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The Scoop: What to Know About Overseas Adventure Tours (OAT)

This small-group specialist runs tours to all continents..

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• Looking at an Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) tour, but want to know more about this small-group tour company?
• Here’s everything you need to know about the tour company, all updated for 2024.

Overseas Adventure Travel —more commonly referred to as OAT (saying the letters as opposed to naming the grain)—is a small-group tour specialist with tours on all continents. As its name suggests, tours with Overseas Adventure Travel tend to be fairly active, so participants should be comfortable with six to eight hours of activity each day, including walking distances ranging from three to six miles.

OAT has a great reputation for its solo guest focus (more on that below), and offers a generous number of no-additional-cost single spots on its tours. It also has women-exclusive departures on many itineraries.

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On OAT tours, accommodations tend to be less about amenities and more about authenticity. Another thing to note is that airfare is often bundled into the up-front price of the tour (unless you specify that you want to book your own travel). OAT is one of the family of Grand Circle Corp. companies, also including Grand Circle Travel and Grand Circle Cruise Line.

TourScoop Takeaways

• Countries: OAT has tours on every continent 
• Tour Size Average: OAT specializes in small-group trips of no more than 16 people. Its small-ship tours are aboard 50- to 98-passenger ships max out at 25 travelers. 
• Tour Type: Coach, van, small ship, rail, and air

Credibility Check

Overseas Adventure Travel is BBB accredited with a rating of A+. It’s an active member of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA). The OAT website posts verified guest reviews on each tour page (sometimes with hundreds of reviews) so it’s easy to see what past travelers think of each tour. 

Tour Destinations

For 2024, OAT has 80 itineraries that include tours on every continent. Some of the most popular tours are to destinations in Italy, Egypt, and multi-country tours in Africa and around the Adriatic. 

Overseas Adventure Travel gives all its tours an Activity Level Rating that ranks tours from one (easy) to five (strenuous) to help travelers find the right fit. It has both women-only departures and many no-additional-cost single traveler spots on tours. 

There are multi-country and single country tours. On many tours, OAT creates spaces for discussion and learning with its Controversial Topics program that covers topics such as Scottish independence on its Scotland Revealed itinerary and female genital mutilation on its Safari Serengeti: Tanzania Lodge & Tented Safari tour. 

Tour Guides

OAT’s tour guides are called Trip Experience Leaders. All are fluent in English and have a range of skills, certifications, and experience specific to the tour destination and experience. Trip Experience Leaders focus on both the logistical and the experiential, and help connect travelers with destinations by sharing firsthand insight that brings a destination to life. 

Inclusions/Extras

Inclusions are tour-specific (there’s a “What’s Included” section on each tour’s page), but generally include round-trip flights, many (but not all) meals, transportation, accommodations, activities, and gratuities for local guides, porters, etc. As with most tour companies, gratuities for trip experience leaders is separate. 

Typical Travelers

OAT’s guests are mostly American travelers aged 50 and older. In the last few years, Overseas Adventure Travel has seen a major jump in the number of solo travelers—more than half of all OAT guests are now solo travelers, and 80% of these solo travelers are women.

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OAT does right by its strong solo traveler base —in 2024, the company is offering 25,620 single spaces—91% of which are free (the remaining 9% of single spots have what OAT says is the lowest single supplement in the industry). And a number of itineraries also have women-exclusive departures. 

Communication

After booking, travelers have access to all trip details through the “My Planner” section on the website. The section includes details like flight information, destination weather, and itinerary information.

Then, two weeks before departure, travelers receive all their final documents, and are also contacted by their Trip Experience Leader. Any additional questions can be directed to OAT’s customer service email or phone number.

Loyalty Program

OAT’s loyalty program is the Sir Edmund Hillary Club . Membership benefits kick in when travelers reserve their third trip, and increase after traveling with OAT five and ten times. Benefits include credits to use on future trips, travel credits, exclusive gifts, and priority luggage service. 

Private Options

OAT offers Personalized Private Adventures for groups of five to 10 people. These private departures are available using existing itineraries, and include a dedicated Trip Experience Leader. The private group premium amount depends on the number of travelers in a group. Some of the most popular private tours include Ultimate Africa , Sicily’s Ancient Landscapes , and Japan’s Cultural Treasures . 

Sustainability Efforts

OAT is part of Grand Circle, and participates in the Grand Circle Foundation , which supports projects around the world focused on water and sanitation, education, community development, renewable energy, the protection of indigenous cultures, conservation, historic preservation, and disaster relief.

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Health and Safety Practices

On OAT tours that include time onboard a ship, additional precautions include crew trained on best health and hygiene practices to prevent onboard spread of illnesses, nightly electrostatic disinfection of public areas, and disinfection of high-efficiency air filtration systems before each sailing. The OAT website is the place to go to read more about the current health and safety practices for land and ship tours.  

Family Companies

The Grand Circle family of companies includes Overseas Adventure Travel , Grand Circle Cruise Line , and Grand Circle Travel .

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Globus vs Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours)

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4.7   Excellent  

12,819 reviews

Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours)

4.9   Excellent  

470 reviews

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4.7   Excellent 12,819 reviews  

4.9   Excellent 470 reviews  

Recent Reviews

Never Again

Just returned from Italy. Guides were very informative. Hotels went downhill with each city. Dinners which were included were absolutely horrible - vegetable lasagna...

Tour:   Italian Escape

Policy over practical customer service. zero customer service

don't expect humanity or common sense

This letter is effectively what was communicated no less than 8 times in writing and conversation to OAT representatives up the chain, beginning 19 days before the t...

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• North America
• Central America & Caribbean
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• Australia & Pacific
• Middle East & North Africa
• Solo & Singles Travel

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About Globus

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Perfectly Planned. Seriously Stress Free.

After 90-plus years of sharing the world with travelers, Globus has set the gold standard for award-winning touring across virtually every continent. Our global network of premiere travel partners, operations experts, and hospitality pros share one goal in mind—an exceptional travel experience no matter where we travel together.

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A great experience with an OAT trip... - Overseas Adventure Travel

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Our trip to Easter Island,Patagonia, Tierra Del Fuego and the Chilean Fjords could have been much... read more

The Overseas Adventure Travel tour of Peru, Machu Picchu, and the Sacred Valley of the Incas is a... read more

A great experience with an OAT trip which I will not forget

The knowledge of history, geography, geology and politics, etc of our tour guide and especially the local guides and their ability to impart it to the group was outstanding. Their concern for our safety, as well as by our driver must be noted. The driving skills of our diver was nothing short of incredible in addition to being very helpful and friendly.

This is the second OAT trip I have been on, and it was excellent as well. Rory was a fantastic tour leader, so very patient and looked after everyone.

the trip to Wales to see the Conwy Castle and hike Llyn Idwal. Also seeing London major sights and take in a play.

My husband and I had an amazing time in east Africa with OAT. They really know how to balance out a trip. Well, we thought we were going to Africa to see the animals, for me, being with the people and learning their customs, and feeling their warmth and sharing with us what’s my favorite part of the trip!

We traveled to the Balkan countries on OAT’s Crossroads of the Adriatic adventure with few expectations. It turned out to be an amazing trip. We gained new understanding of the terrible conflicts of the nineties, saw beautiful scenery, explored ancient cities, and enjoyed some memorable meals, all with a congenial group of like-minded people. Our trip leader Lili was the best tour guide we have ever had. All of our hotels were top notch and well located. Most of the time we were fairly close to all the attractions that we wanted to see. Our contacts with the local people were great fun, especially our “Day in the Life” experience. I heartily recommend this OAT adventure.

The Atlas World Traveler ship was amazing due to a knowledgeable expedition crew, friendly, professional staff and behind the scenes people who made it all seamless. The captain delivered for the passengers on all hopes and promises.. The team leaders hired by OAT tried hard with one exception. They were South American and had little experience in the Artic. Antarctica is a very different place. Lucas Bogani was the worst tour guide I have had over many companies in 50 countries I have visited. He had only been in the Arctic once and offered little or wrong information. He remained almost exclusively with the other team leaders, not wanting to interact with the guests until almost the last day when 2 people spoke to him. I had used OAT because of the guides they provided. It seems like their brand is in need of an overhaul. I would love to go on another Atlas trip. Not so sure about OAT

Donna, we are very sorry to learn of your experience. We strive to provide our travelers with the best possible experience. With limited population and minimal tourist presence in the Arctic Circle, our Trip Experience Leaders are from our Antarctica adventures, as they are trained for the similar environment. We appreciate your feedback and will share it with our regional team. Thank you.

Overseas Adventure Travel   Reviews

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Excessive Service Fee!

