I have learned so much from this trip, mainly what I never want to experience again. Working with WorldStrides has been one of the most frustrating and stressful aspects of planning a trip. Their customer service has been frustrating, disappointing, and infuriating. I felt ignored, belittled, dismissed, and insulted multiple times during the setup process for this expensive trip with 15 people. I am a teacher who used Explorica/WorldStrides for an educational trip to Spain for my students and their parents. Our group of 15 was initially larger, but poor management caused parents to pull their children. Trying to build an international trip program at my school, this experience was a disaster. I had to switch to a new company to regain parents' trust. The lack of attention to detail is astounding for a company of this size and experience. For example, my name on the email requesting this review was misspelled, which exemplifies their "good enough" mentality. My colleague and I frequently caught errors and faced hostility or were ignored when bringing them to our rep's attention. Questions were met with copy-pasted responses or ignored entirely for months. Concerns about the trip were dismissed with "you agreed to the terms and conditions." For instance, we had a 1-hour layover in Paris for an international flight, requiring us to go through passport control and change terminals via bus. Despite knowing this was a tight connection, our rep refused to help or address our concerns. We faced multiple hurdles and long phone calls to ensure we wouldn't be stranded in Paris, but were never assured about rebooking fees. Our trip was initially scheduled for March but moved to June due to Holy Week in Spain. Despite notifying our rep in October, we were ignored until late December, and faced repeated issues and cost demands. We ended up with a summer trip, different from our original plan, and objections were dismissed. The only saving grace was our tour guide, Alvaro, who made our trip wonderful and an amazing experience in Spain. Any issues we had on the trip were due to the questionable time management, planning, and transportation choices chosen by WorldStrides. Roughly a quarter of our trip was spent traveling on a bus, despite much better mass transportation options being available. Do not use this company. Avoid the infuriating headaches and insulting treatment that are their standard practice and operating procedures. You are given flowery promises that they have no intention of actually fulfilling until they get your money, and then you see how very little they actually care about their customer service and customer experience. read more

My son loved the experience. Worldstrides was very accessible I had to call them a few times. Overall, my son was very thankful for the experience. He loved the Broadway show and the fact that he was able to room with his buddies. He didn't mention any scarcity in food... but I will ask him about it. My son is very low maintenance and will not make a big stink about much especially food. read more

Overall, the trip was SO FUN!!! Had a few hiccups with our flight being cancelled and we sadly LOST an ENTIRE day. The trip was def. memorable and I would do it again with my younger kid! The tour guides in DC (Larry) as well as the bus driver (Lynn) were AMAZING!!! If you get them as your DC crew you are LUCKY!!!! In Gettysburg our tour guide (Phil) was also AMAZING! He made the experience very educational and FUN! My fav. part was Amish town and the school house guide (don't recall her name : / ) was so informative & we could have stayed to ask questions all day! LOVED the shop too. Purchased SO MANY items I had to get them shipped home. YES!!! They ship too!! NY we say the Lion King which was extraordinary!!! GREAT performance! We really lucked out with all our guides as they were friendly & VERY knowledgable about the area. All our hotels were clean and comfortable; buses were also clean. read more

My granddaughter had a wonderful time on her trip, but we had issues with the payment schedule. There was a skipped date on the payment schedule we received, but when we skipped that payment, we were charged a late fee. Then, because we were confused by the schedule, we overpaid. We are still trying to get a refund from this company. We strongly suggest that people get clarification on the payment schedule if it looks confusing. read more

My daughter signed up to go on a trip, but ended up needing to cancel. Luckily we had purchased the insurance, so we were able to get (most) of our money back. We cancelled on May 7th, and were told their policies were that it could take *up to* 6 weeks for a refund, which would have been approx. June 19th. I called on June 30th when we still had not received our money and was told that the check would be in my mailbox by either July 5th or July 7th at the latest. Well, here we are, July 7th....no money. I called and was told the refund was still "processing" and that she could put a rush on it....which would give me my refund in approx. 2 weeks. So a 6 week wait is now going on 12 weeks.....I'm currently on hold waiting to speak to a supervisor. In this day and age with digital money transfers being common, there is NO REASON they cannot get me my money back. They were able to pull it from my account monthly without fail. I will update if and when they make this right! read more

