EF Go Ahead Tours

Historic Christmas Markets tour was fabulous. Our tour guide, Bonita was excellent She was always helpful, full of energy and humor. We loved the combination of all of the history of the region plus the going to the markets. The hotels were great, the excursions wonderful, all of the city tours were led by very knowledgeable guides and the communication between Bonita and the travelers was perfect. We never had to question a meeting time or place and Bonita was always ready with suggestions for places to see, eat or experience. This trip far exceeded our expectations. We would highly recommend it

Grand Tour of Italy was excellent! Lots of places, walking, amazing group. Dimitri was our tour director. Very knowledgeable about Italy traditions, history, and places to go in each city we visited. Hotel selection was ok with no major issues. Strongly recommended for first timers.

What makes a tour truly unforgettable? It all begins with an exceptional tour guide! We were fortunate to have the absolute best tour guide from EF Go Ahead tours for Puglia Wine and food this September 12, 2025! We adored our Fabiana Lazzaro! Her energy, compassion, and knowledge were simply incredible. She initiated each day with a bright smile and concluded it with heartfelt laughter and a warm hug as she tucked us all in. We will deeply miss her and strongly recommend requesting her if you ever book this tour. Though our seats on the bus are now empty, our memories remain vivid and overflowing with love! God bless you, Fabiana Lazzaro.

I signed up for the Week in Portugal with EF Tours and was amazed at the itinerary that was executed perfectly by our Tour Director, Luis Cardoso, who was absolutely exceptional - the kind of Tour Director who makes a trip unforgettable from start to finish. From the very first day, he greeted us with warmth, humor, and confidence, instantly setting the tone for an amazing journey. Every detail was perfectly organized - from hotel check-ins to local experiences - yet everything felt effortless. He had that rare ability to make everyone feel included. whether you were traveling solo or as part of a group. His knowledge of history, culture, and hidden local gems brought every destination to life, but it was his passion and personal touch that made all the difference. What impressed me most was his calm professionalism. Even when plans needed adjusting, he handled everything smoothly, keeping the group relaxed and happy. You could tell he truly cared - about the places we visited and about each of us as individuals. By the end of the tour, it felt less like leaving a guide and more like saying goodbye to a friend, who had shown us the world with heart, humor and grace.

I had an incredible experience traveling solo with a group to Portugal with EF Go Ahead. While the tour was jam packed, I was still able to opt in and out of activities at my preference. The hotels and meals were great, the sights and tours were fantastic, and I met absolutely wonderful people in the tour group. Our guide, Jaime, was outstanding as far as knowledge, being organized, kind, and fun! I experienced some significant travel delays and lost luggage- none of it related to EF, but they were still quite concerned and helpful along the way. I can’t wait to go again and would absolutely recommend EF.

The Solo Greece tour was my second in 2 years first with EF. I would recommend EF Go Ahead Tours regarding a number of travel criteria. The cost of the tour provided bang for the buck. Nice hotels, great transportation, the EF tour Director Aspasia was EXCELLENT, the meals included were wonderful and the added excursions were worth the time and money. The Guides that led us through the Acropolis, Heraklion and the Knossos tour were excellent. I am very happy with my travel experience.

Fantastic trip! Valentina, our tour guide, was superb! Very attentive and knowledgeable! A few disappointments though regarding the tour which had nothing to do with Valentina. She was excellent! Our free day in Florence was on a Monday. Beware! All museums are closed on Monday!! Definitely disappointed! However, the only reason I was able to see the statue of David was because I booked expensive skip the line tickets on my own late Sunday. Also, our hotels in Rome and Sorrento were much too far away from the city center and taxis are expensive. I’m assuming this happened because of jubilee. I’m assuming it won’t happen in 2026 because jubilee will be over. Otherwise, we had a great time!

The Edinburgh and Castles tour was wonderful. As a first time traveler overseas and with Go Ahead tours my husband was a little skeptical. Go Ahead Tours made everything so easy. We went in early Nov and unfortunately some of the castles were closed and they substituted something : ( Still, I would recommend this tour. Con, our tour guide, and Paul our driver were great! Paul handled those narrow roads with ease. He deserves a raise!! Con made the trip interesting and fun. I would love to go back again when all the castles are open. Fort Williams accommodations were not up to par, but that was pretty much the only drawback.

Did a tour to Greece and islands. Tour was exceptional, guide was great. The hotels were appropriate for the trip, and the food was fine. The guide/leader Georgio P. was instructive, eloquent, informative and protective of the group. I would highly recommend him. I would highly recommend EF tours for their handling of the tour arrangements, and selecting well versed location tour guides. To sum it up, we are scheduling another EF tour.

I did italy - venice, florence, rome and sorrento. Great group of people. On the go from 8 am on. Each day packed with wonderful guided tours, as well as, time to explore. By-pass lines. Catacombs, pompeii, Vatican, etc. Every sight you could hope to see. My only "complaint" would be with the inconsistent quality of the hotels. some were top notch, some not so much.

