Pilgrim Tours & Travel
reviews and complaints

in February Pilgrim Tours offered us a package for the month of June to Israel, asked us for a deposit of $ 300 per person, then the problems with the COVID19 pandemic began, that everything was canceled, but now Pilgrim Tours did not He wants to return the money to us, we are a group of more than 40 people who are not reimbursed only $ 100 per person, and we feel robbed by them ...

I recently returned from a Israel tour with Pilgrim Tours and it was an awesome experience! Pilgrim Tours took care of every detail and went above and beyond in their service. The hotels were comfortable, the food was delicious, our guide mixed humor with interesting content and our bus was comfortable and air conditioned! I hope to travel again soon and will pick Pilgrim Tours for my next trip.

Thank you for making our first experience overseas one that we will forever remember! From the time we decided to join the group going to Turkey and Greece everything was seamless despite the lingering unknowns with COVID and how that would potentially affect our plans. Jessica was a great help with answering emails in a timely fashion. I would not hesitate to use this company again and recommend them for your next experience in the lands of the Bible.

Like many, our trip had to be postponed due to covid. However, we were delighted once the restrictions were finally removed and the trip was back on. It was worth the wait. Our two guides were not only knowledgeable, they shared their knowledge very effectively with the group. For us it was a vacation that enhanced our geographical, historical, and even political knowledge of Israel, but most of all it was a spiritual journey and a blessing to see and walk the same places that most of His-story took place.

I just want to say what a pleasure and delight it was to travel to Jordan and Israel with Pilgrim Tours. From the planning to the travel experience the staff was professional, kind, courteous, patient, and fun! I took my grandson, and we had the best time seeing the sights, listening to our very knowledgeable guides, falling in love with the people and the land, and eating the best food on the planet! The tour group was the loveliest company of people, and we really bonded to each other. That is something that rarely happens on a tour. Thank you so very much for such an enjoyable and rich learning experience!

My wife and I are hardly world travelers, so for our second major lifetime trip we chose Pilgrims Exodus tour, and could not have been more delighted. Everything from flight arrangements, airport transfers, ground transportation, lodging, food, tour guides, security, etc. We were managed so lovingly and professionally. We were completely free to experience the wonders of Egypt, Jordan, and especially Israel without care or concern. We would gladly return or even take another Pilgrim your in the future, and definitely recommend this trip especially to fellow Christians who always talk about going but hesitate due to political unrest or pandemic threat. God was with us in every detail.

Pilgrim Tours did a great job! Like others have said, it was a wonderful and spiritual experience. We were so thankful to have a Messianic Jew , Irit, as our guide. She did an excellent job as a guide and added so much to the sites and the whole experience. She didn't waste any time. She did a lot of talking even when we were traveling on the bus so we got so much more out of the time! The hotels were top notch, the food was great. (it was not all american type food and that was great as being in Israel, one wants to try new things!) Irit did a great job of keeping us moving to stay on schedule and to pack the most into the 10 days. I highly recommend going to Israel with Pilgrim tours!

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my experience and that of the other 2 in my party. We traveled on the Exodus 14 day tour in June 2022. We visited Israel, Egypt and Jordan. We felt exceptionally safe and well cared for. We were given phenomenal tour guides in each country who had extensive knowledge and were committed to their role as an ambassador to their country and a follower of Christ. Our experiences were beyond memorable and meaningful. There were so many things that could have gone wrong given the current pandemic and unrest in the world. However, we had a blissfully carefree experience and I could not recommend this particular tour (Exodus) and Pilgrim Tours anymore!

I have taken 5 groups on custom tours to Israel over the last 5 years. The last two have been with Pilgrim Tours. We had groups of 18 people and 21 people. I have been so impressed with Pilgrim's help in arranging all of the details of our travels. We went in October when very few were returning post-COVID, and it wasn't easy to travel. We never could have done it without Pilgrim. They made sure that every step of the process was well thought out and completed despite the many variables they had to deal with. Our latest tour was June 2022, and it was also very smooth. I have done a lot of shopping around, and I can tell you that I have not found anyone who can beat Pilgrim Tours on price and service.

Not knowing any travel agency, I chose Pilgrim Tours on the recommendation of someone that had used them. First, Pilgrim Tours is staffed by very trustworthy people. Their website is full of information about their tours and what to expect. Next, going overseas is expensive, so you want your investment to be worth it. Pilgrim Tours has a well designed itinerary, great lodging and food, knowledgeable tour guide, comfortable tour bus, courteous bus driver, and personal listening devices so even the ones at the back of the group hears everything. The memories of this trip will last a lifetime. If I plan to do another trip overseas, I dinfinately will use Pilgrim Tours. They have earned my trust. Final note, do take lots of pictures and keep a journal about the places and significant information that went with it. There is so much to remember.

