Educational Opportunities Tours

Richard Connell

Crowded bus (2 of them) 80 people -WAY to many people in a group. No room to breathe. Food was awful. Walked 4-6 miles daily in the hot sun while having to stop and wait every few minutes for people to catch up, very chaotic. Never again.

Laura W

I may exceed the character length, but EO has failed to even acknowledge e-mail I sent pertaining to a tour, from which I returned last month. The gist of the e-mail included, but is not limited to: 1. The astronomical size of our group, which was sprung on us at the airport upon our arrival in Munich. The group size hindered various parts of our trip. 2. Lackluster (even that is generous) planning in terms of illnesses. EO refused to assist my mother after her roommate became ill (many people in the group had Covid), which led to her bunking with my child and me for FIVE of the 10 nights. What would have happened if family was not on the trip to remedy the situation, since EO was not doing much? Also, we paid for double occupancy, not triple, or in the roommate's case- single. 3. Food/Excursions/Sales Pitches: The food provided by many of the hotels resembled that of the frozen variety. I looked forward to authentic local cuisine, but we received far from it. Many of our lunches were reserved for us, too, where we had to hurry up and eat and they were not at places I planned prior to the trip. Excursions/Extras were sprung on us at the last minute. We planned a gondola ride prior to our departure; however, the only way we were allowed to partake is if we formed groups of five (with strangers from our bus) and went during a short time frame. Our tour manager was late (typical behavior) picking us up at a sale pitch place, so we missed our reserved time. We had to rush to eat something and use the restroom (theme of the tour) or take a couple minutes to explore and be left hungry and needing a bathroom. We ended up on the gondolas and then, rushed back to our bus. We had very little time to explore and basically the only places we were provided with time to shop were the sale pitch places, where they were the only ones who made the specific good "the right way." 4. Tour Manager. I provided EO suggestions regarding concerns we had pertaining to our tour manager. I hope EO reads them and takes them into consideration. For the purpose of this review, the tour manager consistently displayed less than desirable actions from blaming group members after leaving them, dismissing discrepancies with the itinerary, flight information, etc., and arguing with local tour guides. This does not even begin to cover all the issues. 5. EO not willing to help group members whose flights were cancelled. Many group members had to book their own flights and hope they get their money back. (We know from previous reviews, the probability of a refund is slim.) Again, e-mail detailed each of these points along with other things, but this is the essence of the primary issues.

Coleman Cashion

I traveled with EO in 2015 (part of a large church group) and things went fairly well (back then). At the beginning of the planning stage in 2014, I requested to be upgraded to Business Class airfare. They quoted me the price increase about three months in advance and I booked it ($2100). I am part of another group traveling next month (November 2017) and I began requesting an upgrade in November 2016! Other members of my party who also wanted an upgrade were contacted two months ago and the price increase (then) was $4K. They didn't bother to contact me until weeks later and by then the cost was $8K!!! They said "sorry" there is nothing they can do. After several attempts to get resolution I finally had to accept an Economy Comfort upgrade as that is all I could afford - $485. I paid that increase, although I stressed they should have paid it due to their failure. Again, "sorry", you must pay it. Now today, two weeks later, they call again saying they forgot I needed to pay Another $50 for the increased cost for travel insurance; which they failed to advise me of when I paid the $485. I was told my travel documents would not be issued until I paid the $50; which I did today. Conclusion: I will never travel with these folks again, and would advise everyone to find another tour company to deal with. Update 2022: Well, we gave in and planned another trip with them. Bad mistake! We had a medical problem two months prior to leaving, had to cancel and the penalty from them was $1450. Fought with their travel insurance company for three months to get money back!

Kelly Galati

Israel