Have not gone on the tour yet. This review is about their customer service. I booked a tour to Germany for September with an extension to Vienna. I booked my airfare on my own after making the reservation. I recently received an email canceling the extension due to low participation. I called and requested that since I already have my airfare, that the company get me to Vienna. They declined but offered to pay for an excursion. I usually travel with Gate 1/Discovery Tours and when they had to make a change to my reservation, they made paid for my hotel since I had to arrive early. This is my first time using this company and probably be my last time.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY! This was my third European tour and first time with Go Ahead. Overall, the tour guides complete lack of expertise, and the varying quality of accommodations and meals did not meet the standards we were led to expect given the description and price we paid. I booked this tour based on the reviews but did not enjoy the overall experience compared to other tours I've taken. Please take this as a sign to use a different tour company. I would highly recommend Collette if you need one. I contacted customer service and requested compensation for the bad experience and was only offered a $200 credit to take another tour with them. NEVER.

I took the tour of Egypt with the extension to Jordan. We had a wonderful time! Considering that almost everything was included, I thought their prices were fair. Our tour guides, the hotels, the Nile cruise, and the security were excellent. There were maybe two lunches that were obviously meant for bus groups that weren't so great, but the rest of the food was amazing. I plan to travel with EF/Go Ahead Tours again!

PLEASE DO NOT USE EF TOURS. THEY DO NOT CARE AT ALL ABOUT THE CUSTOMERS. I went on a previous EF tour and was pleased with it. Ultimately, I booked a second tour as my daughter's graduation present with my 2 sisters. During the time of making payments one of my sisters had to cancel in which they would only give her a voucher not a refund even with the purchase of anytime insurance. So beware. In turn, they then refused to accommodate my other sister (who was supposed to be her roommate) in a single room even though she was willing to pay the extra fees to keep the double room. Ultimately, they LITERALLY kicked her off the tour. Unfortunately after I had made 100% of the payments for the tour, my daughter was in a terrible car accident in which the car was totalled. My daughter broke her ankle in multiple places, a finger, pulled stomach muscle and seatbelt burn along with bruises and a concussion. EF literally refused to work with me in any way because it was past a certain date! I guess I could've timed my daughters accident better. They didnt want a doctors note.They would not make handicap accomodations! They would not reschedul to another tour! They wouldn't even let us pay change fees to change the tour to someone else's name! The lack of empathy and compassion for the people that keep their business running is appalling. I do not recommend! Update to this...I left a review on google and received a reply to call and theu would look into. Low and behold the same woman answered the phone. She was completely dismissive of me and when I asked to go up the chain if command she refused to give me any information. This company is untrustworthy and deceptive. I will be contacting the BBB.

Just finished a 13 day Italian trip with EF GO ahead Travel. It was amazing. Our tour director Valentina was the main reason the trip was so wonderful. She was so knowable about the areas we visited , Milan, Como, Rapallo(Italian Riviera) and Florence. Venice was included but my sister ended up needed hospitalization and Valentina worked with our family to make sure we had arrangements and were able to meet them in Florence. We called her our Angel. EF GOahead also assisted with our minor blip.. Valentina also found other trips to fill our time, including the most amazing stop at a farm to table restaurant when traveling from Como to Rapallo. Do not book this if you want a relaxing vacation,, these tours are designed to give you a sampling of many different areas, they pack a lot into each day, but I highly recommend and look forward to traveling again , this time the south of Italy and hopefully again with Valentina. Ciao.

I was totally disappointed with Grand Italy tour. They placed us in cheap hotels, served disgusting food. Almost forgot us in the airport. It was very expensive for the poor service they provided. I will never travel with them again

My experience with EF GoAhead Tours is very negative and I haven't even left on the tour yet. I planned a group tour for solo travelers to Kenya specifically because they spent a day at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. I have supported the trust with my meager means for 20 years. I was very excited to see Sheldrick on the tour list and chatted with a representative to find out how much time we would spend there. She told me it would be the entire day. I was over the top excited. Now three months later after paying the nearly $8,000 to go, I find out we are actually only going to spend 90 minutes there and half of that time will be in their museum (not with the orphaned baby elephants I am invested in) Of course in talking to them, that's just my problem. What to them is minor inconvenience is pretty devastating to me. I'm not a wealthy person who can just go again some other time. Would never recommend them.

Be careful when booking, especially if you are a senior citizen. Don't go by the itinerary description. Call first. Better yet, use a different company. We lost $1800 ($900 booking fee and $900 insurance) even though we canceled 92 days out. Itinerary description never mentioned walking, standing, or climbing stairs. My husband is 73 and uses a walker. Obviously, we had to cancel. The insurance claim was denied because it was not a reason on their list. So, we couldn't go on vacation and lost $1800. Nice thing to do to senior citizens.