I really hate to give this company even a 1 star because they don't deserve it. They take advantage of people especially with this situation going on in the whole world. We signed up to join their trip to Oberammagau & Holy Land abided by their all requirements, paid the deposit and when asked to pay the entire trip, we paid everything in full. Now, because of the pandemic, the trip was cancelled and travel bans took place. This company refuses to reimburse 100% of the money we paid them claiming they have a non refundable fee. In the first place "we did not cancel". THE TOUR WAS CANCELLED DUE TO THE PANDEMIC! The non refundable fee ONLY applies when the client is the on who cancels because of their own personal reason. Do they don't understand their own verbiage in the agreement! This company should be investigated and have their license cancelled for deceiving people!

Pilgrim Tours arranged many group tours for me and is currently helping me with another tour scheduled for the next year. My experience with Pilgrim Tours has been very positive. They have been professional, honest, friendly, transparent, and fair. When the pandemic broke out last year, I was also scheduled to lead two tour groups, Israel in March and Greece in May. It was a difficult and stressful time for all of us. Nevertheless, we completed our Israel tour successfully despite many obstacles and challenges. We, however, had to cancel our Greece trip. Pilgrim Tour charged us a $200 service fee per person, but I thought it was fair and they deserved it because they worked so hard for our group. Fortunately, no one in my group complained about it. It's not my intention to judge other people's opinion. I just hope that people do not judge this superb tour company solely based on a few negative reviews posted here by those who had unpleasant experience with Pilgrim Tours under a very unusual circumstance last year due to the pandemic.

We had a 10 day Holy land tour booked to Egypt with Pilgrim leaving March 21. A week before we were supposed to leave Israel implemented a 14 day quarantine for any visitors coming into Israel due to Coronavirus. We had no choice but to cancel but Pilgrim Tours refused to give all our money back. They felt justified to keep $1000 USD of our money for no reason even though the cancellation was beyond our control. Pilgrim is solely in it for the money and could care a less about the well being of their clients. They felt we should still go if we didn't want to lose the $1000. Wow, is all we could say, they would rather we go so they keep all our money even though we would be quarantined when we got there. Our experience with Pilgrim has been very disappointing and and eye opening. Our airlines, insurance etc all gave our money back in full even though we had no cancellation insurance...they realized that the quarantine was beyond our control. YOU CANNOT TRUST PILGRIM TO LOOK AFTER YOUR SAFETY, THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, ONLY YOUR CASH!

Pilgrim Tours wants us to die. Our church planned a group trip with 40 elderly people for May 19 to June 3. We are all over 65 years old, with underlying conditions and weakened immune system. We are ordered to stay at home and practice social distancing during this coronavirus pandemic but Pilgrim Tours wants us to get together and fly internationally. We are at high risk of contracting Covid-19 and dying but Pilgrim Tours tells us to pay the remaining balance for the trip in order to not lose our $300 deposit. Pilgrim Tours refuse to cancel this trip even though when we arrive in Egypt and Italy we will not be able to sightsee because when we arrive we will be quarantined for 14 days. Instead, they force us to cancel it so they can penalize us and take our money. $300 per person for 40 people is a lot of money so they rather us die than give it back to us. This is an ongoing coronavirus pandemic and over 74,000 people have died but Pilgrim Tours say, you should still go on this trip. Let's add another 40 vulnerable people to that number, courtesy of Pilgrim Tours.

Our Pastor had organized a trip to Egypt and Israel for May 19 to June 3. There are around 40+ people that signed up and we each gave a $300 deposit to the travel agency, Pilgrim Tours. That is about $12,000.00 that we gave Pilgrim Tours. The church coordinators have spoken to David S at Pilgrim Tours and informed them that we wanted to cancel the trip due to the coronavirus pandemic. Majority of the people that signed up are retired and above 65 years old. Many of them have underlying conditions and they are considered at high risk. My husband is 70 years old with heart problems and I am 65 years old with diabetes, cancer remission and shingles pain for 10+ years because my immune system is so weak. New York City is currently in a stay-at- home order situation. The Department of State has issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel Alert to all travelers. We have not been going outside at all. How are we to go on an international trip? Israel and Egypt have a national policy to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the country. Our trip is 16 days. We will be in quarantine for 14 days in EACH country and then returning back to NYC. We will be traveling, not practicing social distancing and risking getting infected with the coronavirus just to go to a foreign country to be quarantined. The remaining balance for this tour was $3,680 per person and the deadline was March 19th. The coronavirus pandemic was just starting and the situation is unknown at that point. We explained to Pilgrim Tours our concerns due to the pandemic and requested a refund of the deposit. Pilgrim Tours agreed to refund us $100 per person but taking $200 as penalty per person. They are taking roughly $8,000.00 in total. The reason they said they are penalizing us is due to airline penalty. However, I know that a lot of airlines are waiving the penalty due to the pandemic. The airlines for this trip are British Air and Air France. I checked on the airlines' websites and they indicated that they are not penalizing and are issuing credit. However, we need to work with the travel agency since we booked through them. Pilgrim Tours also said they will give us each a $100 discount/ credit if we book through them next year. We don't know what the situation will be next year with our health or physical ability to travel. We are at a loss and don't know how we can get all of our money back. As mentioned above, we are canceling due to the pandemic. We are elderly, many with underlying conditions and are at high risk of death if we contract Covid-19. Many do not speak English so they have given up in trying to fight this horrid and possibly illegal action from Pilgrim Tours. My spouse and I gave them a check for $600 and they sent us back a check for $200 refund. How can we get our remaining $400 and for everyone else that gave them money for this trip? What Pilgrim Tours is doing is wrong. They are taking advantage of vulnerable, elderly people during a pandemic and taking this opportunity to profiteer.