Company literature says pack a carry-on so many students had large backpacks. Get to the airport to find we're booked on flights at a rate that is a free checked bag, no carry-ons. No one actually at the ticket counter until 2 hours before flight. No idea of seat assignments. Some students in rows with no chaperones or other students near them. Flight was a red eye WITH A LAYOVER. Get to DC and it's non stop with a tour guide who either is confused or making stuff up. Over the course of the week, we were told incorrect dates for many things, that the people elect the Supreme Court, and countless other facts. And he would talk for ten minutes at each important stop and then give us five minutes for photos. He complained to the group leader that we were going too slow. It was our first day, we'd been up for more than 24 hours at this point, and it was pouring rain. Every place we went was free but we paid over $3k for a hotel far enough outside of the city that we were caught in hours long traffic each day, including once where we missed our reservation for Ford's Theater. The food was basic and often bad. If you have to use them, remember they are working for you. If you feel the schedule is too tight, speak up. It will mean you skip something, but it's sometimes better for all that way. read more

This company cancelled the training trip which was a bonus for me, then told me I did not earn the trip after they had presented it to me. Granted I had to reschedule it, but they did not give me the opportunity or tell me there was a deadline. Not trustworthy! I would not travel with them again. I fulfilled my end of the agreement and have gone on three trips with them. You would think that mattered. read more

WorldStrides - DC Trip Experience Kids loved it, it was a first time experience to be on their own. The local arrangement at DC right from bus, to field trips were good. Two main improvement points, 1. When 4 kids are given a hotel room, please ensure they are decently sized. There were 1 or 2 guest in bigger room compared to the 4 guest. Kids need to be spaced out and unfortunately this was not well thought. 2. I would have really appreciated if the kids had water in the room as well. They are in a day long activity and come ba ck to the room tired, they need water to quench the thirst :). read more

This is the biggest rip off ever! I have no idea why our school continues to use this company? They were an hour late picking us up at the school the day of departure. Then our hotel was horrible. The paint was peeling from the bottom of the tub, the hotel could care less! The never came into our room to change the linens or make the beds after I requested it. We were told to take out our own trash. I asked for them to come fix the strobe light in our room, but they never did. The food was horrible. Cold pizza, soggy salad, cafeteria food. The experience for the kids was great, but for $6000 I could have taken my kid on the same trip without eating horrible food and staying in a dump! read more

Our 8th grade class took the DC trip last week over spring break. Overall, they were introduced to alot of information and hopefully know what they want to see on their next trip to DC. The good: Our driver Spence was amazing. The guides were good. The kids saw a ton. Great support flying out of DC going home. The bad: 8am to 10:30pm is way too long a day for the kids. They needed some down time to, well, be kids. Too many places were "30 minutes of museum and 15 minutes of giftshop". Eliminate the giftshop time. Cut back on the aggressive itinerary and allow more time at each destination. There was no support at LAX when we departed. Also, I would recommend eliminating the fast food lunches (which take 90 minutes to drive to, get back from, etc) and do box lunches. Our kids were ready to go home on day two. The message that this is not a vacation needs to go out to future attendees--this is a long work week of walking, bus riding, and (for us) rain. I think they will look back on this trip fondly, but as of day three back home, they are still shot. read more

awful. do not use them unless you want your 12 year old stranded in a foreign airport for over 12 hours. then to have their customer service tell you this is not an emergency and hang up on you three times. they refuse to take responsibility and only blame the airlines without offering any sort of compensation for time missed and out of pocke expenses. read more

