America Israel Tours® (AIT) America Greece Tours®Reviews of americaisraeltours.com

Very poor logistics. Our hotels were changed at the last minute. We were not given enough time to make a connection in Newark. 2 hours is not enough to land, get your bags,go thru customs, recheck bags, and then go thru security TSA. So we missed our flight. You should have known better. Our hotels were advertised as 5 star. Only one room out of 4 was very nice. Only one buffet was 5 star.

Many parts of the tour were exceptional: Mt. Precipice, Nazareth Village, Sepphoris, Arbel Cliff, Sea of Galilee and the ride on the boat, Magdala, Bethsaidi, Mensa Christi, Qasr el Yahud (Jesus actual baptism site) and Kursi. These are all spiritual and relate to Jesus Ministry and the period of His time. Helps bring the Bible into focus. Similarly, on the Old Testament scale, Gideon Springs, was very interesting. The Nabatean village, and the Bedouin camp, where we rode camels, were very educational regarding how these peoples lived and in the case of Bedouins how they continue to survive in a desert environment. Very interesting. The Western Wall tunnels, and the Temple Institute were fascinating and bring you close to the plans for the 3rd Temple. The Israel Museum was also a highlight as you can see the miniature of the Old Jerusalem and Temple during the time of Christ, follow the development of the Biblical Scrolls and the impact of the community of the Essenes and Dead Sea Scroll discovery. It is too bad that the tour neglected the Bible Museum, which was just next door and could have filled in other important details. And this brings me to the next point, which are the negatives. There were parts of the tour that were neither spiritual nor relevant to the American audience. We love Israel, the Jewish people, and the Lord gave them this land. But, it was not necessary to spend a whole morning at Mitzpe Ramon in honor of - and I say this very respectfully - the Israeli astronaut who died in the Columbia Shuttle explosion. I simply note that 5 Americans perished as well. I think less time there, less time at the David Ben Gurion burial site would have allowed time for more Biblically oriented sites. Ben Gurion was indeed a monumental figure in Israeli and world history, but there could have been a more efficient way to present the information. (I do want to commend the tour guide who was very friendly and endearing). Similarly, we were also taken down a long windy road for a 9/11 memorial. I think this was unnecessary, as every year we mourn those who perished on that tragic day and we hold services to remember. In sum, with a little tightening, the tour could be significantly improved. As with all AIT tours, the lodging and food were very good and we have no complaints.

On this tour, my experience was moderate. Our tour bus had no restroom facilities while many other tour buses seen on the roads advertised restrooms on board. If you have ANY concerns, this tour operator is definitely NOT for you. Tour guides in Egypt and Jordan were good but not so with the tour guide in Israel. I overheard other AIT guides at various places along the tour which offered more details and better information so I guess your experience will depend on the guide assigned to your group. Our itinerary was juggled due to a marathon race. Since AIT does nothing but Israel tours, I felt they should have known of this and revised the itinerary rather than letting our guide juggle the tour. On the positive side, there is no way I would have wanted to drive in Egypt, Jordan or Israel and the tour drivers made their way through the kamikaze traffic like the natives they are. They deserved more tips than the guides in my opinion. Speaking of tips, I have a philosophical problem of being told how much I must tip. The guide in Israel required the tips to be separate for the driver and him. I would rather have a higher cost for the tour and have AIT deal with the tips thing, or the tip amount could be a suggested amount. To me, tips are above a salary based on above the normal service. Some deserved it and some didn't. I paid for a single occupancy supplement and before the trip began, I agreed to share the room with another single traveler. Since I had already paid the single supplement, I was told that it would be refunded at the end of the trip. I found out on the trip that my roommate was NOT charged the single supplement. It took 2 phone calls to AIT upon my return to get the refund. Keeping my $995 but not charging my roommate the same or not refunding my supplementary payment doesn't seem proper. AIT had the use of my money for 4 months or so. I would recommend AIT to others but would make it clear that there are other operators to be considered.

The tour and accommodations were wonderful and the guide was the BEST ever; but the staff was very difficult to deal with and made many errors, even booking the wrong flight. Also, they do not respond to emergency calls.

This was the first time we decided to go with a tour when we travel. Overall it's a great experience to add knowledge in a place with full of history. Our tour guide is very knowledgeable, fun to bring the group to laugh. Having to be in the bus sometimes can be dizzy to me but the bus is very nice, clean, and driver drove smoothly. On the other hand, what threw us off was the first two days of the hotel picks were pretty bad. My husband had confirmed upon booking based on the reviews in the hotels. AIT did mention there's no rating hotel in Israel, the hotels may look rundown but they have been updated the room and they will give us the updated one. AIT was fair enough to offer us a refund if we'd choose to stay in the different hotel. But we decided to stay with the tour to avoid the complication. But when we got there, again the first two hotels were really disappointment. We even tried to moved to but they both are the same. Being there for a quick stop specially on the first night, we understood but we think AIT should consider to pick a better one. Buffet was great at the beginning but if it's for ten days, I think a little too much. Specially for a foodie like me. I'd love to try the local food. I know it's a little bit hard to arrange 20-30 people to eat but it's such a great perks if your tour offer such a thing. I know it's our choice of course to skip the included buffet and go for your own cost of dinner but it'll be a great idea if AIT could combine instead of breakfast-dinner buffet. Would we consider taking another tour for our next trip? Maybe not but if the frictions are completely fixed why not!

There were several groups all combining to form one large, 39 person, group. All of these groups arrived to Israel at the airport at the same time. Except for 2 people. All other people were left to sit in the cafeteria in the airport for several hours while we waited for the 2 stragglers. After having traveled 15 hours to get there, to be forced to sit in an uncomfortable metal cafeteria chair for hours was inhumane! America Israel Tours was aware of this large gap of arrival times yet determined that the large group should sit and wait rather than being escorted to the hotel in the bus (which was there and ready) and sending a car for the 2 people. So 37 had to suffer, for hours, for 2. This same horrible treatment was experienced at the end of the trip as those same 2 were leaving five hours before everyone else. Yes five hours. International flights require you be at the airport to hours early. So 37 people, all for the sake of 2, had to be at the airport five hours even earlier!! This is beyond ridiculous. The only saving grace of the entire trip was our tour guide while in Israel, Shimon Zemer. He was a delight and his humor was a soothing balm to an otherwise unbearable start. While visiting the sites, he was filled to the brim of his straw hat with knowledge of the history and events (past and present) of everything that happened in the area. He was very accommodating to the wants and needs of the group and even helped us plan events for our free day. The hotels were lovely, the food delicious, and the tour itself was amazing. I would only use America Israel Tours again if they make better considerations for their guests regarding the airport. They knew the 37 would be so inconvenienced after long flights and no sleep but never told any of us so we were not prepared for what we would be facing once we arrived, or when it came time to leave.

I was disappointed with this trip because I felt we were herded around like cattle to the different sites. It was very difficult for me to keep up with the group because I used a cane and as a result I missed many of the sites that required climbing stairs. I came back from this trip tired and uninspired.

Our choices for restaurants during lunch were overpriced!!!