Poor experience when cancelling an additional night at hotel 34 days before our stay. OAT gave us a sevice fee of $300. I think this is excessive. Paul Kaese - Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Date of experience : February 22, 2024

I took an OAT trip to New Zealand with…

I took an OAT trip to New Zealand with Australia add one for $3000.00. Half of this trip was supposed to be a trip from Sydney to Cairns. However this portion of the trip, which was half of what i paid for, was cancelled due to typhoon. i contacted oat about this trip interuption and was informed by customer service representative that i would be refunded half of trip. this never happened. after many calls and literally hours on hold with oat "Customer service" i was informed that the representative had no authority to authorize this refun d and to file a claim with my insurance company. my insurance company is about to deny my claim because oat has steadfastly refused to provide necessary paperwork, Oat promotes itself as catering to seniors and single travelers. i am both of these categories and they have stonewalled, baited and switched and outright lied to me. having to deal with their cusomer service is a nightmare.

Date of experience : March 12, 2024

Be Very Careful, Very Careful when you work with these people

When I began to research OAT, I said to my husband, there are really bi-modal reviews – people either had a great time or it was a “horror show”. Initially, I was reluctant to sign up for a trip given the negative reviews, but then a friend who has been on a number of trips with OAT encouraged me to sign up. So, I signed up on Feb 2 for a trip to Costa Rica in September. However, the trip didn’t get set up and I couldn’t see what I had reserved, etc. so I decided to cancel on Feb. 4. Our deposit was $1598 – most of which was for travel insurance. When I spoke with the representative, Barbara, she told me that the bulk of the deposit would be returned within days as it was for an outside agency and the balance would be paid 45 days later. No credit appeared on my account and when I called about a week later, the fellow helping me left me on the phone for a while and then returned to tell me that the entire amount would be refunded in 45 days – that my information was wrong. The clock is still ticking and I have my calendar flagged to check on the refund – HOWEVER I feel compelled to write this for the record. It is ridiculous that I should have to pay this charge on my credit card while OAT gets to use my money. There is NO reason not to refund the deposit in a timely fashion and I recommend that they PROMINENTLY display this questionable policy of their materials. I'll be back if I don't see that refund hit my credit card on March 20.

Date of experience : February 04, 2024

Bad customer service when it comes to processing refunds

We cancelled a trip we had booked with OAT on 11/30/2023. It is now 1/9/2024 and we are still waiting for them to credit back our deposit to our credit card. Their stock answer when we call is that it takes 45 days to process a refund. As anyone with any intelligence know, that is not true. Every other travel company we have ever booked with processes credits/refunds in 2 weeks or less. Please be aware that this is the attitude of this company toward customer service prior to booking trips with them.

Date of experience : November 30, 2023

Don't book with OAT if there is the slightest chance you or they will cancel

I have had the WORST experience in decades of travel with OAT. I booked a trip for 2024 and had to cancel. I'm due a refund of the amount paid over the deposit/insurance. It has been two full months since cancelling and no refund has been made. I have called OAT customer service twice - one month after cancellation then today, two months after. Both times, they CS reps gave the same story with a slight twist: first call after one month - my refund should've been processed within 30 calendar days, but it was "in process" and would be paid in the next 15 calendar days at most. Today, after two months, my refund should've been processed within 45 calendar days, but it was "in process" and would be paid "whenever finance got around to it." I am going to have to contact my bank for a fraud claim because, at this point, I don't believe that OAT will refund my money and "whenever" is not an acceptable timeframe. They seem to be unable to process refunds, which does not speak well of their financial health. I am an independent traveler and read high recommendations for OAT - not my experience at all.

Date of experience : January 02, 2024

Very poor customer service

After planning 10 trips w this company, I can NO longer recommended this company. In Feb, we booked a trip to Africa, paying an addtnl $3890 for business class upgrade, AS WE ALWAYS DID WITH INTERNATIONAL FLTS. When OAT went to finally purchase the air fare in Aug, (after keeping my money for 6 mos) they erred in purchasing coach seats and sent me a refund for $3890 without any explanation. I NOTICED we were in coach, called them and was told we would now have to pay $12k to sit in business class. Therefore this trip is now costing me an addtnl $8k that we never expected to pay!! If I had known this in Feb, we may not have taken this trip. NO ONE AT OAT HAS APOLOGIZED OR ADMITTED TO THIS ERROR. I too have been getting continued poor customer service as of late, since the pandemic.

Date of experience : November 10, 2023

Refund delayed.

I booked a trip but needed to cancel just in time to get my down payment of $350.00 back. I was told it would take 45 days. Now it is 55 days and no refund. I called OAT several times but was given excuses for the delay.

OAT deserves a consumer class action

Anyone know a good consumer class action attorney? That's what this company deserves. I was mostly satisfied with Road Scholar, but was seduced by an OAT trip's pre- and post-options, as well as the 'no single supplement,' so signed up. I told the Travel Dep't I wanted to travel Business Class, and they made the reservation I had researched and requested. Now that it's time to pay, I noticed that they also charged me $1200 for economy round-trip airfare. Even though their website says "Free round-trip economy airfare!!!" I have never seen anything so outrageous. The customer service guy I ended up practically screaming at kept repeating lines from the handbook trying to appease me, but couldn't/wouldn't address my complaint about paying for airfare that a) supposed to be free and b) I'm not using. The R/T business fare I found on Google was just a few dollars more than what they're charging me for the Business Class 'upgrade'. Please, someone sue these people on behalf of all of us!

Date of experience : August 14, 2023

We have traveled 11 times--NEVER again!

We have traveled 11 times, spending more than $110,000 with this company---NEVER again! Booked our last trip with them to Egypt. On our return home our tickets on American Airlines on our final leg were cancelled by British Air. The flight was not cancelled--only our tickets. If we wanted to get home we had to pay $650 for tickets on the same flight that OAT had already booked us on. we were at the gate ready to board and told tickets cancelled. We paid, now OAT says it's not their responsibility even though they made all flight reservations and were paid for all reservations. Beware--OAT will take your money but give no help when they owe you $$$

Date of experience : November 18, 2022

I canceled my trip for October on April…

I canceled my trip for October on April 26th. I was informed in writing since I had the Allianz trip insurance that I would receive a refund by May 11th. When I did not receive it I wrote to inquire. I was told the policy had changed to 30 days - May 26th. I replied that I was not notified of any policy change and expected them to honor thw agreement they put in writing. The next response said I would not receive my refund to June 8th. I called and spoke to a rep then escalated to a manager and was told there was nothing they could do their finance department is overwhelmed. That might be a BIG clue for those thinking of booking with them!

Date of experience : May 14, 2023

THIEVES! Buyer Beware! My mother had legitimate reasons for cancelling and even purchased Cancel for any Reason insurance. Allianz insurance assured her she’d be reimbursed in full and then OAT deducted $2,000 from her reimbursement. This company lacks honesty and integrity and we will spread the word far and wide to save others from such deception and shameful business practices!

Date of experience : April 01, 2023

Excellent tour company

I've taken 2 tours with OAT. They do a great job of handling all the arrangements, and I've had an excellent experience talking with their customer service representatives. Their tour leaders and guides have been consistently knowledgeable. And I love that there is no single supplement.

Date of experience : August 05, 2022

I really don't know how to improve…

I really don't know how to improve terrible! The customer service is beyond repair and will never ever use them again. We booked our reservations with the promise that a discount would be applied and never happened. We signed up based on getting the discount! Bait and switch tactics. After weeks of the same run around and promised calls back from inept supervisors, we finally got one that was just as useless as the first tier advisors. It was like talking to children who were never educated. Customers don't mean anything to these people or company. We have not even left for our trip and now really worried that they will not perform as promised during our trip. They have our money and can you imagine the fiasco trying to cancel and get it back? Not worth the effort and if you are thinking of using this company, our word of warning, . . DON'T! If you do . . . GOOD LUCK! We just hope that this nightmare will not carry forward during our trip . . . please pray for us!

Date of experience : November 10, 2022

Disappointing!

Disappointing! This is my third trip with OAT and I have to say that I have been happy with the actual trips - well organized, knowledgeable guides, good hotels and food - that's why I gave it one star! I understand it's been a difficult year but customer service and policies have been hard for me to manage - HOURS and HOURS waiting on the phone, mistakes in invoicing which were difficult to correct, not honoring the flight upgrade price when we were closer to the departure date, cancelling the post trip without contacting us to rebook the flight home (I had to contact them) , charging a $600 fee EACH to rebook my travel partner and I on the same flight home (they called it a "custom" flight fee) - so many issues that I had to deal with makes this company not worth the time and effort. I will not travel with them again!

