cancellation and refund. I cancelled as soon as I knew about the transfer, which was 6 months before the trip. I was told through customer service that the cancellation process would take at least two months. During the two months of the cancellation process, I will be given no information other than whether the cancellation has been approved. So I have to sit back and wait until they decide to give me my money back. They never had a problem taking my money but now when unforeseen circumstances arise they have a problem with returning my money. Please remember I paid them an additional $200 for the "FULL REFUND PROGRAM" just in case. I don't even know if I will get my refund because they don't keep record of where my cancellation or refund are in the process. I am also unable to speak to anyone in the Financial Department which is where they process the cancellations and refunds. I will update my review as the process continues. read more

Overall this was very expensive and not a great value. They raised the price after we signed up and we couldn't rescind on our promise to send our child in this trip. They put kids up 3 to 4 per room in very inexpensive hotels and fed them fast food, subs etc. They got around on busses and only 1 rep from the company for about 45 kids. So frankly I don't know why it turned out to be almost $600 per day. Additionally I wanted to add my daughters frequent flyer number to her plane reservation. No one at the help number could even tell me her reservation info just about a week before departure. I also called the airlines and they said they had no reservation for my child. This did not give me much confidence in the company. They are very on top of collecting your money but when you call in with any questions ( and I had several) they refer you back to the teacher from the school you are going with. Unfortunately they don't release most of the information to the teacher until just before you go. Apparently some of this kids snuck out at night and crossed a 4 lane highway to get snacks, so they really weren't watching the kids very well. The educational value was ok but they did not do much that my child hadn't done before, although it was fun for my child to be without a lot of adult supervision. Overall I'm glad the trip was in the country and not international as I did not feel overly confident that they really knew what was going on w the kids. read more

My daughters Washington trip was cancelled due to COVID-19. Apparently there's an $89 fee for cancellation even if it's at no fault of your own. So this company is collections $89/child and parent that booked. They're making a fortune at the expense of others! Not to mention they're saying it will take 10 WEEKS to give my refund! Will never book another school trip with this company! read more

Our children's school booked a Washington DC tour through this organization. Every aspect of the pre-trip planning and execution was flawless. They communicated effectively and were responsive to all inquiries. The pre-trip process was outstanding. Unfortunately they had a trip to deliver. This is where the disappointment begins. During the trip, the hotel they reserved notified them one day prior that they would be turning off the water to the hotel at 9:00 pm until 5:00 am. WorldStrides DID NOT INFORM THE GROUP. a few hours before returning from a long day in DC they learned that there would be no water. WorldStrides booked the rooms so they had to deal with the hotel management. The hotel, Hilton Washington Dulles Airport, will get its own review later. The accommodation was to provide a couple of 16 oz bottles of water per person. No other rooms were available at this property and WorldStrides was unwilling to rebook them in a hotel that had flushing toilets and showers. No this was not the end of the world but it got worse. The parents decided that they if fact wanted to be rebooked. The onsite world strides representative refused to/was unable to authorize that and referred the group to someone called DC Tours. No one had ever heard of DC tours. The DC tours representative was unwilling to assist and continued to strongly encourage the group to deal with the lack of water in the hotel. They also noted that NO other accommodations would be available for the group. DO NOT USE THIS TOUR SERVICES COMPANY. They do not have adequate onsite planning and contingency planning. YOU WILL REGRET THIS DECISION. read more

Was an accompanying parent on a June DC/NYC trip. Our guide Timmy in DC was fantastic and everything rolled along smoothly. We were able to see A LOT of sites but with this also comes an insane amount of walking. Seriously, 8-10 miles everyday of the trip and with a 10-11pm drop off and 6am wake up times this was a truly truly exhausting and at times physically painful experience. And I'm in decent shape.. Planning the food in NYC needs to be more of a priority - kids can't get a meal and a drink for 10 bucks in that town, everyone had to supplement meals with their own cash. Also - Worldstrides FAILED to tell our teachers that half of our group was scheduled on a flight out earlier in the day which left literally half our group stranded in NYC overnight - the field agent they sent out to help organize new tickets and accommodations was worse than incompetent. Our remaining teacher handled ALL of that himself with the help of the parents who were also left behind. And I hear worldstrides didn't even reach out to parents who had kids traveling themselves in the group. The situation could have turned out VERY VERY badly. As such - I would never recommend anyone send their child alone with this company. No matter how good the guides and bus drivers are. No matter how competent the accompanying teachers are because these are dangerous cities and more adult eyes are needed, especially in emergencies. read more

My kids went to DC and NYC trip with a school group. They have fun and learned a lot about the history of the different places. But their bus never pick them up from Broadway late at night, they had to take the Subway back to Brooklyn to the Hotel. The next day at the airport, first the flight was delate then was cancel, Worldstrides abandoned them for 17 hours on the airport. Nobody help them to find a hotel, no transportation, no food and no water until the next morning. They had to sleep on the airport floor. Nobody answer the emergency phone number, just a voicemail. They were supposed to have our kids safe and nobody helped them out. It had been 4 days since they came back and nobody is giving an answered to the parents, travelers or the leader of the group. They charged for so many things and they haven't respond to any of the phone calls, emails and voicemails. I hope they do something soon. read more

