Grand Circle Travel Reviews

One of our two "option" mini tours was very disappointing and the other had very good entertainment with poor service from the food servers. Sitting on the cramped tour bus in the back each time has been painful to say the least and been one of the main reasons not to participate in the "option" mini tours. A separate arrangement was made for golf for my husband and some others. They were told it would cost them $45.00 for 9 holes that would include everything and they had to pay $176.00 each. We are ages 58 and 64. Perhaps this type of traveling is just not for us.

If the customer had cancelled the tour within 59-30 days of the tour date, they would have been charged 65% of the trip fee according to GCT's cancellation policy. However, GCT seems to feel free to cancel any tour at will without any recourse or compensation to the customers, which appears to be a one way street. They seem to expect the customer to commit to the payment after booking, but yet, they can cancel the trip as they wish. What kind of a company is this? Where is their customer service? I would not deal with this company again! Also, not only did they not refund the customer for their payment immediately after they cancelled their trip, they have to wait till Feb. 19th to issue the refund. What is this? They want to keep the money even though their trip has been cancelled.

They charged me $1500 for airfare Bangkok round trip. I then saw it advertised for $882. They overcharged me. When I called, they said they just pick a number and that is what they charge irrespective of the actual cost! Too late to change for me so I paid about DOUBLE. To top things off, when I got on the trip, I found that most of the other passengers paid NO airfare. To top things off further, the flight arrangements were horrid. They left me sitting in Bangkok for 12 hours alone after all the other travelers were gone home. I called the airlines and there was space on the same flight 12 other passengers were on. Grand circle said they would change it for a $200 change fee. They never should have left a single elderly woman alone that way in the first place! I refused to pay it. Then they said I had to leave my hotel room! I was to sit in the lobby for 4 hours until a van came for me! I refused to leave my room.

They said I would have to pay a night myself, but in the end after I contacted Grand Circle headquarters, they did let me keep the room until van came. The only thing I can figure is they saved a few bucks on the fare to inconvenience me so. And just icing on the cake, they booked some cheaper class ticket so I could not get my frequent flyer miles! To say do not let them book your airfare for you seems unnecessary but DO NOT LET THEM BOOK YOUR AIRFARE!!! Actually, do you want to even deal with a company who is so grubby greedy???

2. I also asked about the tipping for the guide which is $7-10 USD per person per day. Our tour has 20 people so the guide gets $1400-2000. I felt that was excessive for a Cuban when the average MONTHLY salary is around $20 USD. Felt it would upset the economy. Well, another long off the phone conversation and guess what? The guide isn't a Cuban who lives in Cuba. This is a Cuban-American (citizen) who lives in Little Havana (Miami).

I have never gone on one of their tours where the guide was not a native who lived in his/her country. I want a person who is living the day to day experience of a communist country, that is very poor, and about to be opened up to big economic changes. I'll never get to see that person, not in the close extended way that you do with a tour guide. I am very disappointed and upset with this GC nonsense. I will review the actual trip afterwards and maybe my perspective will have changed.

They could, according to the T&C's, abandon you if a problem came up during the trip and you had no recourse against GC. I contacted GC as I could not accept these terms and was told I had to in order to travel. I said I had never done this in the past and was told the T&C's were new in 2014 and that was that. Needless to say, we cancelled our trip and I am still waiting for my refund. The deposit was charged to my credit card immediately but the refund supposedly takes 10 days. Enough said, goodbye Grand Circle.

The upshot is that I lose the almost $600 in travel insurance that I paid for the trip and will only be able to get a travel voucher for the rest of the money. But I do not want to travel with them since, as so many others have noted, they lack integrity. I feel the problem goes beyond greed, it seems to be something deeper and perhaps even more problematic.

A week before the Ireland trip end, a dog knocked me over and I spent two days in hospital, causing me to end my trip. The TripMate travel insurance (I strongly advising not using disreputable TripMate) that GCT had sold me was ineffective and its third-party agency did not accept collect calls from Ireland. I had no recourse, lost tons of money. But, hey, that's Murphy's Law.

