According to their website, EF claims to design tours to help educators teach, and so students can learn moreabout tolerance, other perspectives, and themselves.. We were encouraged to invite friends and family to join us on the tour, whether or not they were associated with our school or even local to our area. throttle thumb display electric . The tour guide was a London college student who had traveled little, not having been to many of our tour destinations. At the time of this publication, EF Tours has been notified of this unacceptable hotel and has yet to respond. Not only did I make a complaint to the Better Business Bureau but I also requested that a manager call me and I have yet to hear from anyone. We were combined with a group from upstate New York consisting of 14 travelers: one teacher, one adult, one child and 11 students. Adults did need to pass a background check in order to participate in the trip, since adult tour participants are traveling with minors. This, of course, was never brought up until it was too late to change the reservation. When Chicago Public Schools canceled all district-sponsored international travel for the upcoming spring break because of the threat of coronavirus, Derek Dattner assumed he would be refunded the. I will never, ever even consider sending any of my other kids on one of these trips. Thats why weve enhanced our already top-tier, industry-leading coverage programs to provide even more choices, and to give travelers, families, and school communities the widest range of safe and flexible plans. Four other members of our group chose to join us. However, I was never allowed to speak with management. I feel like EF tours did not take our interests and feelings into consideration and I feel like this trip was a complete waste of time and money. Be aware of high-touch surfaces, such as handrails, arm rests, and security bins at the airport, and be sure to wash hands thoroughly after coming in contact with such surfaces, or before any meal. Here's my EFTours experience: 1.I have been on 3 EFTours and have another planned for next summer. This is the biggest scam ever. CHICAGO (WLS) -- Countless study abroad trips have been canceled due to COVID-19, leaving many families out thousands of dollars. They book all accommodations and attraction admissions for tour participants. Was informed of the price to cancel was $199 not the $95 listed. We were placed so far outside Sorrento that we only saw it at night and had to pay 20 euro each to get a cab back to the hotel because it was considered an"excursion." There is a $95 non-refundable deposit + $300 cancellation fee (totals to around $400). Of course we were served a lot of pasta, but we also had braised beef in tomato sauce, gnocchi, and pizza. Our school will be traveling with three other schools from different parts of the country. how to get a full refund from ef tours. why is there a plague in thebes oedipus. These Britrail England Flexi Passes are taking forever to refund. They make zero effort to please traveller once fees paid. Call 877-485-4184 to enroll, EF Ultimate Break Its always best to book any tour, hotel or activity for your trip with a major credit card, explains Claire Soares, founder of the travel company Up in the Air Life. Wife has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and will not be able to make this trip. This Tour Director is supposed to handle just about everything on your tour, including all your pre-booked accommodations, meals, excursions, tickets, and transfers. Technics in Management Transfer inverness animal clinic. If you happen to wander around the Charles River, it is worth of walking toward the Zakim Bridge and stopping by North Point Park. Our group was quite good about being on time to meet up locations with a couple of small exceptions that could not be helped. She had a black eye and blood in her eyeball for the entire trip. How to get tickets. 8 weeks.It has been 8 weeks so my son contacted the insurance company and was told the money would be put back into our account between June 20 to 25th. Is there any way I can get around it? As a working class family that was attempting to give our child a wonder experience, I am outraged that a company would gain such a profit off of a cancellation! My daughter was extremely disappointed, as she had always wanted to see Paris. allego spac presentation lake placid skating rink how to get a full refund from ef tours. Two meals a day are included in the cost of a trip with EF Tours. Vrbo offered a refund after my husband lost his job. During our first night there we had a lovely traditional French meal of chicken with mushroom sauce in the back room of a small picturesque cafe with a ton of ambiance. The best unexpected addition to our trip in my opinion was the opportunity to see a musical in the West End of London. While these options are available, the bread and butter of the company is the basic high school student tour which is what we took. On May 1st I lost my job and we immediately contacted Ef Tours to cancel. They need to be outted with their unfair business practices. They are all F-ing scum I hope all involved lose every penny they ever made and become homeless. I struggled to pay for this trip and now after paying for travel insurance also they are denying full refund. For a quick overnight in Milan on our way to Florence, we stayed at and AS Hotel in Limbiate. This person is there to direct the group and handle any problems with logistics you may encounter along the way. There was a layer of dusty film all over my bathroom and my pillow had an unidentified crusty stain on it. I think our experience would have been better with a more seasoned Tour Guide. Vouchers are not redeemable for their