Very disappointed. Poorly planned: they did not arrange transportation and left us waiting at the airport for hours the first night! No contingency plans, and this happened again and again! read more

Cancelled trip due to COVID - Where's my refund? That is a great question. 10- 12 weeks for processing - still waiting. I called my Senior Program Consultant that is working on it with accounting. DO I NEED A LAWYER to get my money back or contact my bank for a fraudulent purchase ?? Do not use this company - regardless of you getting the insurance or not. read more

Do not trust what they say! They make their company sounds amazing, and like they will have this great trip planned for you child. Not true!!! They are so unorganized it's ridiculous. Their customer service center is a joke..on hold four thirty minutes plus, then once you get through the people are Useless. They had me down as a student inste of a paren, our whole group was scattered throughout the plane not sitting together, the bus to pick us up from the airport was over an hour late...the list goes on! Their food is either a buffet or fast food, even at restaurants it's a pre selected menu, you don't get to choose what you want. Please to be scamed like I was! read more

trip was 2022. I think the tour guide was a last minute substitution because she didn't tell the kids anything about anything. She didn't know the back of the Capitol was under construction and we walked all around. She left us sitting in the gallery and didn't come back to get us. She sent the kids to a public bathroom in a public park without telling the chaperones. The bus driver was rude to the kids, who were well-behaved. There wasn't any water so we had to stop at a supermarket and the chaperones went to get water. The kids had a good time because they were together and seeing things they'd learned about all year. But this really was a self-directed tour. read more

The employees we dealt with were completely unprofessional and incompetent. For our flight going home, we were told that someone would meet us at the airport with our luggage. We waited for an hour and were almost forced to get on the plane without it. On the first day we were not provided with any meal vouchers. read more

My daughter took a trip to Costa Rica through worldstrides. The entire experience was 2nd rate. Poor customer service, the guides appeared to just be randoms with no particular knowledge. Excursions were canceled and substituted for almost every day. The meal/dining experience was lacking in every way. In general the trip was just low budget. My daughter travels every year and she knows the difference between a good trip and a bad trip. I recommend spending your money with a reputable company like TFT. read more

The schedule of this trip was poorly planned. 4am departure with 11pm expected return. Flight from LAX when Long Beach and John Wayne are much closer. Group had plenty of time to get good fares. Communication was horrible. Flights were delayed with no communication. We learned from friends. Then the busses that picked up at 11pm were not coordinated. They were both late but one bus was an hour/half late. No communication on that. One child's parents were not notified and the child was left waiting for someone to contact the mom. Last bus arrived at 12;45AM. Chaperones we're not identified or communicated to the parents. With such an early departure some kids fell asleep in the capital. They didn't let them take their shoes off while panning for gold in the river, but you could actually pan for gold without getting in the river. I would not recommend using this company for a school sponsored event again. read more

I took a trip to Washington DC with worldstrides in May and I loved it. The bus to get there an back was nice, the tour guide was great, the hotel was decent, but most importantly, Washington DC was brilliant. If anyone decides to go there I would recommend the Smithsonian Futures Exhibit , you will not be disappointed. If you are hesitant to go on a trip with worldstrides you should do it. It is worth every dollar. You will not be let down. read more

It was an amazing trip, it was only darkened by our guide who found it necessary to inject her political views into the majority of stops we made at many of the great monuments in D.C. read more

Just an update that these responses from this guys are nonsense, they did nothing to fix this and didn't even offer an attempt to explain why they are refunding me less than 10% (which I still haven't recieved) read more

An absolute scam. Absurdly overpriced trips that jam four kids into a room at a crap hotel. For half the price, go on your own and live it up. Ridiculous that so many schools buy into this rip-off. read more

I would give negative 5 stars if I could. This place charges high prices and when it comes time for a refund they do not process it the way they should. They want your money but to get it out of them is hard. The trips are way too costly and there are way too many fees. The schools that use them should think twice. I have yet to het my money. Beware read more

This company is the worst!! My paid $500 deposit for my Daughter to go to DC. due to the fact that every thing is closed and covid restrictions, I called and canceled. Its been over a month and still no refund!!!! Every time I call I get the run around I been on the phone for over 45 mins. I am going to my child's school today and recommending that they not use this company as it is a scam! Not to mention they are keeping $160 of my payment for insurance, even though I canceled 4 months before the trip! Please, stay away from this company. They will cash your check with in days, but your refund takes months to come (i still have not gotten mine). lastly I would add, Today alone, I been on the phone for 1/2 hour now trying to get my money back! BUYER BEWEAR!!! read more

I've paid the extra money to allow a refund and I've been trying to get it for 4 months now. I've called every week for 4 months each time they tell me they have sent it out. They said they put it on a debit card I have canceled. When I told them when I canceled I no longer have that card. plus they sent me a check for $24.00 no check as well. Poor service!!! Kathy Zander. read more