ACIS Educational Tours Reviews

ACIS withheld 25% of funds due to cancelled trips from COVID. Peter Jones is President and should be ashamed. Money saved from hard working teenagers to travel should have been refunded in full. EF Tours just gave back another $500 to travelers making ACIS look even worse. If you have a choice travel with EF. Shame on you ACIS and Mr. Jones. PLEASE use another agency. I wish I could give them a 0.

In 2019, I planned a trip for April, 2020 to Peru. However, when Covid19 became a looming problem, ACIS refused to cancel the trip. Instead, based on my concern for the health and safety of my students, I cancelled it myself under ACIS "expanded" refund policy. I was very, disappointed that some of the students ended up losing $1000 from a trip that cost just under $4000. The refund policy was written in the most confusing language--parents (and I) thought that the most the participants would lose was $650. ACIS attempted to sweeten the loss of $1000 by offering a "voucher of $350" for another trip--most of my students were seniors and the voucher was worthless to them. I would NEVER book another trip with this company. In addition, while I was anguishing over whether or not I should cancel the trip, my ACIS tour representative decided to take an unplanned family trip, because "this was the worst week" of his life. This left our group high and dry without a specific person to contact.

I was a member of Modern European Cultures that took off March 11, 2020. Unfortunately, this company has provided me with the worst customer service experience and endangered my group members' health by not cancelling our trip after I literally begged them to. ACIS, disregarding a worldwide pandemic, flew my group, the last group from United States out to Europe and has put us through great struggles in four days. The tour was supposed to take us to London, Paris and Barcelona and the duration of the tour was supposed to be from March 11- March 19. On March 10th, with most of the governments worldwide making major changes about traveling and the rapid increase of the COVID 19 cases, I contacted ACIS customer service to inform my concerns about this tour and in some sort of compensation, I asked for the cancellation of this trip. However, my concerns were completely ignored and I was told that there will be no refund. Having to go through incredible hard time paying off this trip, I did not want to throw my money out so I had to go to the trip. ACIS, not only cancelled two destinations on this trip, they have also shortened it to four days which included the traveling as well. However, most importantly, ACIS, RISKING my health, ignoring the WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC, has put me through incredibly challenging, psychologically damaging, and very stressful four days. I now am seeking psychological assistance after this trip and still have incredible concerns and stress. ACIS is responsible for a huge damage both financially, physically and psychologically in my life. After putting our group through hell, they gave us $450 back from a $4000 trip. This company is not trustworthy, not caring and most importantly not honest, they valued the financial factors over health and they gave us the most troubled experience of our lives. I will never travel with this agency nor do I recommend it to anyone.

Purchased the highest level of insurance, debated back and forth With them about how much we would be refunded. I have an email from them stating that cancellation policy would be based on the rollover trip dates but they changed the policy so that I would be refunded the total minus $500 rather than the total minus $100 per their policy. I gave up on fighting that because it was stressing me out so much. I resigned to lose $400 more than I should. At this point 58 days have passed since we cancelled and we have not seen a penny. Other parents from our group in the same boat are just assuming they won’t honor the insurance at all. I don’t know what to think. They sent an email saying there were delays because their business isn’t considered essential, but my husband pointed out that it doesn’t take a massive work force to write a check. I feel completely at their mercy. All they do is spit our their policy revisions. How about spitting out a refund? I see that you are telling me you can’t find my name. Yet another excuse. My daughters last name is Nash. You can easily look at one of the many emails I’ve sent you and see that.

Horrible. Had a trip cancelled which is understandable, but paid 4500 and was told everyone would only get back half. Where did the other half of the money go to? Barely explained. Everyone fought to lower it and then it went to 1500 being taken out, then finally 1000 taken out with proof. Finally got the refund back and came back with only half. What happened? Who knows. No one has found any answers so far.

