Thanks. I have learned never to trust the promises of a travel company, especially Adventures Abroad. Edith

I took Original World to Saudi Arabia just before COVID and had a great time. The tour was combined with Spiekerman, with which have not traveled in the past, but plan to. I have taken Adventures Abroad (AA) on several tours and love their itineraries and guides. But in my opinion their business practices are terrible, I was about to leave on a tour of Tunisia-Algeria-Malta when COVID hit, and was shortly to pay the very significant balance on a tour of the Pacific Islands. AA not only refused to refund my money for the Tunisia tour, but increased the price. It only offered a 6 month rebooking (when I kept sending articles that said the COVID would last much longer than that) and increased the price for the rebooking, attributing it to losses to their vendors from the last-minute cancellations. I fought and fought and fought to get my money back. At one time AA was so angry at my persistence that they told me I was on my own with respect to the air fares I had booked thru them. I finally succeeded in getting my money back. In the process I learned that AA is a registered Seller of Travel in California (SOT) (as it is required to be to do business here, i.e., contract with Californians) and, I'm fact, advertised this on their website. The SOT Law requires a full refund within 30 days. And state law controls over contract provisions. I sent copies of the law to AA, threatened to make a complaint, and FINALLY got my refund. I figured all that was due to COVID, and since AA had an itinerary I especially liked for Taiwan-Korea, started to book again. First I was told I would have to agree in writing to their cancelation provisions, then I was rejected because of my past refusal to accept their terms. The terms are on their website. Those terms are in knowing violation of California law, and probably the laws of other states that protect consumers of travel. Bottom line - great itineraries and guide; terrible, and in some cases knowingly illegal, business practices.

I traveled with them several times and loved the itineraries and guides. They are just as horrible in their business practices as they are good in their tours. They will not refund money for tours that they cancel and will add insult to injury by adding costs to the tour - which they will only reschedule within a short period of time - which they attribute to increases costs from their vendors from the cancelation. This practice is illegal under California law, and probably the law of other states that protect consumers of travel. AA knows it. I had to fight like never before to get a refund on a COVID canceled tour. They postponed the tour 6 months and refused a refund, even though I send articles showing COVID was expected to last longer than that - then added to the price. When I would not accept that, they refused for a while to do anything about the airlines for that trip (and I believe, also a Pacific Island trip ) that I had booked and paid for through them. READ THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS. That remains their current practice as of the last time I looked, last month.It is a real shame.

Check with your state Attorney General and look into you state laws.

>>Check with your state Attorney General and look into you state laws.<<

Linda: #12, 13, 14: You appear to be conversing with yourself and maybe you are not sure how these forums work? All replies go to the bottom of the forum. I see you have had issues with this company. Unfortunately most people who use new companies fail to do the proper upfront research before handing over their money. If you have the evidence, then the best way to protest something you paid for, but was not delivered or offered, is to dispute it with your credit card bank. If you believe their Terms & Conditions violate federal or state law, then you should report them to the State AG. But please take my advice, next time you plan to handover a lot of money to a new company - stop and do more thorough research first.

Stay away from Adventures Abroad! I went on their Saudi Arabia trip in February 2023 and it was a disaster. The trip was run by the seat of its pants. The first clue was when on the first night the trip leader said, “Gee, I don’t know where we are going to eat tonight.” It went downhill from that point on. This was a part-time job for the trip leader and his other jobs are lifeguard and Christmas tree light installer. The local Saudi guide and the AA guide had a very strained relationship and at times the AA trip leader was culturally naive and the Saudi guide was livid about this ignorance. There are many other tour companies who have trips to Saudi Arabia. Check them out.

I realise he's long gone but I don't understand Dallas' complaint. AA require full payment at 60 days (pretty standard IME) so 5 weeks out he ought to have paid 12,000 for 2 seats on their Saudi tour.

As for competence of guiding on Saudi tours. It's a new destination to everybody, There are lots of people finding their feet on this destination. And few people on the ground with experience to provide it. I can well believe that a company with an otherwise satisfactory reputation can have picked up a bad egg for this location.

Anyhow, I've an interest in the rep for this company as they are one of only 2 (that I can find) who run island hopping Pacific tours. Which cost a lot of dough. So I need to be sure of what I am getting before booking.

I am considering booking up with Adventures Abroad for their South Pacific Islands trip. As I am based in England there is always a bit of risk. Can anyone advise upon the reliability of this company. It does seem to be a great itinerary.

Hi Tim!

What kind of specific info are you looking for? This thread has some personal reports from folks who have booked with the company, are they not providing what you need?

I was just looking for reassurance.