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Grand Circle Travel [GCT]
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT]
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3.0 10 Reviews

Grand Circle Travel [GCT] Complaints Summary

5 Resolved
5 Unresolved
Our verdict: While Grand Circle Travel [GCT] has an above-average resolution rate, there’s room for improvement. Investigate common issues reported by customers and understand how they were resolved. Be prepared to follow up on your queries if needed, and keep detailed records of all interactions.
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3:30 pm EDT

Grand Circle Travel [GCT] Unethical company who changed their cancellation policy retroactively and are refusing refunds as promised.

We had a trip planned for the UK on June 4th but due to the pandemic, we decided to cancel our trip on April 2nd 2020, knowing full well that we would incur a $600 fee as is outlined in the contract between GCT and us. We received a confirmation email of cancellation on April 2nd 2020 which stated we would receive a refund in 7-10 days. we received no refund so I called and spoke with a associate on May 21st who said the company decided to change their policy on April 26th and would only be issuing vouchers. We do not want a voucher which we have made clear to the company through 2 calls, 2 emails and complaints about them to the BBB and the Attorney General of Massachusetts.
Our client # is 3930975 and we are requesting a refund of $4790

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11:51 am EDT
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT] travel arrangements

We made reservations in early June, 2018 for the Romantic Blue Danube: Budapest departing on 6/7/2019., reservation confirmation #3688009. My husband's sister Joan Smith will be traveling with us. Her customer number is 2831128. This will be our ninth trip with GCT and we have never had a problem. This will be Joan's first trip to Europe and she has never changed planes on her own so we made arrangements for her to fly from Detroit toHouston IAH where we will meet her and leave for Frankfurt on Lufthansa Flt 441. She was also booked to fly to Frankfurt from Budapest at the end of our trip on 6/21. She was booked to depart from Frankfort to Detroit at 10:05. You will find these arrangements and flights in your records. Unfortunately when Joan received her flight itinerary in February, it had her on completely different flights, flying alone. We have both paid in full for our trips and have made multiples calls to resolve this problem.
On 2/19 we talked to Kelly. She found the original flights that Joan was booked on and said she would work to restore them. On 3/11 we talked
To Kaylyn who said she would turn this over to a supervisor. We got a call back from the supervisor who said she was working on it but it would take more time. She also said that the original arrangements would cost a additional $962. I explained that the flights were arranged, confirmed last June and we have paid the cost in full.
Today when we talked to The supervisor, we were told that they had submitted the request to the air arrangement department on Monday and were waiting for a response.
We are Very concerned that this situation isn't being given Priority treatment. We first notified you on February 19th and nothing has been resolved. I asked them to call the airline arrangements staff directly but was told they can not do that.
We selected specific seats for Joan based on research on seat guru and we are concerned that she is not gong to have those seats. She will not make this trip flying on her own outside of the U.S which we told the staff when we made the original arrangements.
Please assist us in resolving this problem as soon as possible.
Mary Elder [protected] and Jerry Elder [protected]

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1:47 pm EDT
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT] have not received tulip bulbs ordered one hour cruise, on april 24 20l8

Have tried to reach by e-mail to Annemieke's Pluktuin HILLEGOM with no success . Bulbs were suppose to be delivered i n October and I am still waiting.

Receipt
Terminal: M2P7XQ
Merchant: [protected]
Periode: 814 Transactie: [protected]
Token: [protected]

I was charged on my Visa Card 53, 00 EUR
and US $64.90

Would like Grand Circle to contact them or refund my money of $64.90

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3:31 pm EDT
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT] Ridiculous air itinery and cancellations charges

I used GCT in the past, put stopped using them because of their ridiculous amount of stops going and coming. They lured me in again with offering single supplement. I booked two back to back trips with them for this Oct.2011. The first trip they cancelled because of lack of interest. They assured me if I wanted to add the first trip at the end of the 2nd trip the price for both would remain the same. Well, it didn't. They increased the cost of the 2nd trip because they said the air was more, then there were two $100.00 increases in the cost of each trip, and then the final straw came with the air itinery. I live near LAX, they were going to fly me on a 'commuter' jet to Dallas, with a four hour lay over before starting from Dallas to Germany, then another 2 hour delay before flying to Dubrovik, Croatia. The flight between Croatia and Sicily was two days after the tour finished and there was no tour guide to make sure that I had a ride to the airport and my flight was at 6:00 a.m. When I complained, everyone involved had 'lack of memory' a of prior conversations and they were not going to change the air arrangements. I cancelled the prepaid trips and and they charged me $300.00 per trip.
I complained again as the Sicily trip which they cancelled and I agreed to rebook is what caused all the additional charges and I felt that there should have only been one cancellation fee. Well, you know how that all went down. In additional, it has taken them over a month to return my money. I can assure all of you reading this, that I will never use them again and I would suggest that you don't either.