ACIS is completing dropping the ball on proper handling of trip cancelations. I run a vacation rental business. I know this situation is awful and have made minimal income the last 3 months. However, I know that by treating my guests properly now, means they will be my guests again in the future. ACIS is banking on your kids being a limited-time customer, and a new batch of unsuspecting parents and trip leaders will replace them in the years to come. Ms. Smart's comments below about airlines not giving refunds and only offering future vouchers is completely wrong. All airlines are offering full refunds, for any reason. This is an email from United Airlines on April 30: "That's why we've waived the fees to change or cancel any trip with us through the end of 2020, including travel that was already planned as well as trips that you're hoping to take in the future. Every customer now has until May 31 to make changes to current reservations or book new flights that can be changed or canceled without a fee, and you'll be able to reschedule your trip for anytime in the next 12 months. So take the next few weeks and do what's best for you, your family and your work." But just like the airlines, ACIS would "prefer" to issue you a voucher and hold your cash in the meantime. Good luck getting that back if they go bankrupt. And if your travel suppliers are not offering refunds, call them out publicly for the benefit of your customers instead of allowing them to continue this in the dark. Also, your insurance partner (CISI) is an affiliated business of ACIS, not some separate third-party. So ACIS is keeping the $100 fee for the deductible, and your other insurance business CISI is keeping the insurance premiums. You have the ability to refund more, and you should. It is shameful the way you point fingers at your suppliers, whereas I would bet that your own companies are keeping a greater portion of any "non-refundable" amounts. It’s one thing to claim you are losing funds to supplier contracts, it’s another when the insurance fees are shifting from one pocket to the other. ACIS, as a fellow travel professional, I understand your pain, but you can and should do better. Just my small group to France will lose over $20,000 in "non-refundable" fees that you are keeping. That is wrong. You can make it right.

Responding to Ms. Smart's comment below, after going over the figures, I think you need a calculator. The money you claim to have refunded me, which we still have yet to receive, and the voucher towards another trip still do not add up to what we paid. Where did the rest of our money go??? As a student who was supposed to go on a trip over this past Spring Break, I was not only heartbroken for my trip to be cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic, but now more stressed over the money the company is robbing from my family! The trip was to France, Italy, and Spain. With a travel ban at first to Italy, and then everywhere abroad, how were we supposed to travel? Why is a partial refund even remotely acceptable? Under other circumstances, I understand it is the insurance package you buy, but a global pandemic is nothing any of us have experienced and with over a months notice, a full refund should be in order. I do not recommend this company due to the poor customer service I as well as many other students and parents have experienced and the way they handled this trying situation.

My experience is reflective of the others shared here. Our daughter, senior in high school, was to travel to England in April. Trip was cancelled by ACIS and the revised policy includes $650 non refundable cancellation fee; $350 voucher for future travel; remaining cash refund (which we have yet to see, and it has been 45 days). We had 8 people traveling from our school. I called United, and they informed me that this was not a group booking (you need to be at least 10 for a group) and the ENTIRE AMOUNT OF AIRFARE WAS REFUNDED to the travel agent. No credit, but cash refund from United. No charges from the four hotels that they were going to stay at (I verified this, too). ACIS is not transparent about the reason $1,000 penalty assessed (we have no use for future travel voucher). I am very disappointed at this bad faith handling exemplified by ACIS. Their counterparts in the travel industry are issuing full refunds. ACIS - please do the right thing for the seniors, at least.

I'm in the same situation, a cancelled trip to Germany, $9518 paid and told I will only get back $8222. High School senior (w/parent) who doesn't want to go next year and I have no use for vouchers. They talk like they are doing us some favor by giving partial refunds. Their contracts says if they cancel a full refund will be made within 45 days. They can whin about their costs. I doubt they have to prepay trip expenses and if they aren't getting airlines refunds then that is poor negotiating on their part. I doubt seriously they paid the entrance fees for attractions or for food in advance,and I know they haven't registered us with or paid CISI for the insurance which was $270 per person. The Today show this morning had its Money segment on Convit-19 scams. The most complaints received by the FTC are on spring break/vacation tours. They said they want to hear from us. ACIS- you cannot make up another refund policy that suits you now. You need to abide by the terms of your existing policy and give everybody a full refund. You are not conducting your business in the spirit of this country as it copes with this virus situation. Your expenses are your cost of doing business. American companies and people are showing their true colors. Some insurance companies are refunding premiums, medical and essential employees are risking their lives going to work everyday. You are not conducting your business in the spirit of this country if you are profiting off of students and their families by pocketing their money.

Same story here. We have 8 seniors..most will be out $1,000, if this is allowed. They complain about harsh conditions, this is the worst..but everyone is under hardship. We are in DuPage county, Illinois.