Date of experience : June 16, 2022

Neither legal nor ethical

To be courteous and professional, I am letting you know in writing that this information is also going to the Attorney General’s office in Boston, the BBB, Yelp, Google, Tripadvisor, ConsumerAffairs, and Trustpilot. It has been a tremendous waste of our time trying to get our money back after cancelling our trip. Starting on 29 Nov 2022, we were told multiple times, both by phone and by email, that our request has been given to the finance department for review. We have never heard back nor have we received our refund. This is ridiculous. Both my wife and I are retired and have traveled extensively with many other companies but never has any company given us such a runaround/delay. From numerous calls and emails and hours on hold, this is without a doubt the worst customer service we have EVER experienced. No one should ever be treated this way…especially a loyal returning customer. One can only theorize OAT is planning to go out of business. We were told that we have until the end of 2023 to use the credits from our cancelled trip. But due to your policy of requiring a COVID vaccination, which you did not have in place when we initially booked our trip with you, we will not have time to use the credits. Holding our money, from the initial booking on 29 Mar 2021, while making it impossible to use the credits is neither legal nor ethical. Also, if we were to book and trip after being treated like this everyone on the trip would hear firsthand how we have been treated. No…that’s a promise. After this complaint is filed, there will be no more, “contact us at…so we can assist you”. Enough is enough. Just do what is right or we will keep this up. Customer # 2822077

Date of experience : November 29, 2022

I have been on hold for hours and hours…

I have been on hold for hours and hours over several days and have not got through - I dont know how I ever got through in the first place to make a booking. This is ridiculous

Date of experience : January 28, 2023

Hiddens Gems? OAT projection

i booked a trip w/OAT. my first return to international travel since covid. i liked that the trip was on a small ship with a cap of 25 fellow travelers . better yet the ship would transit through the corinth canal (part of my bucket list for years). two days ago OAT advised me via letter that he itinerary had changed a bit. i was informed that the corinth canal is closed and that instead of making the transit to delphi by ship , it would be done instead by a 7 hour bus ride over mountainous terrain. other modifications were also revealed. I called OAT to cancel. i was informed that siince i was cancelling 35 days out, i would be subject to a 65% cancellation "fee" (read penalty) and that i could recoup the balance from the "any reason" trip insurance i had purchased from their travel partner allianz (more on this below). by this time , i had researched the status of the corinth canal and had discovered that the corinth canal has been closed since january 2021and that the authorities have indicated a re-opening of the canal in summer 2023. NEVER at any time or in any correspondence did an OAT representative offer any information regarding the canal. in discussing my desire to cancel the OAT,agent asked if i would like to move my departure date to MAY 2023. you have got to be ... that "any reason" trip insurance ? well it turns out that you do have to have a reason and the exclusion list of coverage is longer than the inclusions . cancelling because OAT made a consequential change to the itinerary does not qualify.so if you dont have a qualifying reason , allianz will issue a travel voucher w/OAT for a future trip w/OAT for the balance of what i had originally paid minus the 35 % reimbursement from OAT. had i not cancelled when i did , allianz would be offering me a 100% travel voucher. after my experience w/OAT the last thing i want is a travel voucher from them. it is my sincere belief that OAT has ,from the very first contact ( and continues today) acted in bad faith. proof? go look up this trip on their website . they are still marketing the corinth canal today with nary an asterix regarding the canals closure. pure and simple deceit; delays in notifications that then create higher penalties; lack of transparency; disregard for ethical treatment of customers are all attributes that this company embraces. if you are considering travel with them I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU TO RUN FOR THE DOOR P.S.- i wish i could have gone with zero stars

Date of experience : February 17, 2023

Actually, we haven't left for our trip yet. We are scheduled to leave in mid October and decided to arrive early and spend the nights of 10/13- 15 at the hotel in Lisbon where the tour will start. My mistake was booking and paying for this early arrival before the tour starts thru OAT. The friend I am traveling with wants to take me on a special trip to Porto for the nights of 10/14 (my birthday) and 10/15. So I called OAT to cancel the early pre tour starting nights of 10/14 and 10/15. No can do. If I had booked directly with the hotel I could have. So so greedy, OAT. Now for one night (1 night) it will cost me nearly $1,000.00, the full price of all 3 nights.. For one night. Checking in at 3pm on 10/13 and leaving the hotel at 10:00 am the next morning. Cost for 1 night/ 19 hours will be close to $1,000.00. So be aware, friends, that changes, even a month in advance, to early arrival pre-tour on your own will cost you the full price with no refunds if you book thru OAT. Book on your own with the hotel. This is the hotel they booked me in for that I now have to pay nearly $1,000.00 for one night. Check out the prices if you book on your own. Turim Marques Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal. Rates at this hotel if you book on your own is between $100- $200 a night. I have learned my lesson. These companies may have been good pre pandemic. Now they are just trying to make up for lost profits by these sorts of business practices. I have traveled extensively on my own (48 countries) but thought that traveling with a small group would be easier now. After this trip, however, I am back to traveling on my own. I would never have to spend nearly $1,000.00 for one night/19 hours on a hotel if I was traveling on my own.

Date of experience : September 21, 2023

4 Phone Calls, 8 hours 23 Minutes On Hold

Customer service, has OAT even heard of this concept? The cover letter that came with my final documents has NO CONTACT information for OAT just in case a customer needs to reach out. No email. No phone number. This SCREAMS: “We have your money, and we don’t care to service your needs.” I had to resort to the numbers available on the website. Here’s my call log: • June 7, 2022: called 800-221-0814 at 1:05 pm, on hold for 3 hours 16 minutes. An automated message told me I had reached the maximum hold time, was being disconnected, and someone would call me within 72 hours (NO ONE EVER CALLED ME BACK!). • June 8, 2022: called 800-221-0814 at 9:03 am, on hold for 2 hours 14 minutes. Could no longer stay on hold, as I had to attend a meeting. • June 10, 2022: called 800-955-1925 at 9:01 am, on hold for 2 hours 8 minutes. Could no longer stay on hold, as I had to attend a meeting. • June 11, 2022: called 800-221-0814 at 9:01 am, on hold for 1 hour 5 minutes. Despite having followed the prompts for needing to speak with someone about the airline reservation portion and departing within the next 4 months, still got transferred from one agent to another and put on hold yet again. I also tried sending an email. The automated response was that someone would respond within 15 business days. Really, 3 weeks to respond to an email? Would Alan & Harriett Lewis, the owners of OAT, have persevered if they were customers? Called 4 times and stayed on hold for a total of 8 hours 43 minutes? ONLY TO BE TOLD THAT BECAUSE IT WAS NOW SO CLOSE TO THE DEPARTURE DATE, CHANGES WOULD NOW BE AN ADDITIONAL $$$. All of my time and effort were futile. Back on August 14, 2017 OAT posted an apology for poor service and long hold times on their website titled "We Owe You an Apology - Addressing our service issues." Yet, once again, OAT has the exact same problem. Why didn’t OAT learn the value of that lesson the first time? Shameful for a service business to not prioritize its customers. And this didn’t just happen, it’s been going on for months (just look at the reviews posted on TripAdvisor). OAT is in serious need of a customer service make-over, starting with the website as well as competent staffing. There is no chat feature on their website, nor the ability to send an intranet email. Customers traveling within the next 30 days are not provided higher priority than someone traveling 4 months from now. It is obvious their needs are more immediate. This isn’t rocket science. For heaven’s sake, OAT needs to step in to and up to today’s technology expectations for a multimillion-dollar travel company. Believe me, an apology will not repay me for my effort, frustration, disappointment, and time spent apparently uselessly trying to reach OAT. Results count, excuses do not. I am stuck traveling with a company that does not have the capability of helping its customers.

Date of experience : July 02, 2022

Policy over humanity or common sense

This letter is effectively what was communicated no less than 8 times in writing and conversation to OAT representatives up the chain, beginning 19 days before the trip. OAT was IMMOVABLE on allowing us to find an alternative travel companion and it was 100% due to rigid policy, not real barriers. We never expected a refund and wouldn't have blamed them if we could not fill my spot. They refused to even give us the opportunity. Appalling and sadly representative of their customer service. Congratulations, you lost two customers and one long time referral source. I only think it is fair that folks know the nature of the company at this point. An absolute shame. As a dedicated Edmund Hillary member of OAT with a history of introducing countless friends to your service including 4 who booked trips, I am writing to express my deep concern over the handling of our Galapagos trip booking in light of a recent medical emergency. This situation not only highlights significant gaps in customer communication and care but also underscores the need for immediate, effective action. Timeline of Events and Communication Issues: Initial Contact on 11/22: We contacted OAT 19 days before the trip, scheduled for 12/11, as soon as it became clear that extended surgical complications would prevent my travel. Policy of No Refunds or Changes Under 30 Days: We were informed that the trip is non-refundable under 30 days, which is understood. However, OAT also refused to allow a replacement traveler, posing zero risk to the company. Both of us called, met with the same response. Response from Exceptions Department on 11/22: The no-change policy was reiterated by the Exceptions Department on the same day. Written Escalation on 11/22: Both parties sent written letters to escalate the matter. Delayed Response Until 11/29: We did not receive any response until 11/29, with OAT mentioning the inability to make changes 12 days before the trip. Policy vs. Practical Reasons: The response seemed more policy-based than practical. We offered to cover the cost for a replacement traveler for the internal Galapagos flight, which was declined. The rep always returned to the policy prohibiting it. She further added we do not sell trips within 30 days. Upon looking the next day, I found no less than 7 different itineraries with no less than 13 different trips that I could have booked within 30 days. Further Escalation Request and Conversation on 11/30: A further request for escalation resulted in a 23-minute conversation on 11/30 without any change. Given these circumstances, I propose the following practical solution: Future Travel Credit in Exchange for Re-Selling My Space: If finding a substitute traveler is unfeasible, I suggest OAT resell my space to another interested party, crediting me for a future trip. This solution aligns with my preference and ongoing loyalty to OAT. The lack of a constructive response and rigid adherence to policy without considering exceptional circumstances is alarming. It not only affects this immediate trip but also impacts my ability to continue advocating for OAT in good conscience. An amicable and prompt resolution to this issue would speak volumes about OAT's commitment to customer satisfaction and flexibility. Unless there is a prompt and constructive resolution to this matter, we will be forced to escalate our concerns further. This includes reaching out to higher management within OAT, engaging with consumer protection agencies, sharing our experience through travel forums, and social media for breach of service. Our preference is to resolve this amicably, yet the current trajectory leaves us little choice but to pursue these avenues. I implore you to seriously consider these options and respond in a manner that reflects OAT's values of empathy and customer support. Your immediate attention to this matter is not only appreciated but necessary for a resolution that respects both parties' interests. Thank you for your understanding and prompt attention to this critical issue.

