Road Scholar

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.

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.

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.

Our trip to Egypt was cut short by a week because of the Covid-19 situation. I had purchased trip insurance through Road Scholar for that trip. Obviously, it had to be cut short, but Road Scholar assured us that we would be reimbursed for the part of the trip we missed. That did not happen. They have sent me many requests for donations, and nothing about reimbursement. After almost 2 months are requesting some remuneration, they finally offered a small credit toward another trip... but it had to be by June 5th. Um... we are still in the middle of a pandemic, so that's not going to happen. They have not offered one penny of my money back even though I bought my insurance from them. Yes, they're an educational travel group... and boy! Did I get an education.

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 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 taken several RS trips and have enjoyed them. I had RS make my aircraft reservations for an upcoming overseas trip. RS demanded immediate payment which I did. Some weeks later I learned two of the four flight legs had been canceled. I had a very difficult time reaching anyone at RS to correct the problem. Phones busy, long wait times, no responses to many emails. Finally, after several weeks of effort my travel was rebooked. Now about a month I received information the same two flights had again been canceled. But according to the airline website the flights had not been canceled. I called the airline and learned the reason why my flights had been canceled was RS failed to pay for them in time.
I think this is fraud. I suspect RS is trying to use the money I paid for my flights for other bills; using the float. Make your own air reservations. Don't trust RS.

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.

I must be a slow learner. After 27 Road Scholar trips, I went on a trip with Caravan for half the price. The food, hotels and activities were superior in every way. I also found the fellow tour members with Caravan were so much nicer than Road Scholar tour members. I have met over 500 people on my travels with Road Scholar and so many are snobbish and angry.

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.

Alaska is a very interesting place and rich with opportunities to explore. RoadScholar leaves the organization to Holland America. It's a good setup for certain travelers, mainly OLD. I'm 71 and found it very frustrating. Flew 3000 miles and spent the first night and morning in a conference room with no windows. The food was very mediocre at the hotels they used but the worst disappointment was that this trip had been described as "active" which for RoadScholar must mean breathing because we have spent the entire week riding buses for hours on end plus an 8 hour train ride. Getting these geriatrics on and off the bus takes forever and Road Scholar seems to attract know-it-alls.
These trips are fine if sitting on your butt and looking out the window of a vehicle is the way you want to experience Alaska. I thought a hike might be nice. Not RoadScholar.
Don't get me started on the cruise.

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.

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.