I had vowed never again to travel with GCT, but in July 2015 an opportunity came available to visit the Canadian Rockies, Seattle, and Vancouver. The GCT sales rep saw that I had a bad experience in 2014 and accommodated a free single supplement that would have cost about $800. That GCT accommodated a single traveler at no additional cost when the tour had virtually sold out is a testament that Grand Circle Travel truly does care about its guests and strives to provide satisfaction. The bad taste (like 2-for-a-dollar hotdogs) from TripMate had jaded my opinion of GCT. That was my bad, and GCT has totally restored confidence in this fine travel organizer. I've already planned a trip to Italy in spring 2016.

All of our money was refunded by Grand Circle Tours! It was American Airlines that cheated us left & right - They are the worst! If you love to travel, Grand Circle Tours will give you your money’s worth & more. Don't believe the "naysayers" as they are usually people that gripe about everything & don't find the joy in each day & each experience. We even touched people's lives in a positive way for 12 days in the hospital. We missed the Sicily trip but we reveled in the fact that life has a way of giving us an opportunity to smile through the hard times in the valley & be more thankful for the times when we are at the top of the mountain.

I did not go to hospital because it seemed an over-reaction to my symptoms, although my daughter who is an RN in the States was afraid for me due to my age. I am not one to run to the doctor for every sniffle. However, this illness was taking the pleasure out of this trip. The tour guide eventually arranged for a doctor to come to the hotel and he treated several people from our tour.

As I always do, I took out your trip insurance, which was expensive. I have applied for reimbursement of my medical costs as per the requirements, and it has been months with no resolution. I am being questioned and told to go through various hoops to get reimbursed the approximately $300 for medical costs for myself and my grand-daughter. I am disgusted and dismayed at the run-around which I am getting for a very small amount of money, especially in light of all the money I have spent with this company for trips over the years, as well as the cost of the trip insurance itself. There should be no hesitation to just pay the incurred medical bills. The rules appear to be red-tape created to get out of paying any bills.

My allegiance to OATS/GTC has certainly not paid off. At this point, I am asking myself why I would want to continue travelling with a company who has no respect for my customer loyalty and who would put me through such bureaucratic nonsense for $300, when I have spent easily over $100,000 of business with them. I am very very disappointed in the worsening quality that this company provides. I am looking elsewhere for my future travel plans.

I find it surprising that people are willing to write a totally negative review, blasting a good company, based solely on the amount of mail they receive. Really? I know they send a considerable amount of advertising information, but isn't that what most businesses do? Advertise? Keep their name and beautiful travel ideas in front of their customers? Since when was that a crime?

Furthermore, when I have planned a trip, whether with GC/OAT or a different company, I have always been proactive in checking the details well before the trip. On one occasion, I did receive airline reservations that I felt were not convenient to me, and Grand Circle was happy to change them to the flights I desired, and they did so immediately. We, as a family, have been so happy with this company that when we decided to take a month-long river cruise, we chose them to take it with. I, for one, am looking forward to it, and know I will get a first class adventure. I noticed that the disclaimer at the beginning of this site says that GC/OAT is not a member. I wonder if they would get better reviews if they were?

At that time all the hotels, tour guides, buses or whatever were not available. They refused to specify what that was - claiming the GCT agents were only told there were "vendor" issues. Odd that I booked my two extra days at the first hotel they were supposed gather at -- It does not make sense that if your tour is fully booked, and the money has to be paid to GCT at least 90 days in advance and there are cancellation penalties on the part of the traveler-- - why in the world would GCT not confirm reservations until 30 days prior to a trip?? So anyway GCT first casually told us they needed to "reschedule" the tour. WHAT??? what they mean is they cancelling our trip and want us to totally change our plans and go three weeks later without concern for our life plans, weather etc- and what assurance do we have I asked that the same thing wouldn't occur? None I was told.

They have agreed to refund the money were paid to them - and IF I send them proof of what I paid for the non-refundable seats and hotel they will pay up to $250 per person (total $500) -- so IF that happens we will still lose out about $600. This of course does not even take into account all the money we spent on luggage, clothes etc for this trip. Oh, and they offered to give us $1000 off on a future trip as long as it is used by a certain date. The executives of this company should be ashamed of how they treat their customers. We have saved for years to make this trip and we should not have to lose any money because of their inability to confirm their vendor arrangements -- it is not like all the hotels burned down or Italy is in a war zone. It appears to be just poor planning on their part and now a fully booked tour is suddenly cancelled. VERY POOR!!

