Rebecca
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!
The only positive thing about this entire trip was our tour guide who was knowledgeable and kind despite all the horrible things that happened during the trip. To start, EF puts you on the worst flights imaginable. My first flight (out of 3) was cancelled the night before I was supposed to leave and EF refused to help me. I spent 8 hours on hold with the airline to get booked on another flight. I made it to my second flight and was denied boarding for no reason (at the fault of the airline). I called the 24/7 EF emergency line and they said they could only help me during business hours from Mon - Fri between 8am - 5pm ET. I later learned they helped someone else on my trip over the weekend, which was outside their "business hours." The emergency line is useless and the people who answer the phone are incompetent. I was stranded in another country for 24 hours with no assistance from EF and still had not made it to my destination. They refused to help me with the airlines, booking a hotel for the night or meals. When I finally made it to my destination, I had missed 2 days of the trip. The hotels on the trip are the worst I've stayed at in my entire life. They are dirty and in extremely inconvenient locations. The restaurants we were taken to were not great - I could have found better on my own and you're stuck in a bus with 40 other people for the majority of the trip. We spent more time on a bus than actually touring the cities. On my trip home, I barely made my connecting flight and was lucky because I would've been stranded AGAIN in a foreign country. Others on my trip dealt with lost luggage, more cancelled flights, being stranded or left on their own to figure it out. I understand a lot of these issues were airline related, but it's also because EF puts you on the cheapest possible flights, which means you get the worst service and no one cares about you. It's truly remarkable how little EF cares about their trip attendees. Once I arrived home, I called EF to talk about my experience and to discuss reimbursement for the two days I missed. I also purchased the travel insurance. I was told to file a claim and that "they rarely decline claims." The girl I spoke with said she'd talk to her supervisor and get back to me. I followed up three times and haven't heard from her in 5 months. She completely ghosted me. I filed a claim and followed up with them multiple times as well and just today, again 5 months later, received an email saying my claim was denied. This company has the WORST customer service I've ever experienced and they DO NOT care about you or your safety during their trips. They want your money and that is all. I spent an additional $1,000 on a hotel and food while I was stranded because the city I was in was completely sold out on hotel rooms - money I will never see again in addition to what I spent on the trip itself. Even if you are a poor college student, you deserve a way better experience than this company provides. DO NOT USE THEM!!