I made a reservation last Thursday (11/16/2023) for a trip to Iceland from 12/02/2023-12/07/2023 and then I was told that I can't have my refund back. This entire situation has been a massive chaos. When I called on last Thursday (11/16/2023) to place my reservation, the agent (Kathy) I talked to stressed about she "cannot" guarantee that I will be able to go on the trip. Before I provided the payment information, I specifically asked if I will be able to get the refund because the trip is coming up so soon. The agent ensured that I will be able to get a full refund back within 60 days if I decided to cancel the trip. I was also told that I am basically on a wait list and someone will contact me once I can go on the trip. No one contacted me about whether the agency was able to process my information at all, so I've been left in the dark about this trip since the beginning. I called the help line this morning (11/20/2023) around 9:00 Eastern Standard Time to cancel my reservation. I was informed by the agent that I will not be able to get my full refund back since it's too close to the trip date. Basically I was told that Kathy gave me the wrong information, so I will have to pay the cancellation fee. The only reason I provided my payment information is because Kathy specifically stated that I will be able to cancel the trip and receive a full refund. I've never been so frustrated with a traveling agency. I made sure to ask this agent regarding the refund policy twice before giving her my payment information, and she still couldn't provide me with the correct information. It's unbelievable that such a big traveling agency cannot uniformly train their employees with the correct set of information.

I have yet to leave on this trip to New England, but thus far the customer service has been DISMAL at best. They have every device to discourage you from talking to an actual person. Additionally, be warned: there is a lot of FALSE ADVERTISING. Website indicates first two nights a hotel in Burlington, walking distance to many things, or close to public transportation. So, we booked a pre-stay for two nights in Burlington, Before we booked the extra nights, I was told by rep the hotel would be 'Delta Marriott in Burlington'. When the actual hotels were sent, I see we are at Hampton Inn in Colchester. Well this hotel is in the middle of nowhere, not walkable to anything, 30 minutes drive to Burlington. Their front desk informed me we 'really will need a car to go anywhere' (except Starbucks and Costco across the street). I have been on the line now 43 minutes as I type this to 'tour support' line. The rep when she finally came on tells me there is NO REFUND for the pre-stay hotel payment. It is 'close to public transportation.' Turns out she is referring to the Colchester bus station -- 13 minutes away!! Clearly, reputation and customer service are not important to this company. I will never book with them again.

I was sold on Go Ahead when COVID hit in 2020 and traveling was banned. Unlike other tour companies that went bankrupt, persevered, and every cent of the money I had paid them was still there when the travel ban was lifted. I had many friends booked with other agencies who were not that fortunate. I have been on 5 trips with EF Go ahead (and numerous ones with other travel agencies) and I keep coming back to Go Ahead because they are well ran. I highly recommend Go Ahead, and I have three upcoming tours booked with them.

Please stay away from this tour company. Unfortunately, I read all of the poor review about this company, a bit too late. My family has used the company in 2 separate occasions within the last 7 years and have had a wonderful experience however this upcoming trip has been a nightmare. It is practically impossible to communicate with customer service. We had requested nonstop flights to Europe and had even traveled to leave from a preferred city in the US where we could fly directly to Paris. Unfortunately, the company did not honor our request and booked us on a departure flight from Newark NJ to Paris with a connection in Atlanta Ga. However, they were able to honor my request for a nonstop return flight to the states. After weeks of sending messages through the phone app, I was able to get someone on the phone who was only able to tell me that it was too late to make any changes to my flights. If customer service would have honored our initial request for nonstop flights from the get-go, this would have not been a problem. To make matters worse, I was never able to communicate in a timely matter to make the necessary changes and customer service did not attempt to facilitate or offer any additional assistance other then to tell us, too bad you are too late. Never again and I hope others that read this think twice about booking with EF/GoAhead Tours.

Poor costumer service. They just want your money. I booked a single room and they told me they can not find a room for me since I booked late. How come they did not tell me this when I booked? I am travelling with my family and they were confirmed. There is a likelihood that I would not travel with them I find it so ridiculous that no one tells you anything.

Tour of Australia, June 2024 started off well enough in Sydney. Enjoyed the "Vivid" festival. After the transition to Port Douglas, the hotel that EF Go Ahead tours decided to put the group in, did not have an elevator or porter service. Then after dragging luggage up two flights of steps, down a long narrow walkway that all of the lights were burnout, found the air conditioning and TV not working. When I expressed my displeasure to the EF Go Ahead tour guide, his response was to let EF Go Ahead tours know. I complained to the hotel front desk that night and the manager moved my room in the morning. I received an email from the tour company reminding me to be nice and not yell at anyone. The tour company obviously did not care about the customer being taken care of.