We have a trip to Ephesus and Greece booked with Pilgrim Tours for May . I phoned the company late in February when the Covid 19 pandemic started making its way across the globe and asked about the status of our trip. The person with whom I spoke "J," said that she could not give me any update at that point because they were only working on trips that were coming up in the next month. So, we patiently waited. We received no communication from Pilgrim Tour until I emailed on April 13th asking "J" about the status. On April 14th, I received an email from "T" stating that "J" was no longer with Pilgrims and "T" would handle our trip (see email below). When Pilgrims finally did contact us, they refused to admit that they were "cancelling" our trip. Instead, they indicated that the trip was "postponed." Prior to this email, we did not receive any information that the trip had been "postponed." Also, they didn't indicate the plan for postponement. They are placing the burden on us (the customer) to "cancel" for a fee or pay for a fee to sign up for a future trip that was already on the calendar. This seems totally upside down to me. I live in France and I am certain that the borders to Greece are closed to all non-EU or Greek citizens. As such, the tour that Pilgrim is offering absolutely can not take place. As such, the traveler should not have to "cancel" a trip that is impossible to take. The company should cancel the trip and refund the money. Additionally, Pilgrim is indicating that a fee will be assessed for the work they have already done on the trip. Finally, on their website, they have a section about the financial security of their organization indicating they have insurance and other necessary frameworks in place to assure their solidity. So, if they have insurance and have financial stability, then why are they not taking full responsibility of their inability to provide the service I paid for? BTW: There are six of us traveling and together we have paid more than $15,000.oo USD. The actions of a company during this time truly reflect who they are as a company. Sincerely, Karen Email from Pilgrim Tour representative "T": We are disheartened along with you that many of our trips are having to be postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We understand you are very disappointed as for many of you this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We at Pilgrim Tours feel the disappointment keenly as well, as our team puts our heart and energy into what we do. During this time, Pilgrim Tours is committed to being as fair as we can be and offer our travelers the very best service and travel experience we can provide. We ask that our travelers be fair with us as well. In many cases Pilgrim Tours has worked with our travelers for up to a year on their travel plans. Because of this, we hope you can understand and support our need to assess a small fee in compensation for our many hours of service on your behalf. It is our goal to withstand this devastating time in the travel business so that Pilgrim has an opportunity to serve you again when travel resumes in a safe manner. Land portion: Travelers can transfer to another retail departure (of equal or greater value) within a 1 year window from their scheduled departure date for NO fee, or to one of lesser value for a $100 per person transfer fee or to one of higher value for the price difference. Travelers can cancel for a $200 penalty per person. Air portion: Your flights are not cancelled yet so cannot yet be refunded or transferred to other dates. When this happens, and most likely it will, then we will be in touch with the next steps. Insurance portion: Pilgrim Tours offer was declined. As far as the tour itself though, please advise what you would like to do �" re-schedule, OR cancel entirely?

Purchased Israel trip last March and was cancelled three days prior to going. Still waiting for a refund.

We (me and wife John and Jane Doe) joined the reputable Pilgrim Tours & Travel's Pilgrims Best of Israel and Egypt Tour on May 19-June 3,2020. We put down a deposit of $600. It is never our intention to cancel the tour. However, due to the global widespread of COVID-19, the Department of State has issued a level 4 Alert to all travelers to Israel and Egypt. I am 70 years old and my wife is 66. We are in the high-risk age. Millions of people were affected and thousands died of that virus. Pilgrim Tours & Travel wanted to penalize us of $400 for cancellation of the tour which can be completed. I think it is not fair and request a full refund of $600 our hard-earned money.