Date of experience : November 21, 2023

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Reviewed March 14, 2024

We began our trip on our own, flying into Dubrovnik on Wednesday, November 8. Our tour guide, Mario **, had already established contact with us via WhatsApp to give us suggestions regarding our week on our own. We spoke with him as we drove along the coast to our first stop in Split, and we cannot say enough about how comforting it was to us during that week on our own to know that we already had a friend in Croatia. If we had a problem or a question, all we had to do was contact Mario on WhatsApp and he would get back to us with helpful answers. Little did we know at that time what a blessing he would be to us later in our trip. On Thursday, November 16, we checked into the Dubrovnik Palace. We could not have asked for a better group of people to travel with.

Palace Hotel Dubrovnik was outstanding—beautiful location with lovely rooms and balconies overlooking the sea. We especially loved the indoor pool and spa since we were there in November, but also loved the outdoor pool area and beach which provided beautiful sunsets. In addition, the public bus to the old town conveniently stopped at the front door. We enjoyed the guided city tour and Mario’s special tour of Rector’s Palace, as well as time on our own in the old town on Friday, November 17. On Saturday morning (18th) we took a day trip to Montenegro, but by the time we arrived, Dave was feeling tired and having some balance issues so he sat in a cafe in the square while the rest of us took the walking tour.

On Sunday (19th) Dave seemed better so we went with the group on the morning trip to the fortress and heard the tragic story of the 1991-92 siege from Mato who survived it. We were able to join the group again for the trip to Konavle to meet Dario and learn about his family’s experience during the siege, as well as his family’s olive oil business, and to enjoy a wonderful local meal and entertainment. Monday (20th) We boarded the bus for or trip to Sarajevo. Although Dave seemed fine at the beginning, by the time we stopped for a break in Ston, he was having trouble walking well, slightly dragging his right foot. When we stopped in Mostar for lunch, Dave said he was not hungry, but he was tired and just wanted to stay on the bus and sleep.

While we were gone Dave tried to get off the bus to use the restroom, but his right leg collapsed and he fell on the bus steps. A few minutes later, he was able to stand again and made it to the restroom but collapsed again. Dario (our bus driver) was so kind—he returned to the bus as soon as he finished eating and took food with him for Dave. When he got there he discovered Dave on the restroom floor. I cannot say enough about how wonderful Dario was and how thankful we are to him for everything he did to help Dave in the restroom and then getting back on the bus. Meanwhile he called Mario, who immediately went with me to help. Fortunately, the rest of the group was not far behind.

Mario assessed the situation and told me that we had to get Dave to Sarajevo as soon as possible because there was no health facility in Mostar that could deal with this emergency. We were able to get him to the back seat in the bus where he could lie down for the 3-hour ride. By the time we arrived in Sarajevo, Dave was able to walk, with help, to get off the bus and into our hotel room. He was able to walk across the room toward the bed, but collapsed again and could not get up. Mario came quickly back and called an ambulance. He went with me to the hospital and stayed with me while the doctors examined him, did a CT scan, and determined that he needed immediate surgery for a subdural hematoma. He sat in the waiting room with me until 1:00 am, as we waited for news.

At that point, he went to the nurse’s station and talked to them (which I could not have done). Apparently the surgery was just beginning and we were told that there would be no further news until tomorrow, so Mario took me back to the hotel. I cannot imagine what I would have done without Mario in this situation. He was amazing. He knew just what to do and whom to talk to—not to mention that he spoke the language. Tuesday (21st) Mario took me to the hospital, helped translate with the nurses and staff, and waited with me 2-3 hours until we could speak to the doctor who assisted with the surgery.

Mario then took me back to the hotel to meet up with the group, filled out his incident reports and contacted the OAT office in Dubrovnik to set up the additional 10 days that we anticipated having to stay in Sarajevo before Dave would be allowed to fly home. Krsimir **, with the help of other staff members in the Dubrovnik office, began immediately to help us with arrangements. Wednesday (22nd) Since we could not visit the hospital until afternoon, I went with the group and our wonderful guide, Neira, to see Sniper Alley and the Sarajevo tunnel and hear the story of the siege from her. Then we traveled back to the Old Town to meet with Vuk ** to hear his story of the siege.

Afterwards Mario went with me to the hospital. He waited 1-2 hours with me to see the doctor. I was able to see Dave for a brief 5 minutes. He was doing so well that the doctor said he would be released the next day, so Mario immediately talked to the nurse in charge to find out what I would need to do to get him released. Together we spent another 1-2 hours going from one office to another to gather paperwork, signatures, etc. to make sure I had what I needed for the next day, since he would be leaving with the group then and I would have to deal with everything myself. It was after 4 pm before Mario and I were able to return to the hotel to meet up with the group again and prepare for our home-hosted dinner.

I was so grateful to be able to attend that evening with some of my fellow travelers and to experience the hospitality that Sara, Zara, and her grandmother provided us. It really helped me after going through such a traumatic experience with Dave’s surgery. It was comforting to feel a part of a family for a short time—and this family was so generous, warm and loving. The food was amazing and I really got an insight into what life was like for all of them. I was glad to be able to give Sara the Colorado University Buffaloes cap that I had brought along so she could remember us. Thursday (23rd) I had one last breakfast with the group before they left Sarajevo for Karanack.

Thanks to all the help Mario gave me, I was able to get Dave checked out of the hospital and back to the hotel with no real problem. From that point on Dave improved daily and, with the help of the wonderful staff at Hotel Europe and many kind people whom we met everywhere in Sarajevo, we were able to navigate all the medical appointments, make arrangements to get back home, and still enjoy our time together in that beautiful city. We stayed at Hotel Europe in Sarajevo from November 20-December 3 when we were finally able to fly home.

We cannot say enough about how lucky we felt to be staying in such an amazing hotel. It was steps from the Old Town full of shops, places of worship, and restaurants. Not only was it an historic landmark with spacious, comfortable rooms and gorgeous public spaces, complete with furniture and chandeliers in the style of old Vienna, but the staff and service was beyond compare.

Everyone—from the maid who cleaned our room (Emina), to the bellhops, to the waiters and the chef, to the bartenders, to the front desk staff, to the general manager went out of their way daily to ask how Dave was doing and to ask what they could to help us. One bellhop even moved a huge comfortable chair from the hallway into our room so Dave would have his “man chair” to relax in. We felt like we were at home there. We especially want to thank the entire front desk staff, but especially Benjamin and Sanela who made phone calls and translated for us every day.

Mario kept in touch with us via WhatsApp for the rest of the trip, even though he was busy with the group. I could always contact him with questions or to get help with connections to the Dubrovnik office. When I repeatedly told him how much we appreciated everything he was doing for us, he told me that it was his job to do everything he could to help us, but even if it weren’t his job, we were visitors in his country and he would help us because it was the right thing to do. I cannot tell you how lucky we were (and OAT is) to have such a wonderful human being as our tour guide. He also arranged with Neira (our outstanding Sarajevo guide) to allow us to reach out to her if we needed help with anything in his absence.

In fact I did call her on Sunday evening as we thought we might need help getting a prescription for Dave on Monday and she again assured us that she would be glad to help. As it turned out we were able to manage on our own, but we really appreciated knowing that we had a friend in Sarajevo if we needed her. She was an incredibly knowledgeable and thorough guide who gave us a first-hand understanding of Sarajevo and its tumultuous history from her own point of view as one who lived through the events of the siege, but she also really went above and beyond to make us feel at home in Sarajevo.

