Is roadscholar.org Legit?

These reviews are wild! Why are people leaving such stupid 1 star reviews for things that don’t really seem to be relevant? The reviews for the actual experience seem really good, yet the overall score is low because people aren’t very bright. Complaining about adverts and profits.

We had to reschedule a Road Scholar trip and were told the $500 penalty could be transferred to another trip by Aug 15. Because we were out of the county, it wasn’t until Aug 13th, when I called to schedule a new trip. I was told I missed the transfer date by 2 days, and that I had lost the $500! — I asked them to review our previous telephone call... two days later I received a note from Road Scholar, which updated our vouchers and gave us ample time to apply the $500 to a new trip - I applaud Road Scholar and Trust Pilot for allowing this to happen!!

In April 2024, we signed up for a trip to the Greek Islands for April 2025. Three months later we canceled the reservations due to my husband's failing health. We paid a $1000 deposit and also $1608 for Trip Insurance. When we canceled, we were notified by Road Scholar that our refund was $0. Please be VERY CAREFUL and read all the fine print with Trip Insurance. We paid a lot of money an received nothing in return. Needless to say, we will not ever be booking a trip with Road Scholar again.

I went on a RS tour to Costa Rica and although I enjoyed the experience overall, our guide was often moody, keeping to himself, and a bit mean at times.My review (left nearly a year ago) has not posted so it appears they don't post critical reviews! Trust Pilot reports that 20% reviewers leave a 4-5 star review, with 80% giving 1-2 stars. The Road Scholar website, however, has reviewers for all programs averaging 4.5-5 stars, and claim they post all reviews. Hmm.

I have taken 12 safaris in many African countries over the years. I wanted to do Roads Scholars Botswana trip but the single cost without airfare is over $12,000. This pretty much does single for profit not matter what they say. Last year's safari to 4 countries included international and in country air fare and everything else. I'll go with another company.

This travel agent, not tour company, floods you with help taking your order and money but then when a problem arrises, ghosTed ; "Sorry, good luck and good bye!" After 70+ phone calls and 80+ emails to Road Scholar and their travel insurance company, AON, my paying by credit card saved me. (BTW AON has 5+ email addresses, good luck. Road Scholar has one phone number, people answer the phone BUT not questions! Communication/customer service 0 stars!) My trips were cancelled by the airflight THEY booked ( Delta"s refund went to Road Scholar, not me!!). Trip insurance pays for jury duty, death of companion etc BUT not for health/surgery/cancer, airline cancellation or civil unrest with riots, burnings, police shottings and killings! You're safe until you die then see above, Sorry, good luck and good bye, again! You receive credits to travel with them AGAIN that expire in one year. All necessary vaccinations, country Visas, etc REQUIRED that you can NOT use are not refunded, also.I did luckily have one good trip with Road Scholar but this was a DISASTER. NEVER AGAIN. PAY WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD FOR A CASH CREDIT/REFUND.UPDATE Delta refunded my travel agent, Road Scholar, $3500+ August 1 and 2 weeks later, Road Scholar still has my refund. The cancelled airflight was paid via credit card, no refund on my card! I had to contact Delta about the cancelled flight Road Scholar booked to get the travel agent MY REFUND. BUSINESS ethics? Crooks?? Thieves???Thanks for the invite to talk; after 150+ communications with you and senior staff ( Melissa, Ashley), its futile. DONE!!!

Group travel with Road Scholar has been close to perfect in all ways. I have been on five programs and was more than satisfied with the hotels, food and length of times are our stops.Road Scholar is the only group travel company that I know of that will take you to places of interest and pay for admission. The majority of companies just let you go on your own.

When you call the number, you get ads for services. Have you tried calling your own number? There are certainly up sell ads. Especially one for an alert alarm. Frustrating to get through. No people. And no refunds if you have to cancel. You would be better off staying home, looking at You Tube and visiting your local restaurants. Maybe non profit, but someone is making money.

In dealing with Roadscholar travel department, it has been a nightmare. Hours on hold, and twice the dates were wrong. They had us arriving two days early, when we clearly stated we wanted only one day early. Itineraries were not given to us until just before the final payment was due, and so there was much tension until we could get it straightened out. Hours on hold with the travel department was nerve racking as their times are limited in that department.Next time we will do our own travel plans, if we use them again.

We enjoyed out trip to Portugal, but air travel was a nightmare! Road Scholar arranged flights. Of the planned flights, one was cancelled and two were downgraded from business class to economy class. I asked Road Scholar for help in getting a refund and have not received any response, despite multiple emails over multiple weeks. I realize Road Scholar is not responsible for airline schedules. But, I do believe they have a responsibility to respond to customer queries.

