Grand Circle Travel

After referring four new travelers to GCT, I am being told that I am not to receive the $200 per new traveler as advertised on GCT's website. Take a look at the webpage **** and see what it says. It is clear to me that referring 4-7 new travelers is worth $200 per traveler, not that travelers 1-3 are $100 each and then the 4th is $200. Are there any comments from members or management?

We have been on one trip with Grand Circle (GCT) (Sicily), and three with OAT, a subsidiary, which runs a more expensive, but smaller groups. The OAT trips, to the Dalmatian coast, and Israel were on the whole, excellent, despite pre-trip frustrations. The Sicily trip was poor. The hotels were inconveniently located, and/or inadequate. The tour only skimmed the surface, and charged for extras that should have been included. For 3 out of 4 of these trips, our experience with the "backroom" and air-travel arrangers have been frustrating, time consuming, suggestive of general incompetence, and in one case might have been catastrophic. Be prepared, if you deal with these people, to spend a good deal of time double-checking everything; call them regularly, especially if you are making your own travel arrangements, to confirm the hotel, etc.

An agent from the office misspelled my email address, and never picked up on the fact. His message to me bounced back. Air desk on at least 2 occasions put my wife and me in adjacent aisle, and middle seats, despite requesting for both aisle seats (which were available). The Palermo hotel provided room safes. but they were not bolted down. One could carry them off! The hotel in Sorrento (Sicily extension), was unpleasant and in an inconvenient location, and the rooms, the worst in the hotel. We felt like we were in a cave.

The hotel ostensibly in Taoromina was in a suburb 25 minutes away, and required a $25 taxi ride, or navigating local buses or trains, to get to the city. The pre-announced hotel in Tel-Aviv was changed at the last minute. Since we arrived before hand on our own, this could have resulted in a disaster. As far as the OAT trips are concerned, the major complaint was the unsafe and hazardous small buses ,used for transport in Israel. These are disasters waiting to happen. Nevertheless, the latter aside, the OAT trips were, on the whole excellent.

As I look to book a trip with Grand Circle, I always look to see complaints. Every company has their challenges. Do not think that other travel agencies are better. Viking River Cruises was a nightmare for me and my family. They did not have an English-speaking staff to communicate directly. Communication was done on their laptop back to the USA to an unresponsive customer service office. For all agencies, pay attention to the details!

There will be no more travel by me or my family on Viking River Cruises! I communicate to all interested in river cruises that they should not consider using this agency! Viking can continue to waste their postage on weekly brochures as I dump them right in the trash.

I paid in May for a trip with OAT to Nepal with pre-trip extension to Bhutan. This trip was to begin in April 2012. In October, I was told that the trip into Bhutan was impossible. They offered to move my trip to another date, but I asked to cancel the entire trip. The refund I received was $1060 short. I have been charged a $300 cancellation fee and they refuse to refund $760 insurance.

My husband and I have been on many OAT trips. This year we booked a river cruise with Grand Circle. We said that we did not want their travel insurance. We would get our own, which we did. Then, we got GCT's paperwork. We looked at the flight info etc. Everything seemed to be in order. It was a great trip to Russia. Now, we just booked our second trip and told them again that we would get our own travel insurance. They said, "Why not, because you got it with us last year?" She faxed us the invoice and indeed they had charged us $760 for my husband and myself (Remember, we had gotten our own, so now we're into well over $1250 in insurance). That's bad enough. But the "sneaky petes" are doing it again! In the trip we just booked for 2012, we said we did not want the insurance. You guessed it! It was on the invoice. It's bad business! Once was our mistake, twice is fraud!

While the field tour operators and guides are wonderful, Grand Circle Travel's customer service, billing, and back-office administration are a mess and has cost me loads of time and money trying to deal with mistakes:

1. $920 cost me to deal with a booking error that they made but claimed that I should have noticed earlier. They had me and my daughter coming back on the wrong flight, separated from the rest of my tour group!

2. Mysterious cancellation and rebooking of trip insurance I purchased for my daughter and myself, which resulted in a series of transactions on my credit card. I'm still trying to correct an overcharge resulting from this of $475.

3. Post-trip harassment for $600 in charges they claimed I'm responsible, but which were in fact prepaid as part of my group tour.

Every customer service representative listens to these problems and then tells me that it is someone else's department. I have been through multiple reps, supervisors, and now a manager. Even the latter got off the phone telling me that she too could not help me on the phone, but had to review my issues with someone else.

I'm thoroughly exhausted and fed up with this inept bureaucracy. Reams of paper, layers of procedures, an endless maze of departments, but no accountability!

the details are boring, but beware - i have had to cancell a trip for physical reasons. i have been told that the charge to cancel was $260+, but is now $460+, or maybe $660+, and if i instead roll out to a later date and then must cancell, the charge would be $900+, the amount of my deposit. in fact, if i had already paid the full amount for the tour, which they try to get you to do when you make your reservation, they would take all of that!...well over $6,000. in total frustratioon and confusion, i finally told them to cancell everything, and send me whatever money they felt they could spare.

I traveled with Grand Circle Travel a few times, but never again!

I referred a friend to them. They say that if the friend tells GCT of the referral, the referrer will get a referral fee of $100, and the friend will get $50. Their policy says that they do not give the referral until after the trip has been completed. Well, my friend told them about my referral, and went with her husband and son. When I got my referral fee, it was for only two people. I called them to ask why, and they told me that my friend claimed the third referral. I spoke to a manager there, and she said that if I got my friend to give up the referral fee, they would be happy to send it to me!

I went on a trip with them after this conversation, and discussed this with a number of people who traveled with GCT many times. They all agreed that the referral fee was never given until after the trip, and that I should have received the third referral fee.

I spoke to someone else at GCT after my trip, and told them that for $100, they would never see me on a trip again. And I certainly would not refer them to any more friends. I can't believe that a company as big as GCT would lose a customer for so little (maybe they are so big they could not care less about my business)! In any case, I will tell everyone I know how they cheated me, not because of the money, but the principle of it!

It's sad that with all the resources and technology available they cannot give me a concise itinerary for my trip. I have to piece it together from other bits of information, mainly the promotional writeup on their web site and the extensions available. Most other organizations give a complete itinerary at least after final payment is made.

I have been on 8 trips with Grand Circle and one with their sister company OAT. They have been responsible for thousands of trips with about 20 to 40 people on each trip. In reading the complaints about them, I am truly underwhelmed. I am sure that some of the complaints are legitimate but I consider those numbers are miniscule compared to the large number of travelers they serve. The tour directors I have encountered are wonderful. They do insist you be on time because otherwise, the rest of the group has to wait. Unless they grade out as excellent consistently as decided by each traveler, then they are not allowed to direct future tours. I find that GCT has by far the best values in the travel industry. I suppose you need a complaint like once when we missed a connection because of storms. It caused our tour to start 12 hours late in Lima, Peru where our tour director was waiting to pick me and my wife up, along with another tour member who was delayed on another flight. Please read the complaints about Grand Circle Travel. But remember what a small fraction of the travelers are unhappy.

This otherwise really good tour company which operates not only Grand Circle Travel but also Overseas Adventure Travel has one major flaw. If you travel as a single person (without a roommate) even though you pay a single supplement, you get the absolutely worst room they have. This has happened time and time again. I even sent a certified letter to the owners, who had someone call me who assured me that they had changed their policies and I would be treated equally. So I booked a trip to Turkey and the Greek Isles and Greece. Same thing happened.

I was told that cabins on the ship weren't assigned until sailing. I called back 3 times, spoke with 3 different people who all repeated the same thing. But I still got the worst cabin. Later when I got to know the other travelers, they all told me that their rooms were assigned at booking. You are even limited on the departures you can take. They will have a room/cabin and tell you there are none available for a single person. I have even offered to pay twice the price and was told that this is against their policy. This is true of Grand Circle and OAT. I feel discriminated against because I choose to travel alone even though I pay more.

I just returned from a trip/cruise with GCT to Egypt. They put my friend and me in a room with "engine noise". We didn't know this until we got to the room but they did because when we returned home, we had a letter from GCT stating that the room we were in had "engine noise/vibration issues". The engine noise was so loud it was deafening. We couldn't hear each other speak. We could not sleep in the room even with earplugs in our ears and pillows over our heads. The diesel fumes were nauseating. We couldn't breathe in that room. It was sickening. And, just to ice the cake, it was so hot in there that we sweated any time we were in the room. The rest of the ship was cool and comfortable. In the end, I got off the ship a day early. I would have left sooner if I could have figured out a way to do it. We paid $500 extra apiece to get a great room with a great view. Not only was there no better view, our friends on the first floor actually got to sleep and spend time in their room relaxing.

We couldn't use the room. We had to sleep in the lounge or on the top deck. My hearing has been damaged. There is no telling what the fumes did to us. I lived on coffee all week trying to stay awake during the day.When we complained about the room all we got in return was that it was too bad, there were no options. This is not acceptable. We have sent emails and made calls since we've returned and the only response we've had is that "they'll turn it over to the Quality Control department."

I had prepaid for my Egypt, Jordan, and Syria trip in advance in June (the trip isn't until Feb. 2011). And they guarantee that if you prepay and the costs change, you will not have to pay more. On Oct. 14, I got a call. I was told that the air fare had gone up and I would have to pay an additional $700 or go tourist (I had reserved and paid for business class) or cancel my trip. I've had to get a new passport and have already made airline reservations from my home to and from the departure city. I was so looking forward to this trip and have been reading everything I can find on these countries for months. Have others had this happen to them and what is our recourse? All of OAT and Grand Circles information has this pay in advance and guarantees no price increases.