We booked a trip and took the more expensive cancel anytime insurance. After 2 months of trying to get someone on the customer service line, I finally spoke to someone who gave me incorrect information. I was eventually connected to a supervisor who told me that cancel anytime meant, I could cancel, but there was no refund only a future trip credit. If you are brave enough to book with them-read all the fine print. I will never deal with them again

This review is for the tour of London and Paris. This was my third tour with GoAhead in the past 10 years. My first two tours in 2011 and 2015 were both very good, but this one was a disappointment with a dramatic decline in customer service and quality. That pains me to say, but it's true. This was essentially a bargain basement tour with terrible customer service and a bad Tour Director, Reuben, who made the tour very stressful and unpleasant. He was unavailable to us, ignored messages, and made us feel like we were bothering him. The whole tour group was constantly talking about how Rueben the tour guide was ignoring them and acting put out, like he didn't want to be bothered with the group. The wait time to talk to anyone at GoAhead on the phone was consistently 45 min to an hour minimum leading up to the tour and after. That's ridiculous. For my past 2 tours I received a quality travel bag in the mail from GoAhead. This time, GoAhead mailed the travelers a cookbook. Like that will come in handy whilst on tour. It was an obvious attempt at some promotional collaboration that didn't serve the needs of its customers at all. The London portion coincided with the death of Queen Elizabeth. It was understandable that there might be some adjustments made, but we were told in the hotel lobby that our bus had been "cancelled" and we would be traveling on foot. This was a problem, because we paid for coach travel throughout our tour. GoAhead sent us travelers an email on 9/15 that said "London is experiencing severe road closures, which do not permit buses to operate in the city." This statement was untrue. There were plenty of buses operating in the city, and numerous buses were outside of our London hotel every day transporting people from other tour groups. We took photos and video of these buses with time stamps. I understand that transportation is more complicated with activities around Queen Elizabeth, but to tell us that buses are "not permitted" to operate in the city is just false. For the excursions, there was never enough time to enjoy. It was rush-rush-rush, never allowing an appropriate amount of time to see the site, with no consideration to factor in time for restrooms or gift shops. Reuben was a downgrade from previous tour directors. It is the Tour Director's job to be available and hold our hands through the travel. Reuben left my husband and me at a London tube station after we couldn't get on due to overcrowding at rush hour. When we caught up later, he had the nerve to snip at us for not getting on fast enough. I'm a former New Yorker and know how to deal with rush hour subway crowding. There was NO ROOM to possibly get on. Then, when the group had just arrived in Paris, he took us on the Metro and then abandoned us all at an unfamiliar location in the Latin Quarter, saying that he would "challenge us" to see if we could all find our way back without him. Wow. Travel was chaotic and disorganized in his hands. The Paris hotel location at Place de Republique was shabby and filled with a constant stream of loud motorcycles at all hours and loud skateboarders, making sleep a challenge. I was also disturbed that GoAhead made a point to say that all of us travelers absolutely MUST have COVID testing just before travel, and that the Tour Director would be checking these test results as soon as we arrived. Reuben never once mentioned this testing, and certainly never came around to check our test results. I feel really lied to about this. When I contacted GoAhead with the documented issues we experienced and the demonstrable lies we were told on the tour, the representative acted all concerned and told us we were surely owed a partial refund. I asked for a $400 per person partial refund ($800 total), which is peanuts compared to the total cost. Of course, GoAhead later came back and said NO. No refund of any kind would be given. So that ended our relationship with GoAhead after 3 tours for use over the last 10 years. They didn't care at all about losing our future business. So, BEWARE. This company is not what it once was. It's a great shame. We will not be traveling with them again. There are a lot of other choices out there, and they don't care about making things right -- just getting your money and nickel and diming you to death. You've been warned.