My daughter just went on her 8th grade DC trip 2 weeks ago and they missed the entire first day of their busy trip (out of 4 days). WS planned poorly. We knew the class would have to take a red eye out of SFO but instead of a direct flight, the flight that WS arranged was a connecting through Detroit and it was only a 50 minute layover. If you're a travel agency planning a trip for 50+ students, you should already foresee that this trip was not going to go well. Of course the 50 + students / chaperones from our school all missed their connecting flight after arriving in Detroit around 630 am, the flight took off without them as they were also overbooked. Our schoool group was stuck at the airport until 8pm (over 12 hrs) as that was the only flight that they could get on to DC (they had to split the group into 2 separate flights also) . Spending12+ hours in the airport on the first day of their trip was unacceptable. Not only that, but when they arrived in DC, they had to take a 3 hour bus ride to the hotel. Not only did they miss the entire first day of the trip/tour, they arrived in the middle of the night (3am) and were not well rested. Many parents in our group have reached out to WS. I have yet to receive a response to my email 2 weeks ago. These trips are expensive! and to miss an entire day due to poor decisions/ planning on the part of WS is just unacceptable. We are demanding a partial refund but WS is not communicating well with updates. DO NOT RECOMMEND. read more

My son went on his 8th grade field trip to Washington DC with WorldStrides. It was life changing for him and I cant think WorldStrides enough!!!!!! read more

WorldStrides - At the White House - Travel Services Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

My son was trapped on a bus for 3.5 hours in extreme heat. He is lucky to be alive. Their bus broke down and he had to endure 3 and a half hours of torture. This company is a joke. Do not ever book your travel with this company. Their bus broke down and they had to endure 3.5 hours of 90+ degree temperatures on the bus. They did not have any sort of contingency plan in place. read more

I was told that students would be left behind if they weren't on the bus and ready to go at 5am. We were there on time, 4am for 5am departure, but the bus my daughter was on was over 1.5 hours late. Most of the busses were on time but the ones that weren't didn't get to do Gettysburg the first day in order to make up time. This was something that I expected the students were doing when I paid for this trip. They also did not go to the capital which was on their itinerary and again something that i expected they were doing when I paid for the trip. I think a refund of those excursions should be issued but we haven't even gotten an apology. read more

This is literally the worst money grab company with zero help to its customers. They withhold information. There's a bunch of hidden fees and God forbid you try to get a hold of them at a normal business hour. It's like impossible and forget if you have an issue on the weekends because they're closed This company should not be in business!run do not book with them and the up charging in the fees is completely insane and asinine. I have yet to find a customer service representative if that has more than two brain cells in their head you're better off if you are a school booking with cultural experiences abroad, trust me because this company does not have it together, it's awful. I've been trying to obtain my return home information so I can book other travel around it and they are withholding the information and they claim that they only release 45 days prior they have my information they just won't give it to me which is BS. Now because they're not forthcoming. It's gonna cost me a lot more money...Run. read more

Absolutely impossible to deal with their customer service to get a promised refund processed. I have spent two months trying to get the amount they agreed to refund sent to me without success. Be wary! read more

This company is a scam. Buyer beware! I had put two payments toward a 2024 trip for my child and had to cancel the trip due to unforeseen financial difficulties. WorldStrides won't issue a refund for the payments and is trying to charge me 25% of the cost of the trip for cancelling. I explained my situation to them and they could not care less. This company is predatory and I strongly recommend avoiding them at all costs. read more

Our school has used WorldStrides for our 8th grade kids trip to Washington DC. Both times the experience the kids have had has been awesome. The trip is very well planned and ran (along with the school team).It is certainly packed with activities the 3-4 days they're there so they get to see all the important landmarks and historical sites. For all the sites they visit and the logistical arrangements for it, the price we paid was very reasonable. Given that typically this is the first trip of 14 yr-old kids without parented and only traveling with their friends, it makes it a very memorable experience. read more

Outrageous School Trip Charges My daughter's school trip to Washington DC for 4 days cost $2200. They go to all the FREE tour sites and 4 to a room. That equals $550 per kid. My daughter really wants to experience this great educational opportunity. Payment options stated raising funds. But they do not, they charge you huge monthly payments that if you do not pay every month they charge you over $20 in fees every month. Their financial aid, the max you can receive is $100. Then on top of it, they intimidate you to purchase the full refund program. Canceled trips have happened, to find out you can only get a full refund if you cancel the day before, they do have clauses that they don't have to give you all back. If you are a school administrator looking for a company that will work with your parents, offer flexibility, and is a reasonable price, do NOT go with WorldStrides. They take a $900 trip and pocket $1300. Companies like this take advantage of schools and students. Another example of companies that say education opportunities only means the privileged students get opportunities. read more