We were sent the vests for our trip. These vest were the cheap and of no use to us. We could not return them as you do not have a return policy for exchange. We have traveled with Grand Circle for 20 years and these vests are not of the quality we have had in the past. If you have jackets that are made out of material that is warm please notify us of what color and sizes you have. Thank You.

In October 2009, my husband and I were on a trip to Egypt and then on to Jordan. My husband was murdered in Jordan, beaten to death. It is a Muslim country, and I have found out how much they hate Americans and Christians. My husband had a cross around his neck.

My complaints to GCT have gone nowhere. Their stock answer is "You didn't buy the trip ins." And if I had, how would that have changed anything? Can they now provide security after the fact? GCT is still advertising this same trip without security to anyone who is gullible to buy a ticket. GCT is only interested in selling tickets; they are not concerned about safety. I'm still fighting this problem and will not stop. American people have a right to know what can happen to them.

Because I travel a lot and carry an annual travel-insurance policy, when I book a trip with Grand Circle Travel (or its Overseas Adventure Travel subsidiary), they always invoice me for their Travel Protection Plan. This occurs repeatedly even though I clearly decline it when I sign up. Customers beware, because they ignore your instructions and you always have to contact them for a corrected invoice. So irritating!

I read complaints about GCT on the web prior to booking a tour for Feb./March 2010, but went ahead anyway. I am so glad I went with GCT. They performed beyond expectation after the earthquake in Santiago. The airport terminal had collapsed, and the airport was closed on the day we were supposed to fly to our next destination on the Chilean coast, the day of the earthquake, and there was no telling when it would open again. There was only one road out of Santiago, across the Andes to Argentina, and there was no choice but to get on it.

The tour included a bus ride across the Andes anyway. Eventually, we arrived in Buenos Aires, where the GCT director of the region, and her assistant came to the hotel to meet us and see if we were all okay. I have nothing but praise for them for everything they did for us. They got 34 tickets on a bus, booked a hotel, and an airline flight with less than a day's notice, rescheduled hotels, flights, and set meals for the remainder of the trip, etc. There were a few people on my tour who complained. I have no idea what they expected under the circumstances. Although there is probably something to a few complaints about this company on the web, I now believe many of the complaints are just people whining.

Beware if you are injured on a Grand Circle Trip and have Trip Mate Insurance. In the fall of 2009, my roommate broke her leg on the Scandinavian Capitols Trip. Holland America cruise line was fantastic and supplied all medical care while absorbing all of that cost during the cruise. We alerted Grand Circle, Trip Mate, and On Call prior to disembarking in Amsterdam which entailed costs and hours of emailing, since there are no collect calls from the ship.

Let me note that there was no GCT representative on the cruise for 122 GC travelers. All companies ignored the ship's physician's orders for special transportation to the hotel, wheel chair, crutches, and a physician to administer medication prior to flight home. The GC agent in Amsterdam was never told to expect an injured traveler, and in fact, there was only one representative for 122 people for the land tour in Amsterdam.

I had to spend 2 days plus $70 cab fare to arrange all the medical attention, as prescribed by the ship's doctor for my roommate. On Call did arrange special transportation to airport and an upgrade to business class for one flight back to United States.

If you are injured with Grand Circle, be prepared to handle all medical necessities and communication yourself, including pushing a wheel chair. Even though GC advertises travel for mature adults, this is overwhelming in a foreign country. You must be very efficient at email with On Call. None of the agencies followed up with the traveler, until we sent a certified letter later. The responses and financial reimbursement were far from satisfactory. Perhaps, their performances would have been better if she had died!

great rivers of europe 10/21/09 my 81 bday. about 7 days into trip i got a note under door of cabin for a meeting. it turned out to be my guide, the capt and his interpreter. i was being repremanded for asking too many questions and for being late. she spoke to me like a first grader and this was a behavior lesson. Both time I asked the questions she said something and i apologized. after that i wrote my questions down so at the meeting i assured her i would not aplopgize and she said if i couldnt follow rules i could leave now.

she said i was late. i came late for lunch (1/2 hr) and when she told me i was too late i said that is ok i didnt intend to eat. the headwaiter saw me upstairs with friends and said the dining room was still open and he made me a sandwich. so i thought this was very nice. that evening i asked another guide if i could go with his group and he said yes. however in the morning he said i couldnt because it had something to do with the capt and that my roomate was more at fault. this has nothing to do with me. they did have her at the meeting but i was so upset i dont know what they blamed her for except that she did have a run in with the guide in nuremberg but i wasnt even there.

all i wanted was an explanation of what really happened and they said 17 people complained and the other group didnt want me either. the other group didnt even know me. i got a call from them yesterday from a mary h. and she was rude and nasty and quite imphatic that i was 100 wrong. was never so humiliated, embarrassed and insulted and even mentally abused in my life.

how can [they] be so disrespectful to a senior and my birthday and a trip i paid alot of money for. my roomate doesnt want to follow up. it is too hurtful. but i dont want them to get away with this...especially since many people travel with them and think they are great. it is mainly the mental abuse and the fact that they ruined the rest of my trip because i had to go on with my guide to brussels and i never spoke to her again

I wanted to respond to M&M of Canton, GA and to Mary of Berkeley Heights, NJ. Each had run into problems in late October as they tried to enter their names into our drawing for a free trip. I checked into the situation, and apparently, we had a computer glitch for a few hours that impacted several other people who entered as well. Those travelers called us directly, and we were able to enter them into the drawing. We'd be glad to enter M&M and Mary, if they'd still like to be. If they e-mail Michelle Lane at mlane@gct.com and provide their name, address, phone, and customer number before 11/13, they will be all set. We apologize for the for the inconvenience!

I too received a Post Card from Grand Travel with a special offer: WIN A FREE TRIP FOR TWO! Tried to access their e-ail and was told, "no such address". I have traveled with them before and have found them to be reliable. What happened. Thank you for your time.

I was recently working on the river ships of Grand circle and left the company because I could not accept anymore the way customers are treated by Brand circle. The cruises are very cheap offered but once they have signed the contract the money starts to build up. very expensive excursions are offered . 5 times the price . The food is second quality on board the ships and easterncountry Cheffs??????? are cooking in the galley. Many tour managers are selfmade people and never worked in tourism business and have no clue what they are doing they just babysitt along.If you compare with other rivercruise lines I prefere uniworld and Avalon above Grand circle cruises.

Disappointng ...

We were promised a tour to include the Rialto Bridge across the Grand Canal (which we never saw). BROCHURE: "... sites you may wish to see more of during your free time in romantic and mysterious Venice. Enjoy afternoon at leisure. You can choose to remain longer to enjoy St Mark's Square . . ."

On Wedneday before leaving we received an answering machine phone message that the hotel had been changed to the city of Mestre which is six miles from the Island of Venice. I called the Continental Hotel their time 2 AM, and was told that the contract with Grand Circle had been cancelled on Oct 1, 2009. I called the HN Laguna Palace in Mestre and was told it was in an industrial park and it was not safe to walk far from hotel after dark. FYI our room overlooked the construction of the new Holland America and Costa Cruise Ships.

Our Baggage handling for 2 pieces each and a GCT representative was promised in both cities. We arrived in Venice and were taken to our hotel and our luggage was placed out on the street and the bus drove away. We had no representative and our rooms would not be ready til after 3 PM. We asked if our luggage could be brought into hotel and the luggage guys were too busy. We found a GCT rep out on the boat dockage smoking and talking on her cell phone and she never came into the hotel all afternoon. She did however give everyone who approached paperwork on tours she was selling.

Asked about Breakfast since it is also is provided and were told to go ask the front desk in the hotel. People finally began bringing their own luggage into hotel and when rooms available we carted them to our rooms individually without assistance.

We were provided dinner that evening at a restaurant that could not seat 70 persons and my wife and I sat on end of a table with others adjacent to us with no room to enjoy the meal. The meal was to sell the tours for the next few days. We were told that there would be boat to transport us to Venice at 8:30 AM tomorrow. The trip took almost one and one half hours each way. We were to be back at the dock on Grand Canal on our own at 3:30 PM for the return. He showed up at 3:40 and you can imagine the fear in 70 people in a foreign country when guide did not show up. We arrived back to hotel at 5:30 and were told to get ready to go back to Venice on shuttle at 6PM. That would mean we would not be home til midnight. We choose not to go but rest.

Many who stayed decided to go by vans to Cruise ship at 11 AM the next day and let GCT transport our luggage to ship as contracted. The guide told us that that was not acceptable and that we must all arrive together and we cannot go on our own. He also told us that we had to go to Venice at 8:30 AM with him and return at 1PM (returning at 2:30 PM. Then we will all go by shuttle to boat and arrive at Cruise Ship at 4:30 PM.

I have 33 Cruises under my belt and knew he was absolutely lying. Many persons did not know what to do but we had to be out of our rooms by noon and would be in the hotel lobby for 3-4 hours waiting for his return. We each rented our cabs for 35EU ($52.50) and went to ship at 11 AM. We enjoyed lunch, and took the ships shuttle bus to Venice and enjoyed Venice. The other people did not arrive til 4:45 PM and were bushed from 4+ hrs on boat

1) No Hotel in Venice or on Grand Canal 2) Nothing relaxing and only possible for 11.5 total hours in Venice. 3) Hotel nor Shuttle allowed us to enjoy a glass of wine or cup of coffee in Venice. 4) Luggage was not handled whatsoever by GCT. 5) No assistance and representative available except on boat ride 6) Last day cab and or Lunch (provided by Holland America) at our expense staying at hotel.