Kresimir ** (Dubrovnik office) researched options for our return flight to the US, even though we had arranged our own airfare. He continued to contact us via WhatsApp every few days to see how Dave was doing and to see if we needed any assistance until we reached home in Las Vegas. We are so glad we were on an OAT trip when this happened. The care and support everyone provided us was unbelievable. We also want to thank Andrew ** (OAT Travel Relations) who picked up where Kresimir left off when we got home. He helped us navigate the insurance claim with Allianz for the refund of the days we missed on the trip + medical expenses + hotel + taxis. If it had not been for him, we would not have gotten what we were supposed to receive.

Reviewed Feb. 19, 2024

Wow! What an incredible adventure to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The highlight was visiting the Eco Valley Elephant Sanctuary where we learned about elephants, got to bathe and feed them, and had a wonderful lunch there! Really fun. You can save $100 if you mention Nancy **. Our group was amazing and we did the most activities our tour guide of 30 years has ever done! Here they are:

All activities from Bangkok to Saigon LVC 01/26/2024 - 02/14/2024

- Orientation walks

- Dinner cruise

- Back to the hotel

- Big brother mouse chat with highlander kids

- Nancy, Luanne and Bob visited Kwang Si waterfall

- Home Hosted dinner

- dinner on own

- Remok ride back to the hotel

- Sunset cruise

- Dinner at the hotel

- Acrobat show *Diane **

- Apsara, dinner dance

- Late check in at Huong Sen hotel, Saigon

- Back to hotel dinner on own

- Optional tour: Saigon Adventure Street food with scooter ride

- Farewell party dinner

- Return back to USA or Break away. And then I slept for two days. Can't wait to go on another trip.

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Reviewed Dec. 30, 2023

If you want a unique experience to enjoy part of Eastern Europe, this winter trip is for you. Select the “Christmas cruise” in December, when we left our perfectly located Hotel Dubrovnik in the heart of Zagreb (after the OAT introductory briefing) to roam the city streets. My husband and I enjoyed mulled wine and sausages at one of the many booths and strolled the downtown squares lit brightly for the holidays. Everywhere you visit, cities will be decorated: Christmas trees overlooking waterways, in front of cathedrals, at public buildings and teddy bear Santa’s in windows.

Plus, there are excellent tour guides in each port to introduce you to the rich and complex history of the area. (It was interesting to learn that Dalmatia was once part of the Venetian empire.) Just when we thought our OAT trip leaders couldn’t get any better, along came Djukan, an informed and energetic native of Montenegro (with a high EQ), who blended the 25 on our tour into a “family.” We knew each other’s names within 48 hours. Dovidenja, name tags.

The good ship Athena has well-appointed staterooms, a comfortable lounge area, smooth sailing, and food aplenty. (One complaint: Get a better coffee machine; we Americans are such coffee snobs.) Best of all, it was staffed with people from various countries who genuinely seemed to care about their passengers – and all had interesting stories of their own. Me thinks people do not go on cruises for the food: it was good, not extraordinary, and it was served efficiently and with panache. Wine selections come from in country and vary daily – or you can buy your own offshore or aboard and pay a corkage fee. What a comfortable way to journey through Croatia, its islands and into Montenegro. I particularly enjoyed the mornings watching the sun rise as we sailed into a new port.

Our magical moments: returning from the welcome dinner through the bomb shelters from World War II, now used as sites for raves … Our Lady of the Rocks Shrine in Kotor, enjoying the art without another soul there … the stunning Cathedral of St. James in Sebenik, its architecture transitioning from Gothic to Renaissance (and just when we thought we’d seen enough churches/mosques/synagogues to last a lifetime) … the acapella singing troupe who had us all clapping to Croatian tunes and ended up singing Willie’s “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” … hearing the profound tale of a woman who lived through the siege of Dubrovnik … and inspiration from a young Muslim woman in Sopot, determined to rejuvenate her village and build a better life for her Catholic family.

It was the full-on OAT experience. Yes, you can go with the crowds in the summer or shoulder seasons, or you can button up your overcoat and go in winter when you will have this special place in the world to yourselves. There’s enough mulled wine and OAT hospitality to keep you warm.

Reviewed Nov. 18, 2023

I have recently returned from my first OAT trip. OAT was recommended to me by friends but I was a bit apprehensive about traveling solo with a group of people I had not met before. I was pleasantly surprised. The group was comprised of both couples and singles. We all meshed very well and did activities together outside of our scheduled events. I have traveled quite a bit but never with an organized tour group. There is no way I could have had as many and as varied of experiences in Sicily if I had planned the trip myself.

The Sicilians I met were all quite interesting. We ate in homes of a retired law enforcement officer and his family, an active farmer and his family and a cook and craftsperson. We were invited to the home of an accomplished pianist in Ragusa who played for us in his parlor and showed us his extensive antique collection. In Mazura, after visiting the museum and seeing the magnificent Dancing Satyr, we listened to the captain who discovered the sculpture talk of his discovery adventure.

We hiked on the hills close to Mt. Etna and listed to its thunder on a day before it erupted. In Taormina we viewed the majestic views of the Ionian seaside from the Greco Roman Theater, while we learned of the Greeks' use of the theater for cultural enrichment and the Romans later use of the theater for gladiator games. Throughout Sicily, we had a chance to learn of the merging of various cultures and that influence on the lives of Sicilians today. We viewed architecture that was originally Greek, converted by the Romans and later formed the base for magnificent cathedrals.

One of the most surprising tours of the trip was a visit to the WWII museum. I would not have placed that on a trip I had planned for myself. I was exposed to a phase of WWII history that I had not been aware of and one that has much similarity to what is happening in our world today. These are just a few of the experiences I had on my trip. There were so many more that greatly enriched my life. Our trip leader, Ignazio, was excellent. He set a high bar for future trips. I definitely plan to travel with OAT again and hope that future trip leaders are as great as Ignazio was.

Donna, we are happy to hear you enjoyed your first trip with us! Thank you for sharing your experience in Sicily with us. We look forward to having you travel with us again in the future.

Reviewed Oct. 24, 2023

It grieves me to see so many negative OAT reviews recorded in ConsumerAffairs. My wife and I have now completed four OAT trips, having recently returned from the Ultimate Africa tour. After reading many reviews, it appears that most complaints are regarding reservations and what happens or doesn’t happen administratively with the OAT organization. There are many dissatisfied customers who feel they have not been treated fairly or honestly by OAT, most often regarding health issues and decisions or schedule changes. In their defense, there is a lot of paperwork to sift through and I would encourage potential travelers to carefully review and ask questions to throughly understand what is being agreed to. By comparison, there are very few complaints regarding the actual trips and trip leaders.

We have had the most wonderful experience during all four of our OAT trips and we believe that the organization does an outstanding job. The whole travel industry was hurting during Covid and is still recovering from a very difficult time. Hopefully, OAT will continue to focus more on staffing and the administrative aspects of customer service, aka phone calls, and a little lesser budget on printed advertisements, brochures and costly literature that is frequently mailed out. The #1 priority and goal should be to have quality customer service.

In regards to our most recent trip, Ultimate Africa, we couldn’t be more pleased with the entire experience from booking to traveling with OAT. This was a well designed and carried out program, and it would be hard to imagine another company doing any better than OAT, especially for the value. Our guide was totally there for everyone during the whole experience. She displayed the ultimate in concern for our safety, well being and travel experience. She was a true African native, well studied in history, culture, daily life, and many other topics. She was the catalyst that made this trip experience so meaningful.

If I was to do a complete review of the entire trip, it would take pages. What we saw, experienced and learned about Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa in just 16-days was incredible. OAT is fortunate to have our tour guide as a contractor and she should definitely be used as much as possible for this fantastic tour. She is the Ultimate OAT professional guide and a great person of high integrity and personality. My wife and I highly recommend the Ultimate Africa tour. I also don’t want to fail to mention another wonderful OAT tour that we completed this year, the Egypt & The Eternal Nile adventure. This was also an amazing tour that we highly recommend. We are already looking forward to our next OAT adventure.

Bob, thank you for the kind words! We're very glad to hear that you enjoyed your Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, and Botswana adventure.

This was my first trip with OAT (Senegal, Cape Verde and The Gambia) and my first trip to Africa, a continent with which I was totally unfamiliar. I do a lot of research and planning on my own before I travel and OAT's information was thorough except for the information on currency. I didn't need to concern myself with currency exchange since the locals accepted Euros and American dollars for the most part. Additionally, the actual hikes were even more difficult than indicated in the itinerary and this was a disappointment. Also, I think in the future I will be much more diligent about my flight schedule and choose to do it on my own if I can shorten the travel time. I enjoyed the small group experience. The accommodations in the hotel and on the ship were excellent and the food was good. The crew on the ship could not do enough for us. Our trip leader and the local guides did a great job.

Reviewed March 9, 2024

Poor experience when cancelling an additional night at hotel 34 days before our stay. Overseas Adventure Travel gave us a sevice fee of $300. I think this is excessive.