ACIS has the Ultimate Refund policy that we purchased and it has been over a month and I have received no refund from them, nor any further communications. They speak about not getting refunds from airlines and hotels as an excuse for there problems. Well thats not our problem its yours. ACIS has a legal obligation to refund all contracted moneys. Has anyone received cash or a voucher from them? Seems like Bankruptcy is in the process. Michael K. Phillips

This is the worst company I have ever worked with. They lie, steal, and do not respond to issues and complaints. Don't work with them unless you want to overpay, and then get treated like garbage!

option 1: Take next year's trip. My daughter is a HS senior and that will not work. Option 2: ACIS expects customers to lose over $1,000 on trip they cancelled. The cancellation was due to the federal ban but we are being penalized for it. Airlines have made full refunds and we tried contacting the hotels listed on the itinerary but they are closed. Option 3: Here's a transferable voucher, go and sell it. The policy revisions are only in ACIS' best interests not the customers'. This is an unprecedented event and we are all enduring hardships, but it will be business as usual for ACIS once the travel ban is lifted, ACIS expects us to just accept our losses and deal with it.

My sons trip to Costa Rica, which was due to leave March 18, 2020 was cancelled. The refund that they are offering is totally unacceptable. This trip was cancelled by Acis, we did not cancel the trip so i don't understand how they are sticking by their refund policy, the original refund policy stated that if the traveler decided to cancel. What is going on with this virus is out of all of our control, so why should we suffer the same penalties for the trip being cancelled. I think we deserve answers and we deserve to know why they feel the need to keep such a large portion of our money. I want and expect a full breakdown of where this money is going. I have no desire to be refunded with a travel voucher, i paid in cash and i want cash refunded. They have told the school group that my son was a part of that if they decide to travel next year that we will also be responsible for any extra cost and fees. They should honor the same price that we already paid, this is unacceptable to me and if i dont receive a full refund i will be filing a complaint with the Better Business bureau and if i need to i will consult with an attorney.

Beyond frustrated with this company. When my daughter's trip to Spain was postponed due to Covid19, ACIS blocked us out her account saying her trip was cancelled. However since ACIS has to pay full refunds on trips THEY cancel, her account was miraculously reopened but now said it was "de-activated". Her trip was moved to November 2020. My daughter will be in college therefore will not be able to make that work. Their cancellation policy originally read, "# of days prior to departure" in regard to how much refund one would receive. That is great because November is over 200 days away, so we would receive all but $350 if we cancel. Well again, ACIS has switched the wording to benefit their agenda. Now it reads, "Original Departure Date." I don't want a patronizing response from ACIS saying how sorry they are for my frustration. I want ACIS to be an ETHICAL company and provide the refund according to the Refund Policy that I agreed to when my daughter signed up for this trip.

Excellent quality! Allowed me to travel comfortably. Would recommend to anyone looking for a good walking shoe.

My son was due to travel to France at the end of the month. We had paid $4200 dollars for the trip. We have been told that we would be penalized $1500 for the trip leader canceling the trip. We were further told that we would only receive $1700 cash back on the $4200 we originally paid plus a voucher for $1000. My son is a senior and the voucher is of no use at all. So out of the $4200 ACIS is pocketing $2500 of our money. Now students who are rolling over to take the trip next year have all of their funds intact, while it is baffling since they are not being penalized at all for the cancellation of the trip. I suspect that ACIS is doing all it can to retain profits. I can under a 20% cancellation policy but frankly hitting us with 60% due to a pandemic...thats out of line. We are contacting legal counsel and will be contacting the FTC.

ACIS is a HORRIBLE company to do business with. My child was scheduled to leave for a trip to Italy, during the Coronavirus Pandemic and ACIS refused to work with us. We had travel insurance as tried to cancel 29 days prior to the trip. They offered a voucher to go on next year, but my child is a graduating senior and would be in College. They refused to give a refund. They kept $2500 of our money that was paid in the trip. ACIS waited to cancel 2 weeks prior to leaving. They were willing to take our children to a country that wasn't safe and did not cancel until the Government put Italy on lockdown. The entire ordeal was TERRIBLE. No customer satisfaction.

DO NOT use this company if your school wants to plan a trip abroad. My senior daughter had been planning a school trip to Italy over spring break for about 18 months, with the school using ACIS as the travel planner. When the coronavirus broke out in Italy, and the CDC said to postpone or cancel any unnecessary trips there, our school made the judicious decision not to send our children there. ACIS has given us the most meager of refunds (less than 25% of our money back, plus a useless travel voucher, and they are keeping half the money), and they have also not communicated AT ALL with us about this. As someone who works in meeting planning, I know that there has already been some outlay of money by ACIS, but not over $2,000 worth. They are unhelpful, uncommunicative, and cheap. I will consider revising my review if ACIS changes their refund policy, but, as of right now, I would say if your school is considering using them for a travel program, DO NOT DO IT.

Best value for the money. ACIS offers excellent tours, top notch tour managers, and meaningful cultural experiences. I wouldn't travel with anyone else.