Grand Circle Called and said I had an additional $500 off a trip to Central America, I paid the bill without checking to see they didn't apply that credit. They also gave me over $400in credits that they have not applied to my account. They refused to mediae with the credit card company or communicate with me in writing about their over charges.

I won't travel with them again. We received $866 travel dollars at a customer appreciation breakfast in January,2009 with which we booked a two week Spanish hotel/air vacation in November. They cancelled in August saying the trip wasn't full. Several family had made non-refundable trip plans to join us. GCT couldn't or wouldn't allow us to just use the air and hotel at that time, but would book an additional week at $775 a person and we would just be on our own which somehow was all right. They offered nothing on the $300 of air penalties we would incur to join the canceled trip in Chicago. The extra credits melted alway when they offered to book any other trip at that time. Now eight months later I got the bank deposit back and I'm waiting to see if the credit card has been refunded. No apologies and this sure smells like a bait and switch operation. I'm sorry for the seniors who use this agency.

currenly traveling aboard nordam. were instructed by gct rep to coordinate with ships admin regarding our dis- embarq time and procedures on 9/26.m they don't seem to know any details about that or when your rep will meet us ashore near rome. can you give us any detailed info? we will try to pass that along to the ship's admin and others travelling in your/our group.

in 2000 my cousin and i prepared for a trip of a lifetime with [this] company. it was to begin april 7, 2001 until may, 2000 include australia, new zealand, and fiji. we were supposed to have a side trip to rotorooa. this was one of the reasons why i wanted to go on this tour and see their culture. however on the eve of our leaving, Quantas supposedly went belly up and we were shifted back to Auckland. late we found out that other tours were able to get to rotorooa.

I paid extra for insurance and unfortuntaly on april 13 my mother passed away. I was told that I had to pay full fare to get back home, submit a death certificate and then would be reimbursed my fare. Being a senior citizen I did not have the full fare and therefore continued on with the tour.

it has taken me this long to write this letter to let [them] know how i feel that i was taken advantage of and to clear my mind. i will never recommend [their] company to anyone. i feel that all [they] wanted was my money, which was quite a lot, and i did not get my money's worth from [Grand Circle]. i was not helped in time of trouble and really left out in the cold even tho i had paid extra insurance and i really paid my life savings for a trip that was not promised to me ie rotorroa and other things. i do have more of a list but these are the main things

Count me among those who won't travel with Grand Circle again. I had five trips booked with them (1 with their sister company Overseas Adventure Travel and 4 with GCT). I've been lied to by 2 different agents and had a supervisor refuse to speak to me. Apparently it takes GCT a month to determine whether they can get a room for a solo traveller. Incrediblely poor service. Based on my expereinces, you want to think twice before you book with GCT.

I have been inundated by brochures from them ever since I traveled with them to Egypt. To save trees, my girlriend (who also receives the brochures) and I have requested numeous times to be removed from the mailing list. So far, we still keep getting mailed material, often, three in one day. I will no longer consider grand Circle for future travel.

We had a similar experience on our second trip to Peru. Even thought there were more convenient flights, they were willing only to change one. We have had great guides on most of our trips, exceept one in Peru where the woman was very intrusive,and accompanied us on the Amazon (even tho' we had another guide-naturalist -very good) and another in Hong Kong, who followed us into the airport to extract a trip (for terrible service). On another trip to Peru, we had an "assistant" guide, who was learning. His English was not good, although he was a very agreeable person. Were we required to tip both guides?

Like others, I have never received an answer regarding any problems- I passed up my last special credit.

I would be upset if I did not get a justified refund promptly or bed bugs in the rooms, but I have not experience this at all.

I always take my "sense of adventure" with me and also travel when I will not encounter snow, or unGodly heat.

I hope to continue to travel with these two companies.

Have there been personnel problems in MA lately?

We have seen them deal with lost luggage, family deaths, broken hips, arms and legs,illness and unavoidable change of plans--high river, broken bus etc. Our tour guides have been excellent and knowledgeable.Never have we seen them deal with any of these problems less than professionally and compassionately. We will continue to travel with this company. Our contact with the home office in Boston has always been helpful and courteous. Until I experience any of these complaints I will continue to reccomend this company.

This is commendation for OAT's (Grand Circle) handling of my recent complaint.

I took their first-time offering: a Red Sea Cruise - including Israel, Jordan, Saudia Arabia and Egypt. We've travelled with Grand Circle many times in the past and always had excellent trips. We were disappointment in some aspects of this trip mostly due to this being the first time this trip was offered and there were bugs in the implementation. However...

We complained by letter, and were responded to very promptly by phone, and completely satisfied with their response.

We have found Grand Circle a great travel tour group to travel with.

There were no lasting consequences, and the company completely made good on things that went wrong on the trip.

12/23/08. My wife and I and about 15 others traveled with Qverseas Adventure Travel (OAT, whose parent is Grand Circle Corporation) to Peru, Ecuador and Galapagos Islands September 2008. The three part tour included Machu Picchu, Amazon Jungle, and the Galapagos. During departure to the Amazon Jungle Wilds portion of the tour we experienced a plane crash on ICARO Air while taking off in Quito Ecuador. The local OAT guides/representatives were very helpful in rescuing the tour members and caring for them fortunately no immediate serious injuries occurred. This portion of the tour obviously was then cancelled, and substituted with a bus drive-a-round. Although the substitute bus drive-a-round in Ecuador was interesting, it was not the Amazon River Basin/Jungle which was intended to be the highlight of our trip, and the most anticipated portion. We were really looking forward to staying on the beautiful Napo River and understanding and exploring the Amazon Jungle. We all had significant frustration the Amazon portion was unable to be accomplished, and the loss of enjoyment of that portion of the tour was a major disappointment to us.

Our group felt some order of remuneration or compensation was in order from QAT for the cancellation and the disappointment of missing the Amazon Wilds portion which was to be the highlight of the tour and OAT was so advised in writing.

We have written several emails and letters to OAT, and GCC requesting some information and OATs position on this request for remuneration or compensation. To date GCC/OAT either ignored each communication or responded we would receive a response from their quality department? within 30 days --- which did not happen. They even ignored a simple request of how to contact the airlines they booked us on regarding filing a claim for items stolen and damaged during the trip (as required by the OAT trip insurance carrier). We have received much advertising about more GCT and OAT trips, requests for feedback, suggestions, evaluations, agreement to quote our feedback, etc but no response or acknowledgement about our communications to them regarding our travel incident and requests. A latest letter to the executive VP of GCC was similarly ignored.

Although we cant hold OAT directly responsible for the airplane incident/crash, they are responsible for booking us on the 3rd ranked airline in Ecuador (there are only 3), and ignoring customer communications regarding following up on the incident.

We will gladly provide our opinion of the OAT and GCC treatment of our travel group regarding this incident and the tour in general to anyone who would like to receive it.

While the Hilton we stayed at is not The Mariott, it was at least passable. However when it came ddown to the ship MS Liberty, that was a complete disaster. The MS liberty we were on is and old, tired and dirty ship. Many travellers got sick as we were constantly exposed to the diesel fumes that permeated the inside of the ship at all times. My cabin was so bad that I had to move up to the public lounge to sleep on 2 nights. The food was lousy and certainly below our expectations. The ship was so bad that a mini mutiny was about to take place. Twenty to thirty people, possibly more, wanted to leave on the very first day of the cruise but the tour leader managed to calm things down. In the end he managed convince every one to stay except for 2 people.

In conclusion, we did not obtain what we paid for. GCT should compensate everyone on that trip!

My husband and I booked a 15 day trip to Egypt with GCT for Oct 28, 2008. We were told all along that the boat we would take down the Nile River for 7 days would be the Stephanie. All my documents came and they came with the room number for the Stephanie and all the emergency phone numbers for the Stephanie. The Stephanie was built in 2006. About 2 days prior to departure we receive a letter from GCT stating that the boat had been changed to the M.S.Liberty. No explanitation as to why , no room number, no emergency telephone number to leave our family and the big one here, NO DESCRIPTION of the boat. My husband and I had traveled with GCT to China 2 years ago for the first time with my father and the trip was wonderful. We are in our early 50's and have done ALOT of traveling. I was a Cruise specialist for a few years and worked in an agency for 3 years on group travel. I have seen alot of stuff go on with companies doing this stuff and it is never usually good so Alarm bells went off to say the least when I got this letter.

I called customer service 3 times in the next 2 days and got 3 differnt answers as to why the boat has been changed. This is not good either when they cannot get their stories straight. Usually means a BIG downgrade is coming. So first we go to Cairo for 6 days and stay at the Ramses Hilton. I requested a Non-Smoking room but GCT never put that request in as I found out by the tour director and no Non-Smoking rooms were available. We were on the 6th floor. It must of been the floor that had not been refurbished. Surely was not up to Hilton standards, but it was better than what was to come. (By the way the final night we returned to the Hilton Ramses and our tour director pulled out all stops to get me a room on the 14th floor. Non-Smoking. Thought I was in a different Hotel. Very nice room.)

Next the buses they used were beyond dirty. The toilets half worked and the light in toilet did not so had to crack the door to see what you were doing. All in all this first week of the trip was enjoyable because we chose to make it so. Now we fly to Aswan and go to the M.S. Liberty. Words cannot begin to describe the condition of this boat. Black filthy diesel stained walls and ceiling tiles every where. Cracks in the walls to the outside, light fixtures hanging from wires in the cielings, exposed wires and holes in walls, wallpaper peeling off the walls, black filthy rotten carpet, smoke detectors covered over with shower caps to keep them from going off, the floors on every level were wavy like a roller coaster. What causes steel to warp? Intense heat FIRE at some time.