I booked a trip with road scholar and had to put a $500 deposit down. I thought I was told that if I had to cancel, that deposit could be used for another future trip as as I canceled within a certain timeframe .I need knee replacement surgery and I had to cancel the trip .turns out that the $500 was nonrefundable. I’ve never worked with the company that did not allow you to either refund or transfer the deposit as long as you met their cancellation guidelines be careful

Stay away from this company. We had booked a trip with Road Scholar but after reviewing the trip with my Doctor, the Doctor said it would be much too strenuous with our physical limitations. We informed the company more than 3 months prior to the start of the trip but they refused to return our refund.

I had purchased a Greek Island trip with Roads Scholar for the end of October 2022. I did not purchase travel insurance until after I fell playing pickleball and broke my pelvis, wrist, and sacrum. I purchased the insurance past thedeadline and they still accepted it! I felt I could still do the trip as it was over 2 months away. I felt I might need some health protection while I was there. Then it started to become obvious that I could not do this trip…it would become too risky for me! So I cancelled the trip. The company had at least 1 1/2 to 2 months to fill that slot of mine with someone else. I asked for credit for another trip and they refused as it was past the deadline. They have not given me credit for another trip. I feel that under the circumstances that it would be good customer service to at least give me some credit for another trip. They have $6400 of my money that I never got to use.

We are very experienced travelers, and this was our first time with Road Scholar. We recently completed a trip to Israel, Jordan and Egypt in March 2023 and it was wonderful. The hotels were first class and much better than I anticipated. The guides were excellent in each country. The group was 23 people. The buses they used were all exceptionally clean, very spacious comfortable and safe.A couple of days prior to the end of the trip many of us learned that our flights home had been cancelled by the airlines, due to a labor strike in Germany on Lufthansa. Road Scholar immediately rebooked everyone who had arranged their flights through RS. We are looking forward to our next trip on RS.

I went to France for 6 weeks with Road Scholar and everything about this trip was perfect! Lovely, caring tour leaders, incredible support, and so many amazing educational adventures! Of course, this was PARIS, so beauty was everywhere, but be aware that Paris is a big city, with all the problems and quirks of urban life. Nevertheless, the HISTORY and ART of Paris are mind-bending-ly wonderful. I plan to travel again in 3 months with Road Scholar. My only warning is that if you are over 70 and have mobility issues, some trips are not for you. Road Scholar rates every trip for mobility so PAY ATTENTION if you can't walk far, or need a walker!!

My mother in law purchased a trip with insurance. She cancelled the trip 8 months before because of medical issues and has since passed away. We called road scholars to see if we could go on her trip , get a credit or receive the money back from the scheduled trip that she had insurance on. Road Scholars was totally useless. The trip could not be transferred and we received no money back! Do not get insurance on a trip that you are using vouchers for… total waste of money! We weren’t even able to use her several thousand dollars that she had in credits. Shame on them for lack of customer service.

I booked a trip for self and partner, and as we are older, I booked the insurance offered. We were not able to take the trip, as my partner found that his neuropathy deteriorated to the point that he could not keep up with the activity level that Road Scholar required. Unfortunately, Road Scholar was only willing to refund half the fees, and the rest was only available as a credit to future trips. Since we cannot take a future trip I asked to be able to transfer the fees to someone else. They refused. The insurance company, AON, for reasons best known to them refused any compensation. Shame on both companies. BYW, they also do not have any links on their site to this trip or the previous one we took, so I cannot leave a review there.

Road Scholar is 100 tops in every way! My PRAGUE experience was so gr8, I immediately booked another trip and eyeing another 4 next year!Their offer & promises surpassed all expectations! It was an overall fantastic trip!My first booking had 2 B canceled due 2 lack of enrollment. The organization did exactly what was promised: Keeping in touch in a timely manner & prompt refund!Margrit

Spent over $1100 on deposit and trip insurance. We had to cancel because the trip was too strenuous for us. We got nothing back. Probably our fault for not doing due diligence but beware.

I booked a trip and arranged my air travel through Road Scholar. I just discovered that Road Scholar travel never paid for my flight although I paid in full already. I am in danger of having my flight reservation canceled. Trying to speak to anyone at Road Scholar is a nightmare. Their travel agency is only open 3 days a week and you have to go through Road Scholar to get through to them on those other days. I have been on hold for 1 hour. I will never use them again.

“Not pleased”

Toured Montreal with Road Scholar. Everything about it was cheap. The advertised breakfast turned out to be the cheap hotel breakfast all guests get. Hotel was full. There was nowhere to sit to eat breakfast. First day tour was nice. Second and third day tours spent more time waiting for city busses and metro than actually touring. When we did get to a venue, the guides basically said, "Here we are." And left it to us to find or see anything. Except for the old city area, I found Montreal to to be a dirty depressing place. Dirty, countless vagrants, and second hand marijuana smoke everywhere. Not worth the time or money. Products used:Tour agency Service Value Quality

“Wonderful experience at Penn State”

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. Service Value Quality

“Terrible customer service”

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.

“Avoid Road Scholar trips”

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.

“Don't travel with Road Scholar”

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! Tip for consumers:Don’t sign up unless you are ready to lose all your deposit money if you want to make a change over 130 days BEFORE your trip. Service Value Quality

“Unreasonable vaccine mandate!”

