SmarTours
reviews and complaints

I left a message asking for details aboyt a tour. No call back or otGBer response

was really beautiful. It was the ***. Great coordination with the tours and activities.

I was nervous about international travel, but was totally comfortable with my experience. All safety precautions were followed. It was excellent!

Trip to *** was very good. Accommodations were very good and guides were also great. With the exception of Covid-19 *** we had to go through it was great. Why dont you just get THE SHOT? Then we can all get back to normal!

Absolutely amazingI show I describe this tour. Excellent, personable, knowledgeable guide. Very skilled and professional driver, excellent accommodations and amazing experiences. I enjoyed every minute and highly recommend this tour to anyone in search of the extraordinary sights of Iceland. You will be comfortably amazed!

Great tour with a small group of nice people. However, 3 issues detracted from the tour.1) Wearing of masks in the bus was not enforced, so 50% or more of the people never wore a mask.2) Bus had a very bad rattle over one pair of seats. Nobody could sit in those two seats due to the noise.3) *** in the *** Mountains was very dirty and the shower did not have a curtain.

I think the Baltic States tour in September was one of the best tours I have been on. The fall weather was perfect and the fall foliage was beautiful. Our guide *** was a wonderful guide. She has so much knowledge of the history of the Baltic States. She went the extra mile to make this a ***. I loved everything about this tour and the hotels were great.

I travelled to Spain with smarTours. I like the value I received for my money, trip included flight, hotel, and tours. Our tour director was friendly, but we had a new tour guide in each city. Some tours were good. But I got tired of touring cathedrals/mosques. It would be better to add bicycle tour or cooking activity in each city. Overall, my trip to Spain was nice. I went to Flamenco dancing, the spa, etc.

SmarTours offered the *** Trip my husband and I had. been searching for: rail and motor coach with a short one-day harbor cruise. Our Tour guide was one of the best we've ever experienced: knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her adopted state and shared lots of information about living in ***. Our driver was very courteous, very good about parking so your exit was easy (and not wet), and a really fun guy. Website was easy to use. It's all good!

In Febuary 2021 I made a deposit for a trip in November. I had to make a final payment by September 15. 7 days after me final deposit of $5400.00 I was told the trip was cancelled because only 8 people registered. I requested a refund of almost $5800.00 and was told that they only do credits and not refunds. They knew the did not have the required amount of people for the trip but took my money anyway. It took *** to get my money refunded. Not good customer service.

I've been traveling with Smartours since 2016 and I'd recommend it to Ianyone. The tours are excellent and the tour guides are the best. In these 10 years I've visited 5 countries and even brought my *** years old daughter. It has been a learning experience for both of us. We learned about the diverse cultures and tried delicious foods. The prices are affordable and the accommodations are excellent. THANK YOU SMARTOURS, YOU'RE THE BEST, even though a pandemic, you still made it safe for me and my daughter to travel.

The staff in NYC were the most difficult people I've ever dealt with. I should have known when they told me I could not book a tour through my own travel agent. My husband and I did go on one of their tours to Cuba in December but I will never use this company again. They lied to me about receiving certain copies of documents I sent to them but had no problem getting my deposit in the mail and making sure it was cashed three days later. I do not trust this company. Luckily, we survived that one trip but will not use them in the future.

My trip to *** on January 2022 was amazing! Our tour Director Amhjed was great. He was very helpful, informative, attentive and caring. Our driver was very careful and both were always on time. The food was abundant, the accommodations were convenient, and the tours were well planned. Even when I traveled solo, I felt safe all the time.It was a great tour with a small group of 6 nice travelers. We all were vaccinated, and we were tested for COVID before the departure from USA, at arrival on *** and before our departure to USA.This was my 6ht trip with Smartours. I will travel to *** by the end of the year. Thanks to Smartours I am able to travel to all the places in my bucket list.

Traveling during Covid was challenging and although our tour guide did his best to monitor all travelers in our group, there were several who refused to comply. I felt fearful about this lack of consideration and safety. Also, the Covid test we took prior to returning to the *** provided "rapid results" with a few minutes, the time of our test was incorrectly recorded on the required travel document for return to the *** and did not accurately assess our health. One of our group tested positive upon arrival in *** the next day. I enjoyed the itinerary; rainforest, catamaran, meeting with locals at the organic farm, and El Viejo, but the accommodations at *** were disappointing and I would have preferred a hotel on the beach in Tamarindo. Also, on final day, traveling 5 hours by bus to return to *** made no sense as *** was only a 2 hour drive from Tamarindo. None of us appreciated the additional and unnecessary 3 hour additional time spent on the bus.

Due to COVID pandemic, It is not safe to travel and I am not sure when COVID will improve. I would like a complete refund from Smartours $3027.00 please and thank you. The company refuses to refund my money. I have called and e mailed the company many times.

On 3/6 our trip to *** (6/7-6/17) was paid in full by electric check in the amount of $5694. SmarTours canceled the trip because of COVID. Due to health issues for my husband, his physician stated in a letter that this trip would pose a great risk to his health due to his co morbidities. I wrote a letter to *** CEO of SmarTours on 5/21 and still have not heard a response. We dont want a future credit, we want a FULL CASH MONETARY REFUND.