I think everyone could of even put up with all of this but the real kicker. CONSTANT SMELL OF DIESEL FUMES day and night for 7 days straight. I had more sick MIGRAINES in one week than I have in 2 months. I along with many others was Physically ill. People with asthma could hardly breathe, a couple people lost their voices, vomiting, headaches. Then lets talk about the fact that at least half the ship had diarrhea at some point in time during the week. Had to of come from the food. I ate rice and bread and bottled water because my system is sensetive to bacteria. Great way to vacation. I have personlly been on over 30 cruises on Ocean liners and River boats all over the world and I tell you I have never seen anything close to this. I have written GCT and asked for my money back but to date no response. Someone should make these companies responsible for their actions. Many people in our group had the Hotel changed on them too.

They were originally suppose to be at the Marriott which is more expensive. GCT had to inspected this boat before contracting it. They knew what they were doing. This is bait and switch. Their book says the name of a Hotel or boat and then says "Or Similar". Do you really think this boat sounds similar to a boat built in 2006 ? They have 139 VERY ANGRY Passengers from our trip. Many were repeat passengers. At this rate they will not be around much longer. I have lots of PICTURES to document my claims and I will not stop here or with this letter if they choose not to respond to me. BOOK at your own RISK !

My husband and I have traveled with OAT (parent company is Grand Circle Travel) several times and had 2 trips scheduled for 2009, but OAT cancelled the one scheduled for September in France, along with all but about 3 of their entire 2009 europe tours. This year we referred 9 new customers to OAT who booked trips. Three of those people traveled to Europe in the spring of 2008, and the other 6 people booked a trip to France for September, 2009.

The Grand Circle web site as well as the customer service representatives I spoke with when we booked our trip to Costa Rica for February, 2009, indicated that we would received a check in the mail in January, 2009, for referring those 9 new customers. Then a couple of weeks ago we received a letter indicating that the France trip was cancelled by OAT. My account on line indicates that I will only receive $250 in January for the 3 people I referred who traveled this last spring.

The Vacation Ambassador Referral Program, which I have a copy of dated 10/16/08, indicates that a cash bonus will be sent out based on the total number of travelers referred in 2008 who reserve a trip by 12/31/08. It indicates that cash bonus payouts will mail in January, 2009. There is nothing that indicates the cash bonus for new referrals is based on the customers completing the trip, as is the case for Travel Credits. The customers I referred for the September, 2009, trip which OAT cancelled did not choose to cancel the trip and they are looking into other possible trips with OAT.

I met the terms of the Vacation Ambassador Referral Program as set out by OAT and I expect OAT to stand behind its promise. We booked our Costa Rica trip in February with the understanding that the $1000 would be mailed to us in January, and that was a critical factor in our decision to book the trip. I mailed a letter to Alan, president of grand Circle Travel on October 23 and have received no word back. This situation raises concern about the business practices of Grand Circle as well as their customer service and their committment to standing behind their promises.

I can not belive the storys I am reading about Grand Circle. They did the same thing to your group. They hem'ed and haw'ed for 4 months before we got our money back. It is a shame but after the change in managament last year service has gone down. At www.fordo's.com is says rumblings of financial problems in the company. We (our church group) have used there service for years but after the last trip's problems with hotels and not having a guide for 4 days we changed your plans. They hung on to our money for 4 months and we had to get a lawyer to help us. We will never use them again. They are not very kind to the elderly, they service dept, was not helpfull at all.

The took $300 from eack booking , but we also hade to wait 4 months and pay a lawyer over $1000.00 to access us in the refund.

The company responds:

I wanted to let all readers know that Grand Circle Travel is not going out of business and that we did not file for Chapter 11 protection recently as two current postings have suggested.

Grand Circle Travel and its sister company, Overseas Adventure Travel, are alive and well. More than 60,000 people have booked trips with us between now and the end of next year, and we anticipate 104,000 travelers during this period.

Additonally, this month, we began launching some of our six new trips for late 2008 and 2009 and plan to launch at least six (maybe eight) additional products later on in 2009.

Grand Circle has been in business for 50 years and continues to serve, with pride, the American traveler over 50.

Kind regards, and thank you for the opportunity to respond.

Priscilla O'Reilly
Public Relations Director

I made with this company and was told that because of the chapter 11 filing of 10/17/08 there will be letters sent out to all awaiting refunds and people who booked travel with GCT. Boy what a surprise.. Some trips are not effected, some are.

We have people from our company who are stranded in Rome right now , with hotels and air plane tickes worthless. The tour guide just walked away from them. I also read on the web site that they ARE still booking trips and taking peoples money.. BEWARE of this company....

I am still waiting for papers about there bankrupty and my refund

I also cancelled a trip with GCT and they would not refund me a dime. I was in the cancellation time table and they just enorged me about my refund. First they said they are working on it, then it's in the mail then they said they are having internal problems 45 days went by, I needed to get a local lawyer and he start suit in Boston Mass court system. They asked for a extention and it was granted but 3 days before our next court date they sent a check to my lawyer. What a pain dealing with GCT. NEVER again. They are sweet as they can be buy after they got your money it's like day and night.. STAY AWAY..

My local lawyer charged me $600 to file the suit I was refunded over $11.000 so I think it was worth it.

Do to illness and within the time frame aloted to do so, I cancelled a tour I booked and paid for in full with Grand Circle on 10/10/08. At there request I backed it up my cancellation with a writen letter and sent it to them witch they said they recieved in a previous call I called just to confirm they got it.. Today (2 weeks later) I called and spoke to several people (transfered) and always got a differant story about the refund.

It has been 2 weeks since the cancellation and I have not heard a word. After beening transfered around I asked to speak to a superviser or any one who could give help me. I was not rude, curt or disrepectful in any way. The person today said they never got my cancellion or have any record about the cancellation. I asked her to look at the booking # and even offered to fax her a copy of the page saying I cancelled it on 10/10/08. She becane endigent and said [expletive] she knows her work and dosent need anyone telling her how to look up a booking. To say the lease I was speachless and asked to speak to a supervisor or someone who maybe handels the refunds,That's it.. She became abusive and just hung up on me.

I always have had at lease a pleasent voice. My request was niether demanding or in anyway unresonable. I was not mad or did I ever raise my voice or act out of line. I never expected anyone to jump threw any hoops for me either, all I asked was is there any information about my refund? This was my second call regarding the cancellation.

I am waiting for a refund of $8673.30 from Grand Circle. I was very surprised how this went down today, I always had a great relation with this company, till now. I guess this could happen in any company but it was never the less very disappointing hearing such rudeness from a person who is supose to help people. At this point I dont know what else to do..

Please see attached correspondence and series of events chronologically with Grand Circle Travel and AMEX. Since I charged the $500 deposit on AMEX, when GCT told me they would not refund the full deposit upon my cancellation, I notified AMEX and requested they suspend the $300 difference until they looked into the matter. As you will see by the correspondence of Sept. 12th, GCT refused to surrender the $300.00 balance of my deposit. Subsequently, they did credit AMEX with $200.00 of the $500.

Therefore AMEX did not want to persue the matter of the difference of $300.00 any further in spite of the fact that GCT has a history of such dishonest practices. Attached are just a few of some complaints printed from the web. I believe AMEX should have continued to challenge the return of the $300.to by disputing same.

I lost $300. I am 73 yrs. old and working parttime to survive. This money is more than a week's salary for me. I cannot afford to forfeit this amount, particularly since they never furnished me a copy of a penalty fee either over the phone or by mail, nor did I sign anything stating knowledge of this fee. And lastly, the trip doesn't take place until $July 16, 2009, a whole year away. How do they justify stealing my $300.00?. The law needs to deal with this disreputable firm. I will be forwarding all documentation under separate cover. Kindly furnish me with your address for mailing. Thank you.

My wife and I purchased a China tour in March 08---trip was to be in October 08. We also purchased their travel insurance supposedly to cover concellation for any reason -- from Trip Mate. We paid them $1268 deposit and for the trip insurance.

Because of the major earthquakes in China, the spread of disease due to faulty water supplies and the predictions of future earthquakes (a major one occurred within the last week), we elected to cancel 121 days before the tour was to begin -- over 4 months ahead. What we received was a cash refund of $300 of our $1268 -- less cancellation fees of $200 a person, and less the $560 insurance premium.

The insurance company stated that cancellation was not for any of our covered reasons even though they had previously stated good in case of cancellation for any reason. They have refused to give us our money back -- despite the fact we cancelled over 4 months prior to the tour and they had very little out of pocket expenses on our behalf.

The result was that we are out $968 for a trip we never took and that we DID cancel, by certified mail, in plenty of time. We wrote them, tried dealing with our credit card company and the Better Business Bureau, all to no avail. I feel that GCT was very unethical, fraudulent regarding their trip insurance, and unresponsive in not returning our money. In addition they gave us $400 in travel vouchers for another trip to be taken within one year -- non transferable. I promise you, we will never again book with this company, and we will do our best to propagate this message to all our friends and acquaintences who travel.

DO NOT deal with this company if there is the remotest chance you may have to cancel...they are unethical.

My wife and I booked a trip to Egypt along with a trip extension to Israel with Grand Circle Travel in May 2008. The cost of this trip extension was $995 per person. All the travel brochures and trip itineraries specified that our hotel accommodations on the Israel portion of the trip would be the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem. Our final travel documents also stated that the hotel would be the Olive Tree, as did the information sheet they sent us with instructions to distribute to family and friends, that they would be able to locate us should the need arise. In addition, we phoned the Grand Circle offices in Boston while en-route from Vienna Austria on June 8, 2008 to confirm our accommodations, as we would be arriving late due to flight delays and might have to find the hotel ourselves. Once again, we were assured that our hotel was the Olive Tree in Jerusalem.