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5:32 pm EST
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT] Horrible Vacation

Incident
I just returned from a trip/cruise with GCT to Egypt. They put my friend and I in a room with "engine noise". We didn't know this until we got to the room but they did because when we returned home we had a letter from GCT stating that the room we were in had "engine noise/vibration issues". The engine noise was so loud it was deafening. We couldn't hear each other speak. We could not sleep in the room even with earplugs in our ears and pillows over our heads. The diesel fumes were nauseating. We couldn't breathe in that room. It was sickening. And, just to ice the cake it was so hot in there that we sweated any time we were in the room. The rest of the ship was cool and comfortable. In the end I got off the ship a day early.

I would have left sooner if I could have figured out a way to do it. We paid $500 extra a piece to get a great room with a great view. Not only was there no better view, our friends on the first floor actually got to sleep and spend time in their room relaxing.

Damage Resulting
We couldn't use the room. We had to sleep in the lounge or on the top deck. My hearing has been damaged. There is no telling what the fumes did to us. I lived on coffee all week trying to stay awake during the day. When we complained about the room all we got in return was that it was too bad, there were no options. This is not acceptable. We have sent emails and made calls since we've returned and the only response we've had is that "they'll turn it over to the Quality Control department.

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9:13 am EST
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT] Beware

Beware if you are injured on a Grand Circle Trip and have Trip Mate Insurance. In the fall of 2009, my roommate broke her leg on the Scandinavian Capitols Trip. Holland America cruise line was fantastic and supplied all medical care while absorbing all of that cost during the cruise. We alerted Grand Circle, Trip Mate and On Call prior to disembarking in Amsterdam which entailed costs and hours of emailing since there are no collect calls from the ship. Let me note that there was no GCT representative on the cruise for 122 GC travelers. All companies ignored the ship’s physician’s orders for special transportation to the hotel, wheel chair, crutches and a physician to administer medication prior to flight home. The GC agent in Amsterdam was never told to expect an injured traveler and in fact, there was only one representative for 122 people for the land tour in Amsterdam. I had to spend 2 days plus $70 cab fare to arrange all the medical attention as prescribed by the ship’s doctor for my roommate. On Call did arrange special transportation to airport and an upgrade to business class for one flight back to United States.

If you are injured with Grand Circle, be prepared to handle all medical necessities and communication yourself including pushing a wheel chair. Even though GC advertises travel for mature adults- this is overwhelming in a foreign country. You must be very efficient at email with On Call. None of the agencies followed up with the traveler until we sent a certified letter later. The responses and financial reimbursement were far from satisfactory. Perhaps their performances would have been better if she had died!

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8:26 am EST
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT] Beware of Grand Circle Travel

Beware if you are injured on a Grand Circle Trip and have Trip Mate Insurance. In the fall of 2009, my roommate broke her leg on the Scandinavian Capitols Trip. Holland America cruise line was fantastic and supplied all medical care while absorbing all of that cost during the cruise. We alerted Grand Circle, Trip Mate and On Call prior to disembarking in Amsterdam which entailed costs and hours of emailing since there are no collect calls from the ship. Let me note that there was no GCT representative on the cruise for 122 GC travelers. All companies ignored the ship’s physician’s orders for special transportation to the hotel, wheel chair, crutches and a physician to administer medication prior to flight home. The GC agent in Amsterdam was never told to expect an injured traveler and in fact, there was only one representative for 122 people for the land tour in Amsterdam. I had to spend 2 days plus $70 cab fare to arrange all the medical attention as prescribed by the ship’s doctor for my roommate. On Call did arrange special transportation to airport and an upgrade to business class for one flight back to United States.

If you are injured with Grand Circle, be prepared to handle all medical necessities and communication yourself including pushing a wheel chair. Even though GC advertises travel for mature adults- this is overwhelming in a foreign country. You must be very efficient at email with On Call. None of the agencies followed up with the traveler until we sent a certified letter later. The responses and financial reimbursement were far from satisfactory. Perhaps their performances would have been better if she had died!

