Road ScholarReviews of roadscholar.org

South Africa trip, end of 2025 included 4 nights in a train. FABULOUS. Super guide the entire way, many expert sessions along the way, small group, excellent hotels, lots of really neat surprises. Highly recommend.

We booked a trip for January 2026 with Roads Scholar. We purchased our own airline tickets through the airline. Due to a huge snowstorm across the country, our flight to Costa Rica was cancelled and could not be rebooked. Since we had purchased Road Scholar’s “cancel for any reason” trip credit, we cancelled our trip and planned to reschedule some other time. When we cancelled with RS, they said we had to fill out paperwork with their third party insurance company to get trip credit, which we did. Two months later and endless phone calls to RS and their third party insurance company, Road Scholar has still Not Honored their “cancel for any reason” trip credit. It has been a nightmare. Don’t fall for this “cancel for any reason” trip credit scam. Shameful.

Trip out of JFK to Santiago Chile 2/24/2006. Snow cancellation 2/23/2026. Multiple calls and long wait times while attempting to get another flight. They were responsible for my flight. Dropped calls and no way to reach someone directly. Then said that I had refused a flight. This was not true. They even had airline reimburse them instead of me for flight. When they finally said that they were not able to get me a flight, they coerced me into saying cancel because they said it was the only way they could help me. Very scam like. I did not ask for money back, said I wanted the trip credit. They instead kept all the money. Hey, RS thanks for replying but it is not true that I was offered a viable flight. Look up and see what flight was offered. It was arriving several days later. You cancelled the trip because you could not get me a flight. The flight disappeared within seconds. I was willing to arrive late for the trip. But you gave no guidance of how that would happen. I did not cancel....you cancelled me. PS there is nothing goodwill about giving me the money refunded to you by Delta!!

Roads scholar is a highly regressive travel company. They offer "woman-only" tours, which are highly exclusionary. Never travel with this outfit

I had booked my first RA trip this year, to San Miguel Allende in Mexico. I was supposed to leave on Feb., 23, the day after a major drug cartel leader was killed by the Mexican military and Americans were told to shelter in place amid the violence across the country. RA never reached out to the travellers on that trip. I called twice and was told that IF my trip is cancelled I will receive an mail. If I don't get an email saying it's cancelled I should assume it is going forward. I was never told affirmatively that the trip was going forward. I was told that it was still on at the time I was speaking to the RS rep. This was my first trip with RS. It never occurred to me to call the trip leader and the 2 RS reps I spoke to never suggested that. I guess I was supposed to go to the airport and hope for the best; hope they don't cancel the trip while I am on the plane. I ended up cancelling on my own. The situations was too volatile and RA offered no assurances of safety. Terrible management of a crisis situation. If they can't do that well, why should I trust them with my safety. They have issued a partial credit and an apology but I won't be travelling with them ever.

I booked my first Road Scholar trip to South Dakota because Mom always wanted to visit Mount Rushmore for as long as she could remember. Because we would stay in one hotel for the entire trip (she dislikes constantly packing and unpacking) and would not have to drive at least 17 hours to get there (we flew to Rapid City), we thought the tour would be perfect for us. The tour director was fantastic, as he was knowledgeable and passionate about Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, and other attractions and landmarks in the area. (He is also an avid motorcyclist.) While we crossed off our bucket list item named above, we also explored hidden gems of the state, including Custer State Park, Wall Drug, and a literal gem—an old gold mine converted into a research center. The tour went smoothly, and we met curious, like-minded travelers. I would have rated Road Scholar five stars for our South Dakota trip. Instead, the low rating was for the Met Opera tour that we had to cancel. We love operas, so we booked the opera tour more than a year in advance. A couple months later, we discovered a schedule conflict, so we canceled the tour. We were certain our deposit (we had not paid in full) would be refunded 100%. Instead, they refused to refund $500 for canceling the trip outright, even though the trip would be ten months away. We are still angry, as it is a lot of money. What thieves! Even though it says in the fine print (which we, like so many other travelers, overlooked), they should be fair and refund the full amount (and amend that d**n fine print so the amount is fully refundable until a certain date). Don’t book with Road Scholar unless you are absolutely sure you want to travel on the date. Now, we are stuck with one other opera trip, the Santa Fe Opera, (which we want to go anyway—booked shortly after the Met Opera tour), so we made it nonnegotiable, even if one of us is dying. After the Santa Fe Opera tour, we will not book another Road Scholar trip.

We booked an nice, but costly trip with Road Scholar and purchased their recommended trip insurance. Unfortunately, my husband became ill on day 3 of a 6 day Road Scholar trip requiring an ambulance to the local hospital and an all day stay at the ER at that hospital. We had purchased the Road Scholar recommended AON insurance only to learn that most of our expenses were not covered in spite of the "for any reason" clause. We had planned 2 future trips with Road Scholar and cancelled them because of the poor treatment by their recommended insurance carrier and Road Scholar's refusal to issue any credits for the expense we incurred which we would have applied to the forthcoming trips. Be VERY careful using Road Scholar for your trip insurance. Look into other travel companies that use a more reliable and ethical trip insurance provider than Road Scholar for your trips. Ours was memorable for the disaster it became and the lack of RS to make good on the lost revenue. Read more

My husband and I traveled overseas with Road Scholar International both in 2017 and 2023. I am disabled and the organization did little to provide accommodations that would allow for a high quality experience. However, we enjoyed the cultural experience and all tour guides were extremely kind. Although the programs are expensive, they provide an immersive experience and attention is given to detail. This is why I was shocked when I was recently contacted by Danielle, a staff member who indicated she handled special needs, and needed to discuss concerns from staff in the Switzerland office about my ability to walk during our upcoming program. She went on to say that the walking terrain would be hilly with cobblestone and lots of steps. The concern was that this might be an issue due to my disability. I pointed out that Our first trip with Road Scholar was the Independent Paris program where I kept up with the group and climbed numerous flights of steps to and from the metro which was the group’s mode of transportation while other group members opted for an escalator wherever it was available. All without falling on my face---imagine that! Road Scholar claims to value diversity but lacks knowledge about it; this is nothing short of disgraceful. Seniors beware! You may receive a call from Road Scholar suggesting you might be too old to participate in a program that requires walking. You can save yourself a lot of money by doing some research and planning your own trip. I thought this was a reputable and respectable organization, but I was clearly wrong.