EF Educational Tours - Cambridge, Massachusetts

G M.

I saw the 2.1 rating average on Google and thought there was no way that could be true. I was actually correct, but for the wrong reason. They are actually worse than a 2.1. I've never dealt with ruder customer service and a complete lack of caring whatsoever about our issues. I am honestly afraid to have our 8th grade daughter even do the tour at this point.

We had multiple people donate to our daughter's tour. And multiple times the funds did not go through. When we called customer service to find out why, they literally had no idea. Even though we got an email saying the donation was accepted and posted, it never showed up in our account. Customer service told us to call the people who made the donation. Right.... because that wouldn't be awkward at all. "Hey Thanks for donating to our daughter's leadership tour. Would you mind giving me the last 4 digits of the card you used? Customer service says they need it because your donation didn't go through."

Customer service literally wanted me to call the people who donated and ask that.

Any other vendor could look at the a record of the attempted transactions, based on date/time/amount, and see if the transaction went through, and if not, why.

By the way, when I asked the rep for the name of his supervisor, the rep said "I am a case manager". I thanked him for the extraneous information and again asked for his supervisor's name. He then said "I am under no obligation to give you that information." That was all I needed to hear.

*** DO NOT USE EF TOURS ***

Mark S.

Received promotional EF Educational Tours "Travel and Safety Guide," but zero disclosures of U.S. State Department Travel advisories to Costa Rica and Panama, not a word. Parents send their most precious young with teachers to foreign lands then wonder why in hindsight they never read the warnings, something they should be instilling in those they ship off. Schools, too, should be teaching children to read and study to make safe decisions. Tipping odds is a parent's job.

thomas K.

My junior high school daughter & 38 other students plus about 10 adult trip leaders / escorts / chaperones from the Houston area toured Broadway in NYC during Spring Break 2025.

My daughter reported the outbound flight (which was direct / non-stop), the hotel, the meals, the activities & touring were all generally good (thus the awarding of any stars – in this case 2). The nightmare started upon departure.

In what I'm sure was a move to save money / fatten the bottom line, the return was not direct (even though Houston & Newark are both United Airlines hubs w/ numerous daily non-stops between the two). Instead, some miser / bozo w/ EF Tours booked the group's return through Chicago, and on a late-night departure from Newark - just opening the door for delays and disruption. And that's exactly what they got.

26-hours after leaving the NYC hotel, my daughter walked through our door in the Houston area. And in those 26-hours there were multiple delays - first in departing Newark - totaling +/-6 hours. Then - upon arrival in Chicago (long after midnight) - all Houston bound flights had departed so the group got to spend the night (another 6-hours or so) in the terminal at O'Hare AP. (I'm told one EF rep promised hotels would be booked but that didn't happen.) I'm further told that upon being informed of their plight, United Airlines personnel - not EF personnel - managed to get the group home - but not without another delay - this time a 3.5-hour layover in Dallas.

At the end of day what should have been a door-to-door 8-hour trip for the 50 travelers turned into a 26-hour journey from hades. And the lead adult on the trip has since informed me that at crunch time, and throughout all the delays and disruption, EF Support was at best minimal and more often non-existent. I guess they'd gotten their money already, so why should they care?

My daughter has a second trip planned w/ them - most of which we've paid for. She really wants to go so we won't cancel. This time it's an international trip. We don't know flight and hotel details yet. I guess we can only hope "quality of travel" can be factored into the booking philosophy, and maybe even prioritized over "maximize profits above all else".

Either way, here's hoping she gets home quicker from her foreign destination than she did from her domestic one.

paul

This company deserves ZERO stars based on my experience with them. Do not -- I repeat, DO NOT -- book a tour with this company. If your tour is canceled for any reason, and you are not able to get onto a rescheduled trip, you will NEVER, EVER see your money again. And if you ask about it, you will be exposed to the WORST, RUDEST, NASTIEST customer "service" team on the planet.

Matthew W.

Please, please book your trip with a different company! A cursory search of the Web provides an abundance of horror stories.
My European trip was largely a nightmare due to EF Tours' failure to adequately plan and provide for our group. The hotels were all at least 30 minutes to 90 minutes from the area we were scheduled to tour. This wasted valuable time for commuting so that EF Tours could book cheaper rooms.
There are several disastrous (and even dangerous) occurrences during our trip, but our lodging the final two nights illustrates EF Tours' commitment to making money over the health and safety of its customers. After somehow screwing up the booking at the hotel where we were supposed to stay, the wonderful folks at EF Tours booked us almost 2 hours (with traffic) outside of Rome, in an absolute dump. With temperatures in the upper 90s (Fahrenheit) to over 100° ....the hotel did not have air conditioning! Part of the tour was supposed to include breakfast and supper (the evening meal). This "hotel" threw together a few items of junk in green (grocery? trash?) bags. The evening meal provided by this dump on our second to last night was terrible.
Lastly, our final evening meal of the trip was at an Italian (of course) restaurant near the Coliseum. The meal that was served was not even on the menu. It was a nasty, breaded chicken patty (obviously processed and frozen in bulk) along with French fries. I couldn't even swallow one bit of it!!!!
Shame on EF Tours. Once upon a time, they might have been a reputable company.....but those days are long past.

Michael H.

My son enrolled to a Japan Trip with them in October 2023. I was informed by the teacher this trip was cancelled last Friday, because only two kids enrolled. They hope us to move to the trip in 2025. I refused, we could not make a decision for 2025 now. I ask for a full refund. But according to their policy, they charged me more 500 cancellation fee. I discussed with the teacher and EF customer support whole morning, this is not my fault, not I cancelled the trip, but if we do not move to the trip in 2025,they insist to charge me the fees . I get a lesson from them. So parents, before you enrolling with them, please be aware of their cancellation policy. Actually, they do not have a refund policy under the terms" They or teacher cancel the trip". I have sent my complaints to State Government. Hope to get a positive answer. This is my first and last time to work this horrible organization. Be aware！

Er L.

Not a tour review, but a EF tour policy comment. Please be aware that there is a huge penalty if you enrolled for the tour and decided to cancel. If you cancel 150 days or more prior to the tour date, there is a $395 cancellation fee involve. If you are inside of the 150 days, the cancellation fee goes up. I understand that there may be other agencies involve with the tour, but it is still a lot of money especially for parents who are trying their best for their child's education. Other big travel agencies don't even charge for cancellation. Please do your due diligent before signing up for your child. Learn from our mistake.

nicole H.

If I could give NO stars, I would. This is literally been the trip from hell for my daughter who has celiac. If you have a child that has an Allergy or Celiac. Do not send them with EF TOURS. They don’t care about the kids. My daughter has gone without eating a few days. Because they don’t have gluten-free options. We paid $5000 and it is a complete waste of money. I would never send her again with a school trip with EF TOURS. Getting sick left and right. I am pretty sure Because of the restaurants they are taking staying in hostels with dirty sheets and beds, etc. nothing to say about it. I regret that I sent my daughter on this trip. She has had to spend her own money to actually have a dinner and it is really a shame. EF TOURS IS A SCAM!!!