Upon arrival, a day late due to delays, we were met by a Grand Circle representative. We boarded a bus to be transported to the hotel and not until we passed by the Olive Tree Hotel were we informed of the fact that we would not be staying there. Instead we were taken to the Ritz Hotel.

The Ritz Hotel cannot be seen as equal to the Olive Tree or even similar. The rooms are small and cramped with worn and minimal furnishings, not even a lamp or room safe. We were required to leave a $20 deposit just to get a hair dryer to use. There was no shower door on the shower, and towels had to be placed around the shower base to prevent the entire bathroom from flooding. In addition the hotel is located in an unsafe Palestinian neighborhood. The adjoining car lot has a barbed wire fence around it. Some of our fellow travelers heard gun shots at night. The included breakfast each morning included no hot food and the only eggs available were cold hard boiled. We have photos available which we have provided to Grand Circle to prove our case.

While on the trip, Grand Circle gave all the travelers a 50% credit on an optional trip of $130. We do not agree that this is be adequate compensation for the misery of being switched to these substandard accommodations. We mailed a letter of complaint to Grand Circle, and after no response sent emails with photos of the conditions at the Ritz Hotel on two separate occasions to the quality control department and still have received no response of any kind regarding our complaint. Had the hotel been even remotely similar to the promised hotel we would be complaining. Being forced to stay there truly marred the entire trip to Israel.

On or about April 17, 2008 we received an e-mail regarding special savings on a river trip in Holland from Grand Circle Travel. The trip was to depart April 29, 2008 ( less than 2 weeks). I made a call to inquire about this offer. The offer included air from New York with an add of about $300.00 for departure from Los Angeles. I believe the entire expense was to be about $4500.00 including insurance. The sales person told us that if we wanted to travel business class we could fly from San Diego directly to Holland. This addition would be about $6000.00 over the basic flight charges. I asked about the schedule and he said I must leave my credit card number to hold the cabin on the boat until he researched the flights. I did not authorize any charge.

The next day I received his proposed flights requiring us to go to LA and stay overnight and then to change planes in New York and somewhere else that I can no longer remember. This was both directions. In addition to a hugh expense , the trip was very inconvenient. I immediately told him that the flights were not acceptable and that we would travel another time. On April 18 a charge appeared on my credit card for $11, 546.06. I immediately told the card company that I did not authorize the charge. I am having trouble getting them to remove the charge since I did leave my card number.

I had traveled with Grand Circle previously and they already had my card number. Grand Circle tells me to apply for the insurance. This would not be ethical since I did not authorize the charge and since the tickets were never issued. Grand Circle has removed all the information concerning the reservation from the web site and the dates and charges might vary very slightly for the actual numbers, but they are very close.

I was requested to send info about Passport, DOB, and emergency contact about a planned trip. The form with the info was sent. Several weeks later I received a request to contact Grand Circle about my name on the air ticket. Upon contacting them I was told my paper work had not been received. Also, I would have to pay $150.00 ticket re-issue fee to United. Circle told me since my name did not match my passport the ticket must be re-issued. No match, no boarding! I was also told the tickets were issued June 4. The request for name verification arrived to my travel partner and myself was June 7.

Circle Travel had purchased the tickets BEFORE confirming the names on the air tickets. My name is James but upon initial contact I used Jim. I had paid in full upon the initial contact and used James with my credit card. They had that info! I explained to a customer Rep that Circle Travel gave me the option to mail or send the info by email. I selected mail. They were insistent that I pay the $150 to change my name on the ticket. I was flying from Dulles to Boston. The passport name issue was a mute point. I did not have to show the passport to get the boarding pass.

Finally Circle agreed to pay half, $75, toward the change. I refused the offer stating I followed their option of mailing the form. I followed procedure, they, Circle Travel, had purchased the tickets PRIOR to confirming names. Also the passport excuse seamed strange. Later I called United and was told that Jim is a nickname of James and I would be allowed to board. Obviously, I need not show a passport. Was this a scam to get more money out of the traveler? I will experience the trip August 15 - September 2, 08. I'm wondering what else is going to happen with this company and my travel friends. We will see!

Two hours on the phone with a so-called customer rep that was absolutely not going to help and totally unable to LISTEN to the customers side. She constantly used the term if you mailed it. I responded by if you mailed it to me, then I returned it. Economic? If Circle Travel did something to NOT allow me to board, as cancelling the ticket for re-issue, I will not make it to Boston when the tour starts. I will be out about $2300.00. The hassle on the phone with the rep was exhausting. I was furious when I hungup. This seems to be the start of a nightmare.

I received an invitation to purchase a trip with said company. This invitation was sent to me via an e-mail directed to me specifically as I am a past customer. Remember now this was not an advertisment but a personal e-mail. The offer was stated that it was a Special Exclusive Offer, a value of up to $2400.00 on select River Cruises-reserve by 6/6/08. This offer is being offered only to our best customers.

It further stated that if I reserved any of the River Cruise departures they would give me the following: #1 A free upgrade to the Best Available Cabin- a value of up to $1400.00 per couple, #2 Up to an additional $1000.00 per couple in Travel Credits to apply to these departures for a total value of up to $2400.00 per couple.

They offered three (3) trips to choose from. (A) Eastern Europe to the Black Sea- 13 days from only $2595.00 valid for these departure dates only: August 25; September 19, 28; October 5; 20; 2008. (B) Russia Revealed: Moscow to St. Petersburg-16 days from only $2995.00 valid for these departure dates only: August 25; September 8; 22; October 6, 2008. (C) The Seine: Paris to Normandy-13 days from only $3095.00 valid for these departure dates only: August 20; September 3; 17; October 1; 15, 2008. Refer to this code when reserving: EBGG119.

Based on this invitation I chose the Eastern Europe to the Black Sea trip and computed my trip from the information supplied. $2595.00 for the basic trip departing NY (which is standard), and applying $300.00 for additional air fare so as to be able to depart LA, applying the free upgraded cabin to the Serenade Deck, deducting the $500.00 cabin credits allowed and I came up with a sub total of $2395.00 while GCT said the sub total should be $3295.00. That's a total of $900.00 difference. To these prices there would be other items of cost to be either added or subtracted but would be the same for both price structures in general.

The complaint here is that GCT operates off another pricing schedule rather than the one they promote. Also, in the figuring of the final total cost GCT operates from many other charts and schedules that are not offered to be reviewed at the time of totaling up the purchase. (This is always done over the phone). For example, on this trip the PTC entered $380.00 for the trip insurance cost for my trip. When looking through the tables that I obtained from there web site after cancelling the trip do to the circumstances stated above, it is stated in their tables that my travel insurance should have costed out at $335.00. An over charge of $45.00.

In cancelling the trip, GCT wants to collect a 10% cancellation fee of $463.00. They then called back and restated the fee as being $348.72, when the full charge for the trip ended up at $3989.26 and 10% of that is $389.27. It's obvious that these travel companies are not sufficiently controlled and they therefore can do pretty much what want without repercussions, and this is wrong.

This fiasco isn't over yet but it looks like I am going to be out a cancellation fee for which I don't feel I should be held responsible fordue to the way I was handled and the shortness of time between booking the trip and the attempt to

GCT accepted my payment and assigned us a cabin for a France cruise. Four days before departure they left a message that due to overbooking, we could not go. No amount of complaining helped. Then by chance someone on another cruise departing 3 weeks later, cancelled, and they gave us that cabin. They also gave us a monetary compensation. Their treatment of us was cold.

Due to our bitter tirades, we eventually got a supervisor instead of their usual cold peons, and she did help us with the new trip. The Boston office of GCT is indifferent to the needs of their customers and cares mainly about profit. Our new air flights were inconveniently timed because they don't care to find flights that are compatible to us if it costs them a little more money. The entire excuse about informing us of overbooking 4 days prior to departure smells more than fishy. They never hinted at any such possibility but claimed that we were informed. They also changed the hotel from an upper level hotel to a Holiday Inn.

Due to the delay in travel, I had to cancel 6 classes, a play, 2 medical appointments, and miss the memorial sevice of a dear friend. My plans for all of June were ruined. The new flights were for difficult departure and arrival times with a ridiculously long layover in NY.

On March 28, 2008 I returned from a river cruise with Grand Circle Travel. My purpose for this trip was to visit 2 cities in Germany where my parents were born. I had the phone number of the contact person in Germany who was to show me around after taking a train to the village. When I asked the front desk for the phone city code to reach that individual I was given the wrong city code so was not able to make contact with her and never was able to visit the 2 places that were important to me and the reason for the trip. The front desk on the ship gave me an INCORRECT city code and my contact person emailed me but the front desk didn't give me the emails until 2 days after they arrived so I was not able to meet with her.

There were 160 people on this trip, and each time we left the ship we received a boarding pass to be turned in on the return to the ship. I was told by the front desk that they couldn't find me. This was certainly an unacceptable explanation as the emails could have been slipped under my door immediately upon receipt but they dropped the ball and didn't do this. I wrote a letter to Alan Lewis, the President of Grand Circle Travel and also sent an email to the company. When I didn't receive any reply I sent another letter to him certified and included all the backup information from the first letter.