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Carole Hamilton
DeLand, US
Feb 08, 2013 4:41 pm EST
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I called GCT three (3) weeks ago and ordered books on the River cruises in Euroope. Your Service Rep told me that the booklets would be here at my house, in a week to ten days. I have two extra people going on this trip and they are concerned as to the security of this company. I have tried to assure them the GCT was a good travel agency. I travel with you to Chili and Argentina and Brazil. Now as I cannot get you on the phone today due to the snow storm pending, I need to know if you are going to send the booklet in 2013 or 2014. We are interested in the River cruises down the Rhine, Main and Danube from Amsterdam to Vienna and in the spring of 2014. My phone number is [protected].

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8:14 pm EDT
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT] not a BBB Accredited Business

Please be aware of this travel agency. Their target passengers are retire and elderly travelers and this company use every technique to overcharge hidden fees from them. Their travel rules and policies are very sneaky too.

For your information, Grand Circle Travel and Oversea Adventure Travel are the same companies. They are the same people and location.
It seemed like Grand Circle Travel had too many complained from consumers all the time that GCT’s BBB (Better Business Bureau) Accredited Business was taken away few years ago.
Please check Better Business Bureau website to read their update information before decided to book your travel with them.
For more information, you can check in here.
http://www.bbb.org/boston/business-reviews/travel-agencies-and-bureaus/grand-circle-corporation-in-boston-ma-3848/

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Martii
, US
Mar 06, 2015 11:24 am EST

We have had 9 trips w/ OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel), and just signed up for a 10th. We have been *extremely* pleased on 8 of those trips and mostly pleased on the other trip (which was many years ago, we find the trips just keep getting better). On our last trip, I was surprised to hear some complaints from a couple of co-travelers, complaints which I thought were totally unfounded, which leaves me to suspect some people are just complainers and unfortunately, it's the complainers who generally leave the reviews.

I disagree that prices are not listed for optionals (they are, on their website). And I have not found a cheaper comparable company (yet) and am interested in which ones you are comparing OAT's itinerary to that are comparable when you complained that the optionals & extensions should have been included in the main itinerary (you did not say whether the prices too were comparable). Many of OATs trips only offer 1-3 optionals and usually only a couple extensions, which I do not consider a multitude, I believe the reason for the optionals is that too many people complain about "not enough downtime" (which really irritates me ... I can have downtime at home, not when I am traveling where I want the most bang for the buck).

My only complaint about OAT is that they are too quick to fire great tour guides due to the (minority) of complaints about said tour guide. But, that also shows they are listening to their customers which is a good thing.

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Philobuck
Reno, US
May 26, 2011 11:24 pm EDT

Our experience with GCT has been outstanding

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Philobuck
Reno, US
May 26, 2011 11:23 pm EDT

We are careful experienced travelers, and have had only great experiences with GCT compared to other more expensive tour groups. It may all be in one's attitude and willingness to research completely.

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rarnold2000
Silver Spring, US
Mar 13, 2010 5:32 pm EST

Wow!
My husband and I, as very active seniors, were looking forward a great trip for our 50th wedding anniversary. We have travelled successfully with Elderhostel (Now Exploritas) for several trips, mostly outdoor adventure. Elderhostel was getting more and more expensive. We did some online research and came across Grand Circle Travel (GCT) and their related company, Outdoor Adventure Travel (OAT) online. The trips, the timing, the promised small groups, and the great prices seemed perfect. We did note that there seemed to be a multitude of optional excursions (no prices given) and trip extensions (prices given and seemed reasonable) to add to the basic price. There always seemed to be one pre trip or post trip extension that really should have been part of the original itinerary, at least as compared with the itineraries of other travel agencies, but even that didn't bother us to much. Of course, the reviews on the GCT and OAT websites were glowing.

BUT..., we had the sense to check out independent reviews of these this tour group online and once again, WOW, we were astonished to find that they were overwhelmingly negative. We were extremely disappointed but immediately decided that we would forego GCT and OAT trips on the grounds that this was one sleezy company.