Explorica canceled a trip due to Covid-19. Which is fine. I received an email that I'd get a refund in 4 - 6 weeks. It has been 9 weeks. No refund. I called to get status and they say my refund has been delayed another 4 weeks. This seemed like the person on the phone was pulling the new date out of the air. They really don't know when I'll get it. They have been rude and placed me in voicemail queues where the voicemail box is full. I cannot get any satisfaction and I believe they are ripping people off. Looks like I'm not alone... read more

WorldStrides - Travel Services Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

When my daughters flight to her European trip was cancelled and would not be able to be rebooked for more then 36 hrs. World Strides advised those who bought the insurance through trip mate to cancel stating we would get reimbursed. Now Tripmate is refusing to refund my daughter for her trip. We would not have cancelled her trip if we were not advised to do so we are out $6000 for a trip she never took. Yet no one will take responsibility and refund us even after purchasing insurance read more

My son went to DC this spring break with 100ish school mates and 10ish chaperones. Pro: it is once in a life time experience in that my son gets to tour DC with his teachers and school mates. The teachers (chaperones) were wonderfu! Cons: 1. It is way pricy! the trip was booked a year ago; it's logistically necessary to add insurance which brings the cost to nearly 2500 for a 3night 4day trip. 2. The food choice was limited and not enough food to eat in some meals. other than a few times which was buffet, everyone had to eat the same dish and not allowed to order differently or more food using their own money. My son was hungry half of the time and had to buy snacks here and there. 3. They had 100ish kids and was broken into 2 group, each with a tour guide at every stop. It turned out the 2 groups did not visit same spots at each stop! unacceptable! 4. They broke into 2 groups on the return flight, which is understandable because they had over 100 kids. I am assuming kids were randomly assigned to the 2 groups. The two groups were 2 hours apart on the departure time. The 2nd group got to visit one additional place in DC, while the 1st group had 2 and half hour layover in Dallas!! Unacceptable!! read more

Tour guide Josh was excellent. Travel was horrendous however. One bus without AC; other broke down. Massive delays beyond just unavoidable traffic. Bathrooms weren't cleaned on the bus and there was no hand sanitizer or soap. Tour guide gets a five star, transportation gets a one hence three stars read more

I am shocked to read some of these petty reviews. These ridiculous helicopter parents don't get it... S - -T happens. My 8th grade son had the time of his life and FOR SURE gave them a new perspective on the world. Absolutely fantastic program for these kids. Who cares in the grand scheme about your tiny problems at the airport etc. Better for the kids that they encounter small bumps daily and to just keep moving forward with a smile and chin up! Thank you World Stride for giving an opportunity to my son to experience all he did with your program! Top Notch! read more

Health and safety of the kids is not a priority. On the flight there, many of the kids, including my own were waitlisted for their flight. The flight was not direct and had a ridiculous layover. There is no reason to go hours straight north, just to go another 5 hours east. My child was waitlisted for both legs of the flight and didn't have an opportunity to eat in between. For what we paid for this trip, it's unacceptable. Next, the kids share a bed. No one got sleep as one of the kids that my child was sharing a bed with was ill and threw up multiple times during the night. Yes, the chaperones knew and there was no attempt to separate the sick child from the rest of the group. Another one sharing their room was up until 2 am every night, talking on his phone. There was no water provided during the trip, except at meal times. They returned to the hotel so late at night, they were directed straight to their rooms and weren't allowed to purchase water from the vending machines. They were told to drink water out of the tap, which had bits floating in it. The food was mediocre. The bowling alley excursion didn't have enough lanes for everyone to play. The actual site seeing was okay, but rushed. Overall, I don't believe it was worth the amount paid. It felt like corners were cut at the expense of the kids' experience. read more