EF GoAhead Tours has a few good qualities but, their customer service and the ability to obtain refunds that they owe is the worst. We went on a European tour with them. We booked airfare, hotels and excursions through them. Total trip was well over $14,000. We paid all of this in advance by withdrawals from our checking account, as they require. They do not accept credit cards for payments except while on tour. To begin with, most of the booking part was a good experience. There were some challenges in getting and paying for the upgrade flight accommodations that we wanted but in the end, we did get those resolved. Now to the challenges and terrible parts. First, they cancelled our 3 day extension to Germany reportedly due to a lack of interest. The problem was, they did this after the cut-off date for us to cancel or reschedule. After pushing through to a Supervisor, that person did assist with booking our hotel and a return flight home, but nothing else regarding other travel or arrangements. Next, 4 days prior to the tour starting they canceled one of our excursions. This meant it was too late to book something else for that day. Then, they have refused to issue a refund for the entire amount we paid for that excursion. We are out $20 for this. Even though we have provided documentation of their error in the refund amount, no one at EF seems to understand and they refuse to address this issue. We then booked something on our own for that day. While on tour, they then offered another excursion for us for that day and were kind enough to credit us for the other excursion we then had to cancel. Problem here is they charged us an extra $10 per person for this excursion, citing their policy is that the price goes up once you are on tour. This is even though they canceled the other excursion just prior to the tour starting and did not offer us another option until we were on tour. We are out another $20 for this error or policy on their part. Next, they canceled two additional excursions while we were on tour. One was $198 for two persons and the other was $290 for two persons. They told us while on tour that they would refund these charges to us but, that it takes 8-10 weeks for them to process these refunds. Since the tour ended, we have been in constant contact with EF. Here are the problems related to this. First, you cannot speak directly to someone about these kinds of issues once the tour is over. You have to leave a message and then it usually takes them 3-4 days to call you back. The Customer Service reps are not empowered to do anything about this except to document it and then forward it on to someone else while you wait for a reply. I have asked several times for a Supervisor and each time I am told, they will ask one to call me but it also takes 3-4 days for them to call you back. They have asked for documentation of these issues and I have sent them emails, invoices, screenshots and all that there is. Unfortunately, no matter how clear the documentation is, nothing gets resolved. We finally established contact with someone we were told was a Supervisor. However, her title is Customer Loyalty and Engagement Specialist. We just can't seem to get to a Supervisor to assist us. This person has now told us several times that the initial $20 was refunded to our credit card. However, no refund has ever posted. Then, she told us an additional $238 was credited back to our credit card. That refund has also never posted and it has been over 2 weeks. She has also told us that the remaining $250 will be issued to us in a check. But, when asked when the check would be issued, were told they were completing their annual "audit" of finances and it would be another 3 weeks before the check would be issued. We are not confident at this time that this will ever happen. We were also recently contacted by another guest on our tour. Similar issue with a refund that was promised yet they have yet to receive theirs either. In summary, we had a pretty good tour experience with EF, it is the work on the back end and getting to talk to anyone or get refunds once we are off tour that is the problem. Their employees do not have any answers, they don't want to talk on the phone and want to try and handle everything by email and they are just plain difficult to work with. As of today, we are still waiting on $522 in refunds from EF with no understanding of when we might see our funds. Very disappointing!

Did a group tour of Ireland with these people. We were hauled around to every tourist trap in the country. Most of the people on my trip seemed to be Fox News watching Trumpers. The tour director didn't seem to know much about Irish history. Never visited a single site from the 1798 or 1916 rebellions. Total zero. Much regret it.

I don't know for sure because they're not upfront with their processes, but they seem to contract most functions out to local guides with no incentive to help you. Customer service will tell you they have no specific information about your tour and cannot help you, but they will read you a patronizing appeasement script and admonish you for not being happy with their paltry product. You get essential information about airport transfers and hotels at the last minute, further limiting your recourse. The hotels are far from anywhere you'd want to be, so you spend the money you save with them by taking taxis and Uber or time with long, complex commutes. Included dinners are not generous. You can get lucky with a nice tour guide, but there's still not much they can do if you have a problem. I should have booked a more expensive tour because I paid the difference making up for everything lacking with GoAhead.

Review for England Ireland Scotland tour....Rae Webster was undoubtedly the best tour guide ever! Helpful, knowledgeable and just plain sweet. England, Ireland and Scotland were each beautiful and interesting in their own way. But the amount of bus time was unforgivable. And as for the buses provided by Manning- none had WiFi...in 2023! Really EF tours? And one bus had no working bathroom, which resulted in a very unfortunate and embarrassing incident for a gentleman on board. I have previously travelled with Go Ahead but I am not sure about future trips.

I originally booked a tour and paid the $300 fee. Things came up and had to put it on hold. I received an email stating that I needed to re-book or cancel by the next day. I cancelled it and they kept my $300 deposit. Why? I wonder how much they make off keeping customers deposits and they did not have to do anything for it. I will never book with them I'd rather take my chances and book my own tour. Buyer beware.

Customer service is horrible. Almost non existent. Our Tour Director and Naturalist were wonderful and the tour itself was very good. However, two accommodations were terrible and when we talked to Go Ahead about it, they basically said too bad even though we told them what we wanted upfront. So we will never go with this tour company again.

Terrible experience all around. Once I committed to the trip, I was never able to speak with a representative again. My simple request to be booked on a specific airline was ignored. Once on the tour, the hotels were sub par - dark, dirty, inedible food. And worst, while EF touts their COVID safety protocols, they don't follow their own rules! We were required to take a COVID test and bring a picture along, those were never checked. Our tour director openly said "masks are stupid" and he wouldn't enforce the mask mandate on public or chartered transportation. And ignored the fact that one of our group arrived very obviously ill. The result was that several of us got COVID, and had ZERO faith in EF's ability to help. Never, ever, ever travel with this company!!

Parents - Read all of the reviews. EF does not have your best interest as their priority.

