Elderhostel Inc

E S. _{on Yelp}

Feb 11th, 2023

The Holiday Season in San Antonio: Lighting Up the River Walk: This was our first Road Scholar Program, and it did not disappoint. Our adult children, 31, 29, and 27 joined us. We all loved the trip. We had never been to Texas and did not know what to expect. We left with such a great appreciation for the roll Texan settlers played in the founding of our nation. Also, hats off to the courageous Texans, both past and present, that shaped what we would consider modern America today. The discussions, historical sites, architecture, art, and food were all amazing. Everything was timed perfectly. Our host Linda Jo was knowledgeable, spunky, and full of Texas sparkle (she literally sparkled y'all)! We could have not wished for more.

Richard B. _{on Yelp}

Oct 15th, 2022

we booked to the best of the Dakota's  for July the 14 th and unfortunately had to cancel prior to the trip due to a gastro condition that made it impossible to travel.  We were able to cancel our flights with no problems.  we had purchased trip insurance from AON.  We received an email from AON  saying that we would receive a check in two days.  Now almost two months later no check.  My wife called ROAD Scholar and was told " the refund of half the money would be back on our credit card.  So far no credit card.  There phone lines are seldom answered until after a long wait.  while I don't have any knowledge of their internal finances, their behavior doesn't inspire confidence.

Christine V. _{on Yelp}

Feb 20th, 2023

RS holds zero responsibility in any issues that happen during transportation to the program. They pass that responsibility to the traveler and insurance companies. My program was to begin in Aukland NZ on February 16 2023, with a small group of 19. Of the 19, one person flew in a couple days early, and a couple made their own arrangements, leaving 16 coming out of Houston, LAX, and SF airports on February 14th.  All NZ air flights booked by RS out of the US into Aukland was cancelled the night of Feb. 13th due to a hurricane that was hitting the north island and Aukland. Some got the notice that night, but many were asleep and didn't know till the next morning. When we called RS travel to find out if the program is cancelled, they said it was still going to begin as scheduled.  You see if RS cancels, then they will refund your program and flight money. We all tried to make new travel arrangements, and that is where the rebooking hassles began. There was no urgency what so ever in getting 16 people rebooked on limited airlines, which was made worse by the fact that RS booked our tickets through a restrictive NZ air contract that severely limited rebooking options. Now a couple of people were able to rebook and get to the 3 week program with only 3 days missed. They were able to do this before RS travel opened and took control of how the restrictive tickets they purchased for us were used to rebook. The rest of us could not get to the program until day 5 or later up to 1 week or more lost, and were told that availability to rebook with the restrictive tickets was non existent.  When asked it there would be compensation for the lost days, we were told no and that was what the insurance was for. If you did not purchase the $1000 per person insurance, you were out of luck. 3 people who had insurance did cancel, and the rest of us tried to get to NZ. When I was finally rebooked it was 4 days after my original 26 hour travel time with 16 hours on 2 planes. The new travel arrangements was a brutal 32 consecutive hours of travel time which included 22 hours on 3 planes with 4 airports before I got to Aukland in the evening. I then had to purchase a hotel room and another plane ticket ($500 extra out of pocket) for the next morning to get me to the program now on day 6 in Wellington. The person who rebooked this new travel plan was flustered and not happy, and had at one point only given me 40 minutes in LAX to connect to my international flight (plane number 2). I told her I needed more time to get to my 2nd plane, and asked if there were any earlier flights to LAX to give me more layover time. Let's face it, planes these days are delayed by 40 minutes or more. The woman got all huffy and said according to some statute the minimum connection time she was allowed to book was 40 minutes. I insisted she check other flights to LAX even if it meant a 5 hour or more layover, and low and behold, she did find another flight available one and a half hours earlier. That is when I realized no thought what so ever was going into rebooking, and I had zero confidence that I would make it to NZ without a problem. I booked the new plan, and slept on it. The more I thought about how RS handled the travel issue and my zero confidence level of getting to NZ without a problem and more money out of pocket lead me to try and get a better arrangement in the morning.  They would not budge, so I cut my losses and canceled.I can't help but think that RS didn't want to get us to the program as fast as they could. They said the airline tickets they purchased were not refundable. Did they also book nonrefundable or changeable rooms, transport, and excursions? Or were they collecting refunds for every day a person did not show up for the in progress program. They already had our money and paid for everything on our behalf, but we would never see a dime of a refund. In the new travel plan, the room and plane  they booked for me in Aukland that I had to pay extra for was refundable. This got me thinking about how RS treated the stranded travelers, and could have cared less about getting them to the in progress program....after all...that is why you buy insurance and collect money from them instead of RS for trip interruptions and cancel for any reason. They hold no responsibility what so ever and pass it on to insurance companies or travelers, which is why they kept asking me if I had insurance. Lesson learned? Find and buy reasonably priced CANCEL FOR ANY REASON insurance, and  make your own travel arrangements if you are going to travel in these volatile travel times. RS is one company that will do nothing for you if you run into travel problems. If RS wouldn't cancel a program during a cyclone (hurricane to NZ), then they won't cancel any fully paid program and collect the refunds perhaps.