full cash equivalent. Stories like hers repeat themselves every hour of every day. While the room wasnt much to write home about, some members of our group lucked out and got spectacular balconies. EF has the group leader/teacher set up deadlines for signing up to go on the trip, sometimes including small discounts to encourage enrollment. ). Flexible, fee-free rebooking options Need to make new travel plans? Would I go on another EF Tour? On June 20th we called them to verify and were told our claim was denied and we wouldn't be receiving anything back from them. During our entire time in London, we were not once served any traditional English food. This was the only true hostel on our trip. She was more worried about herself and her family I guess. To date I paid $1063 on this trip to Peru and canceling it over 1 year in advance due to unforeseen circumstances has cost me $560. All opinions are my own, and all costs were paid out of our pocket for this experience. While on tour, there was only one time that I felt like our group was taken to an unsafe area. If not used for travel, a COVID-19 Future Travel Voucher can be exchanged for a refund of all money paid into a travelers account less $500. Thank you for your honesty! All breakfasts were served at our hotels. We found that participants can sign up just about any time before the trip departs. Hi! She usually did a count to make sure everyone was there when we were ready to leave, but she did leave people behind at least twice during our trip and have to go back and get them. Enroll online or call 800-766-2645, EF Explore America When it became apparent on the second night that we werent going to be getting any traditional English food, my daughter and I made arrangements to go get dinner on our own, and pay for it out of pocket. We did not get to select from a menu and were all served the same thing each night, with the exception of those who had special dietary needs. EF Explore America said in light of the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, it offered the school three options. If I cancel, I lose about $400 in cancellation fees. I was super excited to go experience 6 countries however from day one everything seemed to go wrong. Our tour guide didnt seem to have this mentality. Travelers or their transferees can redeem the voucher for this available refund at any time prior to September 30, 2025. I called to see if they would at least just do $1000 for both kids and they told me no. Also out of all four excursions throughout the trip, THREE OF THEM WERE CANCELLED! Lunches were not included in the initial price of our trip and were paid out of pocket each day. The school is only involved in the process as far as whether they allow teachers to hand out information in schools or not. Does anyone have experience with this type of thing? We were able to marvel at the unparalleled artwork inside St. Peters Basilica in the Vatican. In spite of these two disastrous group travel experiences with EF Tours, I LOVED organizing and leading tours to Europe. Call 800-992-1892 to enroll. Will this be the busiest spring break ever? He paid Vantage $18,536. For detailed information about the safety and coverage programs that apply to your tour, please choose your departure date below. I just put a downpayment for our trip to Europe next summer. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Experts say the paper trail will get you a refund faster. Were always here to help. By using this website you agree to our Cookies Policy. The original discount amount will apply. Only a couple of people were given her contact information, which made communication confusing and difficult during our free time, especially when she got delayed during our free evening in Paris and our meeting time had to be pushed back significantly. She signed up October 1 and we had to cancel Oct 14 due to conflicts with my work schedule. Even when customers provided evidence of their dissatisfaction, EF Tours refused to issue refunds or only offered partial refunds. What is a COVID-19 Future Travel Voucher? What we didnt expect was the significant amount of wasted time and changes to our itinerary that happened on our tour. By enrolling on an EF Educational Tour pursuant to a COVID-19 Voucher redemption, the traveler is agreeing to the most current version of the Booking Conditions, which is available at www.eftours.com/bc. Before our tour, the group leaded made sure every person who showed an interest in going on the trip got the glossy, full color brochure that outlined our itinerary and told us what to expect on the tour. If your Group Leader has chosen not to reschedule your original tour/program, you will receive a COVID-19 Future Travel Voucher valued at 100% of monies paid toward your original tour/program. If you booked a trip like this as an adult, you would scream from the rooftops for a refund but since these are kids, apparently EF doesn't have to listen because there will be another crop of unsuspecting students waiting to go next year. The front desk attendant seemed more than annoyed anytime someone from our group would approach them, and insisted that we all leave our keys at the front desk when leaving the hotel for dinner that night. I just felt like it should have been planned better. General sale starts at 9am . The local tour guides who showed us the sights of each city were the most informative folks on this trip, with extensive knowledge of the history and culture at each stop, but we were forced to use amplifying devices called Whispers in order to hear the guides. Trips are usually initially introduced about two years before the travel date so that participants can make smaller monthly payments to cover the cost of the trip.