I felt that since it was through the inefficiency of their staff that Grand Circle should provide me airfare to Germany and 4-5 days hotel so that I could accomplish what I originally took the trip for. They give travelers so many opportunities for lengthy surveys on satisfaction yet when there is an issue they do nothing about it. They continually send me more and more propoganda about future trips, and I have told them that under the circumstances I can neither book another trip through them or encourage others to travel with their company.

Unfortunately, I did not check the Web before I made the reservations because I found more than 142,000 complaints against the company and also learned that the Better Business Bureau refused their membership in 2006. I don't understand why they have travelers fill out surveys relating to the satisfaction of their trip if they do nothing about it and don't even reply when an issue is sent directly to the president of the company.

At this point (5/7/08) nothing has happened. The president didn't even bother to respond to my 2 letters (the last one was a certified letter that I know he received).

In Dec., 2007 I booked a 23-day African Safari with OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) and paid in full. I had trouble booking the trip because their trips were full and I had to take the dates I got because that was the only availability. OAT sent me a confirmation, airline flight schedule, and Visa applications. They even allowed me to book an optional tour on Apr.1, 2008. On Apr. 3, 2008 they contacted me to tell me my trip had been canceled due to low interest, and they could not offer me alternate dates! I was promised a full refund (which I have not yet received) but they have been holding my $10,000 for all this time. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND AGAINST USING OVERSEAS ADVENTURE TRAVEL or their parent GRAND CIRCLE TRAVEL!

I lost the interest that I could have realized on $10,000 for 4 months plus I now can not re-book a safari for these same dates as it is too late. I have spent money buying clothes and a SLR camera for the trip that they have denied me, even though everything was confirmed to me.

This was my first and last trip with Grand Circle. My grandmother and I went on an 18 day tour through Italy. Our last night was in Venice at the Hotel Continental and I was awakened at 1:30 a.m. from constant scratching and itching to find both of our beds infested with bed bugs. Due to the extremely early flight that GC assigned to us we had a 3:45 a.m. wake-up call which we did not need because we never went back to sleep. The flight back home went through two other cities and then gave us an hour and a half in Atlanta to go through customs, grab some food, and make it to the next gate. I contacted GC as soon as I returned home concerning the bed bugs and all they told me to do was send an e-mail. I received a confirmation that they received my e-mail and that I would get a response back in 2-3 weeks. GIVE ME A BREAK! This is unacceptable! Grand Circle's optional tours all seemed to be based on bringing you to places where you are supposed to buy things. A lot of the tours we could have done on our own and saved about $80 a piece, especially at the Vatican.

we have traveled with Grand Circle four times and prior to this latest trip...the Rhone River, Nice and Paris, we have always been more than satisfied. This last trip began in Nice where our hotel room was the only one without air conditioning and my wife had to threaten to not board the bus until we had received some satisfaction, we were finally given a voucher for Comfort Inns in Europe. The boat trip on the Rhone was wonderful, but at the Meridien hotel in Paris, I was attacked by bedbugs. the hotel did give us STarwood points but when I contacted Grand Circle I was told that they would give us $150 off our next trip.

I hardly consider that fair compensation for our discomfort. AS a result I wrote their consumer affairs section and was brushed off summarily. One can be certain that we will never use this company again despite the fact that we have been told that as INner Circle members we would be accorded special treatment.

Grand Circle Travel (GCT) booked airline reservations from ORD to MEL (Australia) via LAX with less than 2 hours connection time in LAX (1 Hr 55 Min). In wintertime from a northern city like Chicago during Thanksgiving weekend when there was only 1 flight per day to Australia, such a tight connection was unreasonable and it caused us to miss the flight costing us $725 in lost prepaid vacation and out-of-pocket expenses for cab fares.

GCT would only agree to pay $43 for our cab in MEL to catch up with our tour group; they refused to reimburse us for our $84 in cab fares home and back in Chicago or to give us future credits for the $598 in prepaid travel that we lost.

My Aunt (81 years old) and her friend (81 years old) and my cousin and I booked a Grand Circle Trip to Alaska. My Aunt and her friend flew out of and in to Las Vegas, NV. We were not given our flight informaton until a few days prior to the trip. Grand Circle booked my Aunt and her friend on United Airlines with several stops. It took them 24 hours (of no sleep) to get from Anchorage Alaska to Las Vegas. There were no flight delays just a lot of time between stops. Somewhere along the line the airlines lost some of the luggage which did not show up until the next day. At 81 years old they deserved better!

The seniors were exhausted, hungry, frustrated and vowed to never travel with Grand Circle ever again.

MY new wife , from Peru, recently obtained her permanent resident green card. When I made the travel plans with grand circle travel I advised the person taking the trip plans that my wife was from Peru and had a green card. I previously called the INS and was advised that she could travel with her green card. I was told that where I needed a visa, my wife, would also need a visa. Upon reaching Germany I was told that my wife could not enter Romania because she needed a visa. We were sent home and not able to complete our trip.

Upon arrival Customs officials were astonished that she was made to come home. They said she can travel to europe with her permanent resident green card. Grand Xircle travel has said that they will not reimburse me the 5,348.00 dollors. I was told the fault lies with me and there has not been any further negotiation.

My wife is almost in a state of nervous breakdown as this is an incredible financial loss. Her friend, who we invited, went on the trip. Our luggage was lost for three weeks and we had to sleep in airports for three nights. My wife saved for a long time to take this trip and worked for starvation wages in an improvished country, peru, to save for this trip.

Grand Circle Travel appears to book the cheapest and least convenient flights for its travelers. We booked a 10 day Alaskan trip with several days in Vancouver. United Airlines has nonstop direct flights from Chicago O'Hare to Vancouver at convenient times. A call to United indicated that there was plenty of seats available on these flights. GCT, however, routed us on Air Canada through Toronto with a necessary plane change.

I called GCT and informed them of the United nonstop direct flights and the representative advised me that GCT does not have a contract with United and we would have to take the Air Canada multiple flights. After arriving at our hotel in Vancouver we discovered that other travelers in our group originating from the Chicago area did, in fact, fly the preferred United flight. GCT just plain lied to us. I then proceeded to check the United flight returning to Chicago following our vacation. United advised me there were plenty of seats available. When I brought this to the attention of GCT, they refused to make any changes and, again sent us through Toronto on the return trip while other fellow GCT travelers boarded the United direct flight.

My husband , myself and 4 friends just returned from a river cruise to The Netherlands and Brussels on the Debussy. This was our third river cruise with Grand Circle. Since we had wonderful experiences on the 2 previous trips, we looked forward to another great time. Unfortunately, this trip was less than we expected. Our main problem was with the ship. The entire time we were on board (7 nights) there was a terrible smell of open sewer on the main deck by the front desk. When the crew was asked why the ship smelled, the reply was we don't smell anything.

In addition to the horrible smell, 50% of the passengers got a stomach bug. When asked what was being done about it we were told that the passengers must have brought the bug aboard the ship and that we picked it up from the air systems on the planes. The rooms were not cleaned well. I found used tissues under my bed that were left from a previous passenger. My husband found peanuts in his bed one evening. He had not eaten any peanuts either in bed or out!

As we left the ship to travel to the hotel, they were already boarding new passengers. The ship should have been completely disinfected before anyone else was allowed on board. We are waiting to hear from Grand Circle to see what, if anything will be done for the passengers from this trip (May 4- May 15, 2006). Since our other experiences with them were so good I am hoping that this trip was just a unusual event and we will all receive compensation from Grand Circle.

Do NOT go through Grand Circle Travel (GCT) for your Canadian rail trip. We did so last September/October and were very disappointed; not only with the trip itself, but also with the response we received from GCT. After returning from our trip, we sent a letter to GCT with the following facts:

1) Our tour director did not have leadership skills needed for a successful tour. One person in our group thought he was the leader, and at one point during the tour became verbally abusive with us. Most of the time our group was confused as to what was next on our agenda (i.e., meeting time, meeting places, etc.) as the tour director was not clear in her communication. Sometimes she would change her mind and not communicate the changes to the whole group.

2) When we originally booked our tour, we were told Gold Leaf service was sold out, so opted for Red Leaf service. On the second day of the tour, another couple upgraded from Red Leaf to Gold Leaf, while no one else was given the upgrade option. The Red Leaf vs. Gold Leaf service separated the group as a whole. We felt like second class citizens in Red Leaf as Gold Leaf passengers tended to separate themselves from Red Leaf passengers for the rest of the tour. We believe that all GCT travelers should either travel Gold Leaf or Red Leaf to maintain the camaraderie of the group.

3) GCT’s policy regarding “exposure to controversial topics” should be reviewed. Due to this policy, our tour director had our Vancouver motor coach driver drive out of his way so we could see an abundance of drug users congregating in a park. We could do without these controversial topics while on vacation as we face many of these controversial issues at home. A vacation is a time to get away, relax, and enjoy.

4) We joined the optional excursion to Whistler at the wasteful cost of $95 each. The dog sled portion of this tour was very unauthentic. The dogs were restrained by an all-terrain vehicle that pulled a wagon, similar to a hay ride. The dogs also appeared to be underfed as their ribs were showing.

5) The Whistler excursion also included lunch. After arriving in Whistler, we were told only one restaurant was open to accept our $15 food voucher. The highest priced item on the menu of this restaurant was under $7. Consequently, we lost $8 of our food voucher. 6) GCT should institute a policy for passengers to rotate seats on the motor coach. This is a policy with other tour companies we have used in the past. This is fair and equitable as everyone gets a front seat view at least once. On this trip, the same passengers sat in the front section of the motor coach for the entire trip.

