EF Ultimate BreakReviews of efultimatebreak.com

This past May, myself and 8 other friends booked a trip to Europe through EF. We had a great travel consultant who was available to us almost always via text, call, or email if we had any questions. The day of departure, we found that our flights had been either booked incorrectly, or transferred incorrectly between airlines. After spending 5+ hours in the airport check in area, our only option was to fly to another country where we would have a 24hr layover, then fly to our original destination. This option had us missing almost the entire first stop/2 days of our trip. Not only were we told by EF that this was an “amazing option” and that “the first day doesn’t count” (we had paid for things on the first day that we would now miss), we were also told once we landed we were responsible for finding our own way to the hotel and to catch up with our group. Now that we’re back from the trip, I have been in contact with 1 senior travel consultant who told us that to receive any compensation for the 2 days we missed, we would have to fill out a travel insurance claim. I was told I would not need documentation from the airline of the change of flight since EF was aware and had an “investigation open.” That was not true. I filed a claim and was told I need proof. Since I filed the claim, I have essentially been ghosted by EF. They have not been of any assistance once we had issues with the trip. I would not recommend booking with them.

Three people (including myself) were stranded in Italy while the rest of the group went to Greece because of technical issues with our tickets, and the company took many hours to contact us, and even longer to get back to us with another flight. There were issues with two of the excursions where most/all people couldn't go and the company never got back to a majority of us. Only breakfast is included (it's usually some bread and ham or something). It's a gamble how your trip goes depending on who booked the same trip as you, since you'll be spending a lot of time on a bus with them (bus days were literally full days from early morning to nighttime). My favorite parts of the trip were spent away from the group; if you've been to Europe before, you're better off skipping almost all of the excursions (they're all tourist traps (even your tour guide's recommendations) and you're better off looking independently). If you've never been before and want to stick with the group, go ahead! Also, the quality of your trip is highly dependent on your guide (mine was fine, but I know other people who had awful guides). I'm pretty sure the 4.9 stars on the EF website are bought or fake. Also, you will get seriously sick multiple times on the trip. It's guaranteed. The only positives are that you don't have to worry about how to get from one country to another, since you have a group bus, and that you'll know everyone you're bunking with (and if you have a decent tour guide, you can request to not be roomed with people you don't like). Also, EF lies about the number of people you're bunking with. My tour was only supposed to be a max of 4 to a room, but we had multiple cities where it was 9 girls in one room. And they obviously never responded to our complaints about being lied to. Also, some of the locations and hostels were super sketchy and in the middle of nowhere; it's obvious EF tries to save a buck wherever they can. Overall, you could not pay me to book with EF again. Huge waste of money and huge regret; from now on, I travel solo or with friends.

I just came off of this trip and it was not worth it. The first hostel we were put in had 8 girls stuffed into ONE room with ONE bathroom. There was no air conditioning, and we were in the middle of a heatwave. If we had been given a warning that there's a chance we could be with 8 girls, we could have at least prepared mentally. Instead, we were blatantly lied to as the description and the EF app told us the maximum amount of people to a room is 4-6. The second hostel had 4 girls to a room, with a 3 inch gap under the bathroom door. This meant you could even hear the person breathing inside, not just their personal business. This hostel at least had AC. The third hostel was fine and we got individual rooms and AC. Besides that, our group was the smallest EF group ever with 12 people. Our tour director "revealed" to us at the end of the trip that this was his first tour but that was pretty obvious throughout the whole trip. I think EF allowed such a small group as guinea pigs for his first tour. As nice and lovely as as a person he was, he had little knowledge about any area we were in, got us on metros going wrong directions, and showed little interest in us. Our bus broke down while heading to an excursion and cut into our 2 hours + we got no tour guide, which was also paid for us by us. Our tour guide in Madrid was fighting random people on the street, yelling at people in museums. She took us to a museum and chose 3 paintings that she amateurly interpreted and then forced us all out of there presumably so she could get her tip outside. We did not get breakfast one day while travelling even though it's on the itinerary and supposed to be provided. There were other issues, but the biggest thing is they hide bad reviews on their website.

I have gone on two EF ultimate Trips.. and after the last experience, it will be the last. First Trip, Iceland - was Good.. Basic, very general Itinerary, but well executed and great tour guide. EF screwed up Departure Transfers, but the tour guide got it all looked after for us. Second most recent trip - TERRIBLE customer service, booked me on an airline that had a strike pending and did not care that I was concerned. I was brushed aside. On arrival, had to wait well over an hour for one other individual, and we had a rep take us on public transit to get to the hotel. There is no formal Group introduction, Tour Guide was good but not great, a lot of details could have been better executed or communicated. Group dynamic is awful... They seem to encourage people to book with Friends or have "ambassadors" that book people and host a trip to get their own trip for free. so basically, they charge extra to provide free trips to people.. Terrible flights, terrible customer service - Very basic itineraries that don't do much outside of typical tourist experience, terrible effort put into the group dynamic, overpriced for what you get. Hotels are not in good locations, going for cost vs convenience and experience. Oh and they also won't post all review on their own website, unless its a high enough rating.. so very misleading