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!

“Road Scholar travel department is flawed”

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.

“Terrible contact with customer service”

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. Service

“Mercenary refund policy”

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.

“Not very scholarly”

My cruise from Dublin to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Orkney, and London lacked depth. At Orkney, the route centered on an overlook and swans. In the haste to the overlook, the tour bus passed by Skara Brae, a 5000-year-old commune from the stone age. The stop at Alnwick featured the Harry Potter castle, hardly a priority to real scholars on the trip. Regular meetings and dinners of groups violated privacy and personal choice. This silly arrangement infringed on time and available shipboard spaces, especially the Lido Deck. A huge disappointment.

“I love Road Scholar trips”

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.

“Intergenerational trips”

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!

“State Department Warns against Cuba travel but no refund from Road Scholar”

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.

“Steady decline in service levels”

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.

“Failure to provide the tour”

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. Tip for consumers:I am very disappointed. Products used:nothing Service Value

“Cancel for any reason insurance is no insurance”

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.

“Slower Pace Ireland”

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.

“Non-responsive”

I needed to make some changes prior to taking my most recent trip. It was extremely difficult to get in touch w/a human. I took the trip but, unfortunately, got sick 2 days into the cruise. For the most part I did ok but had difficulty in getting food when I felt too ill to go to restaurant. Reception desk refused my requests to have some food delivered to my cabin. I had a follow-on trip scheduled but could not make it due to my illness from which I am still suffering. I purchased the trip insurance & personal illness was covered. However, I am still trying to jump through their hoops to get almost $6k refunded. They are very slow in getting their review started and not communicative at all. The staff, when you can actually reach them, are always pleasant & helpful, excluding the insurance problem. The group leaders were great & well-versed. I like Road Scholar and have traveled w/them before, however, this experience has given me pause.

“Can't reach them for flight info”

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. Service

“I was sick of taking cruises and traveling with other...”

I was sick of taking cruises and traveling with other 50 plus crowd that did not want to do anything but eat and watch shows. My wife and I wanted to exercise our minds and we discovered roadscholar really by accident. A friend we met on a cruise told us about this site and we have love it ever since. I cannot recommend this site enough.

“Additional airfare overcharge”

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. Service Value

“Not impressed”

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. Service Value Quality

“Outstanding Customer Service”

Recently we were asked to change the dates of an upcoming trip to Croatia/Slovenia due to low enrollment. The Travel Change Team and Travel Arrangements Team quickly made the needed changes and kept us fully communicated via emails during this process. I was particularly impressed with the flight schedule which was customized to our requests. Thank you Road Scholar!

“Think twice before booking your travel through Road Scholar”

Think twice about booking your travel through Road Scholar: Recently I booked a trip with Road Scholar and used their travel department to book my trip. As luck would have it weather delays created a situation where I would miss most of the trip so I chose to cancel the Road Scholar trip. When I asked United if they would cancel my flight and give me a refund they agreed…until the agent discovered I had booked the flight through Road Scholar. Because I booked through a third party, I was told I had to obtain a refund from Road Scholar directly. Road Scholar refunded all but $200.00 which they said was a booking fee. News to me, never was a booking fee if canceled discussed or mentioned while booking the flight. So, my advice to anyone thinking about booking a Road Scholar flight is to make their own travel arrangements or buy trip insurance. Service Value

“Not the experience I was expecting”

I did the San Miguel Allende (SMA) trip and it was just okay. It started out bad when no one was at the airport to meet us at the time we were told to be there. The airport was about two hours from SMA so this was not a small issue. I finally called RS and the person showed up an hour late with the attitude of "I'm here now!" The lectures were old and canned from a US expat who screamed in a small room. I am hard of hearing and had to remove my hearing aides because of the pain caused by his large lecture room voice. I asked the tour director to ask him to moderate his voice and she said there was nothing she could do. Less than a third of the people went to the lectures because there was so little content. This was during the entire immigration and border detention problems! What a wonderful opportunity for current events. Why aren't lectures done by real locals - it would be so much better than hearing it from a US perspective. That is all we get at home. Essentially there was little education on what was billed as an educational tour. The tour director was very disorganized to the point of walking us a couple miles to the wrong restaurant and then walking us all back. It was very hard on the elderly participants. You were on your own if you had food allergies in spite of the fact that RS asks about this in advance and I also informed the tour director. She showed up at my table almost hysterical about 10 minutes after I was served something I was allergic to. Luckily my travel companion tasted it before I did and took my dish away. One local guide mentioned the plays he was in, and recited from them, ad nauseum, while we sat in the hot sun and learned almost nothing. RS could not even manage to send me a review form and finally just took my review over the phone. This was not what I had expected and it turns out others were very disappointed too as everyone was give a $200 credit toward a future trip. I will give them one more try and am hoping the tour is not cancelled due to COVID-19. I had heard such good things about RS. I was very disappointed.