Paul ** - Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Reviewed March 3, 2024

My wife and I have been on a number of Overseas Adventure trips and have had pretty good success except with the last two trips we took this last fall and this winter. To start with, the price in OAT’s advertising did not match what was in their computer, so we had to get the booking person to acknowledge the price change and honor it. Secondly, we upgraded the airline part of the trip to economy plus, which was very important to us because of our size, I am 6’5” tall. As it turns out the upgraded seating didn’t get put into the system except for the first long flight and the airlines had no knowledge of the rest. Even with three weeks advance knowledge OAT was helpless in getting us upgraded seats and at one point denied that it was even their mistake. Their attitude in this matter has been “how can I not help you”.

We were told that eventually we will get a refund plus a $500 credit for our pain and suffering for two 11 hour red eye flights in economy seats literally at the back of the plane. The compensation is hardly enough for trying to fit a 6’5” frame into a seat that left one leg hanging out in the isle that every person who walked by ran into as well as the attendants and their carts. Further, on the trip that we were supposed to have economy plus seats, the first flight to our destination was late and the second flight (that we were supposed to have economy plus seats on) didn’t fly again till the next day.

When we called OAT to let them know that we would be arriving a day late, they insured us that they would notify the trip leader. Our trip leader was never notified and was stuck at the airport waiting for us to arrive. We were thankful that there was another tour arriving the next day and there had someone at the terminal to take us to our hotel to join our group. On another trip we were quoted an internal air fair that was suppose to be included. They corrected the error before we left the US for the trip, but we were hounded by the tour guide for the extra $50 during the trip. He acted like a bill collector for something that we didn’t even owe.

In summary, do not count on the person booking your trip at OAT Travel to know the quoted prices and options. Doublecheck your flights to be sure that they gave you the seats in the section you expected, and check your statement to be sure they don’t add in an extra fee that is supposed to be included in the trip. Another thing to check is the amount of time you have to get from one flight to another. By the time the plane leaves the gate till it arrives at the next are never what is scheduled. If you thought you had an hour to get from one plane to the next, you probably won’t make it. Two to 3 hours between flights takes a lot of stress out of making sure you make your next flight on time.

Reviewed Feb. 27, 2024

Friends of ours told us about OAT and invited my husband and me to go on the “Inside Vietnam” tour with them. It was our first OAT trip. It was special, because it was TET, so we saw thousands of flowers. We also did the post-tour to Cambodia. Our weather was fortunately almost rain-free. My favorite activity was sleeping on the junk! Our guide, Harvey, was extremely conscientious, friendly, and knowledgeable!

Reviewed Feb. 26, 2024

The O.A.T. trip to Costa Rica was exceptional. Our guide, Roy, loved showing us his country, was extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and able to find and identify over 130 species of birds, 2 of the 3 kinds of monkeys, and many reptiles including crocodiles, caimans, and lots of iguanas. We even saw a sloth in nature and was active and climbing! Costa Rica is a beautiful country. A boat trip through Tortuguero was like being on a real Discovery Channel nature excursion. Also, along the way we were able to meet many of the local people of Costa Rica, from traveling to visit a school in a small hamlet and teach a lesson to the 29 students, to helping a local women's coop by shopping for, preparing, and enjoying a feast for lunch. Want to learn how to make tortillas? This was the place. The pacing of our trip was excellent, with many options for additional activities, free time, or a choice to take short, to medium, to long hikes. I highly recommend O.A.T. for your next trip!

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• Beyond Europe
• Logistical questi...

Logistical questions about Egypt tours and O.A.T.

I am planning an Egypt tour in early 2025 and have started planning and reviewing the many posts here, plus researching online. However, I have a couple of questions about a few things.

First, one of the tours I'm looking into is Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). When I priced one tour (with a Jordan pre-trip extension), it gave an optional price for travel insurance (through Allianz), which includes the ability to cancel up to the day of departure, plus baggage coverage, medical benefits, assistance and emergency evacuation, and more. I think the price is a little over $1000. Has anyone purchased something like this as opposed to a regular travel insurance policy?

Second, the price includes the flight from JFK to the destination ($1100 cost, although I can change the departing flight to MSP for $400 more). Do you all typically take advantage of using their flights? It's my understanding that if you book your own flight, then you would be responsible for transfers to and from the hotel, although evidently starting next year, you can purchase the transfers separately. Just curious what most of you do.

And lastly, any thoughts on OAT? I'm still not finished looking at tour companies but I like that there is no single supplement and that they have a 5-day Jordan extension I can tack on. They also have the ability to add extra nights before or after your trip for pretty reasonable costs, which includes hotel, meals and airport transfers.

Thanks for your help!

Lots of friends have traveled with OAT but then tired of traveling with them. I think there were a lot of extra charges for various options that they offered. We went to Egypt and Jordan with Odysseys Unlimited, perfect tour, hotels, guides.

I did the OAT Egyptian trip with the dahabiya (yacht) Nile cruise in 2021, postponed due to pandemic from originally scheduled 2020. They have another similar one, on a bigger cruise ship. I thought they were great. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable, helpful and hard working. The in-country arrangements all went smoothly. The attractions, hotels and cruise were the best quality available in Egypt in my opinion. I did buy the travel insurance but didn't need to use it. I suppose one can buy it cheaper independently, but the convenience was worth it for me (and I don't recommend a pricey tour without getting travel insurance). Added one additional night in Cairo before start of trip, at very reasonable cost. Used their flight arrangements (they booked it on Lufthansa from Washington via Frankfurt). I thought the value for money on this tour was very good. I had a similar good experience on their SE Asia trip in 2022. That one, I was able to use frequent flier miles for a business class ticket so I didn't purchase their air component. What they charged for roundtrip air in economy Washington to Bangkok was $1500, which I thought was a fair price, but that was my savings by booking my own air instead. They give you the overall price quote up front, but if you ask them, they will tell you how much of it is the airfare. I bought airport transfers for $25 each way -- I thought that also was a fair price for having them meet me at the airport and take me to hotel late at night, and reverse on departure. As noted, if you buy their air the airport transfer is included. Another thing, on one of the tours they handled the situation of a participant who got COVID with the utmost professionalism, compassion and relevant information-sharing with the group.

I have a couple of friends who used OAT tours and were very happy with them. I contacted them a few months ago because I was wondering about taking an OAT tour to the Puglia region of Italy, and they still were recommending OAT. (I’ve since decided to do it independently and stay much longer.). I think they have smaller group sizes than the RS tours which could be nice.

Hi there, My husband and I (and 10 other friends) took the OAT trip to Egypt with the pre trip to Jordan March, 2023 and it was amazing, wonderful, and wowed us at every turn. They're all inclusive with just one or two meals out of pocket due to the travel schedule. The guide --- as are all OAT guides --- knowledgeable, flexible, fun and looked after us in every way imaginable. All of us felt it was one of the best trips we'd ever taken (this was a very savy travel group) and we felt like we had gotten a PhD in middle east studies and culture. The five days spent on the Nile was so wonderful and welcomed. All of the hotels were beautiful, comfortable and historic. The food (I'm a vegetarian) was amazing and they went out of the way to accommodate varying dietary requirements. We had OAT book our flights and that worked well. Before having them book our flights we do our own research so we know what are our flight path preferences. We arrived in Jordan three nights early and stayed at the OAT hotel which they booked for us. This allowed us to rest, acclimate and do our own private tour to Wadi Run as the OAT tour did not include this. We love traveling with OAT for the small groups, amazing itineraries and guides, reasonable cost and we generally enjoy the people who are attracted to travel with them.Please feel free to message me privately if you'd like further info.

One of the commenters mentioned hearing from friends about "a lot of extra charges." I did not find that to be the case at all, on my two OAT trips. As with any tour, not everything is included, but most things are, and they are upfront about what isn't: Meals: The number of meals included as part of the tour varies according to destination. You can find out all this info from the website about the tour that interests you. Anytime you are on a ship (such as the 5 day Nile cruise) all meals are included (and they were excellent). On land, virtually all meals were included in the Egypt tour, while perhaps 2/3 of lunches and dinners were included on the SE Asia one (breakfast was always included at the hotel, and was always good, sometimes downright lavish). All included meals were good, typically the local cuisine at a clean, attractive restaurant (often one with a lot of character), with plenty of food served. Occasionally Western fare. All included meals provided complimentary bottled water, but alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and juices were usually at your own expense, if you wanted them. When meals weren't included, it was always at times and places where there was a good variety of nearby restaurants at various price points. Tips: You are expected to tip the tour leader. OAT recommends $10-15 per day, per person, given at the end of the tour. The guides were wonderful and worked incredibly hard, and I was quite happy to tip above this recommended range. In Egypt, there was also a tour box for the yacht staff, which I was equally glad to do as they were awesome. Other tips arising out of any of the included services, you are not expected to pay as the tour leader handles that (bus drivers, waiters, local tour guides, hotel porters). Shopping: This can be a real hassle in some places, such as many locally arranged tours in Egypt where part of the guide's income depends on steering you to particular shops where he gets a kickback on anything you buy (and which the merchant figures into the price he charges you). This was not a problem with OAT on either trip. The tour bus never wasted our time by stopping at any alabaster workshops, "papyrus museums", perfume factories, or anything like that (of course, we went plenty of places where there were things to buy, but not places that appeared to be solely aimed at getting us to shop). The guide was available to give good advice to those on the tour who did want to shop, but there was no pressure whatsoever on anyone to do any shopping or to purchase anything. Excursions with surcharge: Virtually everything the group does and sees is included in the price (of course, if you want to do other things on your free time, those are at your expense, but most of each day does comprise included activities). There are a couple of additional ones offered if you want, but few. On the Egypt trip they offered a balloon flight in Luxor, and in SE Asia, one trip to an outlying temple near Angkor Wat in addition to the main ones included in the tour, and an evening food tour by motor scooter (local drove the scooter, tourist on the back) in Saigon. I did these, except for the food tour, and thought the surcharges were reasonable. Also I liked the group "vibe" on both trips. Good people. I'm travelling with OAT again soon, to the Balkans, and looking forward to it.

