EF Tours: school travel

[Anonymous]

I'm chaperoning a school trip with EF Tours and just wondered if others could share experiences/tips? The google reviews are pretty bleak though the teachers associated with the trip use them regularly and have very positive things to say.

[Anonymous]

I've chaperoned multiple trips with both EF and Explorica.

What are your concerns/questions? Where are you traveling? What age students?

[Anonymous]

They seemed to do a good job when I was a student in the 90s.

[Anonymous]

I've done 2 EF tours as a chaperone. One was perfectly fine, albeit be warned that depending on where/when you're traveling that the group meals are sort of bad. I get it, it's difficult to find places that would take a large group of people. Just don't expect any authenticity to the meals. Not the worst for kids such as there were no complaints when we went to a pizza place in Paris. This is small in the scheme of things.

One nightmare trip, we had the trip leader that EFTours provides absolutely not know where they were going in Paris. It awful and unnerving. I knew my way around the city, but it was uncomfortable to confront the older gentleman that just wasn't getting us where we needed to go. After a couple days, we contacted EF Tours and they responded quickly with 'let's get you another guide', but then put us on a Mediterranean cruise with no company representative. The new guide was waiting for us in Italy, but it was a bit stressful.

We were slated to take a group to Asia with Worldstrides, but COVID got in the way and we had to eventually cancel. I was hoping to get a solid comparison from EF Tours.

[Anonymous]

OP here… reviews say the food and lodging are bad and EF Tours was slow to respond to logistical problems (online reviews spoke of not enough rooms booked so not all kids had beds, groups not able to get new flights when flights cancel and being on the hook for more money, etc.). Trip is to Europe with middle school aged kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here… reviews say the food and lodging are bad and EF Tours was slow to respond to logistical problems (online reviews spoke of not enough rooms booked so not all kids had beds, groups not able to get new flights when flights cancel and being on the hook for more money, etc.). Trip is to Europe with middle school aged kids.

Is this the Iceland trip by chance?

[Anonymous]

EF Tours sounds like a total rip off. They jack up the price for students and parents so the teachers can attend free.

[Anonymous]

My kid's middle school has bombarded us with emails about their EF tours. Given the price, it just stinks of a complete rip-off. We're French, and I can arrange a much better trip to Paris for less than what they're asking, and I'm sure my picks for lodging and food would be way better. And since people are usually savvy enough in this day and age with the internet to plan their own trips to places they've never been before, I don't see the appeal of an EF tour...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My kid's middle school has bombarded us with emails about their EF tours. Given the price, it just stinks of a complete rip-off. We're French, and I can arrange a much better trip to Paris for less than what they're asking, and I'm sure my picks for lodging and food would be way better. And since people are usually savvy enough in this day and age with the internet to plan their own trips to places they've never been before, I don't see the appeal of an EF tour...

We had friends who are travel agents and priced out the trip my nephew took. What they did not take into account was that EF included tour guides, premium tickets, and all of the ground transportation. So our nephew spent $400 less upfront for his trip than DD did with EF but she had a much better time. He ended up spending 1/4 of his pocket money on ground transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My kid's middle school has bombarded us with emails about their EF tours. Given the price, it just stinks of a complete rip-off. We're French, and I can arrange a much better trip to Paris for less than what they're asking, and I'm sure my picks for lodging and food would be way better. And since people are usually savvy enough in this day and age with the internet to plan their own trips to places they've never been before, I don't see the appeal of an EF tour...

We had friends who are travel agents and priced out the trip my nephew took. What they did not take into account was that EF included tour guides, premium tickets, and all of the ground transportation. So our nephew spent $400 less upfront for his trip than DD did with EF but she had a much better time. He ended up spending 1/4 of his pocket money on ground transportation.

PP you replied to. Possibly, if what you're looking for is maximizing those visits and economizing on accommodations and food. But that's not necessarily what people want. At least for Paris, and for certain other locations I know well, I know I can do a nicer all-round trip for less!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:EF Tours sounds like a total rip off. They jack up the price for students and parents so the teachers can attend free.

I think it is a rip off and yet I'm SO glad my parents let me do it when I was in high school. It felt so good to just go by myself without my parents.

[Anonymous]

I read the yelp reviews. Yikes. I would not consider it now.

[Anonymous]

OP here. We have had issues with both of our accounts (DC and I) even though we are paid in full and EF can’t tell me what Covid policies are (this is a three country tour with middle schoolers so surely there has to be some plan in place for when a kid gets Covid). So I’m not feeling super confident especially now that I’ve spent time looking at reviews. But I think it’s important for DC to experience group travel with peers so I’m not planning to cancel.

[Anonymous]

Went some years ago and upon landing were told we'd be doing the tour in reverse from the schedule. No biggie because we'd still see everything. Just that several people had missing luggage and it took several days for it to catch up with us because of the schedule change. Really bad for the poor people without clothes!

[Anonymous]

My daughter took two tours with them. The food really sucked. She has some dietary restrictions, minor and easily accommodated in US; they assigned her the vegetarian option when in doubt, and it was pretty bad in UK/Ireland, somewhat tolerable in Italy/Spain.