Part of trip was canceled by explorica. No refund to anyone on our trip. Have been waiting 4 months now. We are getting the runaround with promises that the checks are in the mail.. Victor supposedly helping but he can't do anything. They are scaming us. read more

We knew unforeseen things would happen so we PURCHASED TRIP INSURANCE. Shockingly they will not honor it?!!! They have kept our funds since February. Lesson for school administrations, parents, students: DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY--if they don't honor the terms of their own travel insurance what can you trust? If you don't trust a company with their own promises and written policies would you really trust them with your child??? read more

WorldStrides - Don't trust this corporation with your children - Travel Services Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

I left my job teaching this last winter break to take care of my elderly mother. Before that I had spent a year and a half promoting a trip to Alaska. I put my heart and soul into that trip. I did all the advertising, all the parent meetings, to all the emails, I even created a club where we researched and shared the history of Alaska's statehood and other interesting facts about Alaska. Just on Monday, my principal spoke to world strides without contacting me and told them that because I had left my position at the school, he did not want me to go on the trip anymore. I had already signed up nine people and had a balance of only $400. Today I got an saying that my new balance is $4615. I did a year and a half work for the company by signing up 9 people and now I get nothing. I spoke to the director Tom Love and he did not even offer me a discount! I cannot believe that I did so much for this company and got absolutely nothing in return. read more

My daughter went for the Washington DC trip conducted by the EP middle school during June 11-14, 2023 in partnership with Worldstrides. She was happy overall, except the accommodation and the shoddy room service (or complete lack thereof) compared to what they were told. No change of towels, no trash takeout, nothing for all 4 days. I can imagine how bad it must have been for 4 kids crammed into a room after day long walks coming back to the hotel and showering and having soiled/wet towels and not having trash removed. The company should definitely take this up with the hotel which was partnering with them. Seems to me the case of apathy towards confirmed/captive customer by the hotel. read more

This review is based on what my son shared with us. We paid $1500 for a 3-day, 2 night class trip to D.C. He had fun on the trip mostly because he enjoyed the company of his classmates but shared that the food and accommodations weren't great. The students stayed at the Marriott in Baltimore, which to me is concerning because of the city's high crime rate. Also, he felt that the itinerary was too packed with activities. He did enjoy the wreathing ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier. I paid for it so he can be part of the class trip but outside of that, I wouldn't have him participate in their other ventures. I'm guessing this would appeal to young travelers who enjoy sightseeing, a jam packed itinerary, and lots of walking. read more

Tour guide: Our tour guide was incredible. She was knowledgeable, encouraging, and had a great joy for the city. 5/5 stars for her. Sights: we were on a 5day/4night tour trip. We had very little time to look around or enjoy any of the sight locations. Everything was rush, rush, rush. Hurry and get to this sight, so we can hurry and look, then hurry and meet to hurry to the next sight. For ex: *we had 20 minutes from the time we arrived in Liberty Island to the time we had to meet back with our group to board the ferry. *We had 1.5 hours at the Met, and that time allotment included lunch. *We had 1 hour at the American Museum of Natural History. *We took a 20 minute walk through Central Park. *We had way too much time for things no one was interested in. 3 hours one day and 2 hours another at Times Square. 2 hours at the World Trade Memorial museum, which the kids had no interest in. Food: Breakfast was ridiculously poor. 2 days we had buffet style with eggs, bacon, and hard French toast. The planned group meals were things I can get at home. Chicago style pizza (in NYC), hamburger, turkey wrap, chicken Alfredo. Where was the bagel store, the NY style pizza, literally anything authentic to the more than 178 different people groups represented in the city? *The best food we had was the 4 times got to eat on our own. Bathroom breaks: these need to be planned better for a group of 35 people. Do not recommend. Go on your own and find tours of things you want to enjoy. read more