Oh my gosh, I posted this, then ran to the gym and when I got back found all these helpful responses!

@Suki: I have OU on my list of potential tour companies, but it does seem that OAT caters more to singles, which would be great for me.

@Slate: Thank you so much for all this information - this helps enormously! I am getting so excited about this trip. And that is really good to know about the travel protection plan and the airfare. Convenience is definitely worth something! That is also good to know about the meals and the shopping and the excursions. I looked at Tauck's all-inclusive tours but I don't drink much alcohol and would prefer not to have access to free alcohol - it's just too tempting, lol! And I appreciate your thoughts on the group's vibe - that does matter so that's good to know!

@Jean: Thanks for letting me know what you friends think! I think you're right about the size - the tour I am interested in says that the size is between 8-16 people.

@mark_arleneleewong: Thank you so much for your wonderful mini trip report! OAT really does sound wonderful and the more I hear, the more I'm inclined to go with this company. I will definitely PM you if you don't mind - that would be great. Thanks so much!

I have traveled with OAT twice and have a third trip scheduled, so yes I do like them. The one thing I would caution you about is their travel insurance. When then they canceled one of my trips (due to COVID) they canceled the travel insurance so I was not able to collect for any of my costs outside of OAT.

Oh Bob...that is good to know!

I just saw a friend who had done OAT to Egypt, and she loved it.

Regarding travel insurance: their package may not be such a good deal. You can compare on insuremytrip.com. The important features are trip cancellation and medical evacuation. Baggage insurance isn’t important. Costs depend on your age. Your own health insurance may already cover any medical problems. We are two superannuated travelers (79 and 81 on our last, precovid trip). I don’t remember ever paying as much as $1000 for insurance, even for the two of us..

Thanks, Bob and Roselyn. I will definitely keep that in mind.

We also did OAT to Egypt and really enjoyed it. We didn’t do the Jordan extension due to lack of vacation time. We’ve done several OAT tours and we’re not happy with their flight arrangements. Because our last name starts with W, we were in the last row of seats. This was back in 2007 so maybe you can have more say in the type of seat you want? Most of us got sick within a day of arrival. Probably got the crud from the plane? I didn’t become ill for over a week so I think I got it from one of the tour mates. One couple escaped the illness. The guide gave us meds that cleared us right up.

I always compare several travel companies before booking a tour, cruise (river or ocean). Competition, I love it.

I have never used OAT, but based on reviews and talking with people that have done tours with them, I have a positive opinion ot them.

Also, when I compare their price against other companies, I always find them to have competitive prices.

HOWEVER, they have never had the lowest price of a firm that I rated high enough to book with.

We did Egypt in January with Gate 1 and it was by far the lowest price for similar tours comparing with Viking, OAT and others. In fact Viking was almost DOUBLE what I paid with Gate 1 Travel.

The Crown of Egypt Tour was 14 day tour that included airfare from JFK and all the optional tours. Cost was about $3500 pp and the tour was fantastic. We stayed in five star hotels and had two great three day cruises. Our guide was a university educated woman that was very knowledgeable of Egyptian history.

@Diane, thanks! Definitely something to question when I get more information. I'm picky about airline seats so I would want some guarantee that the seat would be decent.

@geovagriffith: Thanks for your thoughts. I did look at Gate 1 but the price would be higher than what you paid. First, the price for that particular tour in 2024 starts at around $4500 and there is a single supplement of $1000 (and that does not include the optional tours). It also does not include Jordan and I did not see any extensions offered. There is an Egypt and Jordan tour but that one starts at $6100 plus a $1050 single supplement. With travel insurance and fees for optional tours, it looks like it comes close to what I will be paying for the OAT tour (which includes a Jordan extension).

I will admit, too, that one of the appealing factors for me with OAT is that it seems to cater to solo passengers. Plus I like the fact that this particular cruise has the dahabeya boats, rather that the large cruise ship. And lastly, this particular tour is one of the small group tours, so it ranges from 8-16 people tops. That is worth it for me.

I do have another question - just wondered what everyone thinks are the best months to travel to Egypt? Right now I'm looking at February or March of 2025. Thanks!

Definitely the Winter. It will be warm in the daytime in the Winter. Still, take a sweater or jacket for cool evening.

Thanks - looks like my month picks will work!

In March we encountered Khamsin winds (dust storms) twice. The first time, in Cairo, was short-lived, just an hour or two. The second time, in Luxor, it was more serious. I found it kind of interesting, but it did impact our itinerary. Fortunately, we had scheduled a free day in Luxor, and so we were able to work around it. (The nice part was that we had Karnak Temple all to ourselves. :-) )

You can see pictures of the dust storm in Luxor here: https://mariematthews.smugmug.com/Egypt/Luxor/ https://mariematthews.smugmug.com/Egypt/Luxor-Tombs-and-Temples/

There were some singles on our OU trip to Egypt and Jordan. They were part of everything we did, wonderful travelers.

The Khamsin winds come in March and are dust storms that frequently include rain. Otherwise it doesn't rain much in Egypt.

Marie, thanks for letting me know about the Khamsin winds, and special thanks for the links to your photos! Those are absolutely beautiful! What tour were you on?

Suki, thanks! Good to know!

George, thanks for the weather info - maybe I should shoot for February, although it would be fun to see a dust storm. I was in Okinawa during a typhoon once, and while it was scary, it was also really cool and interesting. :)

I did the OAT Egypt trip in mid-September. It was pretty darn hot! Daily highs at least in the high 90s and up into the 100s some days, sunny all day every day. I can hear the guide's voice in my head still, reminding us when leaving the bus each time: Do you have your hat? Your bottled water? Your sunscreen? With those, pacing oneself, air conditioning most indoor places we were and the bus, and hotel pools at the end of the day, it was fine. And as September is not quite full summer (I don't think they even run this tour in July and August) but not yet high tourist season, plus this was soon after things reopened post-pandemic (in fact one of OAT's first Egypt tours after the COVID suspension), we had the benefit of pretty low numbers of other tourists. I hear Egypt can be quite crowded at the major sites during the prime season of Dec-Feb. I would have liked to have done a Jordan pre-extension -- still need to get to that country -- but it wasn't offered in 2021. The pre-extension was Israel, where I'd been before, and the post-extension Alexandria (which would have been nice, but I figured I would have had sufficient Egypt, good as the tour was, after 17 days, which was so, and needed to get home for work as well).

My husband and I (69 and 70) have done 4 OAT trips and have been extremely happy with the quality. We are getting ready to travel with OAT to Africa and have booked Turkey for next spring and Egypt in November 2024. There are always 5or 6 solo travelers on each trip because they offer a great deal (solo spots book fast). There have been an average of 14 travelers on each trip and we have enjoyed all the groups. The trip leaders are amazing. Hotels are well located and food is good. I research flights so I know what i want and they have booked my prefered flights. I always request and get good seats. You can call them to change your flight up to 90 days before departure and ask about seats, upgrades or whatever. I call them all the time about flight changes and the customer service is good. The airport pickup has been reliable. I do not use their insurance. It is a "cancel for any reason" policy which is why it is so expensive. I buy a poiicy with the same company for half the price. We are excited for Egypt, we booked the trip with 5 day yacht trip and the Jordan pre-trip. Best weather is October to Apri. The OAT trip to Vietnam was my favorite, it was amazing.

@Mardee - we did a private tour with Djed Egypt.

One other thing about timing: you might want to check the dates for Ramadan in 2025. You can certainly travel during Ramadan, but things might be a little different, especially with regard to food. It's just another thing to consider. I was in Turkey and Jordan during Ramadan this year, and there were very few customers in restaurants during the day, and our guides/drivers in Jordan couldn't join us for meals until after sundown.

slate, good to know. I definitely won't be going in September then! I live in Duluth and am used to cooler temps. But you make a good point about the crowds in prime season. Definitely something to think about. Thank you!

Lyn, thank you for this excellent information; especially about the flights and insurance! And I have Vietnam on my list - I have always wanted to go there, so will definitely check into that. It sounds wonderful!

