Overseas Adventure Travel

Overseas Adventure Travel disappointed us. We had paid for our Morocco holiday and had paid OAT to arrange for our air travel from Sacramento, CA so that if there is any delay in flight, a representative would still meet us in Casablanca upon arrival. Our flight from USA got delayed.

In Paris we had to take the next flight to Casablanca as we missed our original connection. I had phoned OAT before we left USA that we would miss the connection in Paris due to delayed departure and have to take the next connecting flight from Paris. I could not contact OAT from Paris because of long hold time on the telephone (40 mins.). Lo and behold, there was no rep at the Casablanca airport upon our arrival late in the evening. I had to buy a phone card to call OAT in USA and had to endure a wait time of 38 minutes. After a lot of shouting, they agreed to transport me by taxi to Rabat (100 miles away) at their expense.

Most complaints on tour operators stem from missed connections. OAT, in spite of their boasting about repeat customers, failed us. Further, I had asked that their office call me to explain why there was this slip up. They have not cared to call us yet. This is what they care about customers. Do not trust them. I had to buy a telephone card in Casablanca for $20 to call them in the USA. I was on hold for 38 minutes.

I booked a trip to India using this company because I heard this company was a reputable and good company that provided everything including international air. I paid a $350 deposit around the beginning of May 2010 which is non-refundable after 30 days. They said if I paid the balance full online, I could save an additional $50. So I paid in full including all applicable taxes online by using my checking account. Since I had plans to spend a time with my family in Japan on December through January, I had to book and purchase the tickets for my own round trip airfare from San Francisco to Narita and a round trip airfare from Narita to Delhi. I did this about 3 weeks ago. If I waited, those airfares would have gone up significantly closer to the trip. As you know those tickets are non-changeable and non-refundable. I also just applied for a visa going to India.

Yesterday, a tour operation manager from Oversea Adventure company called me and told that the tour I booked had been cancelled due to "insufficient participants". I was totally devastated. I can't cancel the trip for fear of not getting my money back, but they can cancel the trip with a short notice? They said they apologize for the inconvenience and I will be receiving a full refund in 10 days. I told them that I had already paid for connecting flights and asked them what they could do to accommodate me. They said that it was not their responsibility. They also said that they would not pay for any fees regarding my connecting flights.

Before I booked this trip, I checked two other companies about a similar program in India. Programs on their website tell me it's guaranteed tour or not and sales agents informed me that some of the tour is not guaranteed. So for this company, I didn't even think there was a chance that their trip can be cancelled due to insufficient participants.

Regardless, their sales agents should have inform me about the possibility of trip cancellation before they take my deposit money like the other travel companies. People who want to travel with Oversea Adventure company should read all of their reviews prior to booking with them. What happened to me shouldn't be allowed without some sort of compensation.