# EF College Break-Any Experience??



## tinkerbell of winter

Has anyone traveled with EF College Break before? I booked a 15 day European Road Trip this summer and was wondering if anyone had any advice on the experience they may have had.

Thanks in advance!


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## OilSlinger822

I've heard a lot about it and i plan on doing one of those trips myself one day...when i'm not broke haha....one of my friends is a campus rep for the company and she's always going on amazing trips w/ them


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## DisneyFanaticMatt

I thought about it but some of those prices for college students are outrageous. For the money it'd cost me to take a 3-week trip I could cover half the fees and costs of a 3-month study abroad stay in Japan. I know nothing in life is free, but if they're trying to market to college students I'd like to know how many are out there that have enough disposable income to afford this kind of a trip. I'll pass, especially because as a campus rep I can split a week-long trip to Disney World with three other people and have the cost per person for the entire trip be about $350.


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## Berlioz70

tinkerbell of winter said:


> Has anyone traveled with EF College Break before? I booked a 15 day European Road Trip this summer and was wondering if anyone had any advice on the experience they may have had.
> 
> Thanks in advance!



I have... my husband and I did the Rome/Greece one (he proposed in Greece) and we had a great time. The thing I love about them is that they take care of everything in terms of meal locations and transportation. My tour guides are really what made the trip awesome, get to know them and you'll have a BLAST!!! UNDER UNDER pack!!! Maybe take two pairs of jeans and some t-shirts and one pair of VERY comfortable walking shoes. It is so much easier to wear the same jeans multiple days in a row and to spray things in Febreze then to haul a big suitcase around. We changed rooms a lot, almost every night, and it was a lot easier for me than my friends. And to be honest, no one really cares what you're wearing anyway, just as long as you don't stink!


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## BeckerzCP09

I went like in the Summer of 07 I think of the "Essence of Europe" : London, Paris, Austria, Switerzland, Germany, Italy

and well my trip wasn't all that great. Our tour guide lady who works with EF didn't do such a great job seeing how it was her last tour she was doing with EF so she didn't make our trip exciting. But doing EF is way cheaper and if you choose to go I only hope you get a better tour guide.

oh wait I didn't do the college break one, but there pretty much the same, oh and if you go with people make sure it's with people you like. My group ended up having to "babysit" a senior in highschool


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## MAH4546

deathcabforme said:


> I think EF's prices are pretty reasonable, especially since they include airfare - which to Europe nowadays its a minimum of $1,000.




Airfare to Europe is dirt cheap right now, around $350-$450 round-trip from the East Coast, $650-$750 from the West Coast. 

Regardless, I think EF or any of those tour companies is usually a good deal, because everything is planned for you, and that convenience factor is definitley worth any possible premium, IMO.

As for the tour companies, Contiki Tours is generally the more highly regarded one, but I think it's usually more expensive.


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## bonbon

MAH4546, where are you finding airfare to Europe that cheap?!  Ive been looking because a friend and I were looking at maybe going to England, and all I can find is airfare at minimum of $700.  And I'm on the East Coast in a (fairly) major city.

If EF pays for airfare, then go with them.  My friend and I were looking at a trip with another company, about the same price but we had to pay airfare.  We found it was cheaper to not go with a group and just go on our own.  I may have to look into EF though now to compare.


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## MAH4546

bonbon said:


> MAH4546, where are you finding airfare to Europe that cheap?!  Ive been looking because a friend and I were looking at maybe going to England, and all I can find is airfare at minimum of $700.  And I'm on the East Coast in a (fairly) major city.



When are you going? If you are going around spring break or summer break, $700 is a good price.

Also, which major city? It's cheaper from the "major gateaways" - Boston, New York, DC and Miami - not necessarily just major cities. 

British Airways has a sale right now with round-trips to London stating at $312.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28746900/


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## blackat33

I'm going to Europe for spring break with my AP Art History class. Our trip is hosted by EF Tours. It's gonna cost around $3,000 in total, for the trip itself and all the things I'm gonna buy while I'm there. I can't wait!


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## honey bear

I went last summer on the Greek Island tour.  From the beginning the company was very unorganized and a few of the people I talked to were very rude.  My husband and I planned our wedding on the trip according to the schedule we received.  The itinerary was changed and when we asked if they could help us setup something since we would have to stay behind on an island for our wedding they told us to change our wedding plans!!!  First off that is hard since weddings anywhere are setup months in advance and second I was appaled they even suggested that.  We were willing to stay behind on our own expense and catch up later.  The trip was good, we had amazing guides, they were great.  

