Road Scholar

This was our first Road Scholar trip.
It was a wonderful experience. Every part of the trip was exactly as advertised. The leader was knowledgeable and ready to help with any concern. The hotel was great. The other participants were very similar to us:70s, well educated, interested in learning something new.
We have already booked another trip.

Leaving for an Antartica expedition in 4 weeks and still don't have final packet with instructions. Have been getting conflicting info since we booked. This last call to ask about final packet took forever to get a response which was vague and unhelpful about when we would have materials, including what we need to bring. Completely unresponsive to our requests for medically necessary adjustments to accommodations and ignored our airplane seating requests. Do not seem to have any interest in customer satisfaction once they have your payment. Hope the tour itself will be better. It is handled by a subcontractor (Albatross) who has been responsive. This is our third booking with Road Scholar and are surprised and disappointed so far.

Booked an end of April 2024 in the USA with full intentions of enjoying my first vacation since Covid. Turned out that due to work and personal reasons I was unable to attend the trip. Have been trying for nearly a month to cancel my place on that trip. Several emails to RS got the impersonal responce that due to security they could not cancel my reservation via email. Spent several hours (or more) on hold for a live person to pick up at their end to cancel my place on that trip. Nothing. I was just on hold for another 50 minutes and finally had to hang up at 4:55 so I could do other work. I cannot pick up a call-back if I'm working or driving. Needless to say, I haven't paid the balance due for that trip (due today) because I'm not going. Obviously RS is too big for it's britches and doesn't have enough staff.
My on-hold times were twice as long (or more) than every time I've needed to contact my corporate-owned primary doctor's office. I'd like to give RS a Zero rating overall, and for customer service.

Road Scholar is the most "deaf" organization I've ever dealt with. First, they never think of the customer, just their bottom line. All rules are to their benefit. I cancelled a trip almost 1 year in advance and they could only say, you agreed to lose your $1200, too bad. How about referring your friends or giving us a donation? Also, provide us all your friends & families emails so we can bombard them as well. I'm so done with this company/non-profit. Buyer Beware!

Road Scholar will only issue medical exemptions with a doctor statement indicating that the vaccine should NOT be taken. This is an unreasonable and dangerous position as there is a widespread difference of opinion as to the safety and efficacy of existing mRNA vaccines. In the meantime, I am out $2400. Exercise caution before committing cash with these people!

Just landed for a road scholar trip, in a strange city, running late and worried you'll miss your transfer shuttle?

Who ya gonna call?

Not Road Scholar! They place no importance on this important aspect of customer service. At least they didn't when I took my trip to Santa Fe. The "emergency" call center didn't know who was supposed to meet us at the airport-didn't have any names-didn't know if they were still there or when they were leaving.

Really? I think that is what technology is for. Unforgivable, Road scholar. You can do better.

For two days I have attempting to contact customer service and the travel department to no avail. I keep receiving the tired old message that due to increased interest, we are to leave our telephone number and wait to hear from them. Obviously, they do not have adequate staff to respond to our inquiries. I am a veteran traveler and have traveled with other companies who are much better staffed. There is no excuse for their lack of service. The management needs to address this grievance.

I have taken two nice tours with R. S. However, shortly after booking an $8000 trip to Antarctica for Feb. 2019 (and before buying insurance) I had to cancel. My $850 payment was non-refundable. The trip is a year away. Does this policy seem reasonable? I'm not questioning whether the policy was included in the information because it was. The policy that says that your down payment for your trip is not refundable in part or in whole this far in advance is just simply greed on the part of this organization. This is an especially difficult policy for people who are on a fixed income. I will not travel with them again.

I have been on three trips with Road Scholar; Scotland, Greek Isles on their small ship, and Switzerland. Every trip was wonderfully planned and executed and the guides were the best. The site is easy to navigate through and sign up is easy. All of the accommodations were nice and the food great. Free time is offered and options provided through the guide were great. I cannot say enough about them. I am a solo traveler and have made good friends while on the trip and always feel safe. Go for it! Now planning a trip to Ireland.

I have enjoyed 6 intergenerational trips with Road School which each of my 3 grandchildren. I found the trips fun, and educational. On my recent trip I took my 10 year old grandson to the CA coast to see elephant seals, and go tide pooling. It also included falconry and we actually had a falcon land on our gloved arm! I cherish these trips and will probably take my youngest grandson on one next year!

Signed up for Cuba trip before travel warning. US Govt has pulled their embassy staff and has warned against traveling there. Road Scholar will not refund deposit.
I would be very cautious before you sign up for travel with them.