The participants were about 25 people with only one young man. Many were very young and obviously not experienced with a poor knowledge of English. By chance I met a colleague whom I did not see in ages as we both worked out of Italy for a long time. She was the only professional TM I met there. All participants were in circle and one of the HR Girl was showing on the board The Company assessment, the values, etc asking questions randomly around and creating quite a confusion for everyone to answer. At the end of this, they gave a break and put on the board the names of the "chosen'" persons eligible to continue the process. I was not in there nor was my friend colleague. I was astonished!!! I thought that, at least, they would have made an interview, evaluate the CV, the experience and so forth... but nothing of this happened. The young man, surprisingly was accepted!! He did not say a word during that time, the time of the company introduction.

I fail to understand under what criteria they made that selection!!!! I never saw anything more unprofessional than this in my whole career!! They only wasted our time! As a tour manager, I am perfectly aware of values, risk taking, courage, professionalism and all those issues they had talked about!! That would have applied for new people without experience, so why in the world they contacted us??? I just do not understand! So no wonder about all those complaints coming from travelers!! No wonder their Tour Manager were so undelicate, not available, out of touch!! This the criteria of their recruitment. Hope the company will take this in consideration for the near future and surely to remove those people from the Rome Office! Thank you for your time and attention!

We arrived at Miami and cleared US Customs at 11:30. Naturally we missed our scheduled 7:30PM departure on American Airlines. We immediately went to the airlines counter and they told us that we could book a seat out on the next flight to Cleveland which was 9AM the next morning. They also told us that there would be a $200 change fee per ticket. We found a room at a nearby hotel for approximately $125. Got up the next morning, got the flight and got back to Cleveland. In summary, the charter company's non performance cost me $560.

When I spoke to one of their customer support(?) people, a Ms. Sally **, I was told in no uncertain terms that GCFT did not consider the non performance of the charter company to be their responsibility. She could not or would not quite understand the concept of 1. GCFT hired the charter, 2. the charter failed to perform and 3. the charter was acting as an agent of GCFT. I was just repeatedly told it was not GCFT's responsibility. It was a very dissatisfying end to an otherwise enjoyable trip. So, remember when you book a trip with GCFT, they are extremely nice when you are booking the trip and they are taking your money. Not so nice and helpful when something goes wrong and you request a refund.

I was finally able to reach the ship the 4th day and told them they needed to pick me up and get me back to the ship immediately. Now the "hospital" would not release me until I gave them my American Express card so they could charge $10,000 American dollars to it. That done, I looked up and a man motioned for me to come with him. What choice did I have? I still had not physically seen anyone from the ship. The man took me to a car and I prayed that it was going back to the ship. My prayers were answered. When I got aboard ship, I found out the "doctor" wasn't even a doctor and he had been fired the morning they shipped me off in the ambulance. The representative from Grand Circle - Sam - did not allow me to even speak of my experience during lunch. Today, I finally got my bill settled with American Express. All this time not once did I ever receive any assistance from Grand Circle. The main reason for the hold up? Translation of the invoice to English. To this day, I have heard nothing from Grand Circle in the way of assistance or apologies!

After the walking tour was over, a group of us sat down at an outside cafe. I was feeling lightheaded and dizzy and thought I was dehydrated. The longer I sat, the worse I felt. I asked Jose our guide, to get me back to the hotel. He pointed to a line of taxis. “They’ll take you.” I asked him to accompany me to the taxis and tell the driver where I was going, as I didn’t speak Spanish. I arrived safely back at the hotel and went to my room still feeling ill. After an hour or so, I felt worse and decided I should return home to NYC. After much difficulty in getting through to Grand Circle, I reached a woman and explained how I felt and that I wanted to go home. She said she’d get back to me. About a half hour later, Jose called and I told him I wanted to go home. He said that when the tour finished in Tormolinos, he would call me. Several hours later, he did call. I said again I want to go home I don’t feel well. Jose had a doctor see me who said I was "fit to fly."