I traveled to England & France in June 2024 through WorldStrides with several teachers, parents, & high school students. As far as pros go, saw some BEAUTIFUL sites & hit just about all the big touristy spots that everyone wants to see, which was a big plus. Our guide, Michael, was super friendly & knowledgeable. He was a bit long-winded at times but very nice & I appreciated him guiding the trip. I absolutely loved the local cockney guide in London as well, he knew a ton & was very entertaining. As far as cons go, there's a few. First, the food was probably THE WORST PART. As a paying customer, choices would be nice. One pre-chosen meal each night that isn't what I would consider appetizing was terrible. I would've MUCH preferred having some type of food choices. There were several in the group that either paid for different dinner options (when accessible) because the pre-chosen meal wasn't their kind of pick or they simply just didn't eat. I watched plate after plate of untouched food being taken away each night at dinner. Literally, every single night. There was a group of students that didn't eat dinner any night we were there because the preplanned food choices weren't appealing--everyone has their own preferences. Personally, I had the dinner once out of the week & a half. That was it. I realize preplanning with a group can be difficult but I don't think offering options is unreasonable. Second, the days were intense for some members of our group & downtime was almost non-existent. We flew out of the U.S. late-afternoon on a Wednesday, arrived in England very early Thursday morning & hit the ground running; not getting to the hotel until late Thursday night. It didn't start the trip off on the best note. There were also multiple days where some in our group were just dragging. A little autonomy or options would be nice with regards to scheduling too. Maybe someone (teachers possibly) stay back at the hotel with the group of those that don't want to start going each day at 7AM and they can hang back and choose to miss the morning stuff but meet up with the rest of the group in the afternoon; or those that don't want to be on the go until 11 or 12 at night could go back to the hotel earlier with someone (again, possibly teachers) while those that want to see the remaining sites/spots for the day can. Adding some autonomy to the trip would have made it a significantly better experience. For the most part, we stuck to the schedule with a few adjustments (some stuff was seen a day earlier than planned, one spot was added per teacher request I believe, & another area was taken off completely because of time constraints). Third, the actual travel booking wasn't managed the best. Out of our group of 48 people, we all left Ohio around the same time but 36 flew out from Toronto via Air Canada & 12 flew out from Charlotte, North Carolina via American Airlines. Seating was all over the place (student's seats being in between strangers that weren't a part of our group, that kind of thing), which isn't the biggest deal but it clearly wasn't managed/scheduled as well as it should have been. The biggest travel complaint though was that coming back from France, the 12 American Airlines members of our group had a flight that was 4-5 hours earlier than the group of 36 Air Canada people (the group that also had a 3 hour layover scheduled in Toronto) but WorldStrides arranged for everyone to go to the airport together around 6AM. So, being one of the "lucky" 36, I got to the airport about 5 hours before I needed to. Then, the flight was delayed an hour. Then, the flight from Toronto back to Ohio was delayed by many hours because of a mechanical issue. The group of 12 that flew back via American Airlines with a layover in Charlotte, NC got back to Ohio around 5:30PM the day we were scheduled to get back whereas the group of 36 that flew via Air Canada got back around 12:30AM the following day. Flight delays happen & that's no fault of WorldStrides. That being said, our group realistically should've all been booked together. Knowing that we weren't, transportation accommodations should've been made for the 12 to be taken to the airport at a time that made sense for their flight & the 36 taken at a later time that made sense for their flight. My last bit of what I'd want others to know is to think of this as a school trip, not a vacation. Definitely keep that mindset because unlike a vacation, you don't have much say so regarding anything. It's a neat school trip. After going on the trip & knowing how everything played out, if I were able to rewind time I would make the trip on my own rather than through WorldStrides. I've already booked through WorldStrides for a trip next year to Greece before I went on this one & now I know what to expect. I won't be booking the trip scheduled for the following year. read more