Our money didn't pay for all the transportation though or half the meals.  The amount we paid and what we got out of it wasn't worth it, but at least I still got married!

Oh yea one more thing, I worked for the company at the time


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## kmg148

bonbon said:


> MAH4546, where are you finding airfare to Europe that cheap?!  Ive been looking because a friend and I were looking at maybe going to England, and all I can find is airfare at minimum of $700.  And I'm on the East Coast in a (fairly) major city.
> 
> If EF pays for airfare, then go with them.  My friend and I were looking at a trip with another company, about the same price but we had to pay airfare.  We found it was cheaper to not go with a group and just go on our own.  I may have to look into EF though now to compare.



Flying in the fall is usually the cheapest. BA and USAirways usually have really great deals around November and sometimes February. $200 + taxes is a great rate!


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## BJPasciak

Hey Ef college break is a great site ive heard much better things about it compared to contiki.  Btw there is a promo code that doesnt expire that is pascia5095 for $50 off your trip.


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## gbard21

Hello all, I am writing this to get my word out to the public due to my disastrous trip. I was on the 30 day trip around Europe. The first thing everyone should know about is hotel location. Our tour director reassured us on our hour and a half drive to the hotel that this would be one of the worst locations on the trip. She had blamed the location on a soccer match that was going on that weekend. Everyone in the group was very understanding and was willing to take the two trains and a bus that it took to get into the center of London. Unfortunately, that happened to be one of the better hotels on the trip. Let me tell you all, on a budget trip I was not expecting any type of luxurious hotel, however, I was not expecting to commute at least 45 minutes in every city that we went to. The worst of my experiences happened in Venice. Due to the trip itinerary being posted three weeks before the trip, I had very little notice to fix anything I possibly could with our hotel accommodations. Our tour provided hotel happened to be located in Jesolo. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Jesolo is at least an hour boat ride from Venice, and that is if you catch the specific boat heading in that direction. EF advertises that you will have 2 days in Venice. But once you arrive in Jeloso at 6 in the afternoon, you realize that it is basically impossible to get to Venice until the next morning. The next night in Venice was the one I booked in order to have a "central location," just like EF advertised. There was a problem though, our bus left for Rome the next morning at 8. My girlfriend and I worried that we were going to miss the bus, so we left Venice by water taxi a little before 6 am. That water taxi took us to Lido, where we had to board another boat to the mainland. From there we had to take a 50 Euro cab ride back to the hotel. We got there at 8:10. It took us over two hours to reach our hotel from Venice that was supposed to be located IN Venice!!! Not only this, but we were almost left behind by the group and heard side comments from the trip director several times that she should have left us behind (maybe she was jealous of our central location?). Besides horrible hotel location, the actual people who provided the tours were awful. We saw much less than what we could have if we had done this tour with one of those groups advertising on the streets. Some of the tours of cities would consist of sitting on a bus and being driven around without the opportunity to get out and take pictures/look at monuments. Obviously after the first few tours, a large part of the group stopped attending and decided to explore on their own. Maybe I had a terrible tour director,  maybe we just got unlucky with the tour guides that were provided in each city, I have no idea. When I had contacted EF along the trip,  they were not helpful at all and not interested in making anything better for the group and I. In one instance, they downgraded our hotel from one in Nimes to one in Orange, overnight, without any hesitation. I would NEVER recommend EF to anyone!! If you are interested in doing a European adventure, don't be lazy! Obviously when you add a third party, they are going to have to make their share as well. Look into hostels in cities that you would like to visit and schedule tours yourself! You can do the trip much cheaper and more to your likings. My case with EF was they took their share way too far. They widened their profit margins much more than what is fair. Little things like canal tours in Amsterdam, they would offer for 15 Euro and you would find the same thing on the street for half price. There are many more details to this horrible trip. If you are considering doing something through EF and you want more information from me, please feel free to respond!


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## SyracuseWolvrine

gbard21 said:


> Hello all ...



Hello gbard21.  Paragraph breaks are your friend!


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## lilmin123

I am really interested in booking a trip with Ef College. I am a 19 year old student who would love to see another part of the world. Is this something someone my age could do alone and have a comfortable experience? Please give me feedback. Thanks much!!


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