We booked a tour with Pilgrim tours on November 14 and made a deposit of $1,000.00 for 2 passengers. The 13 day pilgrimage tour is scheduled for August 7. The company cancelled the tour on around March . On June 16,2020, the company Refunded $600.00 out of the $1,000 deposit and charged $400 for administrative fees. This is unfair that customers have to pay the company for their own undeliverables. If this is allowed by US government/law, then any business/tour/travel agency can generate a fake tour, then they cancel later on and charge the customer for penalties and fees. This company should be investigated in their operations and license should be suspended for this kind of practice.

This business is refusing to refund people for their trips even though the COVID19 virus is causing people to have to cancel their trips. My parents had a trip planned for Italy, but because of the virus, and the shut down in Italy and the fact that there is a European travel ban in effect they decided to cancel their trip and asked the company for a refund. But the company basically said it was against policy and refused to refund them. My parents even said they would be willing to book with them in the future but for now they obviously couldn't go on the trip because it was impossible to fly there, but the company still refused to refund them. It's just bad business practice to be completely inflexible during a chaotic world event like this. Even airlines are allowing people to change and cancel their flights and receive a full refund due to current events.

I am filing a formal complaint against Pilgrim Tours in Morgantown, PA. I put a $300 deposit to go on a trip in June . However, due to the Coronavirus, my employer announced to all employees that all vacations were to be cancelled. I contacted Pilgrim Tours travel agent (Lenny H) immediately who stated that I would be refunded $200 due to their cancellation policy. I stated to him this was not fair because this was circumstances beyond my control. I did not want to cancel the trip and I need my job. I emailed Pilgrims, CEO who gave me the same response. In light of COVID-19, my hours have been reduced at work. I need my $100. Companies are being flexible with their customers during this unexpected event. I am extremely upset about this matter. I am requesting a refund of $100. Every little bit helps when it comes to paying bills and other expenses. I appreciate your attention regarding this matter.

Below is letter I wrote to our agent at Pilgrim Tours. They are still keeping $600 of our deposit.I do not recommend them at all! Dear Lenny, We are writing to you because we want our FULL deposit back- no deduction for service fees etc. Israel is closed entirely- no-one is allowed in and who know when they will reopen their country. Pilgrim Tours decided to cancel this trip for the above reasons. We are not in a financial position for you to keep our $600. deposit. No matter what your contract states, these are unusual and dangerous times and you need to do the right thing. We do not want travel vouchers from your company for future use because the future of travel is way too uncertain. If you do not refund our TOTAL deposit we have no choice but to place this in dispute with our credit card company. You and Pilgrim Tours know that this is the morally right thing to do. I hope you will do the right thing. Thank You in advance for your prompt reply. John and Jane Doe Smith

On October 8 I scheduled a vacation through Pilgrim Tours to Israel, Jordan, and Greece and we began to make payments. Our dream vacation (scheduled for August ) had to be canceled when COVID-19 became an issue. Israel is closed to all incoming visitors. On March 16, we contacted Pilgrim Tours (in writing) asking for a complete refund. On March 16, Jennifer C from Pilgrim Tours emailed a reply which said that since our tour was 91 days out, each person on our tour would be charged a $100 service fee. I replied and told Jennifer to proceed. When I didn't hear back, I emailed again. When I didn't hear back, I emailed a third time. I finally received an email from Jennifer saying that our airfare was a total loss and we would only get a partial refund. We checked with the airlines and they are giving a complete refund. I understand that COVID-19 is not the fault of Pilgrim Tours. But considering travel is not allowed and may not be for the foreseeable future, I believe a full refund is appropriate.

Our church organized a 16 day trip to Egypt and Israel for May 19 - June 3 for 40+ elderly people (many with underlying health conditions). Egypt and Israel have a policy to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. The church organizer informed Pilgrim Tours that we do not want to go during the coronavirus pandemic. Pilgrim Tours insist we need to pay the remaining balance on March 19th ($3,680 per person) or lose our $300 deposit that we made per person. They finally agreed to return $100 per person but penalizing us for $200 per person.They are profiting over $8,000 of the deposits. It will be unsafe for us to travel and a high chance of contracting Covid-19 among our group when we are not social distancing during this pandemic. When we arrive we would not be able to sight-see or tour the countries, thus not getting the service we paid for. Even with these reasons, Pilgrim Tours refuse to cancel the trip. If Pilgrim Tours cancel the trip then they will refund us the money. Instead, they push us into a corner and make us cancel the trip so that they can penalize us. We are over 65 years old and are at high risk of death if we contract Covid-19. We cannot go and should not go to Egypt and Israel. We are not even stepping outside our home. Pilgrim Tours is still insisting we should go on this trip.