For the money spent, it was mostly a let down. I did Rome, Florence and Venice. We actually ended up leaving a day early and had to pay for the flight change to do so. I have celiac disease and was told I would be accommodated 100% and I ended up starving most of the trip. All 3 of the only dinners provided, it was a total surprise to them that I needed gluten free, so each time, I got an undercooked bowl of red pasta made last minute. None of the hotel breakfasts knew about me or labeled anything. I think this should have been handled ahead of time by the tour guide (who was barely present nor informative). His lack of....everything really set the tone for many people on the tour. The itineraries for the days they actually took you somewhere was maybe 2-3 hours. Everything else you had to pay extra foror you were completely on your own. The hotels (besides maybe Florence) were booked so far from anything you had to pay for an uber. Most people save for years for something like this and I couldn't wait to get home. :(

The company has no integrity. They charged me and took funds funds from my account for travel insurance I did not request. When confronted they refused to refund the money despite it being their error. DON'T USE THIS COMPANY. THEY ARE CHEATS. THEY DO NOT BELIEVE ON CUSTOMER SERVICE.

The. Best. Tour Leaders. Grab some friends, click the mouse and do yourself an adventure! You won't be sorry,

This is our fourth EF Go Ahead tour. This last tour to Greece (athens, mykonos and santorini) 9-1-23 was a complete nightmare. When we reached Philadelphia, our connecting flight was gone. The tour scheduled us to land at 5:38pm and depart at 6:32pm. This is unacceptable for an international flight. We were forced to stay in a sub-par 2 star hotel with no food, no luggage and got a flight out to Athens Greece the next evening, missing the welcome dinner etc. On our return flight from Greece back home, we arrived at the airport 4 hours early only to be told that go ahead cancelled our flight home. We were stuck at the airport in a foreign country. We called our tour director who told us to call the go ahead emergency number. We called the "emergency" number for go ahead and told them about our flight delay and cancellation they were useless. We were told to work it the with the airline. One of our excursions got cancelled the day of (for reasons unclear). It was $99.00 per person (for me and my husband) and we still don't have our refund. We keep getting the run around. Last we were told it could take two months because the tour director has to fill out a formal report. Would not recommend.

I've booked a tour to Greece with them for my daughter and I which will take place Oct. 5-13. I've paid for a large portion of the trip already. I am wanting to talk to them about flying me into Athens ahead of time and to inquire about the hotel where the tour group will stay. A client cannot address these two questions via their webpage and I need to talk with a real person. However I have tried reaching them by phone on two different occasions only to be on hold for more than an hour. Finally hung up both times. I'm beginning to think I made a wrong choice in choosing this tour company and should have booked locally. Now I don't even know if I can get any money back if I cancel. At this point, I would not recommend this travel service.

I am beyond frustrated with EF's customer service. They are great when you're booking your trip and it's paid for. Once you try and contact them after that they have very long hold times, you leave a number and they don't call you back. EF booked my flights and they are horrendous. I'd like to see one of their employees or family members tell me they'd be happy about them. Taking three flights to our destination with 6 hours of layover and on the way back a 9 hour and 20 minute layover is absolutely ridiculous! You would think they could get their customers better flights. I paid a lot of money for this trip and they want to charge me MORE money to change the flights when they should have booked the better option in the first place. I could have booked better flights myself. I will never use EF again....should have stayed with my local travel company! EF needs to put themselves in their customers shoes if they'd like return business and a good review.

I would find another company, my tour was terrible in every way, from the director to the excursions. The only good part was the bus driver, who was really good.

My wife have been on 5 trips in 5 years with Goahead. trips have been ok. customer service is pitiful, emails never answer my questions, long hold times poor communication. BEWARE OF THESE PEOPLE I cant tell you how much time I have spent trading emails, waiting on hold. the chat option on the website is worthless. all it is a bunch of canned crap a a continuous loop of garbage NEVER AGAIN

I am a bit perplexed, as I see here on the site that the tour company is open, yet they haven't been answering their phones now for several days. Makes me worried that they are going out of business or something. We put in our deposit and just want to arrange our flights, which we need some direction on since we are booking our own through miles. This booking is time-sensitive, due to the rise in oil prices affecting the airlines' fuel costs, and thus, the price of the ticket. This type of behavior does not encourage confidence and creates anxiety instead - especially if there should be a problem while one is in a foreign country..... Thank you J. FODOR

Every time I would ask a question about one of their tour packages or say what kind of tour I was look g for they would try to rush me off the phone by telling me I wasn't the right fit to travel with their company. I finally gave up and booked a foreign trip with Gate 1 travel and I will probably book with Gate 1 for a trip a second trip later this year. They lost money by not training their staff on how to talk to customers.

DON'T DO IT! They are impossible to reach and shady beyond belief. When THEY cancelled a tour they refused to refund our funds(over $5,000). They offered a voucher for a tour at some future date. When I asked if I could cancel, they told me it would cost $1000.00 per person. When challenged, that became $450. So now we're fighting them over that amount. Unbelievable. I would learn from our mistake and AVOID them at all costs.