Marie, I didn't even think about Ramadan so thanks for the reminder. It looks like it begins on March 1st in 2025, so March might be a good month to avoid. And I've heard good things about Djed, too.

Friend has done multiple OAT trips including Nile yacht trip and loved them. I did first land tour (not Egypt) with them recently including buying their insurance and air, including business upgrade. They try to minimize connections, which I found true. Most of my tour mates had their international flight cancelled by airline and OAT proactively got all of them rebooked as best as possible! I upgraded about 9 months before trip (original date postponed by you know what, and I absolutely wanted to lock in business class for transpacific flight) and thought price at time reasonable. It turned out to be a great deal, as prices rocketed closer to date. Overall I was very pleased with their air (and impressed with their responsiveness when airline issues occurred).

SQ, very good to know - thanks so much! With this and the other responses above, I think I will go with their flights. In the long run, convenience counts (and price, too, as you mentioned the fare increase). Plus that is an area I am not familiar with and it will be nice not to have to worry about getting there. :)

I'm a little late chiming in, but we have done 2 OAT/GCT (Grand Circle Travel) small ship cruises and thought they were great. No complaints about the tours themselves - good itineraries, excellent guides, nice balance of free and scheduled time. The "day in the life" and "controversial topic" offerings can be a little hokey/artificial, imo, and are my least favorite thing. Good reputation for solo female travelers - lots of women traveling solo or in groups.

We have had OAT schedule our flights, their pricing and schedules are competitive, and sometimes a great deal (we got a steal on Comfort-Plus through them once). You might want to check on the transfer - I think if you are booking their hotel early via OAT, even if you don't have them book your flight, you can still get their transfer service. You will have to weigh whether the transfer service is worth booking extra nights via OAT - you might find better hotel pricing on Expedia, etc.

I would not recommend using their insurance, you can get better deals elsewhere - and they have a poor reputation for processing any payments. My understanding is that Allianz pays OAT, which then pays you - and OAT has a 45-day "policy" for payments to customers, whether it's a refund or insurance payment. And it often takes even longer than that.

All that said, once you are booked, their customer service can be abysmal especially if you require changes or a refund. We had huge issues with a trip that was cancelled during the pandemic. Even allowing for all the confusion that all travel companies were having, OAT/GCT was utterly awful. They changed their refund policy after we had already requested a refund! We ended up filing a BBB complaint and disputed the credit card charge before we finally got our refund.

This hasn't completely turned us off OAT, but we do proceed with caution, knowing if we need to cancel, we need to read the fine print three times and be aware that getting a refund will require LOTS of our time administratively and we may be out the money for 6 months. Reviews of their trips are consistent - great tours and experiences, terrible home office customer service after you book. We ended up taking that cancelled tour last year and it was excellent. And we are about to schedule another tour for later this year (they have some great deals going).

"All that said, once you are booked, their customer service can be abysmal especially if you require changes or a refund. We had huge issues with a trip that was cancelled during the pandemic. Even allowing for all the confusion that all travel companies were having, OAT/GCT was utterly awful. They changed their refund policy after we had already requested a refund! We ended up filing a BBB complaint and disputed the credit card charge before we finally got our refund."

I had the exact same experience. In addition to filing a complaint with the BBB I also filed one with the Massachusetts State Attorney General as it is illegal in Massachusetts (where OAT is based) not to offer a refund. I also did finally get my refund.

@Bob - but their tours are so good. Consistently good reviews. I really don't get it....

That is why I just finished one tour and have another booked. Their tours are very good but you just have to be aware of their lousy refund policy.

Rebecca (and Bob), thanks for the input. This is my very first tour so I'm really really hoping I don't need to cancel or deal with anything that would cause problems (famous last words, I know!). :)

I am having them take care of the flight arrangements. I decided that I just did not want to deal with it, so hopefully it will work out.

I was told that even if I did booked my own flight, I could still get their transfer service but would have to pay a fee. I don't know the cost but it's a moot issue, since they are taking care of the flights.

But very good to hear that the tours are so good! I'm glad to hear it!

$1100 cost, although I can change the departing flight to MSP for $400 more

How will you do this? Are you going to link a Delta flight with Egyptair on a single ticket, or have 2 tickets and spend the night in Queens?

"$1100 cost, although I can change the departing flight to MSP for $400 more

How will you do this? Are you going to link a Delta flight with Egyptair on a single ticket, or have 2 tickets and spend the night in Queens?"

What this means is that you can buy your airfare to Egypt from OAT departing from pretty much anywhere in the US you want. For this trip, they charge the least if you leave from NY, and understandably, a few hundred more from MSP. If you choose MSP, the routing they choose may or may not go via New York. Just as likely it would be a flight from MSP connecting through a European city. It would almost certainly not involve an overnight in Queens.

slate, thanks - yes, that's right, Tom. If I flew out of JFK, the cost would be $1100. But because I would rather fly out of MSP, the cost increases to $1500 RT. I'm happy they offer that option. It would be a headache (and cost even more) to have to fly to NYC and possibly spend the the night there just to fly out of JFK.

Mardee: When I looked at this a couple years ago the flights from MSP to CAI were terrible across the board. Even checking now the choice is either a 10 hour layover at CDG or 3 flights. It used to be that most of the 3 flight options (final leg Swiss, Lufthansa, or Austrian) arrived between 2-4 am but this has changed.

The best choice a few years ago (and still today) was via Toronto but Air Canada and Egyptair (both Star Alliance) won't codeshare (why?). Maybe a travel agent can force this onto one ticket. If you are going to Tel Aviv or Amman on this trip, it is easier to get to either from MSP than Cairo.

It would be a headache (and cost even more) to have to fly to NYC and possibly spend the the night there just to fly out of JFK.

This is exactly what poster Geovagriffith did or is going to do, this year, spent the night at JFK waiting for the Egyptair flight.

Whichever tour you take you will love Egypt and Jordan. We were there this past March, only had one sandstorm and one rain storm and that was during our night in the desert at Wadi Rum. Incredible day and evening. I tell my friends who decided not to come with us that we would go back again any time they are ready. We did include Israel on our 24 day trip. if we went again Egypt and Jordan are good enough alone. I would make Israel another trip.

Tom, I should mention that I will not be flying into Egypt but Amman. I've added a pre-trip extension that goes to Jordan, so that might possibly make a difference. Not sure.

Barbara, thanks so much for that. I've been trying to decide whether to add the Tel Aviv post-trip extension on and I really think it would be too much. So I appreciate what you are saying and definitely helps! I am getting very excited about this trip!

Amman is easy from MSP, AA to ORD then Royal Jordanian, 1 stop, reasonable layover. Royal Jordanian also flies from Detroit, but that doesn't mesh well with airline alliances.

Thanks, Tom - good to know!

Hello Mardee - currently United flies 3 times per week from IAD (Washington DC) to Amman. I think Mon, Thur, Sat.

Thanks, sloo! I'm not booking the flight so we'll see where I land (and layover). :) I don't leave till late January of 2025, so it's a ways off. :)

I run a small Egypt tour company that has been in business for over 25 years and I have never heard anything bad about OAT. Its hard to get general recommendations though because everyone is looking for something different in their tours. I believe OAT has more shopping and modern cultural activities than my company for example, so the people who travel with me would not be as happy with them, because we go for the ancient history only. Something to be aware of when looking at tours in Egypt is that some companies pay their guides very low wages but have them take kickbacks from the shops, or a commission, for all of the tourists' shopping, encouraging the guides to spend more time with the tour groups shopping than at the historical monuments. This is how the budget tours manage to run. Of course, if no one is shopping the guide almost gets no pay, which I find it a bit unethical of those companies - so beware. Some of the pricier companies might be a bit more generous in the treatment of their employees. I am not saying OAT does this or any other specific tour operator, it is just what I have been told by my guides. I think the best time to visit Egypt is November and late January through February. Ramadan in 2025 is March 1-30 so it looks like you will miss it entirely, thank goodness.

Thank you, nancy! I appreciate your thoughts!

If your post-trip offer is only Tel-Aviv I would definitely skip it. Too much hassle crossing into Israel and Tel-Aviv was our least favorite city. With what us going in now Israel is on the back burner for a few years I would guess.

We were in Egypt and Jordan with OAT during Ramadan during March, 2023 and it was a positive and joyful experience. It did not pose any inconvenience and instead added an additional cultural dimension to experience. Also, the weather in March was ideal and we did not encounter any wind or dust anywhere and we went from Cairo down to Abu Simbel in the south. Enjoy---it's an amazing experience.

Barbara, that's what I was thinking. Plus I think I'm going to be ready to go home at the end of the Egypt tour, and will probably not want to tack on anything else at that point. And of course, it's moot now with the political situation (sigh).

mark_arleneleewong, thanks for your thoughts. I'm actually going in late January/early February so Ramadan will not affect me, but good to know regardless. :-)

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