<p>Does anyone have any experience with this company for college travel? My D wants to do the 18 day Europe trip this summer, but I’m reluctant to pay without hearing from others who have used this company.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>This is a HUGE company, offering trips & tours for college/high school/middle schools for decades. They’re not bad, not great. Kind of a Ford of organized travel agencies.</p>
<p>My son went on two EF tours in junior high. On both I accompanied the school group as a parent chaperon (actually my whole family went on one). We went to Italy and Greece. Much depends on the experience of the teacher host, because that is the person in charge of hiring local guides, and believe me, the quality can vary greatly at that point.</p>
<p>I would go again if I knew the host well, was convinced he/she was experienced and responsible and had good contacts with guides at the other end. </p>
<p>The quality of accommodations was variable, but never really bad. On both of my experiences, internal travel was good, and we accomplished a lot, saw a lot and learned a lot.</p>
<p>One down-side: the planned shopping excursions. They were a waste of time and encouraged a lot of nonsense purchases. On the other hand, some of the well to do folks on the Italy trip thought they got great bargains at the leather store. I wouldn’t know.</p>
<p>I’d be open to any other suggestions for tour companies.</p>
<p>My D went on two EF tours on spring break in high school. We were very pleased with both trips. She had excellent tour guides, one that stayed with the group the whole time and a local guide in each city (they were hired by EF as I understood it). </p>
<p>Both tours packed a lot into the experience and I felt it was well worth the money. The second year was a tour of Italy and that was particularly well done.</p>
<p>I have traveled with Ef college break and I highly recommend it. I worked for it my self, and it took me all summer and most of fall to make enough money to go, and I am really glad I did. Ef is a great company, and the things I liked most was that it was fairly cheap and more importantly safe. I you have any questions about my trip, feel free to ask. I went to France, Spain, and Italy for two weeks. I really enjoyed it.</p>
<p>Katie J, that’s the exact tour I’m going on this spring, I’m booking it this week. Did you go on any of the optional things, can you give me an idea of how much things cost, and what the travel was like?</p>
<p>Went on the same tour as Katie when D (now a college sophomore) was in middle school with her godmother whose MIL has planned these trips for years. I was amazed at the sites we saw in 2 weeks. We had an incredible time. The varied accommodations were actually a memorable part of the trip that we still talk about. My only pieces of advise are: 1) buy <em>really</em> comfortable walking shoes and, unless you’re already used to it, 2) start walking now to build up stamina - the days are really long!</p>
<p>Laura- That is so exciting! I did most of the optional things- seriously, take advantage of it. It was really worth it- at least it was for me. I really think you should do the optional Flamenco Evening- Its well worth it. I also went to the Dali thing, it was cool, and I did the wine tasting and pizza making. The pizza making wasn’t as cool as I thought it would be, I would not do it again, but i really like being able to say that I made pizza in Italy. The pizza thing is still a good experience though. I don’t remember exactly how much I spent on the optional excursions, but I remember that it was not ridiculously too much. Travel was alot of fun, But as maysixxmom said, I HIGHLY suggest comfortable shoes, and sleep on the plane, before the trip, and so on, because that way you can be awake for the long hours that you tend to be up when you are having fun and traveling and exploring. The travel was amazing, with nice on your on time, which I really liked, but Im glad the tours came with it because you really get alot out of it. Oh, and when traveling from place to place, we often traveled on coach busses, and they were really nice, but I also suggest sleeping on those, since you will probably be up alot of just hours wit everything thst goes on, and just being excited. (At least I was) If there is anything else you want to know, feel free to ask me. Do you have any specific questions about my trip?</p>
<p>My daughter did an EF tour her Junior year of High School. It went to 3 countries for 2 weeks and she was with kids she knew form school. The tour company was great and i felt it was very organized and well run. My daughter is now getting ready to start her 3rd year of college and is doing the 30 day tour of Europe as we speak. Unfortunetly, United airlines canceled both flights and she had to spend the night in Washington DC in the airport with 8 other kids going on the tour from other areas. The EF guy, Greg, called me and her and got all the kids rounded up in the airport and the 4 girls stayed together beyond the security check points. The only rooms left in town were $700 a night so we weren’t going to fool with that, though we would have been reimbursed. The problem right now is…when Chelsea flew to London…we think her luggage went to Timbucktoo…so we are still trying to track it 5 days later. But…she bought a carry on, borrowed some deodorant, bought some underwear…and text messaged from the top of the Eiffel tower today. I put an International calling plan on her cell (she has one of the new phones that works there)…so texts are 50 cents for her to send but free to be sent…so we have been able to communicate. I have been calling the airlines involved everyday looking for her bag. The good news…when she booked this trip…I had her buy the insurance (she paid for the trip…i paid for the insurance)…guess what …the insurance covers $30 a day for her lost luggage. Yah! So anyways…EF has been in contact with me helping to try and get her luggage found. She has made new friends and having a great time. It is scarey as a Parent…especially when they call crying at the airport on what to do about a canceled flight. But she has done a great job handling the situation and I think it has taught her some great lessons on coping with issues beyond her control. I am getting ready to ship her a package with a charger, underwear, some shorts, and shoes to her next destination. Not sure how much it will be but British Airlines told me to keep the receipts and I will get reimbursed!</p>
<p>When she called from Washington DC about her second canceled flight, I told her I would drive there and get her 9we live in Ohio). It would take me about 6 hours to get there. She did not want to leave!!! She still wanted to go and I can tell you I didn’t sleep much that night. Now the nightmare is the suitcase, but she is loving her time there and still feels it has been worth it. I don’t want to discourage anyone by this post. I am just being honest. She will definitley have memories from this trip…from having to wear the same clothes for days at a time to all the exciting things she has got to see and do. She didn’t care that her friend had backed out when they first booked it…so she didn’t know anyone and there are 40 kids with her trip. You can email me if you want to know more. I think this company does a really good job and I do feel it is well run and organized.</p>
<p>I actually just got back from Thailand and Egypt with EF College Break.</p>
<p>I found both the tours to be absolutely amazing. I enjoyed Thailand more, and the quality of the tour was great. Hotels with walk-in prices over $200!.. and the tour was under $2500… I can’t explain how much this tour changed my life… and EF College Break is definitely a company I’d recommend.</p>