This is our 5th trip to Europe and we've always used tour companies to make arrangements, this is our 1st time using EF Go Ahead Tours as an agent. We did the London-Normandy-Paris excursion in midSept 2023. The tour was nothing exceptional and basically had few excursions included unless you would like to pay some big money to go to crowded events (ie. Stonehenge, Windsor, Versailles...). Tour itinerary included several dinners and typically a breakfast. Meals at the restaurants we used were average to above average. The hotel in London was OK at best and the breakfast was average. The London hotel was not too centrally located for the tourist attractions but it was in a nice locale. Hotels in Normandy&Britany were better than London and breakfast was better and accommodations a little more comfortable. Hotel in Paris was the worst of the (4) stays. Breakfast was poorly managed..especially if your pressed for time early in morning, AC barely worked in our room, room service was poor---we returned from doing things in Paris at 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon and the room hadn't been cleaned. We were not the only ones on tour to make this comment. The bus rides were fine, comfortable. There was one unfortunate incident in London where the bus we were in had no AC. London happened to be in the mid80s-low90s that week. The bus felt like it was over 100F. This bus ended up going to WIndsor for an all day excursion...the bus goers who went suffered the heat the entire journey. EF should have done a better job managing the bus change...especially when 31 of 32 people on Tour were over 65 and heat issues could have led to medical issues. Some tourists declined the Windsor tour after paying for it. The tour director was fine at managing the activities and keeping things interesting. We thought a little more time should have been spent in Normandy... but that's hindsight. Overall the tour and tour guide were fine and we would consider EF Tours for another European excursion if we go back there.

A friend/travel agent told me about this great tour to Italy and Greece and she said the tour company was great! Well...let me just say that she was sadly mistaken!! Starting with the accommodations: they were definitely not 4 star hotels. A couple of them were nice, others were not so nice. The food at the hotels, recommended by our tour director and on the excursions that we paid for... not good...I could've done better myself. And the excursions were definitely not worth what we paid. I ended up getting Covid and never made it to Greece! During that time (9 nights) I had to change hotels 4 times. I then had to find my own Covid testing sites and pay for all that myself...hopefully I'll get reimbursed for that, the taxis and food. Then there was my luggage delay for 9 days. Still haven't heard from the travel insurance company on that and on the fact that I paid for Greece including the excursions and did not get to go!! And I'll never fly Air Canada again. Horrible service but I'm sure GAT got a great deal using them. So do your homework before you book a tour with Go Ahead Tours and read all of the reviews!

I initially purchased a trip with my son who was in an honor's history class. We were suppose to travel to Paris, Switzerland, and Germany. A few months before the trip, the teacher informed us that due to new Covid rules, we could not travel. Some of the parents opted to go on another trip to Spain. I paid a total of 6467 for this trip with my son. I chose to keep my money and decided on a trip to Belieze in October 2023 with my husband. I waited a year and half only to receive an email stating that because there was low turn out, this trip was cancelled. I called and requested a refund. I was initially told that they would refund all but $950. I asked why would they keep anything as I did not cancel either trip? I was then told that I would get the full $6467. I received that information in an email from the representative. I received a check for $5767. When I called and asked why they kept $700, I was given the run around. I then received a call from the person who told me that I would receive the $6467 that she made a mistake and they couldn't provide the $700 because it was cancelled. I again stated that I did not cancel it. She had the audacity to tell me that I could use the $700 as a voucher towards another trip with their company? Why would I opt to give this company more money to steal from me? Who in their right mind would do so? This company is treacherous. Parents, this company will steal your money and justify doing so. Do not waste your time!

Booked a 9 day trip of Southern Italy and three excursions which I paid for in advance. First conversation with Travel Director, upon arrival, was "all excursions are cancelled because no one wants to go". Why weren't we advised prior to arrival in Italy? We wanted to go. At home it would have been easier to set up excursions on our own. Found out this was a lie by talking to others in our group. First day I easily took the train to the first excursion sight. (Casserta Castle and Gardens). Hotel accommodations were supposed to have two beds -- I was travelling with my adult son. Didn't happen and there was no assistance from Travel Director who response was "sorry". Most of the group was booked into sea front rooms of a pretty good size for Europe. We were booked into a 10 x 10 room with one bed on the noisy main road. They could not provide a cot or separate beds. I called 800 # and spoke to helpful Wes but still no assistance. Returning from Capri (We talked up the excursion and others decided to go), bus was left in sun closed up and was excruciating hot and, of course, the air conditioning was broken. 45 minute ride where several people became ill. No water on bus ever. Next day we took a bus to Rome, which broke down, and we spent several hours in a rest stop. Instead of seeing the Monte Cassino, one of the schedules stops, Travel Director, decided independent of discussion with group, to push on and skip it so we would arrive in Rome earlier. We were supposed to arrive in Rome at 5:00 pm, we arrived at 3:00. We could easily have stopped at Monte Cassino. I questioned this decision and was told I could take the train back if I wanted to. We left the tour at that point and continued on, on our own. What is the point of going with a tour company if you have to make most of your own arrangements? Disappointing and preventable. Chose another tour operator. We have travelled numerous times with Trafalgar. That would be your best bet. Now I am working on obtaining reimbursement for the excursions. Was told by 800 number representative that it would take up to a month because Travel Director has to submit paperwork and notify them first. Yikes!!!