7) VIA Rail Canada was approximately 12 hours late departing Jasper, Alberta. GCT did not have a contingency plan in place for the train’s late arrival into Jasper. Our tour director made many phone calls to GCT for guidance. GCT decided to extend our tour of Jasper National Park that afternoon; however, after the tour, we spent approximately seven to eight hours in the Chateau Jasper hotel lobby. A few travelers were assigned hotel rooms due to their health. This was a nice gesture, but this gesture should have been afforded to everyone as we all paid around the same price for this tour. We finally boarded the train around 11:00 p.m. after a very exhausting day.

8) We booked this trip with another couple. Due to their health, they were assigned Car 213 on the VIA Rail, while we were assigned Car 216. The tour director’s reasoning was that 213 was closer to the dining car, which we felt was very reasonable. After the room assignments were handed out, the tour director told us that we would be in dining car B, while the other couple would be in dining car A. Although we do understand the bedroom assignments, we still are not quite sure why we couldn’t sit together during meals.

9) After spending the first night on the VIA Rail, the toilets stopped working in Car 216. VIA Rail employees were not sure when they could be repaired, so after smelling the urine stench for most of the day, we asked for another room. We were then moved to Car 222, even further away from our traveling companions in Car 213. In addition to the Car 216 toilets being inoperable for the entire trip, it should be noted that the bedrooms on the train were not clean as they were dusty and had dirt on the walls and in corners.

10) Due to the 12 hour delay of VIA Rail, we spent three nights instead of two nights on the train. Several times while on the train, the tour director informed us that we were missing all of the good scenery, as it was dark outside when traveling pass these scenic areas. It was very disappointing to have been told this several times. Additionally, we spent a night on the train that should have been spent at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. We lost one night of luxury to another sleepless night on the train. During the night, the train was traveling at approximately 90 mph, and being in the back of the train in Car 222, we were whipped around causing sleepless nights.

We have traveled with several tour companies and have never experienced anything as deplorable as our GCT tour. For the reasons outlined above, we attempted to get some type of compensation from GCT, but were only offered a $200 voucher to use on a future GCT trip. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed with GCT and have decided not to travel with Grand Circle Travel (GCT) again as this was a very expensive trip with very little compensation offered for such an awful experience.

We were scheduleld to travel with GCT to China departing April 24, 2003. We paid in full, took out insurance, had Visas, shots, medications etc.. SARS became a serious concern for health reasons. We were advised that over 90 passsengers had been booked, 68 were listed in a mailing received several weeks prior to the departure date and the day prior to departure there were 12. And likely even less than 12 travelled!

The U.S. State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommended not travelling because of SARS. Three personal contacts in Hong Kong also advised us not to travel. Because of the health risks we cancelled our trip. GCT even modified the itinery because of the SARS outbreak but refused to cancel the trip or allow us to postpone our departure. Other travel companies offered their travellers the opportunity to reschedule and their passengers suffered little or no financial loss.

We experienced a personal loss of approximately $3000.00 that included useless insurance, recommended vacinations/shots, recommended medications, China Visas, weight compliant luggage and GCT vouchers that would force us to travel with GCT to receive any value (after this experience we had no desire to travel with GCT).

We are scheduled to leave for Turkey May 9th. On Apr. 26th my husband returned from Sulawezi with a blood infection due to a cut in that country. This required 5 days of hospital stay and IV antibiotics. He is home now and on IV antibiotics and wound cleaning. The Internist, infectious disease specialist and the surgeon all say he cannot go to Turkey. We did not purchase insurance. I cannot travel alone so asked a friend to go with me. But GC will not allow her to use my airline ticket. They will not allow the name change. That is interesting as they have changed a lot of this trip but cannot change that. Also, I understand that they tell you that it is full and they cannot make a change but that then they get people off the waiting list.

Hi Everyone, By now I figure you have all received your certificate for $250 towards future Grand Circle travel. THe company thinks this will make up for the complants they received from our group. If you noticed in your letter withthe certificate they write about our frank comments yet they give us a piece of paper that costs them nothing for the hassles we had. I think this was an insult to our intelligence.

If you don't remember I will quickly remind you. The Normandy Hotel-less then one mile form the airport-hours of wait without an offer of tea/coffee nothing but a seat in the lobby. After the wait we were introduced to the grogeous room that may be the size of a large walk in closet. Not the cleanest of room s and the lights didn't work in alll of them and after tripping over our luggage (no were to keep it) We went on. Next hotel in York was a dream but just wait. How could we all forget THE GRAND. I remember pulling up and hearing us say the worst would be to get the room with the scafling by it. If we only knew!

No phone, no serrvice in the room and the staff at the grand had no idea what cleaners were. If you did not know they did not change your sheets-the only reason your bed was made was because a few of us complained and demanded they clean the baths and make the beds (their policy is to only do that when you check out). My room had no shower and enough mold to make anyone sick. The food there, well it could have been better. Next stop-right off the highway. Another change in the itinerary from what we all booked. No town to walk into here-only a four lane highway.

London was great. Just what we expected. I do not know how many of you did a little research but upon arriving at home I have found 4 DIIFERENT itineries for this trip. One in the catalog-one on the internet-one with my documents in the mail - and one I received upon arrival in Scotland. I kow the brochure gives them the right to change but I think we should have some rights also. If you read all the itineries we have missed alot of sites-starting with Inverny Castle (there is an entrance fee)-to Stonehenge listed on 2 of the itineries.

I think Grand Circle owes us all a little more then a brush off for the problems of this trip. We all paid a premium price for a budget trip. In no way does this voucher make up for the lost sleep, the headaches, and stress off the trip-yes the sites were beautiful but a vacation should be just that a vacation. I have spoken to customer service and they could not believe that was all we received. They recommended rewritting to Grand Circle and letting them know that the certificate was not acceptable. If you figure the cost of the trip and the problems and stress we encountered $250 in future travel is an insult. This costs the company nothing, and they hope at least 1/2 of the people will not use it and the ones that do they will make more then that on their profit of the trip booked.

While it is recognized almost uniformly throughout the travel industry that in the event of a terrorist attack in a region, airlines, hotels and tour operators will allow changes and cancellation without penalty, I would like to relate what happed to four of us travelers with Grand Circle Travel of Boston, MA.

We were scheduled to leave for Bali and Angkor Wat on a 23 day trip October 3, 2005. Total cost for the four of us was $10,484.60. On Oct. 1, 2005 terrorists bombed three restaurants in Bali, killing 27 and wounding 125. The major bombing was right up the street from the resort at which we were to stay. We then became aware that the State Department had issued a travel warning months before advising “U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to the country (Bali, Indonesia).” At no time had GCT informed us that a travel warning was in effect for Bali.

Because of the travel warning we cancelled our trip and requested Grand Circle Travel (GCT) to reroute us to Thailand so we could enjoy the Angkor Wat portion of the trip. They refused to make any changes. The clerks on duty directed us to return our tickets which had been issued by Cathay Pacific Airways for the air and resort portions and told us they would work out an appropriate refund. On Oct. 3, 2005, we returned our 4 tickets which showed a face value of $8,641.40. We have since been told by Cathay Pacific that GCT returned our tickets to them and GCT received a complete refund less $75.00 per tickets administrative cost.

GCT’s only reply to us has been, “We sent the trip off as planned and since you cancelled you are not entitled to any refund.” Thus they gained an unjust enrichment of our $10,484.60 because we followed the Travel Warning of the State Dept. Best advice, try to learn something about the company you are about to do business with. GCT had their membership in the Better Business Bureau of Massachusetts revoked on 10/27/05. Let that be fair warning. Carl Fischer, Sun City West, AZ.

We have received no cash for our payment of $10,484.60 we paid for a trip to Bali which we cancelled after we found out that the State Department had warned against any travel to Bali, and terrorists had just killed 27 people.

Booked passage for two (2) to Ireland on 11/30/2005 with a scheduled tour date of 3/11/2006. GCT confirmed the dates but did not provide travel instructions. Fourth letter from GCT dated 12/14/2005 still did not have confirmed flight information. Personal travel agent "Linda" and later Lourdes confirmed flight information from Atlanta departing Atlanta for Dublin non-stop as per the ads in the last five (5) GCT magazines. Bornelus telephonically confirmed that were were to depart Savannah at 7:00 P.M. 3/11/2006 and returning on 3/28/2006 at 3:40 P.M. I made my own reservations from Savannah to Atlanta based on this information.

I received tickets from GCT on 2/7/06 and to my suprise the itenary had been changed without notice routing us from Atlanta to Chicago to London, to Dublin. Hardly non-stop as agreed and making our tickets to and from Atlanta useless. I advised Lourdes Bornelus of the situation on 02/07/06 and again several times on 02/08/06. Grand Circle advertises non-stop flights from Atlanta to Dublin on Delta airlines. Obvioulsly British airwarys from Chicago was in GCT best interest and not as advertised as "making endeavors to privide the most efficient air routing". Efficent is not the priority but profit margin is.

On 2/8/06 GCT employee Julie sitting at the Air Supervisor's desk stated that the Delta direct flight was not available. She was then advised the confirmation #QIJB52 from Debria Hunter of Delta reservations confirmed the seatting was availabe and my wife and I had seats numbers 34C and 34D. Our friend Lorine from Aiken South Carolina had seat 35A reserved. Our friends Charles and Sarah of Matthews North Carolina also had reserved seats on this flight. All of us were interested in the direct flight, however, we were scheduled on British Airways and not Delta as agreed.