I booked a tour with Smartours. The tour was cancelled by SmarTours and they failed to return my deposit of $300.00 The tour was called Jewels of the Adriatic departing on May ,. I have requested a refund in writing. The tour was for two (2) people, me and my significant other. We are 80 and 82 and this was to be our last vacation. We do not anticipate traveling again. We do not anticipate a vaccine being available this year at the very earliest and would not feel safe to travel unless vaccinated.

Aug. 2019 I booked with SmarTours the Amazing *** tour for Nov. 4,2020-Nov.17,2020. I purchased the insurance for this trip at that time. Total cost plus insurance for trip was $2,128.00. I paid a total of $1,128.00. The trip was cancelled by SmarTours due to Covind-19. I have gotten nothing but excuses from SmarTour about system problems for months. I need my money, I am a senior citizen I dont have money to give them. I would like my full refund of $1,128.00 refunded to me. I purchased the insurance to protect my self. My Invoice # is ***.

We were planning a tour to Croatia with Smartours departing on May *,. They cancelled the tour in March and have refused to refund our monies. They are offering to allow us to travel on a rescheduled date (of THEIR chosing) or create an account for us from which we could select a tour from by the end of 2020. Problem is we want our monies refunded as the tour was cancelled and we may not be able to schedule another tour as the virus has turned everything upside down, including our lives. We have received 100% refunds of NON-REFUNDABLE airfare (***) and lodging (***). But Smartours won't even respond to our e-mails nor answer the phones for those traveling after April .

I booked a tour with Smartours for the Amazing *** in September, for the March trip but as it got closer the airfare increased $500 plus and I was given the option to do a land only trip, so I could get airfare on my own and get refunded what I paid for the airfare $1200. I decided to accept that option. So my status changed with Smartours as of February 13th and they changed my invoice to reflect $1200 less the airfare I paid when I paid the balance. When I called to find out where my check was March 26th they said it would ***-8 weeks for my refund and now as of August 3rd I've not received my refund. I've emailed several times and called and they say accounting will get back to me, but they never have, and by now, I should have received my refund, I am due. As well as contact from the company.

I booked a trip to *** and made full payment in February . The trip was scheduled to depart in May . Smartours cancelled the trip due to the Covid crisis. I had purchased trip insurance but chose to see what Smartours would offer. They did not offer a refund but instead they would rebook us on a May departure. I am unsure as to whether to book this as the carrier (*** Airlines) is current bankrupt. In addition at this point in time *** is the 5th worst country in terms of Covid cases and has polotical disruption. They have now told me that they will give me a dollar credit that they are holding. I have sent two emails asking that if I leave the credit will there be no additional expenses should we decide to go next year. Since they canceled I want to know that no additional monies will be required when the confirm a carrier and have to pay additional money for travel insurance. If they cannot guarantee that I think they should refund my money as other travel carriers have. email

On March , SmarTours cancled our trip to Italy, scheduled to leave on April , due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In their email, they offered numerous options to change to a different date for the same trip, book a different trip, or request a refund. Due to many factors, we do not know if/when we will be able to travel again. So I requested a refund, in writing as instructed on March . On March , I had not received comformation of the refund request (my sister-in-law, also booked on the same trip, had gotten confirmation of his), so I followed up and they then confirmed my refund request and stated it would take 6-8 weeks to process. On May *, we received another email from SmarTours stating that the options for our canceled trip were to get a credit for a future trip or to file a claim with the travel insurance company, which may or may not be a valid claim. I reached out to the rep we had worked with the entire time for clarification about the refund we were promised and have received no response. My sister-in-law confirmed from someone else at the company that they were no longer doing refunds, even though we had already be promised one and that these new options were our only options.

On February ,2020 I paid SmarTours their deposit they asked for, $600, in good faith. At the time of payment disregarding my health issues, and the Coronavirus, because I sincerely thought my wife and I would make the trip. Unfortunately, on March ,2020 I cancelled said trip because due to our ages, 82 and 81 and our health issues we were advised to stay in our home, avoid traveling, avoid crowds, etc. because of the Coronavirus Pandemic and the effect it have on the elderly. I asked for a refund of my $600 and advised them that if in the future after the Coronavirus Pandemic is over, and we are alive and healthy that I would call and book another trip. March ***2020 I received an email from SmarTours stating that their policy is not to refund deposits. They further stated that they would apply my deposit on a new reservation provided I paid them $150/person if I departed within a year from the original departure date. That's an additional $300 I have to pay them when all I want is a refund of my $600. Due to the circumstances I do not feel that is right and that is why I am filing this complaint. I have no control over the Coronavirus and due to our health issues not only am I following my doctor's orders, but I am also following the orders of our State Governor and the President of the United States. Therefore, I think SmarTours should refund my $600; after all I don't know if I or my wife will be alive come December let alone next December . We are living on a fixed income and cannot afford to give away $600. Thank you for your help. James Bower Consumer