Out of curiosity, we checked the Massachussetts BBB. GCT had 88 complaints in the past 3 years, far, far more than the average similar company. That being said, the BBB, still gave the company an "A" rating. The top rating is A +, which sure makes GCT and OAT look like awinner. Only by checking out the detail in the BBB listing did we find out how many complaints there were and what type of complaints. There was no mention of GCT being removed from BBB membership (as many online commmenters had stated) for failure to resolve complaints. I can only guess that the company received its A rating because the 88 complaints had finally, at the end of three years, been resolved. So, apparently according to the MA BBB, a company can treat the customer very badly and ruin a $10, 000 vacation and still get an "A" rating so long as the matter is eventually resolved. No mention, of course of just what the no doubt worn-out customer settled for.

My suggestion, not only check out the tour company carefully, but don't put your full trust in the BBB rating alone.

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4:14 pm EDT
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Grand Circle Travel [GCT] they are not cancelling trips to Mexico even with the swine flu

In brief, we (had) a trip planned to Mexico (in 34 days)with Grand Circle Travel, and am surpized to learn that even with all the warnings against travel to Mexico (because of swine flu) they are still preparing to go. I have talked to them and they don't feel the risk is great enough to warrant canceling travel. They must know something more than the CDC, WHO, Homeland Security, State Department and President Obama; they are all asking that non-essential travel to Mexico cease. At this time, there is a 65% penalty against our fee, and in a few days, will lose it all. Unfair. Irresponsible. Unethical. Take your pick.

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complaints
San Diego, US
Apr 30, 2009 3:44 pm EDT

The same thing for us. They said their local guides say it is safe and they will not refund or even issue a voucher for future travel. Basically, you lose all of you money if you want to cancel (no insurance).

So even with the latest news that Mexico is telling it own citizens to stay home, the travel warnings from CDC and the World Health Organization pandemic alert level at Phase 5, Grand Circle says the trip is on and you can either go or lose your money. I agree that they are being unfair and irresponsible.

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4:57 pm EDT

Grand Circle Travel [GCT] Cancelation Policy

I called Grand Circle Travel (GCT), to book a trip, late Friday night (approximately 10pm California time) Aug. 15, 2008 by telephone. The purpose of booking the trip by telephone was to ensure that I could integrate the requested trip with a complex itinerary that required the specific date of April 16, 2009. The sales agent was well aware of this need.

The specific requested trip was to Brussels & Belgium. The sales operator knew I had to co-ordinate this booking with another independently planned itinerary. In fact, although I requested a Brussels to Amsterdam itinerary, I was informed that Brussels to Amsterdam was full but I could travel the reverse direction (Amsterdam to Brussels) on the same date of April 16, 2009. I agreed and proceeded to book the trip. Following completion of the booking, I proceeded to investigate non-refundable airline reservations of a complex itinerary that would place me in Amsterdam in time to commence the April 16 trip. There were only 4 seats available for what would in today’s market would be considered a reasonable fare.

Prior to booking this non-refundable airline ticket, I wanted to confirm my GCT itinerary. Upon checking my GCT reservation at their website on Saturday August 16, I saw that they had my itinerary listed as Brussels to Amsterdam. At that point I attempted to contact customer service by both e-mail and telephone to determine which itinerary I actually had since I needed to make a decision regarding the airline ticket. When they were not available I decided to cancel the GCT trip.

I called to cancel Saturday Aug. 16, 2008 around 3PM PST. Although sales for Grand Circle Travel are apparently open practically 24/7, customer service, which one is required to call for any changes, was closed for the week-end at 3PM EST, so an e-mail was sent.

I called again on Monday morning Aug. 18, 2008 when customer service was available to confirm the cancellation. I was informed at that time, that GCT did not accept e-mail cancellations and that there would be a $600.00 cancellation fee. At the time of the booking, I was never informed by the sales agent of a $300 per person cancellation fee as he took my credit card number for a $191 deposit, knowing the complex itinerary issues.

I wish to file a formal complaint regarding Grand Circle Travel. I know this policy violates CA law relating to 72 hour "buyer's remorse". I want them to either change this policy or to prohibit them from doing business in CA.

Thank you,
Joel E White

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Gary Jones
,
Oct 31, 2008 4:13 am EDT

Right on. The $300 cancellation fee is excessive and onerous, particularly for a trip

many months in the future. GCT caters to the elderly, some of whom are not wealthy

and can least afford such fees. GCT often does not make air reservations for months

after early bookings for its trips. So GCT is not out any money for such early cancellations

but still charges $300 for a cancellation.

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