On 2/8/06 I advised Janet, Sherri, Julie, Carice, and Lourdes all of GCT that I would absolutely not travel through Chicago in the middle of the winter. That I was willing to change our tickets to leave from eather Baltimore, Boston, Miami, or New York which was advertised and would place us on British Airways (preferred by GCT). GCT response was the same...tickets had been issued and there would be no changes. Incomplete itenaries is unexceptable, ambigous, and inconsistant with good business practices. Our tickets are scheduled to be expressed mailed back to GCT on 02/10/06.

Waiting for refund of $6,404.22 from GCT as agreed by Lourdes Bornelus on evening of 02/08/06. Lost our $530.00 frequent travler discount with GCT. Lost $100.00 for converting frequent flier miles into tickets round trip to and from Savannah/Atlanta. Lost $100.00 for converting tickets back to frequent flier miles. Lost our window of oppetunity to take a winter vacation. As Gold Members of Grand Circle Travel, I cannot even begin to express how truly disappointed I am with their service.

Would not stop sending catelogues (average 3 a week) even when I request them to cease and desist. All those colorful thick catelogues cost so much money! Obviously it is paid by innocent senior citizens who have signed up for the packaged tours. Those catelogues are baits, and the switch might be 'overpriced services'.

We had scheduled and paid for a trip to Portugal & Spain, leaving May 13, 2005. I had also bought 2 tickets for a Broadway show, the week we returned, which was supposed to be June 6. TWO WEEKS prior to leaving -- we get a phone call: "sorry, no hotel rooms are available in Portugal - so we're scheduling you to leave ONE WEEK LATER." They would not answer any questions - just repeat their statement!

First, I had to reschedule my vacation with my employer -- which was a big pain! Then, I had to quickly sell my 2 tickets on EBay - where I lost $50

On 1/17/2005 my wife, I and another couple paid a deposit for a Rhone River Cruise as was advertised in their cruise catalog. The remainder of the total cost was paid, by check as they would not charge this to our credit cards, prior to the due date of 4/04/2005. The departure date was scheduled for 7/04/2005. On the evening of Friday,7/01/2005, I received a phone call informing me that the ship that was to be our home for seven nights had been damaged while being repositioned. The extent of the damage was not know but they were trying to get it into a dry-dock and check it out. However, the person speaking to me felt that the ship would most probably not be ready for boarding on 7/08/2005 the date that was called for in the itinerary.

I asked, at this point, if we could cancel and was told yes. But, he said, why not wait till tomorrow morning and check on the condition of the ship. I did wait till the following morning, 7/02/2005, and was told the ship would not be available at all and our Rhone River Cruise was being changed to a motor coach tour. At this point we four canceled. Calling the next morning, the only phone number I was privy to, I was told to e-mail the Quality Customer Care at GCT. I got back a request for further information which I sent that same day and was told in that message that I would be contacted by phone or mail. I have yet to hear from them.

I did obtain a phone number from the travel insurance company on 7/25/2005. This number, which no one at GCT would give me, brought me to Customer Service. The person I spoke to could not provide a satisfactory answer except to say that what had happened is not a concealable condition under their contract. I requested to speak with a supervisor and was turned over to a Ms. Webster who listened to my tale and repeated what the first person had told me. I told her that this trip was to be a celebration of my eightieth birthday and that I am the youngest of the four. A bus tour would be too tiring and stressful for us.

I asked where GCT would be able to find, at this time of the tourist season, hotel rooms to accommodate the entire group. Then I mentioned your web page and the letters written on it. I gave her your web address which she typed into her computer and said "Good Lord, this is interesting". She said she would be taking our story AND your web address to someone. Incidentally, I was told that we would not receive money in any event, only a voucher good for a year from our original departure date. We are not to certain we would want to travel with GCT in the future after this experience. Thanks for listening to me and allowing me to release some of my frustration.

GCT is holding $5704.20 of our money. We have started proceedings, through Visa, to charge back the $1000.00 deposit each couple had paid. This has not happened yet. I now realize why GCT demands cash. If the insurance company handles the claim we would lose the cost of the trip insurance, $528.00, and a $125.00 handling fee. There has been no physical damage only stress, aggravation and disappointment.

Instead of routing us from Phila to Barcelona (& returning Madrid/Phila), they routed me Phila/Miami/Madrid/Barcelona (!!) and vv, and my travel companion Nashville/JFK/London/Madrid/Barcelona (!!!) so that, in addition to the sheer (and unnecessary!!! there are non-stop flights from Phila to and from Barcelona and Madrid!) brutality of such travel, we also (1) couldn't visit together in PHila pre- and post-trip as planned, (2) couldn't travel together there and back and (3) eventually she couldn't join me at all because of her anxiety over these 24 hour marathon journeys, necessitating medical attention.

The tour company would not respond to our pleas to change the routing and I had to tour alone under these extremely trying circumstances, not knowing that my friend would never arrive. To start with, they would not let me make my own flight arrangements; I accepted that, having no idea that their arrangements would be senseless and brutal, that they would prevent my friend from visiting with me (on the ticket she had already bought Nashville-Phila-Nashville, and that they would not make the least concession in rearranging our flights. They could have cared less how many airports, lines and planes we had to endure; they simply found what was cheapest to them. Nor did they tell us in advance, when informing me that they wouldn't let me make my own air arrangements.

I knew the itinerary for the tour; that was public. The flight arrangements were kept secret to our terrible detriment and they simply didn't care in the slightest. I modify that: their V.P.in Spain, once I arrived alone, was very sympathetic, but even he couldn't persuade them to change even my return flights to the non-stop one so easily available from Philadelphia. The health and well-being of the people on their tours is of no concern to them, even though it is they who compromised both. And of course my trip was so much less enjoyable alone.

Once before, some years ago, this friend and I had traveled with the parent company. We had made the same sort of arrangement of her pre/post visit. They had discussed the flight arrangements with us. We had no problem and no reason to expect the total unreasonableness of what happened this spring. Perhaps if I hadn't been diagnosed with cancer in February I would have called, when I didn't hear from them, to find out about the flights. But even that might have done absolutely no good. I know this, because 4 other people on the tour were given no fewer than 3 different flight itineraries--that is, one, on which they based their plans for visiting Mallorca after the tour, then another one, so that they had to rearrange their plans, and then a third different one. So the mistreatment and lack of consideration for my friend and me as human beings with needs and plans was not an aberration but rather part of the company culture. Either way, it needs to be addressed and they need to have some kind of motivation to change--which at present they do not have.

Last year we signed up for a cruise across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary II in October, 2005. We used their "Good Buy Plan" which involved paying the full price of the trip a year in advance because they said we would "be protected from any increase in the land, cruise, or international air portion of your cost." We received an invoice marked "paid in full." In April, 2005, we received an invoice asking for more money because of increases in "government fees." Soon after, we received another invoice seeking additional payment for a "fuel surcharge."

We refused by letter to pay either of these charges, citing our "Good Buy Plan" protection. After considerable delay, I received a letter back, claiming that their catalogs indicate "GCT reserves the right to correct promotional or pricing errors at any time, or to increase the program price in the event of cost increases due to changes in airfare, cruise fares, currency fluctuations,...or fuel surcharges."

In some of the abundant advertising material they have sent us lately, much of that language does appear in their "Good Buy Plan" promotion, but not in the material they sent us for the trip we bought. That promotion, headed "Lock in the cost of your trip," and reading precisely as stated above, was unqualified by any reservation of rights. We have canceled the trip, and are continuing to argue with the company about the unrefunded portion thereof. They have clearly breached their contract with us, and are liable for a refund of the entire amount we paid them.

Several months ago my wife and I booked a tour to Costa Rica with Grand Circle Travel using their toll free number. Our departure date was to be August 10th and our return date was to be August 23. We sent in a deposit and received confirmation along with a considerable amount of written material. We were reminded to submit final payment by May 11th (90 days before departure) which we did. On Sunday, May 15th we got a phone message indicating that our tour was being canceled due to low enrollment but that another tour was available six days later. There was a mention of a penalty if we didn´t take this tour. We were told to call their office on Monday. We got out all of the literature that they had sent us.

There was a considerable amount of information about penalties if the client cancels, but nothing about what happens when the company cancels. By the way, we had purchased trip insurance from Grand Circle at a rate considerably higher than we would have paid a travel insurance company mainly because with it we could cancel for any reason. To further investigate we went to the Grand Circle website. It took a while to find it but finally we found a link called "terms and conditions" which addressed the company´s policy if they cancel a tour.

It said that if the company offers a similar tour within 14 days, the client will be assessed cancellation penalties if s/he doesn´t rebook on that tour. We had engaged a house sitter for August 10 to 23. We were not certain if that person would be available from August 16 to 29. Besides which, since when is a client penalized when a company cancels a tour? Fortunately, our house sitter is available and we did opt to take the tour on the 16th. I have written a letter to Grand Circle telling them that even if the tour is fantastic, I will never book with them again and I will spread the word about this unfair practice. I also told them in the letter that cancelling the tour four days after requiring final payment seems like a dubious practice to me. When I spoke with an agent to rebook, he told me that if we did not opt to take the trip on the 16th of August, our trip insurance would pay for it. I informed him that we had paid over $400 for that insurance and that I assumed that that amount would not be refunded.

Therefore though Grand Circle was canceling the tour, we would be out over $400 for the insurance if we chose not to take the later tour. I imagine that this policy is not illegal, but it certainly does not seem right. Grand Circle emphasized what will happen if the client cancels probably because they want to sell insurance. However, you have to search their website to access their policy if they cancel. My wife and I wondered if this practice is standard among large tour companies. I called Gate 1 Travel, a company that I had used for a tour a few months ago. Their representative said that if they cancel a tour the client has a choice between a full refund including insurance payment or they will book a similar tour with another tour operator.