My first trip with Road Scholar 5 years ago was well run & the trip was as advertised. With the next trip taken 3 years ago the activity levels were changed after booking and there were a couple of service issues pre trip trying to get questions answered thru their call centre. I considering taking another trip with RS this fall and my experience with their customer service area has been long and painful. I asked that an issue be escalated to a supervisor for review - and after over a week & follow up calls from me still no response. I would not recommend the current RS.

My grandson and I paid $12,548 for a grandparent/grandchild tour in Iceland. We were stranded in the Chicago airport along with 11 other people trying to get to Iceland for Road Scholar tours on July 1.
The emergency phone number just kept all of us on hold for hours in the wee hours of July 2.
My grandson and I got sent to Dulles, to Amsterdam, and then were refused the Iceland flight. We spent a fourth day in Amsterdam and then begged to return home. Our luggage was lost for a week.
They offered a $500 credit for their failure to deliver us to Iceland for the tour.

Don't buy. Road Scholar cancelled our trip, but refused to pay for our airline tickets, even though we had "cancel for any reason" Insurance. They claim that since they cancelled the program, they can also cancel the insurance. Note too, if you purchase and need to cancel, you don't get your money back, only a voucher for future travel.

Had emergent urological issues, unable to urinate, sepsis, high white cells and lactic acid, hospitalization and emergency surgery.
Tried to transfer funds to another program for a small fee; the small reasonable fee per contract is 100%. I'll truss up my testicles and wear incontinense diapers, I will NOT lose $10,000 - period.

A friend and I are supposed to complete payment for our trip by Sept. 30, but we can't get anyone at Road Scholar to give us our flight information. Flights are included in the package. I am quite reluctant to pay $4600 for a trip to Cambodia when I don't know how long my layovers will be. The fastest flights are almost 24 hours Others are 30 hours and above. My friend has called, emailed and left voice messages multiple times in the last few weeks, all to no avail. This is not acceptable.

I had thought I was all set for a trip for myself and companion - we're less than 6 weeks out. However, after paying in full over a month ago, I was sent email with no explanation to pay more. It took over 5 hours to receive a call back, and then they said it's just additional airfare charge - look for the current airfare price on our site. The current airfare charge on their site is twice what airfare cost back when I booked, and 50% more than the current price for similiar flights on travelocity. Seems like a bait and switch to me, with uncaring folks on the phone today. Agents are unable to say why I was shown as paid in full, with 2 reservations, until this morning.

My husband and I just returned from a Road Scholar program and experienced issues which the administration of this program refused to help with from day one including flight issues and a Covid Outbreak. The educational content is excellent but if something goes wrong the travel service and Covid Response team will provide inadequate support. At least 8 of our small group are positive with Covid due to lack of comprehensive protocols.

I booked a Mississippi River 2022 cruise, and paid the deposit. I asked for a double room, and eft the name of my friend who would call the next day to leave her deposit. When she called, they said the ship was full and apparently i was put in a room with a stranger. We have happily booked with another company.
Carolyn

I got the insurance as recommended and was told that it will cover me for whatever reason! Well North Carolina is getting hit by a hurricane and hurricanes and flooding are not in the insurance coverage.
I need my money back. I don't want them to hold it over my head that I "HAVE" to take a trip with them or I lose my $200.
I called Road Scholar spoke to a supervisor Sean who told me that it was sent in the mail and it's on line. That really that $200. Is spent on the admin, instructors, to get the overhead started.

Dishonest. Others have ranked Road Scholar as poorly as I have. My partner and I were initially placed on the waiting list for a trip to coastal Maine. To hold our place we needed to make a $200 deposit. Not being told that we were accepted for the trip, we made other arrangements. Only yesterday, when I phoned Road Scholar to cancel the reservations did I learn that we had been accepted for the trip. I was told they would notify me later of the change. But they forfeited the $200 with alacrity.

After my wife came down with Covid (along with several others), Roads Scholar asked us to leave the tour. They left us in the remote town of St. Anthony, Newfoundland, last June, to find our own way home (no offer of assistance). So far they have ignored our effort to recover any of our tour costs and the considerable expense of getting home.

I booked my very first trip with Road Scholar. Before booking my flight, I was told by Road Scholar that they would transport me from the hotel at the end of my program to the airport in time for my flight. The program ends in a location that is almost 4 hours from the nearest airport. I called to confirm my travel plans and was told the Road Scholar transportation arrives AFTER all flights to the east coast have left. When I tried to find a solution to this issue, I was hung up on twice and NO ONE could offer any solution. There is NO transportation from the hotel which is in the middle of no where to the airport in time for ANY east coast flights unless I take a 600 taxi! I was forced to cancel my trip and they kept 200.00 of my money. I am a widow and this was my first experience with Road Scholar. Not customer friendly. Not helpful, but glad to keep my money. Very sad.