I had a scheduled 10:30am interview with Jessica McEvoy and she responded that she called me, but I "didn't pick up". I checked if my "block unknown calls" was on, but it was off. I also double checked if I got any missed calls, or if I wrote the wrong number in our previous email, but that clearly didn't happen. I wrote her my number again and that I was still interested; however, no response whatsoever. I waited over 30 minutes even though our call was supposed to be from 10:30-11:00am today (July 8, 2024). It was very unprofessional because I wrote back twice and she still ignored my email. I responded to her email very shortly after she said I supposedly "didn't pick up her phone call." If she moved on to someone else or she already found someone for the position, that was the least she could've emailed to me. I would not recommend her as a recruiter at all! read more

Traveled from Washington State with 45 newly-promoted 9th graders on an East Coase History Tour of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. It was during the heat dome event, so incredibly hot and humid, but that was the biggest "bummer" of the trip. Everything was well organized and went far smoother than I could have imagined. The kids had a great time and the chaperones enjoyed having everything managed and planned so well we only needed to do head counts occasionally and bed checks in the morning and night. I especially appreciated the company providing security personnel in the hotel at night to eliminate midnight excursions by the kiddos. It allowed the adults to get some sleep. The schedule was incredibly packed, and we were all exhausted by the end, but I would absolutely do it again and recommend to anyone considering. read more

BEWARE! Worst trip of my life! unsafe, unorganized, stressful, poor planning, poor communication & awful food. I was very excited to have the opportunity to share time traveling to DC/NY with my 14 yr old son on his 8th grade school trip. I went in thinking the schedule was going to be compared to a Boot Camp but unfortunately it was more like Survivor on Steroids! Right out of the gate there was a red flag. At the airport for an early AM departure there was stress/concerns early on. After receiving all our boarding passes & making our way(52people/42kids/10adults)thru security I was wondering why haven't we been given directions of where to meet up or what's next? I was told that the group leader failed to obtain her boarding pass so all 51 of us were left with no direction of where to go or meet up. Not a good start for a large group trip. It left me scratching my head . Oh no, what did I sign up for? I felt that our safety was at risk & compromised during this trip. The bus driver announced he was "sick". I was concerned about this & thought about our own health being jeopardized . I felt we should have found a replacement driver immediately. In addition to being sick the driver was driving recklessly. Cutting other drivers off & driving irresponsibly. Mid day the sick bus driver left 52 people stranded due to his condition. He was taken to the hospital. Still not sure what illness he was suffering from.COVID ETC...? The replacement bus driver was challenged as well. He told us that he didn't know how to use GPS & he got lost. He was also driving recklessly. Illegal Uturns & crashing into a stop sign. Very scary experience! If the day couldn't get any WORSE! While crossing the street our tour guide tripped on a pot hole & broke her ankle. Very unsettling ! With all this drama being considered it seemed we were physically/emotionally spent & just wanted to rest & reset. We were looking forward to having a well needed dinner(food was awful) but sadly our group leader decided to go to additional attractions & we missed our pre scheduled dinner reservation. We ended up eating quite late. This is just one of the many incidents where we were stressed out & left with no structure or clear communication. Sadly, each day was so over scheduled to a point where not only were we not able at times to eat or rehydrate ( unseasonable heat) we had very limited time to explore & see the attractions. It seemed that the group was overwhelmed & was struggling with maintaining a sense of order. There was a constant pressure to make it to the next attraction. (manic/unorganized) I was well aware that there was going to be a lot of walking and a busy itinerary but I would have NEVER spent that amount of MONEY & signed up for this trip if I had known that World Stride had sub standard /irresponsible bus drivers & a school travel program that lacked organization & structure. BEWARE paying a lot of $ for this travel experience ! read more

