EF Ultimate BreakReviews of efultimatebreak.com

I just came off of this trip and it was not worth it. The first hostel we were put in had 8 girls stuffed into ONE room with ONE bathroom. There was no air conditioning, and we were in the middle of a heatwave. If we had been given a warning that there's a chance we could be with 8 girls, we could have at least prepared mentally. Instead, we were blatantly lied to as the description and the EF app told us the maximum amount of people to a room is 4-6. The second hostel had 4 girls to a room, with a 3 inch gap under the bathroom door. This meant you could even hear the person breathing inside, not just their personal business. This hostel at least had AC. The third hostel was fine and we got individual rooms and AC. Besides that, our group was the smallest EF group ever with 12 people. Our tour director "revealed" to us at the end of the trip that this was his first tour but that was pretty obvious throughout the whole trip. I think EF allowed such a small group as guinea pigs for his first tour. As nice and lovely as as a person he was, he had little knowledge about any area we were in, got us on metros going wrong directions, and showed little interest in us. Our bus broke down while heading to an excursion and cut into our 2 hours + we got no tour guide, which was also paid for us by us. Our tour guide in Madrid was fighting random people on the street, yelling at people in museums. She took us to a museum and chose 3 paintings that she amateurly interpreted and then forced us all out of there presumably so she could get her tip outside. We did not get breakfast one day while travelling even though it's on the itinerary and supposed to be provided. There were other issues, but the biggest thing is they hide bad reviews on their website.

I have gone on two EF ultimate Trips.. and after the last experience, it will be the last. First Trip, Iceland - was Good.. Basic, very general Itinerary, but well executed and great tour guide. EF screwed up Departure Transfers, but the tour guide got it all looked after for us. Second most recent trip - TERRIBLE customer service, booked me on an airline that had a strike pending and did not care that I was concerned. I was brushed aside. On arrival, had to wait well over an hour for one other individual, and we had a rep take us on public transit to get to the hotel. There is no formal Group introduction, Tour Guide was good but not great, a lot of details could have been better executed or communicated. Group dynamic is awful... They seem to encourage people to book with Friends or have "ambassadors" that book people and host a trip to get their own trip for free. so basically, they charge extra to provide free trips to people.. Terrible flights, terrible customer service - Very basic itineraries that don't do much outside of typical tourist experience, terrible effort put into the group dynamic, overpriced for what you get. Hotels are not in good locations, going for cost vs convenience and experience. Oh and they also won't post all review on their own website, unless its a high enough rating.. so very misleading

This company is a scam. They had the flight tickets booked under united airlines. When we reached Chicago(our connection location), we were informed that they only terminal and airline flying to Dublin, was NOT United Airlines. They had booked us on the wrong airline, or they misprinted tickets. There were other people that we did not know, on this tour at the airport at the same time. Their tickets were correct, but mine and my travel partners were not. This led to us missing our flight to Europe. When trying to contact EF regarding a rebooking of the flight, they blamed us for this error and wanted to charge $800+ for new flights. If we had done that, we would have missed two full days of our tour, that they would not refund us for. EF is an absolute scam. We are not college students, rather adults in their late twenties. This was no fault to ours, this is all to blame on EF. Absolutely worst customer service.

Disclaimer: I really wanted to give this trip 5 stars, but I also have to give a fair and balanced review. Despite the stars, I love what EF stands for and have recommended & convinced others to book with this company! Let's start with the pros: It's Europe! Even in winter, the experience is nothing short of amazing, simply due to the nature of seeing iconic places you've always dreamed of visiting. Just show up and be amazed. And don't forget to leave packing room for souvenirs, budget for excursions that may come up & save some funds to tip your tour director at the end. Having an awesome and experienced tour guide helped with making most of the trip enjoyable and smooth sailing. Navigating things was made easy by bus passes, apps and a super responsive and helpful tour director. Overall, this tour was a really lovely combination of structure and freedom. Faced paced for sure, but well worth the energy investment. (YOLO, right?) Rome and London are great places to start and end the tour, but I might suggest restructuring the trip to add an extra day to Paris or one of the other shorter stops along the road trip. I also highly recommend booking in advance the Anne Frank House tour in Amsterdam. This was by far the most impactful highlight of the trip. The cons: Logistics and safety. Despite being unable to be connected with a member of the flight team during a several-hour long delay in checking into my return flight at the airport and experiencing a separate lengthy delay in getting a response from EF's travel insurance company regarding medical expenses upon my return home, my main grievance is with the lack of concern for participant safety as evidenced by the lack-luster response to my direct complaint about the utilization of 3-level bunk beds for tour bookings. After experiencing physical trauma I'll now have to live with for the rest of my life, I would have expected more than a suggestion to simply upgrade my pre-booked future trip to ultimate plus. The reasonable suggestion wasn't made in preference, but in genuine concern for future participants. The notion that adjusting future EF tours to only book hostel rooms with standard 2-level bunks is infeasible "due to the nature of things in Europe" is both dismissive and inaccurate, as only one hostel of the 5 countries we visited was booked with a 3-bunk option. A lot of people book with a tour company because they presume its safer to have the umbrella of a company looking out for you during your travels. In my case with EF, this was both true and untrue. They no longer post 3 stars or less on the site. So, the post I submitted for the European Road trip never got posted there. The exact review, which is by all means fair, is what I've pasted above.

The London-Paris-Amsterdam trip through EF Ultimate Break was terrific! When looking into travel programs, one aspect I want is organization. EF was highly organized. From flights to transportation in each city to the activities planned, EF had everything down pat. Our tour leader, Kyri, was equally as fabulous. He was fun and excited to show us each city. A guide can make or break a tour, and Kyri made ours special. I would highly recommend looking into a trip with EF!

They are very much irrational....a trip cost 1800 and they want to keep 1k for cancelling regardless of the issues you are having. Do not book with this company! Plan you own trip or find someone else.

I had the most horrible experience with EF Ultimate. They have horrible customer service and customer satisfaction. They will do anything to take your money, and it is sneaky. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THIS COMPANY. They will scam you.

I had a horrendous experience with EF, and would discourage anyone from booking a tour with them! I was scheduled to go on an African safari in February 2023. Because I am a US citizen, a Visa is required to go on the tour. When using the link provided by EF to secure my Visa, the website said the application needed completed by December 22, 2022. One step in the application process was to input the address of the first place you would be staying during your trip. This information was not available in my trip portal, and customer service told me this information would not be available until January 16, well after when the application was due. After numerous unanswered emails and multiple lengthy, unhelpful calls, EF told me if I couldn't get the Visa it would be my own problem and they wouldn't give me my money back, even though they refused to give me the information I needed to get said Visa. The final resolution was my canceling my trip and losing half of my money along with the trip insurance. This was frustrating, heartbreaking, and overall a terrible experience!