Bunny Pi _{on Google}

Feb 14th, 2023

It's been two years since the trip to Oregon. We still talk about how horrible the experience was. Sitting on the bus for hours only to be told you could not walk anywhere. Beware: Road Scholar has changed. I went on my fourth trip and it was a nightmare for 9 days. The best part was getting off the bus. It was supposed to be "keep the pace". But the group leaders could hardly make it off the bus. We were not allowed to walk around at any of the stops at the ocean or the redwoods. The stories on the bus were endless ramblings of their past trips and memories. Not informative or interesting. We were not allowed to talk to each other on the bus. It would have been better to have a recording from the park service playing through headphones. We never knew what town we were driving through and only the group leaders could see the sights (they always had the front seats).
Being treated like a second class citizen after going on a ninety minute tour of the Oregon caves only to return and getting yelled at for making everyone wait for "90 minutes". The food was horrible if you were lucky enough to get to the "buffet" in time...you better like chicken pasta and pizza, because that's all you get. No local food or wine. (We heard about salmon for days but never got to try any.) And the hotel in Eureka was moldy and under construction -gross..
Not sure who interviews the group leaders, but they should at least have some kind of degree or teaching credentials and physical requirements. A waste of $5,000. I could have planned a better trip on my own.
A note about the photos. We boarded the bus for Crater lake and were to make a stop to pick up sandwiches. We sat outside an unopened cafe while our "leaders" were on the phone. They apparently did not have any orders for our food and would not be open for a few more hours. They decided to stop at the park entrance and get our food. They made us wait outside for another hour for the small green sandwich wrap and outdated dressing. All of which took most of our time to explore Crater lake. We were so late we did not get to go on the tour. And we're also told we could not go on the hike to the water. We had about an hour to explore after that long drive.

A. J. _{on Yelp}

Nov 4th, 2022

From the day I signed up until after the trip had occurred, working with these people was more than disappointing.  Over-charges.  Promises for a vegetarian diet and need to be in a clean, room (the walls of one room were smeared with food), lst floor ot elevator access that has an easily accessible tub-or shower. Oh yes, that I will push, yet not have to load my own suitcase. When I arrived at my destination the guide had not received the aforementioned and was much less than helpful.  In addition, there was much too time allotted for shopping vs. sightseeing.  (The guide appeared to be preoccupied with business other than our trip a great deal of the time-one afternoon she completely disappeared, leaving us in a strange city.) Oh yes, I watch a helper throw my nearly new suitcase and break the handle. I was not the only person on the trip with complaints.  Road Scholar gave each of us participants a $400 credit towards our next trip....the trouble is for me there definitely will not be a next trip.