Our group consisted not of high school or middle school students but college grad and undergrad students plus faculty members as well as community members in a performing arts tour in Europe. Promotional material and contractual material promised lodgings within the city but the actual hotels were well outside by an hour train ride or 40 minute tour bus ride despite our complaints about this to the management well before the trip departure. This made the group entirely dependent on WS for planning. It also was entirely crooked. The old bait and switch. Not what I paid for. Information about the actual lodging for the second leg of the trip was not made available until after we got there. There was nothing special about any of the lodging and in more than one instance hotel management was openly hostile. Breakfasts were, at best, unremarkable while an entirely different offering was being provided in the dining area next door. Breakfast buffet routinely was taken down well before the posted hour. Gym and pool amenities were locked to our group even though we paid for their use. Various abilities and disabilities were present among the travellers but very little consideration was given to those requirements even though WS was alerted well before the events. People fell ill. Covid was a risk but WS had no plan or interest in those needs. The performing venues and several attractions were without the most basic accessible features - elevators, banisters, etc. Without warning, one would arrive at an attraction after walking some distance from the disembarkment across cobbles only to be expected to climb many flights of stone steps. It may be true that not all of Europe is accessible but warning can be given about what is and is not and accomodations or alternative excursions arranged. There is no excuse. Mature members including professionals of many disciplines were among the group with experience in project management and planning. The deficits of this enterprise was alarmingly evident to all. We all made our own flight arrangements so there was quite a bit less for them to arrange. Still they could not accomplish the most basic communication. The web page is impossible. I called to get an update on lodging information one week before the start and was told the information would be posted in within 48 hours. It never appeared. I cannot recommend WorldStrides. They are a fly-by-night operation with only the most opportunistic intent. There is not a chance in the world that I would send my children, even young adults, on one of their tours. DOT take notice! Those of you who have shared their stories here - file a complaint with the Department at https://secure.dot.gov/. Contact the Attorney General in your state. Call Secretary Pete! read more

My daughter got back from her 8th grade school trip to Washington DC/NYC last week. She had the time of her life, with NYC being the best part of the trip. They saw something like 15 memorials in 3 days in Washington DC, a bit more variety would have been more fun. The bus driver Lorenzo was incredible. Washington DC had record breaking heat and he drove the group to a number of places that they would normally walk to, kept the bus stocked full of cold water and Gatorade, and had the bus AC on high so they could cool down whenever they got back on. The tour guide "Joshy oh my goshy" was also just the best; funny, full of great information, and lots of fun. The trip was close to $5,000 in total after expenses. Out of pocket expenses included all lunches and snacks, and baggage fees for checked luggage. Now for the bad news, the food was consistently awful, poor quality, and almost always a buffet. The first night was a terrible Golden Corral buffet. Then there was a burger buffet at a Red Robin. Almost every restaurant was a special limited menu for our group that only provided a choice between burgers, hot dogs, chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, etc. for 10 straight days. Breakfasts were mostly whatever the hotel buffet was putting out as part of the room cost. Lunches were on their own, and out of their own pocket money. Worldstrides starts taking your money almost a year in advance of the trip. For the $4400 basic trip cost and the 10 month lead time to plan, surely they could find better dinner restaurants for a group of 38 people. They need options for getting a salad, and main entrees that are better than essentially fast food fare. There are no accommodations for vegetarians, or other special diets, you're on your own to forage for your own food if you can't eat from the limited choices available. read more

After working with this company, I have found they are dishonest humans who run this company including management . If I was to go into detail, it would be quite embarassing for them. Several of us did not recieve correct amount on several paychecks. Theres been several times our job role was switched mid shift, lots of technical issues, and poor management planning. Their turnover rate is high for a reason. read more

I think the experience people get with WorldStrides seems to vary depending on what faculty at your child's school heads it. My son's junior high history teacher has done this trip for several years now and has this down to a T. She sent us a daily itinerary, packing list, replete with the hotels the kids will be staying at and I believe what restaurants they were going to, so that perhaps parents can plan on figuring out their kid's needs. My son is vegetarian but it didn't sound like he had any issues with food. There is a phone number for WorldStrides but the more important number is the one his teacher provided to be able to reach a staff member from his school direct during the trip. His teacher also created a Facebook profile that parents can add so that they can see when the kids are checking in to places, see pictures and track their kids along the way that way, as this was a 7 day, 2k trip. Charter bus picked the kids up from their school and took staff and kids to LAX. Everything was well organized, but again, that's reliant on your child's school staff that head this program, not WorldStrides. My only qualm is the price, which is a bit steep for what most parents in this area can afford. Of the students at his school he says only a very small group of kids were able to go. read more