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Grand Circle Travel

347 Congress Street, Boston, MA

Sharon of O'fallon IL (05/13/06)
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.

W. of Murrieta, CA May 7, 2006

W. of Murrieta CA (05/07/06)
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).

Judith of Naples, FL May 1, 2006

Judith of Naples FL (05/01/06)
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.

Debbie of Medina, OH April 30, 2006

Debbie of Medina OH (04/30/06)
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.

Carl of Sun City West, AZ April 21, 2006

Carl of Sun City West AZ (04/21/06)
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.

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