The tour company is better at sales than running tours. I have been on many tours and this was the worst run one. I feel bad because most of the lovely people on the tour were travel novices. They didn't provide details itineraries making it hard to make plans. Customer service was awful. I spent hours waiting on the phone with one rep hanging up on me. Thank goodness I did my own flight plans as most who used them had three to four stops. The hotels were not four star as advertised and in less than ideal locations but at least had air conditioning. They offered no Covid safety protocols and had cheap group dinners always held inside. The tour guides they hired at each city were the best part of the trip. It's no wonder the majority of travelers were first time and for me last time travelers with the group.

Terrible customer service! Booked our tour 2/25/22 and paid for upgrade flights at $2500 per person. 1 month before our tour date EFGO cancelled our entire flight because United cancelled 1 connection on our return. EFGO cancelled entire reservation of flight and tried to rebook at a $10,000 per person upgrade instead of the original $2500. United blamed EFGO and EFGO blamed United - neither will to make good on the original price. Had to book with delta with a 10 hour layover for $3800 upgrade.

Do not travel Go Ahead Tours or enroll for travel insurance with Seven Corners. If you happen to experience any sort of interruption on your trip, you will not be reimbursed a cancellation fee by Seven Corners. I just got my appeal denied because I'm pregnant. They told me I had to have complications while traveling on my due date in order to be reimbursed. I booked my trip prior to Covid-19 and they used the restrictions to make money off travelers. Go Ahead Tours and Seven Corners are both fraudulent companies. They delete comments and hide the horrible reviews they get to cover up their wrongful doings.

If you think you are going to make your life easier by hiring a company to help plan your vacation think again. These people are the worse, they dont return your phone calls, there is no info on anything you are doing as far as hotels or times until the last minute and if your flights that they pick for you dont work they won't talk to you on the phone and it will take weeks going back and forth by email only. This worst customer service I have ever experienced. I never write reviews and understand that things happen, but my 10 year old could have done a better job with this. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere.

Trip sights were nice. But we had someone test positive for Covid on day 6. We were all exposed but no one else was tested although there was many having Covid symptoms. We rode on buses where people continued to switch seats and they weren't wiped down. Each day more and more we're getting sick and no preventable measures were taking except wearing mask which people weren't wearing all the time or properly. The tour director ignored this and continued to force the group to sit on top of each other during events and included meals. Most unhygienic thing I have ever been apart of. Trip is complete and many are still posting two days after the trip they are Covid positive. Will never use this company again.

This was our first trip to Europe and first experience with this tour company. We would like to compliment our tour guides for their exceptional professionalism, friendliness, and knowledge of Italy and all of its beauty. We did however have issues with the company not willing to help us in a crisis. Our flights were delayed and missed our connections. We actually contacted the tour company before leaving expressing our concern if there was a delay, what are we to do, and we were assured there would not be any issues with missing our connecting flight. According to the EF/GoAhead Tour brochure, travelers are encouraged to call the phone number listed in the brochure, in the event help is needed. This was not the case. We contacted the number and the person on the line was less than helpful and provided absolutely no suggestions other than for us to contact the airlines directly. Let me rephrase what the brochure claims: "24/7 support for any unforeseen travel needs. Our on tour support team is here to offer advice and help you navigate ANY issues you may face during your trip". After we contacted British Airways and were told that we were not rebooked, we called back the support number as it states, " if you need any assistance with the rebooking process, please call us." If this company provides this phone number and assures help will be provided, it's completely a false advertisement. This was unacceptable and for the cost of this tour, we would expect exceptional customer service. Sadly to say, this left us with a bad taste of EF/GoAhead Tours.

Tall travelers just aren't understood. I am 6' 9" and some customer support staff just don't understand an economy seat is not an option. I was having some miss communication issues with GoAhead Tours and Misha from the management team got involved and rescued me, Misha listen and understood I am a foot taller than the average American man and have special seat needs. She used the Any Reason Protection Plan and saved me. I had to cancel my trip but my money was refunded and I can reschedule my trip. Thanks MISHA!

Company does not care anything about the customers. They can change the trips and terms and they will then charge a $500 per person fee if you try to change the trip. All they want is to make sure that they keep your non-refundable deposit of $300. I would tell any buyer to be very careful dealing with this company and look at other options.