I called Jose. Did he get me a ticket home? “Why don’t you come downstairs Roberta, well go for a walk.” I met him in the lobby and we walked along the boulevard adjacent to the sea. As we walked, I continually asked him if he had heard from GCT and whether or not they had secured a ticket for me. This went on for another hour or so. At this point I had had it. I telephoned my niece who, fortunately, is a travel agent. I told her the situation, and she said, “Call back in an hour.” I did and she booked me on a flight to New York via Dublin for $1,100.00 for the next day.

I told Jose about the ticket, and he sort of made a face. Then said, GC had a ticket for me! What is particularly disturbing was that Jose never once called me that evening or the next morning to see how I was. The next morning, I took a walk down the boulevard and saw the tour bus leave. One woman waved to me. That morning the bus left, I told two couples I had become friendly with that I was flying home. At that moment, it occurred to me that no one from GC knew where I was, what my flight information was or if I was okay. Thank goodness the flood that hit Malaga didn’t occur while I was there. I know that sounds selfish, but I could have disappeared and no one, other than my niece, would have known. And she wouldn’t know until I contact her when I get back.

Back in NYC it became increasingly clear that a tooth was bothering me. My oral surgeon prescribed antibiotics, and then the tooth was removed. It had an abscess. Needless to say, I would never travel with GCT nor would I encourage my friends to use them.

When I cancelled the trip, Grand Circle kept $475 of my deposit as handling charges and told me to file a claim for the balance of $400 with the insurance carrier Tripmate. Tripmate advised me my reason for canceling the trip was not a covered reason so all I was entitled to was a $400 travel voucher with Grand Circle that is only good for 12 months. I will not be able to use the voucher because my finances will not have sufficiently recovered before the voucher expires. I expected to pay a penalty for canceling, but not the entire deposit. Where do they get off charging $475 for approximately 15 minutes' work? I feel as though my pocket has been picked.

I used to think very highly of Grand Circle and considered them a topnotch company when it came to customer service. Because of this incident with the travel insurance, I will not travel with Grand Circle under any circumstances. I will also advise all of my friends and acquaintances the complete details of this transaction. They have probably made a pile of money off of travelers that have found themselves in the same predicament. I am resigned to the fact that I did business with crooks and there is not a thing I can do about it.

In Budapest, we were in a lesser room and received body wash/shampoo which was nothing more than dish detergent. The maid had shampoo, conditioner and lotion on her cart and our friends were given those products in the room. My husband was also bitten by bed bugs at the Hotel Diplomat in Prague. I have written these comments in the trip evaluation and have also voiced my complaints to the Quality Control department of GCT. I am still white hot angry over the treatment that my husband and I received in the room assignments. The only hotel on this trip that was any good was the Westin Hotel in Warsaw. The rest were comparable to a bad Motel 6.

I have traveled with GCT and OAT in the past and might consider traveling with them again in the future, but I am truly turned off by their mail blitzing tactic. When you call them to complain, everyone I have spoken with knows that they are flooding people with unwanted mail and are very apologetic about it. Management, get your act together! When someone says they don't want mail from you, don't send them mail. What part of "no" don't you understand? It only angers people and turns them off. Enough said?!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 you know how I feel that I was taken advantage of and to clear my mind. I will never recommend your company to anyone. I feel that all you wanted was my money, which was quite a lot, and I did not get my money's worth from your company. I was not helped in time of trouble and really left out in the cold even though I had paid extra insurance and I really paid my life savings for a trip that was not promised to me i.e., Rotorua and other things. I do have more of a list but these are the main things.

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 recommend this company.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

A second customer service rep said St. Ermin's had cancelled its contract with Grand Circle. We found out after arriving in London that some of the people in the group were in fact staying at St. Ermin's; the problem was that Grand Circle had booked too many people and had to find another hotel on short notice. When I made the original booking, I changed our travel dates in order to stay at St. Ermin's. I am aware of the clause in the tour operator's contract that says changes can be made for comparable accommodations when necessary. My contention is that the hotel they substituted was not a "comparable" hotel when you consider size, location, and ambiance. My husband and I booked our own hotel - at our own expense - in order to be in a convenient part of London. I believe Grand Circle owes a partial refund to cover a portion of our additional expense.